{Texture? Or No Texture? You tell me...}

Alright, I love playing with textures and couldn't resist playing with some on these images that I took of my daughter this week. I can't decide which I prefer...they both have a completely different look and feel to them before the texture and after they were applied. I've become addicted to making my own textures too - some work well and other's not so easy to work with. I know textures are totally a personal preference so some of you may be looking at the textured ones thinking, 'Oh my, she just ruined that image' - it's way more artsy and I know not everyone is into that much funky change. Anyway, I thought I'd post these to see what you all thought - texture? Or no texture? Thanks for your help!

No Texture applied

Texture applied

No Texture applied

With texture applied

No Texture applied

With texture applied

{ Images of Hartsville...}

Okay, so not really images 'of' Hartsville, more like images 'in' Hartsville... semantics... Anyway, I finally got some time to look through some more of the images from my day in H-Town and I know I mentioned that I got a shot of my little T-man- surprise - I got two!! He's in love with his Halloween t-shirt and insists on wearing it when he can and since he was not feeling well the day of our outing, he got to wear his favorite shirt. He's so into orange shirts lately - funny how they get to the age where they care about what they wear. I picked an outfit out for him for school the other day and he says to me 'I don't want to wear that, it's not cool enough'. Oh my... that wasn't what I expected him to say. He's only 5! Oh well, I better get used to it. Briella is very particular as well...and says to me 'Oh momma, I don't like it, no thank you' in a very affirming voice as she shakes her head in disapproval. My goodness - well my kids are very sure of how they feel and tell me. I guess that's good, right? {shrug}
Okay, so I'm determined to make frequent jaunts to Hartsville - right now all I want to do is photograph there. So this week, since some of my sessions are being post-poned due to crisp cool weather, I'm heading to Hartsville to soak in as much as I can.
Here are a few more images of my kids during this trip. Again, you can't see the actual town since I didn't have time to go off exploring; I wanted to do a quick photo session with the kids while they were willing ;-)
Thanks for checking out my blog! Oh and these were processed with a variety of techniques... some desaturating, color tweaking, etc. - kinda fun.

Love his little smile...

Briella jumping! Oh my so high!

{ I've fallen in love with a sleepy little Southern town...sigh...}

I've lived in the South for about a year and a half and I finally ventured about 25 miles to Hartsville. OMG!! I fell in love! Hartsville is a quaint little town with fun little boutiques, eclectic restaurants, gorgeous tree lined streets, beautiful gardens (Kalmia Gardens), and beautiful Southern architecture. I have been meaning to go there forever and I finally popped the kids in the car and we went on a little adventure. The kids enjoyed it as much as I did - surprisingly. I couldn't resist bringing a prop or two and testing out a spot or two. Tyler wasn't feeling well, so he rested (but I did manage to get a shot of him that I'll share later). But Brielle was so in love with this 1930's vintage baby buggy I brought! Tears flowed when I told her it was time to go. She even walked further ahead of me hoping that I would just give in and she could push her baby more.

Here are just a few of the images captured from our quick jaunt to Hartsville.

I did some a slight cross processing on the image below - thought it gave it a little zig ;-)

Zig working?

A little antique coloring and texturizing to give this image a vintage feel.

Oh a different note - Aimee if you're reading this, your gallery is almost ready for me to publish. Thanks for holding tight :)

{Is Starbucks a possible cure for the flu?}

Hmmm...I thought I'd give it a try. I don't think it cured the nasty flu bug I have but my yummy soy, no water, no foam, sugar free vanilla (with an extra pump), 170 degree chai tea latte did warm my up my insides and soothe my throat. I've been missing my daily dose of this and going more than 3 days without it put me through withdraws. I've been trying to nurse myself back to good health before my sessions resume this weekend since returning from my nice little vacation. I was hoping to get out there and go crazy experimenting and having fun, but no such luck since this bug seems to drain any and all of my energy. From what I've heard, this was going around in the Bahamas - my first little foreign bug, a special souvenir - I should be so lucky! Ha!

Anyway, hope you all are healthy. From what I hear in this part of the state there are quite a few horrible flu strains going around - hope you all are spared. :)

{Couple More...}

On a black and white kick and these were calling for classic black and white. I couldn't resist playing with some borders too. Again, my children in town at Puerto Vallarta. I'm still not fully clear headed or back into my groove - so I'm hoping to play this week before my sessions this weekend and next week. I so missed being creative on my vacation but I was trying to truly make it a vacation from my life, work, etc(photography included) - now I'm just hungering for some creative outlets, experimentation, play, you name it! Hopefully I can release that energy this week in between catching up on client e-mails, orders, etc.

So many ideas, so little time... ;-)

{I'm Back!}

Yeah, I'm back! We had a blast on our vacation but it's so nice to be home again and sleeping in our own beds and no longer living out of our suitcases. What an adventure! This was one of the best vacations I've had. We got to play with the kids in Mexico and be with my mom and dad. Then we got to have alone time in the Bahamas. What a treat! I took very few pictures on our vacation since I didn't want to have to worry about my camera when we were at the pool, on excursions, and at the beach. Also I brought my old camera that's not full frame so that was really hard to go back to. Note to self: Just bring my good camera on trips - it's worth it. But I did take a few pictures on the first stint of our trip (in Mexico).

We built sand castles on the beach and chilled on the shore.

Some of the pools were dedicated to kids with jungle gyms in the water and wave pools.

Tyler getting ready to jump off the waterfall into the water (horrible shot, but a memory was captured).

We ventured into town to check out the area and buy some yummy Mexican Vanilla (something I never leave Mexico without purchasing - it's the best Pure Vanilla for baking!).

While we were in town, we visited a beautiful Catholic Church

Where Brielle kneeled and prayed (not liking the camera on her but I snuck this shot).

And we played around

Poor Briella, we were looking for bracelets for her and tried on a few at several stores. By the time we left the third shop after taking off the bracelets we tried on her - her patience had run out. She didn't understand why we were letting her put on bracelets and then making her take them off without buying them. She was heartbroken and frustrated which let to a big'ole 2 year old temper tantrum. We couldn't help but laugh at her drama (bad mom and dad...) - she plopped herself in the middle of the sidewalk on a busy street, folder her arms, stuck her lower lip out and began to cry. Here she is in the midst of it all. Daddy shopped quickly to find her a bracelet to fit and soon she was calm and content again. Oh my... is this a sign of things to come?

{On Vacation!}

That's right! I'm leaving in 5 hours headed to the airport with my husband and kids! Woo hoo! We're spending a week in Mexico, Nuevo Vallarta, where we're meeting my parents. Tyler couldn't be more excited. He woke Jeff and I up this morning saying 'Let's chit-chat about Mexico' (he was there 2 years ago and remembers so he can't wait). And he packed his bag unbeknownst to me. I discovered it when I was starting to pack the kids' belongings. Too cute. After our time in Mexico Jeff and I are headed to the Bahamas for 5 days while the kids stay with their other grandparents in Arizona. We'll need a vacation after our vacation - don't you feel that way after traveling? Anyway, I just wanted to let you know so if you didn't see posts for a little bit or if I don't respond to your e-mails right away, this is why? I will be sure to get respond to any inquiries, or e-mails as soon as I return. :)

{Bubbles, bubbles...}

I wanted to play today with some indoor shots. My daughter had other things in mind and wasn't feeling very well, tummy ache - so this is all I got. Then I resorted to photographing some antique cameras I've collected. I love these old antique leather & metal cameras!! So many images captured on these cameras before they were considered unusable. Most of them still work - suprisingly. Anyway, it's crazy to think of what images could've been photographed using these classic old cameras. I'll never know...

{Timeless Black & White - Love them!}

I'm on a black & white kick these days {couldn't resist changing my blog banner AGAIN, I know - I'm ridiculously indecisive :) }. Maybe it's the cold weather, mist, fog, bare trees, and all the stillness that comes with the winter season that's drawing me to B&W images... who knows. Anyway, since it was too cold to go outside today, I took a couple photographs of Brielle indoors {I casually asked Tyler if I could get a few of him, but he politely said 'Not today mom'. So I didn't ask again}. But he told me during dinner that I can photograph him tomorrow - woo hoo! And since I've had to post-pone all my recent sessions because it's been so cold, I'm thrilled to be able to experiment, play and photograph my own children. I'm also working on a canvas wall display in our foyer, so I'm hoping to have more images to choose from with these quick moments that my kids are allowing me to snap away with my camera. Anyway, I miss photographing my clients but I'm thankful for these quick snippets of being able to photograph my kids, their life and who they are at this very moment. I'm sure you all will grow tired of seeing my children but there will be more variety to come...I promise!
Thank you for viewing my blog :)

Oh and I wanted to say hi to some photographers and aspiring photographers who've contacted me recently from London {Lone}, Canada {Katrina}, Germany {Niki}, and Ireland {Anne}. Thank you for your great e-mails - I love them!

{My Little Girl...}

I can't believe how grown up she looks (and she's only 2 and a 1/2)! Anyway, I finally have time to sift through the few pics I snapped of Brielle today and I a few more that caught my eye. She's not fond of this cold weather and you can tell by her seriousness. :) Anyway, I wanted to post these two before I went to bed!