Project 52- Playtime

This was so fun.  I had the assignment of playing with shutter speeds last week & as you saw- I posted the coffee splash for the fast shutter speed part of the assignment.  I was struggling with what I would do for slow shutter.  Bunch of things in my head- a bit more difficult to execute.  So I pondered.  Then I remembered people "drawing" with the light & thought I would give it a try.

Took my son outside, opened the shutter & let him have fun with the light.
Super easy- only took about 5 min & there you go.

This says "hi"

"Love"

What Do We Have Here?

First thing- I want to mention & say thank you to my lovely sponsor Kim over at Little by Little.
She is so incredibly awesome & talented.  Head on over & introduce yourself & say hello.
I know you will love her.

So the other day the munchkin went outside with me.  I was getting familiar with the 85mm when I looked over at her & she was  eyeing something in the tree.  So I immediately pointed the camera her direction & this is what I caught. She was sweet enough to give me a few smiles too once she heard the shutter going. 

Have a great weekend!!

  

Chewy Double Chocolate Sugared Cookies

Like I promised yesterday & on Instagram several days ago...here is the recipe.

They came out so good & were gone so quick.  Definitely will be making these again.

Ingredients

2 cups all- purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1- 12 ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup (1 & 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar + 1/4 cup for rolling

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/8 cup course sparkling sugar

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  

Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda & salt in medium bowl- set aside.

In a glass bowl combine 1/2 the bag of chocolate chips & the butter. Microwave (covered) for 1 minute- stirring half way until melted & combined when stirred.  Transfer to mixing bowl & add the 1/2 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs & vanilla.  Beat until well combined.  Reduce speed to low & add dry mixture.  Stir in remaining chocolate chips. 

Form teaspoon size balls of the dough & roll in remaining granulated sugar. Flatten a bit with your hand & then roll the edges in the sparkling sugar to add a little extra pizzazz.  Place on un-greased cookie sheet & bake for 9-11 minutes depending on how soft you want them.  Remove & cool on wire rack.  Store in an air tight container. 

Enjoy! 

I Clicked It Up a Notch in May

Really- When I look at the month of May as a whole- I just keep coming back to this one. I love it.

Can't wait to see what June brings.

Grab a Spoon ~ COOL WHIP & Coffee Ice Cream

I know I know- I post pictures of treats a lot.  I told you all that I was practicing my food photography this year.  It just so happens that in my mind- treats are the most exciting thing to photograph.  I love making them- no matter how everyday they seem & I love to photograph them. It’s so fun to see just how yummy I can make them look in my photographs.  I love practicing with styling & I even went prop hunting this last weekend.  Love doing that!!  I found some really great things that I am looking forward to put in my pics- so be ready to see more treats coming your way.

So, the other day the kids asked me what my favorite flavor of ice cream was. When I said "coffee" they looked at me confused. They didn't know that there was such a flavor. They immediately thought that it must taste as awful as a regular cup of coffee- awful in their opinion.  I love all things coffee- ice cream included.  I grew up on it- my whole family loves it.  I want my kids to love it too.  It brings back so many wonderful childhood memories of curling up on the couch with my mom or grandmother to share in a treat.  Those are special memories that have stuck with me & I hope that some of the things I do for my kids stick with them the same way.

So I sent the hubs to the store to pick up some coffee ice cream so they could try it.  But I wanted to make it SUPER special.  I started thinking I could crush up cookies or candies on the top- but that just didn't seem like enough.  It needed something more.  Ahhhhhaaaaaa! COOL WHIP Whipped Topping.  That ALWAYS makes everything we make - those everyday desserts- more special.  I had it- I was so excited.  I knew they would love it.

You know- honestly, I turn to COOL WHIP whenever I want to give my family that feeling that we are sharing a special moment.  Even if it’s just a dollop on top of a cookie- it’s something that makes the kids Ooooooo & Ahhhhh.  Really- as a mom, who doesn’t want their kids to think you are the coolest mom ever because you prepared a treat that they think is elaborate.  Really- nothing elaborate about it- just simple treats like chocolate chip cookies, apple pie & that strawberry shortcake that I shared with you a little bit ago- all would be a bit dull if it were not for the fact that I added a nice dollop of COOL WHIP.  Heck- I even put a dollop on my morning fruit if I am in the mood.

When the hubs came home we set everything up.  The kids watched me put it all together & then we shared a moment where we all just enjoyed each other’s company & the treat.  It was a great thing to add to our Memorial Day weekend. Quality family time & a cool treat.

Ummm- yeah- I took a swipe during the shooting process.  Food photography is hard  :) 

Coffee Ice Cream
Cream Filled Sandwich Cookies
COOL WHIP

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After the Smiles- The Steps

So- SUPER EXCITED today!!!!!!!!
I have the pleasure & honor to be guest posting for Jaymi over at Live.Love.Travel today.
(She's also out host for today's Tuesday's Tips & Pics)

Topic today.....I decided to share with everyone the answer to the #1 question I get asked here on my blog.

So head on over there & check it out to get the answer!   

I decided that in addition to that I would share with you my process for what I do with my images once I get them into processing.  First- I want to be clear, I don't shoot RAW.  I don't want to spend a ton of time in processing- especially if I just spent an hour or two taking a few hundred shots.  My time is limited & so my focus is on getting it right in camera- every time.  If an image is so wonky that I would need to do so much to it that only RAW could save it- then I would probably consider it trash anyway.  It's not worth my time to sit there I try & fix it.  As you can see from the images below- there isn't too much difference between the SOOC & the final edit.  I'm not a big "stylized actions" kind of person- although I have probably spent close to $1000 on actions in the last year. Turns out I have a few favorites & the rest go unused.  Now- this is because my hubs comes from a family that is so into their photography that everyone has a darkroom in their home. There are no actions involved in there.  I fell in love with the images his family has collected through the years & continue to carry it out in my own style for our family photos.  I like to keep things clean, crisp & natural. 

So here is what I see when I upload my image.  I do open as a RAW file just so I can tweak the clarity if I want to - but as you can see- I didn't really need to do anything to this so I went on to the clean edit.  

I start with Paint the Moon's Twinkle Eyes action found in the Miracle Makeover set.  I only use the iris brightener & the sharpen tool.  Rarely have I ever used the whitener since my kids almost always have perfectly clear, whites.  Besides - once I sharpen- they tend to look alien like if I were to do anything more than what I do. 

That's pretty much it for the clean edit on this one. I like the eyes to pop- that is my focus.  If it were an adult I would probably run a skin smoothing action ever so slightly- the same Miracle Makeover set has a good one that is light on touch called Baby Soft Skin. 

Next for this one I ran Everyday Elements- Dallas found in the Route 66 set. I like this particular one because it brightens ever so slightly & pops the colors in a natural way.  

Then- because I do like to keep things simple, the last thing is to sharpen & watermark & size for the web. 

That's it. 

Here's the final shot.