Day 59 - Shaving Essentials

I gotta say that the best deal I have found on shaving cream is at the 99cents store. Don't laugh. I'm for real! I have never had a can of shaving cream last so long as the can I got from that store! lol Here it is late in the evening again and I had yet to take a photo so between watching The Bachelor this is what I ended up with. :)

Day 58 - Refreshment

My mom celebrated her 62nd birthday this week so we surprised her at work by bringing her some refreshing blossoms to brighten her office. Orange is absolutely one of my favorite colors so I fell in love with these flowers.

In LR I adjusted the exposure, brightness, contrast and clarity and that was pretty much it. (ISO 800 f/5.6  1/10ss)

Day 57 - Fresh and Sweet

Who doesn't love a nice fresh juicy strawberry? These babies are huge too! I wanted to use natural light coming in from the window but I needed to light the strawberries from the other side so I used my reflectors to add some extra light. I then imported the image into lightroom and used the adjustment brush to add some more exposure and make the background whiter. (ISO 400  36mm  f/5.6  1/13ss)

I keep forgetting to put down my settings and edits like you have asked. I usually am in a rush to get a picture posted at all. I hope when I do post them they are helpful to you.

Day 56 - Corduroy

This was one of my favorite books when I was a little girl. One of our local bookstores is closing down one of its locations and has all their books marked down. I was elated to find this book on clearance and had to buy it to share with my little girl.

Day 55 - Love

Love being used in an entirely different way this post. Those who have played tennis know that the term 'love' is used when serving referring to the player with no points. We took a trip to a different park today. It had a great playground, volleyball net, basketball court and tennis court. I was just snapping pictures of the tennis court and then mentioned to the hubs it would be nice to have a tennis ball for the picture so he went back in the brush behind the court and dug one out for me. Isn't he sweet!

Day 54 - Peppers

The hubs has been eating extra healthy lately to shed a few pounds and has done a great job of it! He bought these peppers the other day to add some extra flavor to his salads and the colors make for a great photo.

Day 53 - Got Milk?

My precious baby girl was just too cute with her little milk goatee so I decided to make her my picture for today.

Day 52 - Life With a Toddler

Long gone are the days of not having to vacuum every day. Now with a mobile toddler who scatters her little crummies everywhere, the vacuum gets put to use a lot more frequently.

Fun fact: Yesterday's picture was taken with my cell phone through my front windshield.

Day 51 - The Heavens Declare

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork." Psalm 19:1 Our skies have just been amazing over the weekend.

Day 50 - Signs of Spring

This tree just outside my window has been bare for a few months now but just the other day I noticed it has started to blossom again showing that Spring is just around the corner.

I didn't use any presets for this picture. Just bumped the contrast and clarity and adjusted the saturation. I do shoot manual raw images which gives me more freedom to work with my images.

P.S. Congrats to all my other photog peeps who have made it 50 days! Can I get a high-five?

Day 49 - Contacts

As much as I wish I had perfect vision, I don't. Being a contact wearer, I have two favorite companies to meet my contact needs: Renu contact cleanser by Basuch + Lomb (any other kind I have tried fogs up my lenses) and discountcontactlenses.com offers reasonably priced contacts. Considering I have the same  prescription in both eyes, it costs even less for me. :)

Day 48 - Peek-a-boo!

My baby girl LOVES bath time. If she even hears the word "bath" come out of my mouth she books it straight to the bathroom squealing with excitement. She is a very happy baby but she is the epitome of happy in the bath. Tonight we played peek-a-boo. Is she a ham or what!

Day 47 - It's Raining

 I love rain and the calmness it brings. I captured these raindrops hanging from the railing outside my mom's home today. You can even see the rain falling in the background.

Day 46 - No Diving Allowed

These two mallards were hanging out at the pool this morning. Even with the cover still over the pool, the female found the tiny wet spot on top and plopped herself. I wonder if "No Diving Allowed" applies to ducks too.
(I've been asked what edits I make and I keep forgetting to post them. I use free presets quite a bit. For this one I used the EFF Dragan 3 preset, adjusted the vignette and bumped the contrast, clarity and various color saturation till I got the look I wanted. When using presets often times extra edits are required.)

Day 45 - I am my beloved's...

...and my beloved is mine. (Song of Solomon 6:3) The hubs and I have been making it a point to spend one on one time together with no distractions, so this Valentine's Day is extra special because we are more in love today than last Valentine's Day. 

*side note. This bowl was just sitting on the table empty and a rose petal and a couple of leaves had fallen off the bouquet my dear hubs had bought me so he tossed them in the bowl. I loved how they landed and thought it would make for a great picture. Good job, hubs of mine!

Day 44 - Lighthouse on the Cliffs

Yesterday's excursion really wiped me out for some reason and I am lacking motivation today as well. A while ago I posted a picture of a lighthouse I had taken while out enjoying a family day. There was another picture I had taken that day as a runner up photo but since it never got posted I figured I would post it today as sort of another cheat day. I love the palm trees, lighthouse and sail boat all combined.

Day 43 - My Valentine

Tonight we went to a Valentine Banquet that another church was hosting a couple hours away (hence the late post). They did such a great job decorating. These were on each table for us to snack on during the night. It was such a wonderful evening. Great food, great fellowship and great time with my honey. We even won one of the games! Can't beat that. :)

Day 42 - Baby Shoes

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6 My baby girl just learned how to walk and her shoes are showing the wear but they are so precious to me. These little shoes will be something I hold on to forever as these are the shoes she took some of her first steps in. My prayers is that I guide her steps to follow the Lord all the days of her life.

Day 41 - Colorful Cleanliness

A friend of mine got a bunch of these hand sanitizers real cheap at Bath and Body Works and gave them to me. They smell so yum and bonus: they clean your hands too! :) I was plum out of ideas tonight but the colors of these really give the picture a pop so here's to a germ free day 41!

Day 40 - Railroad Crossing

I cross over these railroad tracks all the time and as I drove around trying to find something to photograph today I decided this would be my subject of choice. It's actually no longer used for trains but instead for trolleys which definitely makes for a much shorter wait when you get stuck waiting at one.

Day 39 - Never Ending

My laundry day got postponed to today since we had to be out of the house yesterday. It seems like if I miss even one day the laundry pile triples. The laundry is never ending but unfortunately the supplies do have their limits. Wish they didn't cost so much!

Day 38 - Journey Into Africa

Our apartment seems to be where all of America's ants have decided to take up residence so the bug guy came today to spray. Since I have a little one we have to be out of the apartment for 24 hours so I am not at home to upload any images for today's pictures so I figured today will have to be my cheat day. I took this picture the same day as the cheetah when we took the Journey Into Africa tram around the park. I debated between the two so now you can see my other option.

Day 37 - Aged and Rusted

There is a road I drive down all the time and for the first time the other day I noticed a bunch of old rusted pieces of what I assume is farming equipment used as decor in front of a giant construction business. Old tillers and plow looking things and this wagon that I am guessing carried water sitting there all aged and rusted adding to their beauty.

Day 36 - Combined Interests

Two of my husband's favorite interests (besides me, of course *grin*)  are anything camo (i.e. hunting or fishing) and the Raiders so how cool to find both combined in a baseball cap.  BTW, thanks for all the sweet comments on yesterday's blog. Wasn't feeling too confident about it but you all really encouraged me.

Day 35 - Grapes

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." John 15:5

Just as I thought I was going to sit down and relax for the evening, I realized I hadn't taken a picture yet today. I had fun with the editing on this one and was semi-pleased with the outcome, but I am too tired to work on it anymore.

Day 34 - Cheetah

Today we took the tram around our local theme park so we could see some animals up close. It was rather chilly today in the high 50s low 60s (I know everyone in the snow states is laughing, but for us that is cold!) This cheetah was warming himself in the sun. Made for some great lighting.

Day 33 - Country Sunset

Our freeway was shut down over the weekend and as a result we had to take a different route to church. Set off of the main road was this barn which is some sort of historical building. I had no idea it even existed. When I saw it on Sunday I knew I needed to come back at some point this week and take a picture of it. It's so out of place set smack dab in the middle of the city but it made for a great photo at sunset.

Day 32 - The Light of the World

"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."  Before my daughter was even born, my husband bought her this little light up globe for her room. It's already come in handy several times. I got the idea of taking a picture of the globe from another photog, Noel.