Macro Friday - Red Ribbon

My brother's girlfriend wrapped all her Christmas presents with big red bows. I loved how the ribbon looked in front of the tree.

Macro Friday 12.16.11

I haven't linked up with Macro Friday in so long!

I was going through all my 2011 photo folders to find pictures for Memories, Dreams, & Reflections 2011, and I found some old photos that I never got around to processing.

This series of photos is perfect for Macro Friday.

When I took these photos, I had been using my dad's D80 with the kit lens. He uses old projector lenses as macro attachments.

This is the projectors lens:

This is showing you how much closer I can zoom in using the projector lens:

And here is the comparison. First photo is zoomed all the way in without the projector lens; second photo is zoomed all the way in WITH the projector lens.

I used to shoot with these "fake" macro lenses all the time when I borrowed my dad's camera. It creates a very deep DOF, so it's a bit harder to get those crisp shots that most people love. It's just so much fun to play with it!

My TOMS shoes

I love my red TOMS shoes so much! My mom bought them for me as a wedding present because I wanted them for the reception. I knew I wanted a flat, comfy shoe for dancing, red was one of our theme colors, and I fully support their cause. There is a child somewhere on this planet that needed shoes, and that child was given a free pair when my mom purchased my pair. Awesomesauce.

Moving on, I mentioned last week that I had photographed my TOMS at the beach.

Well, I put together a little collage of my favorite photos from that mini beach photo shoot:

Here is a fun Before & After collage for Kelly's link-up:

Here's a shot that could be so much better, if not for my point and shoot camera's limitations:

And here's one that I decided to use for Laura's link-up:

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Edit Me & Macro Friday - 9.16.11

Disclaimer: This is not my photo. I did not take it.
Copyright belongs to the original photographer:
Kathryn from Our tiny BIG Life

SOOC:

My ACR edit:

And my final edit:

To get the vintage feel in ACR: increase warmth/fill light/brightness/vibrancy, slide tint to the left, and decrease contrast/exposure.

After that, I opened in PSE8 to run a high pass filter. I also added an artistic watercolor filter and a texture from My 4 Hens (one layer on overlay @ 30% and one layer on soft light @ 90%). Lastly, I used the CoffeeShop Web Color Block It action to add the color block.


And here is my photo for Macro Friday:

And an update on my life... ?

Sure, why not?!

Umm, let's see: I started traveling for work 2 days ago, although my body refuses to accept it. The long days, the hours spent in the car, the insane amount of coffee I am drinking, the increased pressure on my feet/hips/back from standing... I guess my 5th year of this lifestyle will be the hardest one to acclimate to. Don't get me wrong; it's still oodles of fun and I love it. It's just that transition period that's kicking me in the booty. I spent the past 10 months sitting in my comfy chair, in my little office, getting lazy. Now I have to get back in gear for 2 months of a completely different life. For those of you who don't get it, I mean life as a college admissions counselor. I plan on capturing 'A Day in My Life' at some point this fall, which will give you a much better understanding of it.

Speaking of fall, it's definitely starting here in southeastern New York. The leaves have already started changing color. I splurged at Old Navy the other day and bought myself a new fall jacket, just in time, too! The days are less humid; the nights are cooler. I'm ready to turn the AC off and throw open the windows, although Jon is not too keen on the idea. It seems that nerdy gamers don't enjoy fresh air like crazy hippies do.

Speaking of Jon, I love referring to him as "my husband" or "hubby." Looking at his ring makes my heart giggle. We are truly enjoying married life together! It took awhile to get to used to being married; however, now, we are embracing it. We're cooking-dinner-together, clothes-strewn-on-the-floor, lazy-Saturday-TV-on-dvd-marathons married. And we are planning to enjoy this period of lives as much as we can. For a certain period of time. Before changing it up with babies or houses or the like.

I know you all want to know, because that's what happens when people get married. Generally, they have babies and/or buy a house. And yes, we want babies and a house. Just not yet.

Well, that was kind of a lie. We love babies (and houses) and want them now. Except that we don't want them yet. So we're waiting. And while we kinda sorta have a plan for the future, we're more inclined to go with the flow for now. We want to see life has in store for us.


Oh wow, I just previewed this post and realized it's kinda long. I'll end it with just one more thing: I updated my 30 by 30 list! Go check it out.

SOOC Saturday & Texture Twist

My SOOC shot for today is a macro shot of my gold bracelet. It was given to my FMIL, way back in high school when I was just friends with my fiance. Even though I kinda wish we had dated back in high school (we would probably be married already), I'm glad we started as friends.





And my edited version, with a texture from Shadowhouse Creations:



I don't really like how I cropped it. That dark shadow in the top right corner is bugging me. I have to be more attentive to what's behind my subject.

Another Pine Cone Photo

Remember the photo of a pine cone that I posted a few days ago? (It's here, if you don't remember.) Well, when I was photographing it, I also took some macro shots. Here is my favorite:



I am entering this photo into 3 challenges: LEM - theme is Anything, Macro Friday, and Texture Twist.




And I thought I'd give you a little peek into my "studio" for this shot:



I used my dad's Nikon D80 for this shot, but I use this setup for my Samsung, too. I'm not a professional photographer, so I don't have any reflectors or tripods or shutter remotes or basically any fancy equipment at all. I sit with the window behind me (shades tilted if the sun is too bright) and I use food to keep my camera steady. This time, it was a bag of barley. Sometimes, it's rice or flour... Whatever I can find that is solid but slightly soft, so I can settle the camera into the perfect angle.

It's all about cheap, quick, and easy for me right now. Maybe someday I'll own a DLSR and I'll have a mini-studio set up in a more permanent location. Until then, I'm doing it my way... On the coffee table!

SOOC Saturday & Texture Twist

My SOOC shot for today is one that I took in Florida back in January. It was shot with a Nikon D90 (my dream camera for the past year and a half) on AP. I've also emailed this photo to Ashley for her new editing challenge, Edit Me. I hope she'll pick it, and if she does, I'll let you know! Ashley picked my photo for next week's challenge! Head over to her blog -Ashley plus 3- on Monday to snag the photo and do an edit. (Don't use the photo below because it's been resized for web, so the resolution is much lower.) And if you want your photo featured on Ashley's blog, head over there to get her email address!





For my Texture Twist today, I used the newest freebie texture from Kim Klassen. It's called chamomile, and she even gave us a recipe for using it! I did tweak the recipe a little bit when editing my photo (shot with a Nikon D80 on manual), but I really love how it came out. I am also entering this photo into Laura's Macro Friday.

Macro Friday #41

My entry for Laura's Macro Friday today is my Macro entry for the February 2011 Photo Hunt. (CLICK HERE to see all my photos for this month's challenge.)

Red velvet cupcakes that my mom and I made for my work potluck lunch! They were DELiSH.




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i♥faces
Disclaimer: This is not my photo. I did not take it.
Copyright belongs to iheartfaces and the original photographer.

Original:


My color edit, and my favorite edit for this week:


My b&w edit:


Other edits with the original in the background:


Which one of my edits do YOU like best??

Macro Friday #40

Remember my macro man from last week?

Here's another one!




____________________________________________


i♥faces
Disclaimer: This is not my photo. I did not take it.
Copyright belongs to iheartfaces and the original photographer.

Honestly, I don't care if anyone thinks that this photo has things that are 'technically' wrong with it. I think it's gorgeous! I wish all photographers could appreciate the things that are gorgeous and beautiful in their captures, and try not to nitpick the little things.

Original:


My favorite color edit:


My b&w desaturated edit:


Some more color edits for fun,
with the original photo in the background: