This is Life?

Magic Wallpaper!

2012-01-30T08:02:00.000-08:00

Some portraits cry out for the

vintage look and I love the wallpaper in

the above photo.

But when I took that photo,

the wallpaper was

NOT THERE!

As I have shared many times,

I prefer using natural light OUTDOORS

for my portrait work,

but since I live in Michigan,

I'm forced indoors for many

winter months.

That's why I set up this little

studio in my basement.

I bought the old lights from a retiring

photographer and he gave me a big

roll of white paper that I hung

for a backdrop.

The white carpet used to be in our dining room.

While I LIKE the white background...

Some photos just need an extra

TOUCH.

So I searched for photos of wallpaper

online and in Photoshop Elements layers,

I added the wallpaper then

erased it off the people and props.

The fun thing is...

I also added the base moulding!

I found moulding online and added

it the same way.

In some cases, I "painted" the

moulding with an Elements brush

to better match the wallpaper.

Much easier to add the

wallpaper like this than

wallpaper REAL walls!

Play around with the opacity to

match the wallpaper intensity to your photo.

Find more great editing ideas here:

And, here:

And, more here:

Enjoy the Creativity!

Free Textures and Backgrounds

2012-01-25T14:36:00.000-08:00

In recent blog posts, I've shared lots of bokeh

backgrounds like you see above for free.

Since I live near Bronner's Christmas Wonderland,

I have a zillion lights to photograph

and it is my pleasure to share the bokeh with others for free

to use both personally and commercially

with no need to credit.

I know when I am editing one of my portraits

and need a background...I need it NOW

and do not want to hassle with paying for

or crediting a texture or background I

find online.

I do understand that some artists

want to be paid for this work...

and they deserve it for providing some

fabulous backgrounds,

but I'm happy to share mine for free as others

have kindly shared with me.

That's why I was happy when Caleb Kimbrough from

the web site Lost and Taken

contacted me and asked if he could share

some of my Bronner's bokeh on his

FREE texture and background website.

I have used his backgrounds and am

thrilled that you can now find 90 of

MINE on his site.

CLICK HERE

to access Caleb's site packed with free

textures, bokeh, wallpaper, etc.

If you are visiting me from his site,

scroll through my last 8 or so blog posts

to see many examples of how I use

my bokeh in portraits.

Plus, you can pick up MORE of my

free bokeh!

All I ask is that you don't try to

sell it.

ENJOY!!

Candid Kids

2012-01-19T10:46:00.000-08:00

I'm having fun with our little bit of snow on the ground.

This week, I had the pleasure of photographing

four-year-old Olivia

and she was extremely cooperative

even in the COLD!

I love photographing little girls

this age. They usually enjoy

DRESSING UP!

I look for vintage or unusual

children's coats and hats at

thrift stores and buy them for a few dollars.

I especially love PINK and

anything with fake fur!

Of course, I had to add a snow background to at

least ONE of the portraits.

Once inside, we played dress-up again.

With children this age, I work quickly

to get some posed shots

IMMEDIATELY.

I instructed Olivia to lift her leg

like a ballerina,

and she was into posing.

Oh, yah...that wicker chair is

from a thrift store...5-bucks!

Did I tell you I LOVE

searching for photo props

at thrift stores????

I love her little toes curled under

in this shot:

I work quickly because very soon,

children lose interest.

They get bored or tired.

That's when I bring out the toys!

Not just any toy...toys that will look

good in that shoot.

In this case, I set out an

antique baby buggy I found

at a thrift store for just $12.

Then, I told Olivia it was her

play time.

I acted like I was fixing my camera

pretty much ignoring her...

until she started to play.

SNAP!

She was oblivious to the camera

and began to sing at the top of her lungs.

She swung her leg out in time with the song...

I sat unobtrusively, at a distance...

SNAP!

Some of my best photos

are captured while the child plays.

If you like the vintage look,

try adding these aged paper textures.

I add them in layers in Photoshop Elements

then erase the texture from the child.

Here's a great website called Lost & Taken

where you can get

more free textures!

When she got bored with just the

buggy, I added another doll

and a stool.

Enjoy capturing the

CANDID moments.

They may end up being your favorites!

Check out other fun photo ideas at:

and

Snow Portraits

2012-01-16T07:03:00.000-08:00

FINALLY, we got some snow so I could

practice REAL snow portraits.

I had to go TWO days before I found someone to pose

for me.

Well...I forced my daughter to pose AGAIN!!!!

I was staring out the kitchen window gazing

lovingly at the snow when she ran through

in her robe with damp hair.

"Honey, PLEASE pose for me!!!!" I begged.

"Mom, I have to leave for work in ten minutes!"

"I only need FIVE minutes...I swear!!!"

So I dressed her up in winter white

and dragged her to the backyard.

"Dang it Mom! My hair is still wet!"

Her: "I'm freezing"

Me: "LOVE that pensive look!"

Me again: "Can you give me a little smile??"

Me: "How about blowing some snow?"

"Oops...can you try that again with MORE snow?"

"Maybe a little pose?"

Her: "Okay, I'm cold...that's enough!"

One more snap!

I love that white fake fur coat

I found at the thrift store!!!

Speaking of fake fur...

I also found this tiger skin rug at the thrift store:

I LOVE IT!!!!

I was so excited when I got to

photograph a little 3 month old boy

on the tiger over the weekend.

Oh, gosh...SO CUTE!!!

All my hats are from thrift stores.

I have to throw in a few more shots

because this little boy is

ADORABLE...plus, I added

my fun bokeh backgrounds again.

I love babies!

Because I LOVE my daughter and babies,

I'm hooking this up with the

LOVE project over at

Make-shift Photography Studio

2012-01-11T19:47:00.000-08:00

I celebrated New Year's at our friends the Smiths' house

and was excited to photograph their

beautiful daughters and nieces.

When I shared the portraits with others

they lamented that they didn't have a studio

with professional lights to take nice photos.

The truth is...I prefer natural light and

my favorite place to shoot portraits is

at the entrance to a garage

like this:

Yep, all the photos in this blog post

were taken in this make-shift "studio"

at the edge of the Smith's garage!

I haul around a sheet of foam board I

covered in white paper and a stretch of fluffy

white fabric to lay on the ground.

You can hang a white sheet as a background

or use a white wall.

Not very glamorous by the garage

wearing my hubby's jacket...BUT...

The portraits ARE glamorous!

I like using the white background

so I can add my own colors, bokeh,

or texture backgrounds later in

Photoshop Elements.

I also like shooting on a wheeled seat

so I can move about freely and

quickly adjust clothing and props

without ruining my knees.

Oh, did I mention it was January 1st

and just 28-degrees outside?

My hands were FREEZING!

But, it's WORTH IT:

The natural lighting right at the edge of the garage

is flawless...no harsh shadows on the face

or behind the models.

You gotta love redheads in leopard print!

I bought the jacket at a thrift store for $3.

That's where I buy ALL my props and portrait

clothing!

Many of my best portraits

are taken this way.

So even if you don't have a professional studio,

you can still create some professional portraits

in a GARAGE!!!

I'm hooking this up with

and

because there are lots of other photo

ideas over there.

Have FUN!

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Birthday Boy Bokeh

2011-12-31T08:00:00.000-08:00

My favorite Christmas present EVER

arrived four days late...

my son Mark!

That was TWENTY years ago...

and, he's still my favorite present.

But my favorite for Christmas, 2011

was a 50mm 1.4 camera lens.

As you can see in these pictures of

my birthday boy in his birthday antlers...

the lens creates GORGEOUS bokeh.

(blur in the background.)

I am loving the bokeh

Christmas tree,

and the snuggling siblings.

Daughter Lindsay works at

Hallmark and got her bro-bro

a card.

They LOVE to laugh together!

I LOVE to see bokeh!

Oh, AND my precious son.

I was at it again...baking a cake.

He wanted orange cream.

I share the tasty recipe on my

cooking blog:

Busy Mom Recipes

As I have shared in numerous other posts...

I cannot make pretty cakes.

I SWEAR I tried here:

The important thing is

it tasted YUMMY...

And, Sonny had a festive birthday.

Happy New Year!!!

Christmas Snow Globe

2011-12-23T17:26:00.000-08:00

If you've been following my blog

you know I am now a portrait photographer.

My photography passion began with this blog!

I realized I needed photos to tell

the stories, and thus began my massive

efforts to learn how to work my camera.

I've been busy this month

taking Christmas portraits like

the one above taken YESTERDAY.

It's Christmas Eve

and I'm playing around in Photoshop Elements.

I wanted to try putting people

into snow globes and found

an AWESOME website called:

Extreme Cards.

I'm sharing the link because this

wonderful blog has all kinds of great

projects for you to try with your

photos.

Since it's Christmas,

I played with the SNOW globe.

I didn't put a lot of time into it, but

wanted to get this posted for

Christmas Eve.

You can do an even neater job

than me.

Enjoy!

And, Merry Christmas!!

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More Free Bokeh

2011-12-09T14:19:00.000-08:00

Just as I promised,

I'm back with more free bokeh backgrounds

in time to still play with Christmas photos.

I am fortunate to live near

Frankenmuth, Michigan, home to

Bronner's Christmas Wonderland

the world's largest year-round Christmas store.

You can read more about Bronner's

in my

BLOG POST

from last year.

It brims with 50-thousand trims and gifts

and floor to ceiling LIGHTS and bulbs

that make wonderful

BOKEH!!

Bronner's electric bill is $1,250 a DAY!

I visited earlier this week and

was out of my mind with excitement shooting

bokeh photos. I filled my photo card.

I'm happy to share my bokeh with you for free

because I love that others have shared with me.

Below, I've included the backgrounds

you see in all these photos .

Play with opacity and brightness

to create softer colors like

these pretty pinks.

Bronner's had lights in every color,

so I tried to capture a wide variety

to use as backgrounds all year.

Enjoy the bokeh!

I share more on how to add the backgrounds

HERE

and

HERE

(Click on the bokeh to copy larger size.)

Check out more bokeh ideas at:

and

I hope your holiday is

Merry and Bright!

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Winter Begins

2011-12-04T08:33:00.000-08:00

The snow started falling HEAVY on Tuesday

evening. It wasn't even in the forecast.

I was SOOOO excited because, as you

know from last winter's posts...

I LOVE SNOW!!!

This was the tranquil scene out

my front door about 9 pm.

See those three BIG pine trees to the

right in my neighbor's front yard?

Keep an eye on those trees...

This is what I awoke to

Wednesday morning!

Yippeeeeeee!!

I grabbed my camera and

hopped in the car.

I think winter is the prettiest time

of year to shoot photos.

Thinking of

Tricia's Barn Charm...

I headed over to my friend's house.

He has this wonderful modern barn built

just a few years ago:

I love all the Barn Charmers...

so, I grabbed a few more barn shots

since we have so many barns near us.

Now...back to those three big pine trees.

I always LOVE those trees laden with snow in the

winter.

I can look out my window and enjoy them.

Imagine my dismay at the scene below...

Now there are only TWO trees!!!

I looked out my window mid-day and saw the whopper

tree being hauled away on a big flatbed trailer.

WHAT?????

I was SAD!!!

The new owners had told my husband the

trees block their house.

Then we saw it again in this photo

that appeared in our local newspaper.

My neighbor's awesome tree is the

centerpiece of our town's Christmas

Center display for 2011.

This warmed my heart...it gets

to stand tall and bring a lot of

Christmas Joy!

Meanwhile...

Who's been visiting my house?

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Christmas Card Photos

2011-11-28T06:24:00.000-08:00

I was excited to celebrate Thanksgiving at

my sister-in-law Dorothy's house this year.

I wanted to photograph my niece's 4-month-old

daughter Fiona!

I brought my big white board for a background

and took Fifi's photo:

I added a background in Photoshop Elements 8.

I explain the process more in

this blog post.

Using the white background

allows for LOTS of creativity.

Dorothy wanted me to photograph the

four generations together.

Dorothy along with,

her mother, daughter and granddaughter

We couldn't stop snapping photos!

Now everyone wanted to pose.

Here are my nieces Crystal and Andrea:

All these photos were taken in Dorothy's

backyard on a cloudy day at 50 degrees.

I brought along Santa hats.

I like natural, unposed portraits

BEST!

My nephews didn't dress for portraits,

but with the eldest Andrew away at college...

They are rarely together to take a photo.

CLICK!

A family portrait

with a hodge-podge of outfits.

I don't have any recent photos of

my mother and father-in-law.

Great time to update!

FINALLY,

I got to photograph my own kids

who are both away at different colleges.

And the true shocker...

I'M actually in a photo!

My brother-in-law Randy shot these for me.

Our family Christmas card this year:

If you'd like to try this technique,

you can use my

Free Christmas Bokeh.

Happy Holidays!

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Christmas Bokeh

2011-11-26T18:45:00.000-08:00

Ho! Ho! Ho!

I'm here with an early Christmas present

so you can play around with bokeh backgrounds

to make Christmas cards or fun

Christmas portraits.

I created the bokeh in all the photos on this blog post.

Bokeh simply means the beauty created by blur.

I sat in my lazy boy with my camera

across the room from my

lit Christmas tree.

I set the lens on manual focus and turned the

focus ring

until I started seeing the

bokeh (blur) you see in these backgrounds.

You can do it too, and it's FUN!!

Try setting a longer shutter speed

and moving the camera about

to get different effects like these:

I created the pastel color by simply

lightening the bokeh photo in lightroom.

You can do that in any editing program.

Take photos of your family or friends

in front of a white wall, or hang a white sheet

behind them.

I used a large piece of white paper...

then add the background in Photoshop or Elements.

I share more of the method in my

last blog post

Since I LOVE when people share backgrounds,

my early Christmas gift to you is...

FREE bokeh backgrounds for all the photos

I showed here.

Yep, they're yours to use as you please.

Click on the bokeh photos to copy the larger size:

Try experimenting with bokeh on just one

edge of the frame.

I know you will not be able to stop

creating bokeh...

because I CAN'T STOP!

For more photo ideas check out:

and

I'll share more as the season progresses.

ENJOY!

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Christmas Portraits

2011-11-21T06:31:00.000-08:00

It all started with the above photo.

I was taking fall portraits and was thinking ahead to

winter shoots.

I asked my client, 13 year old Amber, if she would

pose for me in a furry hood so I could practice.

I had her mother hold up a white piece of

fabric behind Amber to make it look

sorta snowy:

We shot these in 80-degrees in

my sister's front yard!

We dug out hats and scarves...

We had a "winter" BLAST!

I added backgrounds in Photoshop Elements 8.

In layers, add the background, then use

the eraser to remove the background from

your subject.

I borrowed the neighbor's baby

and had MORE fun.

Gabrielle is pretty in pink.

You can find lots of these free backgrounds

online.

The idea

Snowballed!

I made my sister pose...

And, her husband Joe pose.

Hey, why not do a Christmas card photo?

Of course, I had to Santa up my niece Megan.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Since Megan and I both love

Pink:

Then we added props...my

brother-in-law's childhood sled.

The creativity of using a white background

and adding textures, snowflakes, and props is

ENDLESS!

My own daughter Lindsay posed for me

in my favorite red coat.

I bought that for 19 bucks when I was in college

a LONG time ago.

I collected tons of hats, scarves and mittens for just pennies

from various thrift stores. I also look for wonderful

coats, furry collars, and vests...all for just a few dollars.

Now when I do a photo shoot, I ask the client

to pick a hat from the bin and pose in front of

a white background.

They end up being my clients' favorite.

I hope this sparks your imagination

for photos this holiday season!

You can use my FREE bokeh

backgrounds by

CLICKING HERE

and

HERE

Check out other great photo ideas at:

and

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Last of Fall

2011-11-18T13:56:00.000-08:00

Our fall this year in Michigan

seemed pretty bland.

I was never inspired to take even ONE photo.

That changed when I got to Cincinnati.

My eyes almost popped out of my head

at the

AMAZING COLOR!

I have never seen such a colorful

autumn and drove around taking photos.

These were taken at various parks.

But, my sister's neighborhood was the prettiest.

That's her house below framed in fall glory!

I kept my camera with me during my

two week stay.

One sunny day, I drove past this amazing tree

ablaze in

orange

It was so spectacular, I dragged my sister

Sally and her husband Joe over so

I could take their portrait.

Fall is the perfect time of year for portraits.

I also made my nephew Joe and his wife Kristen

pose in the colorful leaves.

I drove by a few days later, and the orange leaves had all blown away!!!

I'm so happy I captured them when I did.

My niece Megan was home from college,

so more portrait snapping:

Goodbye Fall...

the leaves are down and I saw our first

snowflakes!

Winter is blowing in...

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A Love Story

2011-11-15T10:10:00.000-08:00

I was in my hometown of Cincinnati recently

to help my mother through shoulder surgery.

While there, I enjoyed her friends, Joan and Roy Franchi

and asked if I could take their portrait.

Joan and Roy are from England and were

children during that country's war torn years

of World War II.

Both were evacuated from their parents and

sent to live with other families in the countryside

for protection.

When they were in their twenties, Roy attended a party

with several girls on his arms, but he spotted

Joan across the room...

and his eyes never left her.

Ever since,

he has only had eyes for Joan.

He showed me this photo that's framed in their living room.

It's a candid shot taken on their wedding day.

They did not know they were being photographed.

It is a cherished photo.

Roy asked if I could recreate the shot.

It brings tears to my eyes to see them still in love...

They celebrate their 60th anniversary in February!

Now onto NEW love...

my nephew Andy proposed to his

lovely girlfriend Sabrina while I was

in Cincinnati!!!

I took this photo of them in June.

Andy's brother Joe is married to Sabrina's

sister Kristen.

Andy and Sabrina met at Joe and Kristen's wedding!

So, it will be all in the family for them.

Here's to 60+ years of happiness like Joan and Roy...

Fall Portraits

2011-10-13T07:14:00.000-07:00

I'm still waiting for fall to

PEAK here in Michigan.

Kind of a dull year, as I see mostly

yellows and browns,

but that hasn't stopped me from

shooting some fun fall portraits!

These were taken right in my own

backyard which has a wonderful tree line.

I love family photos when they

are natural and relaxed.

I stopped by my niece Megan's college campus

and was drawn to this tree with red berries!

I have fallen in love with

portrait photography.

I love capturing the human

soul in EYES.

My favorite subject is my own daughter Lindsay.

She has been wonderful to pose for me

so I can practice.

Unfortunately, she got poison ivy after

taking this photo!

She's not smiling so pretty after that, so

glad I captured these while I could.

I hope to have more fall portraits once

the leaves are at full color...

stay tuned!

Meet Baby Alayna

2011-10-04T06:59:00.000-07:00

I'm back after a week in Cincinnati with my family.

We enjoyed a mini reunion so

we could all meet the newest family member

my niece

Alayna Caroline!

I was SO excited to photograph her

and bought lots of pink baby outfits and props.

Since I don't own any lights, I planned

to photograph her outside.

Wouldn't you know...it was dark and rainy outside,

so I clipped up a fluffy white blanket in

my sister's living room and

opened up my camera lens as far as it

would go.

I had never photographed

a baby so formally before.

I admit, it was HAIRY and SCARY!

I was thinking...I will NEVER be able

to do baby photography.....EVER!

Thank goodness my sister was there to

help pose the baby and get her attention!

But I was rewarded when I saw

the photos.

Alayna is exquisite and I feel I captured that.

For all you photo buffs...

I had some fun adding textures

in Photoshop Elements 8.

I linked it to

where you can see more fun photo editing.

My sister and I loved dressing our

precious "doll".

At this point, I think she was

an angel...er, an angel butterfly.

Okay, we over-propped her.

Suddenly, she morphed into a

STRAWBERRY.

I wanted to eat up the strawberry for breakfast,

but my brother wouldn't let me.

Alayna is so EDIBLE!!!!

Here's my 86-year-old mother

holding her newest grandchild.

My mom still looks like a spring chicken herself!

My brother is a first-time dad at

age 48. I have never seen him so happy

with his baby and wife Iohana (pronounced Yo-honna)

And, I took some time away from

the camera to just snuggle with Alayna.

When I got home I told my hubby that I

want a baby!

He said NO...

so little Alayna will

just have to be my baby.

I wish I lived closer!

Changing Backgrounds

2011-09-16T09:49:00.000-07:00

Ever since I learned how to switch out

skies in Photoshop Elements 8,

I have been playing around with

this fun feature.

I love photographing barns and

follow Tricia Hayes'

Barn Charm

The photo above is the original sky

which is pretty enough...

But changing the sky is a simple

photo-editing technique.

You can find numerous tutorials online sharing how

to do this in your own editing program.

I couldn't stop playing with the techinque

and put children up in the skies.

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

Thought I would share these

because they really are fun.

I also added various textures

and bokeh that you can find for free online.

You can also find lots of pretty sky photos online

or start taking interesting sky photos yourself

and storing them in a SKIES folder

where you can find them again.

Couldn't resist putting wings

on 5-year-old Katy because

she is such an

ANGEL!

I'm sure you will think up even

more ways to use the

Changing Backgrounds technique.

For more inspiration check out

Chelsey's

Paper Heart Camera.

I entered her Show and Tell Challenge

called, From a Distance.

Skies are a distance.

I hope I sparked your imagination.

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Dreamy Effects

2011-09-03T11:01:00.000-07:00

It's Labor Day Weekend,

and it's storming like crazy...

so I'm in front of the computer

playing like crazy.

I've begun taking portraits for friends

and have been trying to figure out how

to edit them in Photoshop Elements 8.

I found this

great tutorial

and spent all morning trying out the technique.

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

I love the original photos...

But, it was fun to

create a softer, dreamy effect.

You can find free textures

by simply typing "free textures"

into google.

I keep a folder just for textures.

They can dramatically change a photo.

Or make subtle changes.

From this...

to this:

I like this photo...

But this looks like she's

walking in an enchanted forest.

I like all the PINK

in this photo...

I may have taken the pink

over the top!

I used the technique and

the special effects that come in

PSE8 for this next photo.

This is the BEFORE:

I made the background look like a painting.

This is AFTER:

I posted this photo of my daughter

a few days ago.

Here it is with a

texture that looks like

dreamy lens flare.

If you want more editing ideas,

check out Chelsey's

Paper Camera

I have learned so many new tricks from

all the people who participate in

Touch up Tuesday!

THANKS!!!

Birthdays and Barns

2011-08-29T14:31:00.000-07:00

It was that annual

WILD WEEKEND

our family enjoys at the end of

August every year.

Today is daughter Lindsay's 22nd birthday,

but we celebrated yesterday...

with Grandma and lots of hugs.

We are a HUGGY family.

After presents...

And, cake

We actually got a family photo...

this RARELY happens.

I set up the camera on the tripod and

ran into the shot.

This morning, we hauled Sonny

and all his stuff back to college.

This year he's a sophomore,

so it wasn't as stressful.

In fact, I looked back at my blog from the

wild weekend last year

and the temps were in the 90s for move-in.

This year...73-degrees!!!

YAHOOOOOOO!

So much easier on the old mom.

Sonny's happy, too because most of

his classes are right across the street

from his dorm in this building.

It was fun to snoop around

and see his labs and lecture halls.

Now I can picture him there.

Speaking of pictures...we have to drive

through the country to get to

Michigan State University and lots of

barns dot the landscape.

Oddly, I have never seen this one...

well, it WAS a barn.

I think I noticed it because one of the

Barn Charm

members shared a "skeleton" barn

last week and I loved it.

Up the path from the skeleton

was this little barn-like shed...

I LOVE that country look.

Hubby was a sweetie to

stop the car and let me take

photos.

There are so many more...

but I'll have to wait until I'm alone

in the car.

Lindsay leaves for grad school

next week...

then it will be back to

EMPTY NEST!

Boo hoo...

and Yahoo!

Country Stroll

2011-08-24T07:57:00.000-07:00

As I said many times, my home state of

MICHIGAN

is one of the prettiest states in the country!

It's filled with endless photo ops.

My daughter Lindsay and I rediscovered this

heavenly oasis just two minutes from our house.

It's not a barn...but thought the

Barn Charmers

would enjoy it.

Tucked back in the woods...

yep, we had to hike through heavy brush

to get here...

someone was trying to create a

little old-fashioned village

hoping to attract tourists.

They moved this old covered bridge...

And, created a pond.

Down a dirt path they set

this tiny historic church.

I loved the rustic white.

Down the path a bit farther

is this old General Store.

The weeds and wildflowers

are growing through the

front porch!

A perfect place

to capture some photos

of my precious daughter.

I only have her for a few more weeks

before she heads off to grad school.

I've been trying some new photo techniques.

Some I like and some I don't.

The old buildings were neat, but

the utter nature and tranquility...

is what really enchanted me.

I can remember bringing the kids here

a long, long time ago.

It never became a tourist attraction,

so it's still

ALONE...

in the woods.

The perfect

QUIET

place to

DREAM...

Summer Laughter

2011-08-18T05:49:00.000-07:00

Summer is for laughing and relaxing

as much as possible...especially swinging with

the one you love!

I recently told you I am

RARELY

in any of my photos since I'm the one

behind the camera.

Plus, most people can't work my

camera, so even if they do take a photo

of me, it's usually not in focus or

centered properly.

This summer, my daughter Lindsay

took the above photo of my husband and

me in the swing at my sister's house.

I love that she captured a "moment".

Not a typical canned pose...

a real laugh and smile.

This is my favorite photo of the summer,

so I shared it on a wonderful

photo-sharing website called