Frog-Photoblog

ATW Tuesday ~ New Skills.

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:09:00 +0000

Baby is all about new skills these days...

Stacking

Walking

Standing Up ~ Freestyle!

And do you like my new scarf?

I ♥ having a toddler in the house again, but boy is he keeping us all on our toes!!

Please pop by Communal Global, and share a little of YOUR day with us all :D

You Capture ~ Still-Life

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:37:00 +0000

I used to shoot a lot more still life than I do now...

...but life isn't very 'still' these days!!

All the same, I do love the subject...

...and the how when I get up close to something I still discover :D

It's all FUN

& GAMES

Why don't you join in with You Capture this week ~ I know Beth would love to see you :D

Photo Challenge ~ Oh So Silly!

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

What's to say ~ this picture was my instant choice!

My eldest son & eldest daughter hooning around ~ as teens are inclined to do!! :D

Entering for this weeks iheartfaces photo challenge.
Why don't you check out all the silliness for yourself ~ and maybe even join in!!

ATW Tuesday ~ All about Hair

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:50:00 +0000

There seems to have been a bit of a theme going on in our house these last few weeks ~ and it's all about HAIR!

Stitch got a 'big boy' haircut ~ and with it seemed to fly in a whole new 'boisterous boy' attitude!

But he is cute as a button, as it makes him look far less little ~ AND his winter hat stays on better!!

Then the girls decided they would like to experiment with curls ~ so we've had this

and then this

and this

I love having girls with pretty hair!! :D

Maybe it's the being shut-in with this freezing weather that makes us all want to experiment a bit?

Head on over to CommunalGlobal to share a little of your world with us this week.

Favourite Photo Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:13:00 +0000

Easy!!

I know, I know ~ they are all baby shots ~ but he IS rather cute!!

You Capture ~ COLOUR

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:26:00 +0000

I haven't participated in YOU CAPTURE for quite a long time ~ having been a regular for ages!

Sometimes life gets in the way and things go by the wayside...

But this week, I figured it was time to get back to it :D

The theme for the week is 'Colour' ~ and my world has no shortage of it!!

I love that the only colour in my bathroom, comes from the toys that litter our home :D

YEAH!! I got featured ~ click the logo below ~ thanks Beth :D

Surrounded by spots & stripes ~ my little sleepyhead, enjoying his morning nap ~ on my bed.

Art work from this last week's schooling

And the colours that nature blesses us with on these winter evenings ~ beautiful!

To join in with YOU CAPTURE click on the little green logo/button above and link up to your blog post :D

See You there!

Photo Challenge ~ By The Book

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:13:00 +0000

There's no shortage of books in this shot!!

Taken during an ordinary day at our house ~

this is our 'school' room, with lessons in full swing, on the first week back in September!

This wasn't the first shot that sprung to my mind for this theme, or my most recent, or even my favourite 'book' shot, but when I trawled through the many I have, I stopped here ~ I like this one for the story it tells. It really is 'just us' ~ I hope you and the judges like it too! :D

To join in with this week's book-y theme on iheartfaces just click the logo at the top of the page and link up to your blog post.

See you there :D

Photo Challenge ~ Family Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:30:00 +0000

This picture has to be one of my recent faves!

It's taken on my son's first birthday. He had a bowl of bubble to play with, but was very unsure about the whole thing! Do you see the white spots on my Nanna's trousers? That's the water that my husband was squirting over everyone ~ to try and encourage baby to enjoy it! (you can see more HERE ). I just love all the different expressions on all the faces ~ even my mum's look of slight disdain at the silliness of it all! ~ real FUN!!

To join in with all the fun @ i♥faces this week, click on over and link up to your 'family fun' blog post ~ see you there!

Best Face Top Picks of Mine ~ 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:09:00 +0000

I had to make a decision ~ it was tough!!

These were my nearlys, in particular order...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Which would you have picked? Any of these of the one I went with?

Photo Challenge ~ Best Face Photo from 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:59:00 +0000

WOW ~ such a tough call. I have taken so many 'faces' this year, and so many of them I would consider 'best' for one reason or another. But I wanted my entry to be one the judges would come back to over and again to look at ~ one that would stick in their mind above all the many other entries there will be ~ and THAT is tough!

Pretty much all my favourite shots have been processed in Black & White ~ there is something about BW that just speaks to me, especially when it comes to faces. Something of a person's soul can be seen when all the colour is stripped back.

In the end, this one wins over, simply because it the picture that springs to my mind often & certainly every time I am asked what my favourite shot of the year is.

I know it's not technically perfect, but it is perfectly HIM ~ my little soft, but serious, six year old son (also my sixth child). And there IS something about this picture that just makes me just want to keep looking at it and coming back to it. I can't put my finger on it, but it's there.

To see my other top picks of the year click here.

And to join in click the i♥faces button at the top of this post.

Go For It!

Communal Global ~ Christmas Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:47:00 +0000

Ok ~ so I know it's not actually Christmas anymore, and in fact we are now 3 days into 2012, but it's been mad busy around here over the holidays, and this is truly the first chance I've had (even now there are other things I SHOULD be doing!) post about Christmas.

This year my Mum and my Nanna came to be with us (my Nan is staying for a while longer). It was great to have them here :D

Christmas Day, we always open just one or two small gifts in the morning and then head out to church for a short service of celebration of this very special day. The children take what they have opened to show everyone ~ it's lovely!

Then it's home to finish of the meal. This year we let the children open a new family game that their grandparents bought them, to play for an hour while we got busy setting tables and cooking up a scrumptious meal!

After an hour or so of feasting (and another hour of clearing up!)...

it was time to set to on 'the great unwrap' ~ with 8 children and 4 adults in the house it can take some while!!

Everyone was delighted with their gifts and a good time was had by all :D

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas ~
And wishing you every Blessing in 2012!

Family Sneek Peek

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 11:30:00 +0000

Fail, but with Results!

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:42:00 +0000

More experimenting...

Today, with yesterday's success giving me lift, I thought I'd have a go at this... http://www.love-bug-blog.com/

No, I don't have a prime lense, but according to a thread on Flickr, it is possible with a kit lens, so I thought I'd give it a go...

I couldn't get it to work, despite my 'shape' being no more that a pin hole in an attempt to get it small enough!

All the same I got these ...

I think they're rather cool, don't you ~ almost like pin-hole ?!! :D

Communal Global ~ ATW Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:52:00 +0000

Today, let me take you on a little tour of one of our local towns.
This is Crewe ~ a railway town, and a place best known as a large railway junction and home to Crewe Works, which was for many years a major railway engineering facility for manufacturing and overhauling of trains, but is now very much reduced in size. From 1946 until 2002 it was also the home of Rolls-Royce motor car production. The Pyms Lane factory, on the west of the town, now produces Bentley motor cars exclusively.
These are pictures I took on-commission for my brother-in-law, who has set up his own 'urban renewal' business (Urban Flow), with a partner - and they needed some fresh images for their website and publications. What a privilege!
This is some of one set that I took.
Main road into town

Railway interchange, looking North.

Derilict areas

Back Street parking (and a traffic warden)

Council efforts

War Memorial square ~ library and town hall in the background

Festivities :D

Town Centre

Market Hall

Bus Station

Symbol of the town's engineering past.

Shopping area.

I hope you've enjoyed a little taste of English town-life.

Now join in and show us a little bit or your corner of the world today ~ over at CommunalGlobal.

Experimenting...

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 23:30:00 +0000

It has long been on my wish list to own a 'Lightscoop'. Right now I can't afford a fancy off-camera flash, or even a hotshoe flash, so I have to make-do with the pop-up. Now lets be honest, the light is AWEFUL from any pop-up flash and almost impossible to control in any way. I HATE it ~ with a passion! So much so that I would rather embrace the grain on noisy pictures, than use it. I'd love a prime lense, and yes, that is on my wish-list too, but for now I think a lightscoop would be the cheapest and most easy solution, but guess what... I'd have to have one shipped from America! Nowhere in the UK sells them (yet) :-( ~ So what to do..? Well, I found this little thing on Amazon for just £3, including postage :D. It came with three different colour shades, but I doubt I will use any other than the white one. Problem was, although it did improve the pop-up flash slightly, it was not quite enough to convince me that I wanted to use the pop-up flash any more, only in emergencies maybe...

Then Sunday night we had a little shop-bought chocolate cake, and it came on a piece of shiny card ~ silver one side, gold the other ~ you know the kind? Bugs suggested he wipe it down and add it too the 'card making' materials. I thought that was a good idea and agreed. Well, it got wiped, but never quite got put away, so this morning I found it sitting on the kitchen table ~ and as I picked it up a light-bulb went on in my head!!

Remember this...

well I just wondered...

I'd been looking at the Lightscoop online just last night, and thought how simple the idea was. I was wondering then if I could make something myself that slotted into my hotshoe without doing any harm... With the design of the real thing in my head, my light-bulb idea was definitely worth a try...

I cut a strip off the shiny card and did this...

The diffuser shade is quite tight, so it sort of grips the sides of card nicely, such that it stays put really well.

I experimented...

And so did Bugs (with the cross bar from a broken chair) ...

And well... I think we can say that works!!! I couldn't be happier :D ~ now I am all set to take shots for Baby's 1st birthday (in 19 days time) with the pop-up flash if I wish too, and not have to worry about editing out a stack of grain (and with it the details), or blowing the picture completely out!

And here's some more from today's play with it ~ just look at the catch-lights in his eyes to see how spread out that flash is :D. These are virtually SOOC (except for the BW conversion)...

That'll do me nicely ~ for now at least!

I♥Faces ~ On Your Feet! ~ OPEN TABLE

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 17:26:00 +0000

'Open Table'

"Come to me, ALL who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
(view on black)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This week's challenge at i♥faces is to "enter a creative photo that includes human feet in it (no faces necessary)."

I have a bazillion 'feet' pictures, but I wanted to choose something a little 'different' from what I think most people will enter...

I figured there'll be a lot of perfectly adorable baby feet ~ I have LOTS of those!

I figured there'll be quite a few 'funky shoes' & 'bench' type shots ~ yup, got a fair few of those too!

But I thought MAYBE this might be a bit different...

I love that there are different genders, generations & personalities represented around this communion table
~ and you can read them all by the feet :D

ATW Tuesday ~ Minnie Madness!

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:00:00 +0000

The easiest way to share my silly hoons with you today is with a slideshow ~ enjoy :D

I♥faces : Photo Challenge ~ Autumn Splendor

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:37:00 +0000

What's to say ~ this time of year is so pretty!

Head on over to I♥faces for more Autumnal Glory :D

ATW Tuesday ~ Guy Fawkes Night

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:51:00 +0000

A True British Tradition...

"Remember, Remember,

The 5th of November

Gun-powder Treason and Plot.

I see no reason why gun-powder treason,

Should ever be forgot!

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes,

'twas his intent,

To blow up the King and the Parliament.

Three score barrels of powder below,

Poor old England to overthrow.

By God's providence he was catched,

With a dark lantern and burning match.

Holloa boys, holloa boys,

God save the King!

Hip hip hooray!

Hip hip hooray!"

(I found fireworks a real challenge to my photography skills. These were the best of a not brilliant bunch, but maybe I'll do better next year! Could really do with practising a little more often ~ I think I might be retired before I get anywhere near good at it! I just wonder how anyone ever managed with a viewfinder ~ I got NOTHING until I put my live-view on. I don't use live-view much, but it was a life saver in this instance ~ that and continuous shoot!)

Friday Five ~ a Fortnight of Favourites!

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 01:06:00 +0000

See you over at Lisa's!

ATW Tuesday ~ Autumn Hits Home.

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 23:43:00 +0000

This last week or two Autumn seems to have really taken it's grip of the landscape here.

A couple of weekends ago Paul's parent s came to visit.

Sunday, late afternoon, the sun was shining and it wasn't particularly cold, so Nanny & some of us decided to take a walk and make the most of the last shards of warmth ~ so warm that Minnie just wore a thin T-shirt!

This is our lane ~ the short stretch that has no vehicle access, between us and our neighbours gate.

This is my neighbour's garden wall in the picture below and the pretty bokeh picture above is one of their trees.

I love walking with family ~ it's a great chance to catch up :D.

We walked the whole circuit round Wybunbury Moss, which takes about an hour.

Half way round the route you walk through the village grave yard ~ where sheep graze, now wearing their thick winter coats.

Lilo loves to walk ~ and most often chooses to come with me when I go out, but she also likes to stride off on her own,

ahead of me, and loose herself in solitude. I like that in her.

By the time we reached the end of the route,

avoiding one field where the four resident bulls were looking a bit too unfriendly that evening,

the sun was setting over the fields.

Nestled in the shadows there is our house.

I'm always pleased to return here

~ I think it's only the second ever home I can truly say that about, and I've lived in a good number of houses!

Now it's your turn...

Link up below and share a little of your corner of the world with us today :D

And don't forget to leave a link in your post to Communal Global.

I♥ Faces ~ Photo Challenge: Black

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 19:08:00 +0000

When I saw this SOOC I was stunned. I did very little to it, bar sharpening and a touch of brightening.

This is my friend's very handsome 10 year old,

his JET BLACK hair contrasting so beautifully against the crystal blue, evening sky.

To see some more stunning 'black' images head on over to i♥faces.

Friday Faves

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:59:00 +0000

It's been an age since I posted here. I've been shooting, editing and uploading to Flickr, but not really posting, because that takes so much extra effort and time that I just don't seem to have had of late. Life seems to be running away from me a little atm...

All the same I want to share some of my favourites from this week ~ because they make me smile in all sorts of ways and I like to share a smile or two with my friends!

The Season is most beautiful right now ~ and actually unusually warm & dry

It's perfect for wanderings...

alone...

...or with family.

It makes me pause for thought...

...to realise it won't belong now before this little man is joining us on those walks.

I cannot think of anywhere I'd rather spend these days

...than here

(this is our home, nestled in the autumn countryside)

...under these glorious evening skies!

And on that note I shall let the final farewell fall to Minnie...

my Crazy Kid! :D

I♥faces ~ Let Them Be Little!

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 23:13:00 +0000

The theme of this challenge immediately made me think of this capture of my youngest boys this week.

To me 'let them be little' is all about an old-fashioned childhood.

To read the story behind this image see my other post today :-)

To see all the other sweet images entered for this week's challenge head on over to i♥faces :D

ATW Tuesday ~ Crash Pan Alley

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 23:02:00 +0000

Anyone who ever had children will completely understand this picture...the 'empty everything' phase has arrived in our house!

I have a cupboard loaded with empty-ables!! :D

2 minutes to unload, 2 to reload, 2 to empty, 2 to reload and when I got bored of that game I decided to provide alternative amusement...

Of course big-brother couldn't resist joining in with the fun...

It was so lovely to watch them play together.

And then he was off ~ to new ~~mischief~~ adventures!

Time to share a little of your world with us all over at Communal Global.

Link up below and then link your post back to us :-)