This devil wears Dior... sometimes...

Color Splash Sunday - A Flag

2010-05-30T00:34:00.000-04:00

This festively dressed fella was making rounds at the lilac festival. I have no idea if he's just a fan or an actual employee of the park. He did bring lots of smiles to peoples' faces though!

Ugh I can't stop using this chrome B&W, it reminds me so much of the old photographs. Next time I'll try my best to use some other B&W edit.

Stop by Amy's blog to join in on the Color Splash fun!

I Heart Faces - Week 21: Yellow

2010-05-23T23:50:00.002-04:00

I didn't notice my husband and brother in law in the shot until I was editing it later, but I am so glad I didn't do a more shallow depth of field!

He was smiling at me, BIL was smiling down at his girlfriend and Kodak was asking a very appropriate question. Guess we know the answer to that one. =)

(click for larger view)

And hooray for funnel cakes!

Check out more yellow @

Color Splash Sunday - Inspiration

2010-05-23T23:07:00.000-04:00

I try to remind myself of this every single day. Most days I forget, but the days I do remember turn out to be phenomenal.

Here's to the power of mind over matter and the little piece of paper that inspires me to think, be and do more.

Link up @ Amy's site and let us know what inspires you!

You Capture - Depth of Field

2010-05-20T14:00:00.001-04:00

This past weekend we took a road trip to Rochester, NY for ~~my brother-in-law's graduation~~ the Lilac Festival!!! Lucky for him, his graduation just happened to coincide with this VERY important event so we attended that as well.

Lilacs are the reason I want a house. I wanted to plant a lilac bush right outside my bedroom window, and wake up every morning (in May) to the beautiful aroma. Then I read that lilacs attract A LOT of bees. Ever since being stung by a bee on my 14th birthday, I start hyperventilating whenever one is in close proximity. So maybe I'll plant that bush further away from the window.

But back to the festival... and the graduation.

500 varieties of lilac, 1200 bushes... I was in heaven, albeit a very cold heaven. Having been promised 65 degrees and sunshine I was not dressed for the 50 degrees, clouds and wind that greeted us. But that did not prevent me from going picture crazy and I got hundreds of great shots.

Here are two that are perfect for the theme this week:

(click on the photos for larger size)

And here's one of the proud graduate. Or rather his side/back.

And while we're on the subject of photography, does anyone have any experience with bubbles in your lens? I found 2 tiny ones while cleaning the back end of the lens, contacted Canon and they want me to send it in for repair. I can't picture myself without a lens for 2-4 weeks. Google brought up several forums where people say one or two bubbles are perfectly fine. Any opinions?

Thanks!

Color Splash Sunday - Colorful Food

2010-05-09T15:03:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all you fabulous mothers!

After a few weeks of life getting in the way, I am happy to be back among all of you super creative individuals, and back to Lightroom, Photoshop and my camera.

Amy is having us capture food for this week's challenge, or rather she had us capture food. I've had plenty of colorful food this week, but unfortunately did not get to check out her blog until today... the day that we go food shopping and do dinners at my parents'.

Good thing photographed food does not spoil (unless you get a computer virus and don't back up regularly that is) because I'm pulling this one out of my archives.

Having gotten my education in holistic medicine and nutrition, I'm a huge proponent of salads. At our house, a salad is our side dish more nights than not. They're quick to make and clean up is a breeze! Just think, one less pot that needs to be scrubbed.

And with the recent lettuce recall, it's easy to omit it and substitute other veggies. Just please wash them all thoroughly.

And now, to whet your appetites:

See? Simple. =)

Stop by Amy's blog to participate and share some of your favorite colorful foods.

Color Splash Sunday - Yellow!

2010-03-29T11:58:00.000-04:00

Okay, so today is technically Monday, but time (once again) got away from me this weekend and I'm entering late. =\

This was one of the first shots I took using my dslr. I love it in full color, but once I isolated the yellow, the photo took on such a different mood. Now I don't know which one I like more!

Visit

for more color splash fun!

I Heart Faces - Week 13: Dramatic B&W

2010-03-29T11:11:00.000-04:00

Drama!

Today certainly promises to be a potentially drama filled day; with all the rain, 4 hours of sleep and a dinner party I'd rather not be going to.

But I'll try to not send too many of these looks my mother's way!

Head over to

for more takes on drama!

Fix-It Friday #48

2010-03-26T10:22:00.002-04:00

What a beautiful little girl. I had fun 'fixing' this one because I could really enhance the eyes, and open up the shadows on her face. (When I try to do that with my son's photos, he looks too girly!)

So here are my contributions.

I Heart Faces - Week 12: Focusing on Angles

2010-03-21T23:23:00.004-04:00

We were supposed to do something out of the norm this week. Different angles, different heights, holding the camera tilted or whatnot. As long as you're out of your comfort zone!

Usually, I like to take photos of Allen from either his eye level, or lower. This shot was purely 'accidental' because I was just playing around with settings before getting down on the floor, but I love it!

So here's my unusual (for me) angle of my sleepy little man.

(click on photo for larger size)

And as usual, head over to

for all of the other wonderfully weird angles.

Color Splash Sunday - Orange!

2010-03-21T13:30:00.000-04:00

Yum. Even though I'm not a huge tomato fan, that one looked so delicious I was ready to eat it on the spot. Unfortunately I couldn't because it was growing in The King's Garden of Fort Ticonderoga. But I was free to snap a shot of it. It looked especially tempting surrounded by it's still green siblings.

Join Amy in capturing (and isolating) some beautiful colors at

Next week's color is yellow!

I Heart Faces - Week 11: Bundled Up

2010-03-14T23:48:00.003-04:00

Winter is finally on it's way out (!), however over at I Heart Faces, we're celebrating all the wonderful (bundled up) moments it's given us to capture.

I haven't ventured much outside with my camera this winter. A two year old that wants to run ever where and get into all sorts of trouble does not make a great model when you're walking on busy city streets and trying to hold his tiny hand in an iron grip. Since there are no green parks around us, and daddy doesn't get home till late, that's where most of our walks take place.

We did get some nice shots during the first BIG snow storm. My husband got the day off of work, and we ventured out as a family, with mommy free to do her thing. *(No yellow snow has been consumed during this photo shoot.)

Check out

for all of the warm and snugly entries!

Color Splash Sunday - Red!

2010-03-14T01:26:00.001-05:00

This week's theme is red. My favorite color! The whole day I was on the lookout of what exactly I wanted to photograph.

I thought about the many books with red in them, toys, clothes, jewelery, but at the last minute settled on an old Betty Boop statuette.

I used to be a bit obsessed with her when I was younger, but that flame has died down in the recent years. And since I'm trying to get rid of as much excess junk in anticipation of moving into our new and tiny condo, I figured I can kill (proverbially of course) two birds with one stone; enter Amy's new meme, and get some shots so I can throw this baby up on eBay!

So here she is, in all her 'red' glory. Marabou feathers and all.

Make sure to stop by Amy's blog to join in on the fun!

You Capture - Quiet

2010-03-11T16:10:00.000-05:00

Ah, quiet, how I long for it towards the end of the day. When Allen's sweetly sleeping in his crib, my husband is passed out on the couch, and I have an hour to myself to do with as I please (quietly of course!).

Beth has challenged us to capture quiet this week, and lucky for me, my quiet does not consist of silence, but instead of quieting the mind of worry, silly thoughts, and stress. I have many reminders scattered around the house that always seem to catch my eye just when I need them most.

A lovely woman helped me pick these stones out for my grandmother to bring her peace in her final moments. Now they serve as a reminder for me to savor every moment and not rush through life. Not to mention they keep Allen busy for a few minutes as he sorts through them.

Even cherubs need their beauty sleep.

Meditation is wonderful, when I can convince myself that I don't have anything more important to do for the next half hour. But just focusing on breathing in and out for a few minutes works wonders for quieting the mind.

Head to to join in on the fun!

I Heart Faces - Week 10: Jump For Joy!

2010-03-08T00:57:00.002-05:00

I didn't think I would have anything to enter for this week's challenge. The weekend was busy, and flew by way too fast. Allen can't jump high enough for me to capture, although it is very cute when he does, like a tiny bunny hop.

Looking at some older photos, I came across a few that I was able to clean up however. Back then I loved taking photos, but didn't really focus on composition or angles and they were always taken on full automatic. I don't even think my point and shoot has any manual options.

But while these aren't phenomenal or creative, they do capture my husband's joy. He's a basketball nut, and ever since meeting me, hasn't gotten to enjoy it as much as he used to (every day!).

So here are two shots of him catching some air while playing ball with fellow resort guests. I do hope that our son picks up on the game by summer time so I can get some great shots of them playing together. (Now that I know about shutter speed and am incessantly bugging him for an SLR.)

See all of the great entries on

You Capture - Hopeful

2010-03-04T13:24:00.001-05:00

Allen's hopeful moment this week consisted of 'hoping' to fit into his favorite box. Meanwhile I was busy hoping that he would not fall out of it and hurt himself.

I was also hoping that as he gets older, and his attention span gets longer, we'll have more quiet moments like the one above.

Last Friday he had experienced the repercussions of being a carefree little boy who's not as stable on his feet as he thinks, and mommy probably got her first gray hair.

He cut his temple pretty deep and when he turned around to show me his 'booboom' ... well lets just say my first instinct was to call in the top specialists from all over the world to help stop the bleeding.

Luckily a few minutes of pressure with a cold washcloth stopped it, and he was back to his carefree self within moments.

Wish I can say the same for myself.

Is it really THAT wrong to stick em in a bubble?

Mmm and to round things off on a positive note, this was a moment where I hoped this tasted as good as it looked. I wasn't disappointed!

Head over to to participate!

Thursday Challenge - "HIGH or LOW"

2010-03-04T00:02:00.001-05:00

"HIGH or LOW" (Photos from a different perspective, Photos from the top or bottom of Buildings, Mountains, Towers, Underneath...)

I loved the contrast between the lushness of the evergreen, and the bare branches of another tree.

See more entries HERE!

I Heart Faces - Week 9: "Hilarious Outtakes"

2010-03-01T11:19:00.002-05:00

guest fan judges want to see all of our funny shots. Be it funny faces, hilarious poses or whatever else has given you a laugh when you looked back on it.

The photo on the challenge page is worth a look all it's own, my coffee almost came right out through my nose when I saw it this morning. I can't wait to see the other 700 or so entries when this challenge wraps up tomorrow!

Here are some of mine. I don't usually hang on to less than picture perfect shots, but I'm glad I kept a few of Allen's unintentionally funny faces now.

Here, he was trying to give me his best cheeeeeese face, while also trying to close his eyes at the perfect moment just to hear me make a grrr sound. That's his favorite. =)

This year, we got him this singing hamster card for his birthday (in addition to toys of course), and as you can see, he went nuts over it. It plays the Hamster Dance Song.

And here are a few of my husband, from our vacation in Curacao.

He became obsessed with coconuts, and a large chunk of our trip was dedicated to him hunting them down. He threw things at trees, jumped off of chairs, tried to chew through the outer shells, cracked them on cement patio corners and in our shower... it even went as far as bashing a poor coconut over and over with a stick. I wish I had my camera for that one, he looked like a cave man.

Teeth vs. coconut.... teeth FAIL

Concrete vs. coconut... success!

This was a ton of fun, and a work out and a half!

So those are my entries, hope you got a chuckle or two!

You Capture - Shapes

2010-02-25T15:45:00.000-05:00

This week is about shapes. And since shapes are EVERYWHERE, this is a very open ended challenge.

I didn't do much snapping this or last week due to the slow and painful recovery after a tonsillectomy, so I'd like to share one of my favorite shots from Valentine's Day.

We were driving back to our B&B after an afternoon of sightseeing and shopping, and passed this amazing tree house. My husband, who never stops the car when I'm ooohing and aaahing at the scenery, actually offered to pull over! My exclamation of adoration must have been particularly enthusiastic this time! (I should really perfect the technique for use on shopping trips.)

Or maybe something from his childhood sparked inside. Either way, I got a few great shots. Here's my favorite one.

So don't forget to look up at the trees, you might find a few surprises!

I Heart Faces - Week 8: Hands-On Fun

2010-02-22T15:16:00.000-05:00

This was taken during my son's first haircut, last summer. We were so nervous as to what his reaction would be, but thanks to my husband's long time barber, our little man had fun!

He got to watch other men getting haircuts for a few minutes. Then out came a bowl FULL of lollipops. This was before he knew what they were, so he was just content to pick through all the colors. The barber even let him turn on the buzzer a few times! What's not love?

As soon as the weather warms up, our little shaggy headed monster needs a return trip. I can only hope it goes as smoothly as the first.

Do you have any tricks for getting little ones to sit through haircuts?

Check out all the beautiful (and touching) entries this week on

You Capture - Work

2010-02-11T16:59:00.002-05:00

This week I missed out on 'i heart faces' because of having TOO much stuff to do. And wouldn't you know it, that is exactly the theme this week at

WORK!

Here's the pictorial version of my newly updated resume.
(as always, click the photo for a larger size)

Duster of all things... dusty! Ahhh, meditation amidst fields of white.

Tracker of wild animals.

Snack-hander-outer.

Banana-hanger-upper.

Washer of dishes.

And my favorite... mommy.

What's your favorite 'job' ?

Blueberry Muffins

2010-02-10T12:45:00.004-05:00

I've been admiring all the photo cooking posts for a while now, and kept meaning to try one of my own.

Wow! I have so much more respect for these ladies now! It's certainly not as easy as it seems. Terrible lighting (in my kitchen), dirty hands, clingy toddler begging to be allowed next to the hot oven. But it was fun! In between mixing, stirring, bringing the bowls for photos next to the window for some nice light, freaking out because the mixture 'curdled' (I've come to the conclusion that it was supposed to), burning myself (only once thank god), and running into the living room to check that Allen isn't trying to figure out how the TV works, I did manage to produce some yummy muffins.

Not bad for a first time!

And I should mention that this muffin experiment was inspired by my need of an actual muffin pan so I can make these CHUNKY CRAYONS. I only had a few of the disposable foil muffin liners that I've made cupcakes in one or twice. I figured that if I can hook my husband on muffins, then I would have a stronger case of why I need one. Evil, I know. =)

Blueberry Muffins

(makes 12)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, or other fresh berries

2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder (get the aluminum free kind!)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 cup milk

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400° F. Grease twelve 2 3/4-inch muffin cups.

Mix blueberries with 1 tablespoon flour; set aside.

Combine remaining flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Mix egg, milk and melted butter in another bowl (this is where mine 'curdled'. It was really just the butter re-solidifying in the cool milk). Stir egg mixture into dry ingredients until just combined. Gently stir in blueberries.

Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake muffins until golden, 18-22 minutes.

(had to add some chocolate chips for my husband)

ENJOY!

You Capture - Faces

2010-02-05T23:33:00.001-05:00

Faces, faces everywhere! Can you guess what this week's assignment over at
was?

I'm usually all about faces, but this week Allen wasn't having much of it (again) and decided to sabotage every shot with movement. But thanks to the holy (or is it unholy?) powers of the all mighty photoshop, a few have been salvaged!

(click on photo for larger size)

Tomorrow, or rather tonight, we're expecting about 6 inches of snow. I have my fingers crossed that I'll be able to get some really cute photos of him then (shutter speed should be able to keep up in daylight!).
I'll update if it's a success!
And here's one more from mommy's first attempt at muffins.

I think he liked them =)

*** Update ***

Here's a favorite shot of mine from this afternoon (how I loooove bright light).

Snow is now requested to be part of the lunch menu. Thanks daddy!

I Heart Faces - Week 5: My Story in Photos: "Places I Love"

2010-02-01T10:02:00.001-05:00

There's a fabulous challenge up at this week. It's to tell the story of your favorite romantic place through photos.

Our honeymoon location easily tops that list, and considering I got well over 1000 shots during a one week span... this should rather easy! The hard part, once again, will be to narrow it down to my most favorite shots. Wouldn't want you guys to wait ALL day for the post to load. =)

So without further delay, I present to you.... Tahiti!

Hm okay, it didn't really start out with that view, but it's a little more dramatic than:

Granted after about 36 hours of no sleep (I'm terrified of flying and there were 2 extremely long flight involved), the picture above holds more value to me personally. It's proof that I made it without having to down a bottle of Xanax in the process!

After a 2 hour layover, we got on a little puddle jumper, and shortly thereafter landed in Moorea.

While we waited for our room to be prepared, we got to relax by the pool. It was such a treat after the long flight that I felt that I could have laid there forever and be happy.

We explored the little island thoroughly over the next few days, taking in all of what it had to offer. Feeding sharks and sting rays, picnic on a private motu (tiny island), local restaurants, and on the last day we rented a scooter and circled the entire island. Surrounded by so much beauty and perfection, it was impossible not to feel love. For each other, for nature, for the friendly locals with their lyrical dialect.

Here are a few more of my favorites from Moorea.

After a few days, it was time to move on to our next destination, the beautiful Bora Bora. We boarded another small plane, and within an hour were what was to be home for the next 5 days.

I was absolutely floored by the beauty before we even landed. Encircled by a pristine turquoise lagoon, Bora Bora consisted of a chain of smaller islands encircling the main island. To get to the hotel, we had to take a 20 minute ferry ride (not that I was complaining!).

Our hotel was beautiful, the first shot is the view we were greeted with upon arrival. I knew then that I could definitely spend my entire life here. I think I'd be happy cleaning rooms for a living if it meant looking at such scenery every single day.

The view from our room was absolutely incredible, and I especially enjoyed laying out on the deck at night with a glass of wine just staring up at the sky. Unfortunately I couldn't get any decent night shots, even using the tripod. =(

But here are some of my favorites from Bora Bora.

(These fishies swam over every morning for some breakfast. We had a sliding glass top coffee table in the room, and it was incredible watching all the colorful fish swimming around the coral.)

And with that glorious sunset, we said farewell to this magical island. Our days were spent snorkeling, swimming, lounging and laughing... our evenings filled with fantastic food, fun company and ofcourse, lots of honey. =)

It's too easy to fall in love with this tiny island, and I'm still trying to come up with how we can make it our permanent home. Maybe one day we'll hit the mega millions jackpot!

Until then, whenever I need a mini vacation, I look through our pictures, close my eyes and envision myself back there.

I can't wait to check out all of the other entries and getting to know everyone better! Did you share your most romantic spot this week?

You Capture - Colors

2010-01-28T15:12:00.002-05:00

is having us look high and low for colors (bonus points for outside shots).

Unfortunately I did not venture outside with my camera at any point during this week due to bad weather and a booger faced toddler, so no extra credit for me.

I have however, managed to find some (ok, ALOT of) color inside. The difficult part was narrowing down my options and coming up with some creative angles.

Here goes!

And some cheating shots (taken outside months ago)!

Did you have as much fun with this week's challenge?

Can't wait to see all of the other entries!

I Heart Faces - Week 4: "Texture" Photo Challenge!

2010-01-25T13:19:00.001-05:00

has challenged us to use texture in our photos this week, either naturally or through photoshop. I tried to coerce Allen into sitting still for a few minutes in between layers of clothes and feathers and toys... but he wasn't having it. So I took my only way out, Photoshop! Hunting for new textures was fun, and I found several really good ones. I applied one of them to a picture I took of Allen a few days ago (so it's not completely cheating) and played around with settings and filters. I have to say, I'm loving the result. I'm just starting out with textures but I think I'll be using them a lot more often now.
I'm just not sure if I should have left him more 'blended in'. What do you think?

(click on the picture for full size)

Get this texture here