Super cool!

It came, it came!! The new mini card frame from moo.com It was a bit of a pain to put together. The pieces fit together like a puzzle, but they aren't perfect, so when you snap the last one into place, another one pops out, then you get that one back in and another one pops up. It was comical. I finally got it figured out with the help of a couple heavy jar candles. There is no adhesive or slot on the mini frames, so the images most definitely will shift if they are not affixed to something eventually (either the frame itself or the mini frame pieces).

The end result is too cool to stay mad about the somewhat poor implementation. I love the Mac monitor look. The quality of the printing seems a little different this time around, heavier is what I'd call it... more saturated. The quality of the cards is still top notch.




And for good measure, a shot of the rest of the cards in my order. Isn't that just nifty?

Name Collage Photoshop Tutorial

This tutorial will help you create a name collage. All images have larger counterparts. Click the thumbnails to see the images larger. Note that you may also have to click them again once they've opened in a new window to zoom in on them more.

I chose a 20x10 canvas because it's a frame size I've seen in stores. You can choose any size, but it's probably a good idea to stay around 240-300dpi if you intend to print.

Here's a sample of how your finished collage might look:



The first step is choosing your font and setting up each letter on a separate layer. The font I chose is called "Boris Black Bloxx" but any chunky font will work. Start by working in black so you can easily see the letters and arrange them:



Next, select all of your letter layers and go to Layer --> Rasterize --> Type. Once you do this, you can no longer edit your letters as text so make sure they are just how you want them before you do this step. You will be able to work with them as if they are images instead of text.



Next, select a layer and use Ctrl-i to invert the black letter into a white letter. Do this separately for each of your letter layers. When you've done that, your image will look like this:



Next, select the layer of the first letter you'd like to work with (I highlighted the B layer). Then open the image you'd like to use, tap the 'v' key to select the move tool, then drag the image to your collage canvas. The image will appear on the layer directly above the letter.



Now, move your mouse cursor so that it is situated right on the line between the letter layer and the image layer. Hold down your 'alt' key and you'll notice a double circular cursor with an arrow. Click right on the line while that cursor is on the screen to create a clipping mask (your letter layer then becomes a mask for that image, showing only what is in the white area).



You'll continue this process for each letter. Make sure you select the letter you want to work with, then open the image you want to use to fill that letter and drag the image directly on top of it. Hold down the 'alt' key and click right between the 2 layers with the image above the letter layer. When you've finished all the letters, your layers palette will look like this:



Now you can be creative. First, add a background layer. I prefer white, so that's what I used. You can use any color. Just add a layer all the way at the bottom and use the paint bucket to fill it with your color of choice.

Select a letter layer to add effects to the letter. You can access the effects panel by double clicking the layer. I used a stroke and a drop shadow. Once you have the effect the way you want it, right click the layer and select "Copy Layer Style" to copy the effect, then select the next letter and right click again, this time selecting "Paste Layer Style" to paste the same effect on each letter layer. Remember to do this on the letter layer, not on the image layer.



When I finished with that, I created another text layer for a name. I also applied effects to the name. I also created additional layers where I used a free brush I downloaded from one of the many PS brush sites (google) to both sides for a little extra decoration.



That's it! The finished collage is ready to be printed and framed at 20x10! Remember, you can click the thumbnail to see the image larger. :)

Hey, look at that!

I had almost forgotten about being asked by moo.com to use my mini cards in their promotion of their new mini card frames. I won't lie, it does give me a bit of a warm fuzzy to see my stuff popping up in places like moo.com and Midwest Living Magazine. It is certainly validating to know that others think it's worth showcasing!

I highlighted the places my images appear in red and used some arrows on the thumbnail. Click the thumb to get a better look at the screenshot. And if you want to order some moo cards, go to http://www.moo.com! They really are great quality and great fun to hand out!



Update! I just noticed they're on the front page slideshow nice and big, too!

Brandon's Photo in Midwest Living Magazine!

I know some professional photographers are going to be angry about the content of this blog post, but hopefully not too many of them bother to read my little blog. Yes, I gave away an image to a publication for free. Obviously this lights a fire under pros who think they should be compensated for every shutter press. Ehhh... sorry? When it's your kid and a magazine with a circulation of one million, I think you'd opt for the bragging rights. :)

Back in July the kids and I visited a very cool indoor play area in Chicago -- Dayfrog! If you're ever in Chicago, check it out with your kids. We enjoyed it so much that we spent two days of our visit there. While I was there I took some snapshots of the kids (shocking!).

The images weren't great quality, just family snaps in low light, but I had a couple that were OK. A while back the owner e-mailed and asked if I would send him something for an upcoming article. Of course!

Here's a photo of Brandon that accompanies their article in the December issue of Midwest Living Magazine! How cool is that? I'm supposed to receive a copy of the magazine soon. Brandon is trying not to let it go to his head. ;)

Click the photo to see the whole page.

Photoshop Actions

I've ended up with a small selection of actions that I've created by request or for my own use. I thought it would be good to have a designated place to collect them. These are my basic actions for color workflow and web finishing. I've also included two brightness/contrast actions that I thought might be helpful for contrasty scenes.

Basic Color Workflow -- Sets up adjustment layers for all of the main adjustments with the proper blending modes selected. Arbitrary starting values are selected, but each layer should be adjusted for the actual image.

Selectively Brighten -- Brightens midtones and shadows. This can be run right after the main color workflow action to instantly brighten and smooth the image. You can also run this 2 or more times to achieve a brighter result.

Even out Shadows -- Pulls down the brightness on the highlights and pushes up brightness on midtones and shadows. This evens out the tones in contrasty scenes. This can also be used after the main color workflow action, but probably should not be combined with the selective brightening action above.

Double Drop Shadow Frame (portrait and landscape) -- These add a fancy double shadowed border to your image. This action also resizes and sharpens your image for web. Choose the appropriate action for the orientation of your photo if uniformity is desired. Click here for a sample.

Basic web finishing(portrait and landscape) -- These add a basic black border with white keyline. This action also resizes and sharpens your image for web. Choose the appropriate action for the orientation of your photo if uniformity is desired. Click here for a sample.

Sharpen for Web only -- Just what you'd think -- flattens and sharpens your web-sized image without resizing or adding a border.

These actions are available for download here:

http://www.andrearubash.com/POTN/Andrea's Actions.atn

Winter is coming...

... and I'm getting ready. I liked winter so much more before I had kids, especially toddlers. Slush, mud, snow, and puddles are coming -- for the next 6 months. I've built a simple portable studio to keep me busy this winter.

I've tried it out with both kids and I can already see that some big powerful lights need to be on my agenda. Right now I'm working with 2 speedlights, an umbrella and a tiny softbox. I have 3 paper colors so far, but I can see that paper will become addictive.

Here are a few shots from my very first try. I'm pretty excited about the possibilities! I just need to get a little more creative.

There is a difference...

If I could will the world to learn something (I won't say one thing because there are a lot of things I want the world to learn), it would be that there is a difference between what is RIGHT and what is legally acceptable. That ethics, morality, and right and wrong are not dictated by the laws of this land.

In so many cases, I hear people excuse behavior with the "it's perfectly legal" clause and I see people whose actions demonstrate this without words. I see people returning items to stores that they admit having used for almost a year just because the store policy allows for it. I see people who lie shameless to get what they want because it is so rare for honesty or compassion to flow freely that they feel they have to in order to get what they need or want.

I like to believe that there was a time in this country, maybe not so long ago, when people still truly believed that right and wrong were completely separate concepts from what their government allowed. I believe there was a time when customer service wasn't dead and when people gladly waved you into traffic. I believe there was a time when generosity was common and people truly helped one another -- and not just in the midst of a crisis or natural disaster.

These are things I want to believe. I need to believe that this spirit might still be alive somewhere -- because we might need it someday.

Happy birthday to Brandon... again!

We hosted a very small family party for Brandon's birthday today. My sad little attempt to get a family picture was mostly thwarted by the wind and the fact that Bailey's resolve to run away into the street was surprisingly strong. The lack of a tripod made it even more of an adventure.

Stu managed to get one shot with my setup before Bailey ran away again... all subsequent attempts were completely unusable (unless Miss. Bailey Angry Face is a good look for a family portrait). I snapped a few of Tabitha and Brandon, too -- these turned out better than the group shot.

Click the images for slightly larger versions on my flickr. :)






These were my first real shots using my complete off camera lighting setup. I am loving the results of adding off camera flash. I think it really has the potential cause a bit of an addiction to buying lighting gear! :)

Word from GM

I do have to mention that back in the end of July, after a particularly heated conversation with GM's insurer, a shiny new 2009 Cadillac SRX was delivered to me through Enterprise. After driving that minivan for more than 3 weeks, I was over the novelty. I was pleasantly surprised that she was willing to see it my way and help me get a comparable rental while they continued their investigation into my car fire. It really hurts to write out a check for a car payment when that car is sitting in a dealer's parking lot.

It has now been another month (making the entire process 2 1/2 months so far) and I have finally heard from GM. Surprisingly... they are going to fix my car. No kidding! I have to laugh when I think about this entire process and how much easier it would have been had they simply agreed to do the right thing way back in June.

I can only imagine the money that they've spent on 8 weeks of rentals, investigators, engineers, attorneys, and insurance adjusters just to come to a conclusion that was absolutely inevitable. No, I did not set my car on fire and yes, they really need to pay to fix it.

The dealer says I may have my car back as early as the end of next week!

A couple "ah ha!" days..

Brandon and I hit the park before his hair cut appointment (desperately needed). Brandon is a tough one. He has a lot of limitations in his posing. He has no trouble picking up a bug, but do NOT ask him to sit anywhere near one. No, he won't sit in the grass, no not on the rocks either... nope, he won't lean up against that wall. I am definitely being punished for what I did to my mom. :)

Here's one from our park trip. Full midday sun, in the shade... I was surprised to find so many cool locations at one park. It's a definite keeper and would be awesome with someone who is more willing to get a little dirty.

And from my favorite series yet... it's Brandon looking "like a grown up going to work..." There were taken in the neighbor's yard in the few minutes we had before dinner (post hair cut).

I am dying to scope out thrift and consignment stores in the area for more props. This chair really made my day -- $5 at the thrift store AND it folds -- BONUS! Fits in the car with no trouble at all.

The rest of the images from those 2 series are on my flickr.

Bellies and Babies...

I attended Bellies and Babies yesterday in Milwaukee and I really need to mention it. I am so encouraged and motivated now. I'm obviously no stranger to WOM marketing and I can't say that the core of the information was new, but she packaged her information in such a way that it really just makes you feel like you can conquer the world.

I also met another super fun local photographer who I think (hopefully) really meshes with me personality-wise. I am so excited to print up some marketing materials to send out to local moms and moms-to-be. I hope that she and I can get together and shoot bunches of kids and babies to build our portfolios together.

I also attended a lighting class tonight at a really awesome local camera store I *just* discovered a couple weeks ago. The class itself was somewhat uneventful, but I was so pleased to find that they stock the few things I needed to get my off-camera lighting up and running.

I have a REAL shoot on Monday with Brian's former boss and her kids. I am so excited to shoot this adorable young lady and her brothers -- they are older and will certainly have a longer attention span than my own kids. And now I even have off-camera lighting to help me out a bit (even if it is still just a single light).

In the next post I need to share some new photos taken in the last few days.

While I was ignoring them...

... all of the things we've planted were getting bigger. Tonight I made a big (healthy) Italian dinner with parsley and tomatoes from our own garden. We always seem to choose the quick fix, but even with Bailey screaming and hanging on my arm while I'm cooking, I still love to make a big complex meal.

We've been in an endless dinner loop, so I've been forcing myself to make only things we have never had before... or at least new variations on old favorites. Convincing Brian that there could be a healthy alternative to his beloved mini meatloaves was a painful 10 minutes I will never get back, but I won. I WON!

Brandon's 6th birthday is coming up in 2 days. I'm sad and excited and amazed all at the same time. No more toddler sizes. No more "not really" school and pretending he's still my baby. In fact, I'm positive that pretty soon he is going to tell me I can't call him baby anymore. That's gonna suck.

Brandon is having, by far, the longest birthday ever. Even longer than Brian's birthdays, which tend to drag on for at least the entire month of April. In the name of Brandon's birthday we finally checked out the zoo in Madison on Sunday and this weekend we're taking Brandon and two friends to swim at the indoor waterpark in Rockford (the entire extended family has decided to tag along). In 2 weeks, when Uncle Brad and Aunt Tabitha get back from their trip, we'll have yet another family party. No, he doesn't get a big exciting kid party with piles of presents, but I think there's a chance he will survive anyway.

We also bought our first family game console -- a Wii (which I resisted for ages). I had to agree to something and it was *not* going to be another machine that requires no input other than pressing buttons -- we get enough of that around here already. And I'm not going to give in to the whole, "buuuttttt.... Chris has more consoles than I doooooooo." (Betcha thought Brandon said that... It's more pathetic when you know it was my 37 year old husband). ;)

It is now 2:15am and Bailey is still awake after her unfortunate late nap. When Little Bear is over, we are going to desperation mode and locking ourselves in the bedroom.

Signed,

The Bedtime Enforcer

I've been lax...

It's been a while. I feel like we've done too much for me to include it all here. We took a trip down to Chicago and stayed right in the heart of downtown. The kids and I found an awesome indoor playground just like the one I dream to build here. I know that the economy in Janesville wouldn't support the prices they are charging for admission in the city, but I think it's absolutely essential for kids in Janesville to have something to do in the winter that is not McDonald's and Chuck E. Cheese's. Moms (and dads) need a place to relax, have some coffee, and connect with each other.

I've been thinking so much about where I want to go with my career in the future. It will only be a few short years before both kids are in school all day. I am feeling that I need a change. I need something real and tangible after so many years of selling a virtual product to virtual people for virtual money.

I'm still not sure if I have a true passion for photographing other people. I do know I am truly passionate about photographing my own children, but that isn't really an indication of anything meaningful. Who doesn't like pictures of their own kids? The line between momtographer and photographer is the question of whether I can work with and capture the emotions of children who are not my own.

A mom I just met (my new Mary Kay consultant, in fact) mentioned that she'd like me to practice on her kids, so I'm excited to give it a try. Expectations will be low, hopefully. I'm also excited to meet up with a local photographer who found me through my craigslist plea for free practice work.

I feel that I've had an AHA! metering moment and my exposure is really improving, especially now that I know all it takes to get Brandon to pose for me is $1 per finished shot. ;) It's a small price to pay for a willing model!

Here are a couple from our 2 more recent attempts. I have exhausted the areas around our yard, so I hope to beg a neighbor or two for access to their yards, too.













This post is already far too long and Brian should be walking in the door any minute! His flight was miraculously on time. First time for everything. :)

July is almost half gone...

... and Brian has been home for 4 days this month. Tonight we had a really beautiful sunset (for here, you know) for the first time in ages and ages. I really wish I had a better location to grab these, but if I had loaded up the baby and driven aimlessly looking for a perfect Wisconsin farmhouse to use as a foreground, well.. you know... the sun would have already been gone.

These will have to do:

The kids took me to the park on Wednesday. I'm already allowing myself to get mildly depressed about the end of summer, but I finally have Bailey back on schedule, so we should at least be able to enjoy a little more of it now.

Oh, now I know why people use these borders... it makes even bad pictures look good. I fought them for a long time, but there really is a noticeable impact! Here are a couple from Wednesday. It was really bright, so there were only a few. The rest are in my flickr.

Bailey is so good at the rolley slide now. This time, I let go of my fears and let her go down all by herself. It was only after several days of practice, but I still hold my breath when she's up there alone.

About the 4th of July...

I'm posting this late because I was consumed with other things and I completely forgot. Brian got back into town late on the 3rd and I planned a big extravaganza for the 4th. You know... get in the car, go to the carnival, waste money, watch the fireworks. BIG, BIG plans for a Janesville Friday night.

Is it possible that the same carnival rides I remember from my childhood are still in service? I am still almost ashamed that I even let my child go anywhere near some of the rides. I came home and deleted almost every single picture I took because I was so mortified at the terrible condition of the rides. Brandon's favorite ride consisted of single-seater helicopters that were all rusted through and missing their propellers.

In this one, I cropped out the sad little dangling wires where propellers were once attached so you can almost imagine this ride in its shiny, sparkly new glory.

I gave up on editing this one when I realized that putting your child into a roller coaster car that is apparently held together with tape is not something you want to showcase in the family album.

After exhausting every possibility for carnival enjoyment in about an hour, we left for dinner at the very same Olive Garden where Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson had dinner last week. Claim to fame!

Later, we hung out on the porch and watched the neighbors' fireworks display, but we skipped the party (kids don't mix with drunken adults setting things on fire near a swimming pool). I used it as an opportunity to grab some fireworks shots.

You can see those fireworks shots in my flickr set from the 4th.

An early morning experiment

We've been here in Janesville for 3 years and I've always felt that we really don't have much natural beauty here. I have tried to convince myself otherwise, but Janesville has really not come through for me. Today I took off at sunrise in search of something beautiful and came back with almost nothing.

I've been thinking more about this and I've realize that we do have natural beauty here, but that the city of Janesville has not done an acceptable job making this beauty accessible to the general public. The vast majority of our Rock River shoreline is locked up in private residences. We have bridges over the river, but nowhere you'd want to stop.

The city of Janesville calls itself the "city of parks" -- but I have yet to find a truly photogenic park. I do find playground equipment and public pools, but true raw natural beauty that would require a camera, no. The Janesville flickr pool reminds me of this reality every time I check it. Train cars and old buildings, even bowling alleys and pictures of Taco Bell... but not a single thing that would inspire me to wake up at 5am and set out with a tripod.

This morning, I went looking for the sunrise in my stylish rental car. I drove for over an hour, mostly downtown and near the river. This is what I shot first and it's the only one I liked enough to process. Everything else left me with a blah feeling that makes me very insecure about my own abilities. I would love to discover Janesville with someone more accomplished. I'm open to the idea that it's just me.

Why yes, it is 3:16am and...

... that is Bailey sitting next to me in her high chair eating black bean soup and rice. Sleep creep again. One bad night leads to a late morning and then another late night. I am almost positive that it would not kill this child to sleep on a regular schedule for more than a week at a time, but I can't say with 100% certainty. More research is required.

We had a really nice day celebrating my birthday with the family in Antioch. I absolutely love showing up with prints and coming home almost empty-handed. I know it doesn't seem like much, but it means something to me. It means something to have these people in my life who care about us enough that they want to fill their homes and their albums with images of my children and moments that I captured.

Tomorrow, I want to drive around aimlessly with my camera. Brian just walked in the door and he'll be back in the air on Tuesday -- I need just a bit of Sunday for me. I will make the best of this city, no matter how much I would rather be somewhere else. It's not New Jersey and the people we love are here. I need to remind myself of that as often as possible.

Hey honey, how's Myrtle Beach?

Brian's job is sooooo rough... Myrtle Beach this week, Atlanta next week... just off playing with toys and making people happy. If I believed in reincarnation, Brian would be my shining example -- that man must have done something pretty darn good in a past life to deserve the one he's living now.

I've been working a little more with off camera flash and it's all still kind of fuzzy, but since I can't bounce off the ceiling or walls in this house (green walls, people), I practiced bouncing off of some of the only neutrals in the house -- the kitchen blinds. Half of them are neutral, at least. We won't discuss the green ones they put over the sink.

Hard to focus in a self portrait, sorry... but I think the lighting worked well.

Breakfast with the kids. He's so focused on her.

Sometimes he looks like such a young man, but in this picture he really still looks like a baby to me. Almost 6... SIX!

And my self portraits... a haze over both because the focus wasn't perfect, but really... not possible.

AND... Happy Birthday to Me! It doesn't really bother me, but I do find it kind of funny that I'm spending my birthday here while Brian parties in Myrtle Beach and my mom is off enjoying 2 weeks in Europe! I treated myself with a sugar free iced coffee and I ate some potato chips -- the real kind.

Oh... I should also add that GM came through after TWO WEEKS and got me a rental car. How generous of them. I have no word on how long it will be before they inspect and make a decision about my car, but until them I am enjoying a stylish white minivan. I miss my car, but something about a minivan is just so neat. It's so easy to get the kids in and out and I do love the space.

Customer Service is dead... at least for GM.

I hesitated to post this because I did not want to make this blog all negative and ranty, but I think it's important to post about things like this so that they end up in better positioning on Google for others who might be searching for similar experiences. So, here we go. The following is what I've sent to a couple consumer complaint sites.

After reading a recent Consumer Affairs article about GM engine fires, I feel compelled to write with my experience. I drive a 2004 Cadillac SRX, which is under warranty through GM and has not been modified in any way.

On June 16th, 2008, I was leaving the grocery store when I smelled smoke in my vehicle. I drove approximately 20 feet from the building to see if I was pulling smoke in from an outside source, but when I was outside in the fresh air, I noticed that smoke was beginning to pour out of my vents.

I left the vehicle and walked around trying to determine the source of the smoke. I opened the rear lift gate and found thick gray smoke pouring from the area behind the windshield wiper. It seemed to be the source of the smoke.

At that point I called OnStar emergency services and they dispatched police and fire to my location. While on the line with OnStar, flames became visible from beneath the inside lift gate trim panel. The flames were approximately the size of the grapefruit and were partially blocked by the trim panel.

Wiper fluid and melted plastic were dripping from the lift gate on to the bumper and into the interior of my vehicle. The wind was blowing into the vehicle and because I was concerned that the flames might move into the interior of the car, I made the decision to use my large drink to put out the fire before it got any larger.

I successfully doused the fire about 30 seconds before the fire department arrived. They disassembled the rear lift gate down to the wiper motor, which appeared to be the source of the fire.

The damage includes the entire lift gate door and trim, the wiper motor and circuit board, the rear bumper, and possibly the upholstered cover of the cargo area.

I am now on day 11 of GM "investigating" the issue. They refuse to accept it as a warranty claim and instead have passed me through to the "product allegation" department where they did nothing but record my name and basic information for 2 days before passing me to another department. The other department says they need 7-10 business days to decide what they will do with the issue and I am not allowed to have any contact information for them unless they have not contacted me in 10 business days.

Through all of this, I am being denied a rental car and they are holding my vehicle at the dealer, apparently having told the dealer to park it outside of their garage for safety reasons.

I understand their need to investigate this claim. However, their refusal to offer me a rental car while they hold my vehicle is unacceptable and the only part of the situation that I do not understand.

I would gladly give them all the time in the world if they could step up and stand behind their products and policies by giving me a rental car during their investigation. While my car sits at the dealer baking in the sun, not being aired out and still smelling of burning plastic and metal, my family is missing out on our summer plans.

As residents of Janesville, WI we are duly impacted by the recent GM plant closings that will undoubtedly lower our property values, raise our taxes, and cause closings and cost increases for local businesses. I understand that they are having a tough year, but this is pennies in the grand scheme. I want this company to stand behind their product and show me that customer service is not dead.

It's clearly a warranty issue and I should clearly be given a vehicle to drive while they are holding my car and not actively investigating or working on it.

UPDATE: 6/27/2008, GM claims department called to tell me that at some point in the future, they will be dispatching one of their 5 or 6 engineers to Janesville to take pictures of my car and investigate the issue. The engineers will provide a report to claims, claims will meet with legal, then legal will take some time deciding whether or not they are going to fix my car, then legal will get back in touch with claims and claims will call me. They give me no indication of how long this process takes, only that is it "lengthy."

UPDATE: 10/22/2008, I realized that I never came back to update this issue. Since it has risen to the top of Google under some GM related keywords, I thought I should just finish this up so that anyone who finds it knows the result.

Earlier in my blog I mentioned that GM did eventually get me a rental car. For several weeks I drove a very lame Chevy minivan. After throwing a bit of a tantrum that I'm still not very proud of, the very understanding agent at GM's insurer apparently went to GM's legal department and got me a better rental car. For the last few weeks of the investigation, I did have a comparable rental car.

They eventually did "settle" with me for the cost of the repairs, but I had to sign away my life in agreement that they were not at fault for the damage. Obviously they could have saved a TON of money in rentals, legal fees, investigators, etc if they had just fixed it in the beginning (it was just over $2,000 in damage), but I'm not surprised that they were willing to waste the time and money.

The entire process took 2 1/2 months from the date of the incident. Only time will tell if fire damage will show up on my carfax report, rendering this car untradeable.

I have to admit...

After 8 solid days of being mostly cooped up alone with 2 (wonderful) children, I'm about at the end of my rope. The only thing getting me through today was knowing that this was the last day of my misery.

brian_bfs: I cant leave NJ til Friday..

Ouch. That didn't help. You know what didn't help even more? Finding out it's a 7pm Friday flight.

It's storming here so we won't be going anywhere. Honestly, I feel like baking a cake for dinner and calling it a day. I'm pretty sure child protective services can't take away the kids for cake.

The weather has been bad and I've been forcing myself to use my 28-300 just to make sure I haven't been too harsh about it... it's an OK lens, but it's nowhere near the quality I want, so I need to upgrade to the Tamron 70-200 f2.8 (hint, hint.. I have a birthday coming up).

Came home from the grocery store...

... and I found this.

I made dinner in silence. I'm paying for it now. It's almost 4am and Bailey is showing no signs of slowing down. Getting her back on schedule will be my first project as soon as everyone here is over the killer cold that Brandon brought home last week.

I'm finally getting to see how sharp my Tamron lens can be when it's not wide open in low light (where it doesn't excel like the 17-55 does). Did some stuff with flash tonight to test a new flash bouncer I'm going to make now that I've worked out the pattern.

Some of the random shots I took while testing. Nothing special, just seeing what it could do with no light.

Just one more week of school. This week we really NEED to get Brandon early and run him over to what we hope will be his new school. If he feels good about it, it's a go. One more thing checked off the list.

Still conflicted about the pros and cons of church membership and the idea of jumping through the hoops of converting to a new denomination when I know it doesn't change one single thing about what I believe. What's the advantage? Lower tuition? Not a big deal -- it's a steal compared to Rock Prairie. A sense of belonging for Brandon. A very good thing, indeed. But at what cost? The commitment to a new church and the guilt of inevitably falling short of my obligation to the church, maybe to the detriment of Brandon's good standing. So much pressure.

More processing from today...

I thought it would be fun to put together a quick Flash movie to show the differences between the original and processed files. Roll over the finished image to reveal the unprocessed file, then roll out again to restore the edit.

No Pictures from Friday...

I took a few of our Mother's Day lunch with our parents today, but nothing worth sharing. I guess I was just having a low key day, recovering from my 6 days of being solely in charge of these little people. Brian's flight was canceled and he didn't make it home on Friday. He got here today with no time to spare. He hadn't slept all night, so he spent a lot of the day pretending to be awake.

We went to the park again on Friday after school. JUST TWO MORE WEEKS OF SCHOOL!! This time we hit a small park near our house. It's one of those parks where teenagers hang out on the basketball courts not playing basketball. I'm never comfortable there alone with the kids, so when the only other family left, we followed along. We were only able to play for half an hour, but it was cold and I had stuff to do.

Playdate Thursday

Brandon looks forward to his playdate all week. I do when I can leave Bailey at home. When she tags along, it's more like a workout for me. I lie. It's nothing like a workout. If it were a workout, I'd be enjoying a good book... ALONE. I just get tired of chasing her.. up, down, around, up, down, around... but it wouldn't occur to me to leave the camera at home no matter how much easier it would make it for me. ;)