Week 8 - Vintage/Something That Makes You Smile

It's a no brainier when it comes to the 'Something that makes you smile' theme, seeing as Avery is in every picture and she makes me smile ALL THE TIME. It's also kind of lame if I were to go with the fact that the little outfit she is wearing really makes me smile. Soooooo, I am left with the vintage theme. Hmmm...... how to make a 6-month old 'vintage'???? 

I thought about taking the easy road out this week. Again, it was a long/busy week and using a preset in LR would surely make my image look vintage. That wouldn't be very challenging, now would it? Therefore, I sat down and went back to my original question: "How the hell do I make a 6-month old 'vintage'? (Notice the increase in frustration.) 

Sometimes I look at the theme and think about it way to literal. Avery doesn't have to be vintage and neither does the photo. Right before my Grandma Olwen passed, I was given the adorable rocker that makes an appearance in these images. This little wooden rocker has been in my family for decades, starting with my Great Grandma when she was a girl. It sits in Avery's room because, well, let's just be honest, my ass doesn't fit in it!! This rocker is also in Avery's monthly pictures:

Hehe look at that little growing stinker!! Obviously, I have learned how to clean the chalkboard in the last five months, too. Anywho, this rocker is very special to me and has become a part of Avery's world, whether she knows it or not. 

In addition to her little rocker, Avery is wearing some pearls that also belonged to my Grandma Olwen. Making these images 'antique' are the two very special objects that were also once a part of my Great Grandma's, Grandma's and Mom's life. 

I can't believe how fast my little girl is growing. My heart melts when I look at these pictures :) 

ISO-100, 1/80 sec, f/1.8, 50 mm

ISO-200, 1/80 sec, f/1.8, 50 mm

Week 7 - Love

How fitting to have the topic this week be 'Love,' the same week as Valentine's Day... the creators of this challenge got REAL creative this week, but I am surely not complaining. As I do every week, I come up with this fabulous idea in my head the second I see the topic. Realizing that I am dealing with a now 6 month old ***Pause to celebrate 1/2 Birthday here WOOOO HOOOOO!!!!*** I have been giving myself all week to try and get the image that I want, most of the time starting on Tuesday. However, this week I was crazy busy with work and didn't get the chance to take a picture until Sunday. Last chance dance here!!! It bit me in the ass. While I am still very happy with my final product, it wasn't what I envisioned starting out.

Waiting until the last day to take my picture must have jinxed me into having a crabby baby. OR it could have been the fact she completely decided to skip a nap. I'm thinking neither really helped my cause. My Bambino did NOT want to take pictures. Luckily, I have the best husband in the world and he stepped in to help me, which actually made me like the picture even more.  

I also wanted to put some fun, baby safe of course, red paint on the bottom of Avery's feet to make them look even more like the little heart I was going for. Um, new mom alert!!! Putting paint on a 6 month old... not sure I want to paint the carpet red. So, after playing around with a few shots, I realized that the paint just wasn't going to happen. I could barely get a picture of her feet in the set up that I wanted... and all of the lint out from between her toes. 

After finally getting the shot I wanted, and editing the lint out that I somehow missed (how can such a tiny baby have so much lint between their toes!?!) I fell in love with the final image. Kid's got some adorable feet..... and.... it kinda looks like a heart... right??

ISO-400, 1/50 sec, f/5, 43 mm

Keeping in tune with the theme of "Love," I figured I would also share some images from my first Engagement shoot. I have a friend at work who is trusting me to take her pictures for her wedding and we figured we would fit in some lovey dovey pre-wedding pics, too. She is a big Literature nut and so it was only fitting to take their pictures at the library. It was a first for me and I am slowly but surely having a lot of fun editing these. Here are a couple of my favorites!!! 

ISO-100, 1/40 sec, f/1.8, 50 mm

ISO-100, 1/40 sec, f/1.8, 50 mm

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!! 

Week 6 - Imagination/Up above

I got so excited when I saw that Imagination was one of the themes I got to choose this week. If you know me well... or at all.... or even a little bit, you would know that I LOVE Harry Potter. Buddy and I have been reading the Harry Potter books (in order, of course) to Avery since the day she was born. I have a Dobby statue.... a Gryffindor scarf...a 'Muggle Born' onesie.. and yes, a magic wand. Along with material things, I also have the extreme desire to be magical myself. You may even say I....IMAGINE myself as a Witch much more than your average 27 year old should admit. Anyway, that's enough about me and my hopes and dreams.... but I'm sure you can see why I chose to run with the Harry Potter idea with a theme like 'Imagination.' How can I not?? 

I remembered seeing a really cool collection of photos in which a Mom took pictures of her napping baby in a bunch of fun and creative settings. So, I can't take full cred for this idea because I full on stole it from this super creative mom, but she didn't have a Harry Potter scene, that was saved for Avery. 

Going into this one with the idea in my head, I figured it would be super easy. Take a picture of my child while she is sleeping... how many times have I done THAT before? However, I am beginning to realize that whenever I think something is going to be easy..... it's not. Then, when I think something is going to be hard....... it is. Avery just doesn't sleep as soundly as she used to when I put her random places, like on the floor on a sheet. So, me sitting above her hoping that she falls asleep in the perfect position was just the dumbest thing in the world. I kept hearing my Mom say "Watch pot never boils" .. that fits here right? Either way, I heard it in my head. And as I watched my "pot," she sat there and watched me back. This was all just Day 1, which was a big, huge bust! I got a couple of pictures, of her looking straight at me. Even got one cute one of her watching Maggie (my cat) walk across the clouds. 

Day 2 was much much better. Aside from some major drool puddles, I was able to coax Avery into falling asleep just where I wanted. I envisioned her sleeping a different way for the picture and then realized half way through just how stupid that is ... You got the kid to sleep, with the scarf on and a wand in her hand.... take the damn picture. So I did, while standing on a ridiculously tall chair. Which could make my final image fit my other theme of 'Up Above,' too. I love it when a plan comes together.

Finally, I got a few good images and then I may have had a little too much fun editing. Why not make the sky a night time sky if you are able to? Oh well, I love it! And I love my little Muggle Born Witch !!!!! 

ISO-800, 1/50 sec. f/3.5, 18 mm

Week 5 - Wet/What is it?

I may have gone a little crazy this week. It's funny how I start out thinking "Shit, I have no idea what I am going to do. I really hope I get ONE good shot this week," and then I come out with four that I like and plan on posting. Oh well, the more the merrier, right?

I went a bit literal again this week and decided to take some pictures of Avery in the bathtub because... well.. she's wet in the bathtub! The only problem with this is I HATE how the bright pink color of the bathtub  shows up in pictures. But, it's impossible to get a good picture of her and the water faucet without getting some of the bathtub in the picture. Believe me, I have an ungodly amount of attempts to prove it. Solution: Black and White

ISO-200, 1/50 sec, f/1.8, 50 mm

Along with Avery's recent desire to follow me everywhere with her huge eyes (which came in handy taking the above picture) she also recently started sucking on her bottom lip. Actually, the day that we took these pictures was the first day she started doing it. She must have woken up that day and said "You know what, this bottom lip is pretty damn cool. I'm gonna suck on it!!" So, naturally, I had the desire to take a picture and document her doing it. I loved her just a bit more when she actually did it while taking a bath!!! I decided to not do this one in black and white because the annoying tub color isn't as obvious (even though I just mentioned it like ten times.)

ISO-200, 1/50 sec, f/1.8, 50 mm

And this one, nothing really to say about it except I just think she's the cutest little baby and I love the "sucking on my bottom lip" face! (Also, messed with the color because of the stupid pink tub. Don't get me wrong, the tub works great for what it's supposed to do, just miserable in pictures.)

ISO-200, 1/50 sec, f/1.8, 50 mm

Last but not least, I figured I would throw a "What is it?" picture in the mix. I am very proud of my cloth diaper stash and most people don't even know what the hell they look like. I also figured this picture would work for both of the themes: What is it (cloth diaper) and yes, they get WET!! They are also very colorful.  Here's a few of  them.

ISO-200, 1/30 sec, f/1.8, 50 mm