This will be a more technical post, so please bear with me if I bore you.  I’ll try to be humorous to balance out the nerdiness.

The title is “faux sunflare” because the sunflare I was going for just didn’t happen like I envisioned.  It could have  been because I’m not technically skilled enough to do this yet, or because my child won’t stay still long enough for me to practice, or simply just because I can’t stare into the sun for that long.  However, there were a few things in Photoshop that helped me out.

When I shoot towards the sun like this my subject tends to be “soft” or not a crisp as normal.  So, I took this photo (on a gloriously wonderfully sunny warm day, BTW) & did the following (all in Photoshop CS4):

1.  Slice Like a Ninja (Sharpen) from Totally Rad Actions

2.  Warm from Pioneer Woman

3.  Boutwell Magic Glasses from TRA, again

4.  Sunshine from Pioneer Woman again.

Then, I had stumbled upon a filter in Photoshop under Filter > Render > Lensflare.  Ohhh…what’s this little gem?  It seems to add the sunny spot & the flare for you.  For this particular photo I positioned my “faux” sun in the upper left corner (where the real one was) and chose 100% brightness & a 35mm Prime lens.  I don’t really have any idea what all that means, but the above photo is what I came up with.

Now, for the story behind the photo:  Since it was so amazingly gorgeous out today, I made myself take the kiddos out & ride scooters.  They, on their own, decided to get their sand shovels out & shovel the remaining snow & fling it all around the ground.  I got hit a few times.  This photo is of Emma, my oldest, all decked out.  If you check out my scooter video on Facebook you can see the entirety of her ensemble – glasses, 2 bracelets, necklace, fur trimmed gloves, etc.  She loooooooves dressing up.  She once told me that the more jewelry you have on, the more beautiful you are!

Photos I’ve been looking at:  Joey L.  Apparently this talented dude is almost 10 years younger than me, shoots famous people & travels the world.  I really love looking at his photos of foreign lands that are virtually untouched by civilization.  In particular, his time in Ethiopia.  They are amazing.  (*there is some nudity, so viewer be ware)

The End.

Yes, family & friends, it was only a matter of time before a Settlers blog post appeared.  In case you don’t know about Settlers of Catan, it’s a German board game that my family is obsessed about – or, that I am obsessed about winning.  Personally I think it’s like a cross between Monopoly & Risk.  Currently I am on a 3-month losing streak.  And, people, we don’t just play once in a while – we play at least once a week, sometimes more, and even more than one game in a sitting.  I am the official Settlers loser in my family, and I make sure to let them all know about it.  I stink!  I just don’t know why (they could all probably tell you), but I can’t seem to win.  Oh well, such is life.  And it’s just a game, right?

Today after Bert & Laura brought Emma back after her sleepover, we all had lunch at our house & played two games of Settlers.  Congratulations to Mom (Bonnie) & Bert on winning.  (You won’t be invited back, since you didn’t let me win).

In the photo above I’m the blue pieces.  As you can see at this point things didn’t look too terrible for me until Mom came full force with a massive road, cutting the entire land of Catan in half!  And Bert with his stinkin’ castles!  OMG!  How’s a person supposed to win with this kind of competition?  I even have Settlers of Catan on my iPhone so I can practice against highly-skilled computers but I just can’t seem to bring the winning into real life.  I’ll be sure to let you know when my streak ends.

Oh, and if you want to play with us, come on over.  We’re usually up for playing any day of the week, even into the wee hours of the night.  Sroka’s are always up for some competition!

Photos I’ve been looking at:  Melissa C.  She’s a person I randomly found though…you guessed it….Facebook!  I think I saw her comment on another 365 blog & clicked through to her blog & saw her photo of a crossword puzzle.  Immediately I thought of my dear grandmother who loves crosswords.  Melissa gave me such an encouraging comment the other day when I felt like giving up on this 365 thing.  Thanks for the push forward Melissa & I love looking at your work.  Keep it up!

*oh, and we’re such Settlers nerds that we bought Kids of Catan for our children.  Yup, we took it that far.

This has to be a quick post because….drum roll…Josh & I get a date tonight!  AHHHH!  So exciting!  And I have to get the girls ready and out the door in 30 minutes.

Anyways…this photo is from our lunch trip to McDonald’s in Arnold today.  They apparently give out kiddie cones for free which I think is pretty nice of them.  I’m glad they had them too because it was what I used as leverage to get Brooke to stop talking & eat!  As you can see, my girls LOVE ice cream!  (I think they get that from me)  Thanks McDonald’s!

(PS – we are going to see AVATAR in a 3D XD theater at Arundel Mills – Josh says its the BEST one to see it in, besides IMAX.  I’ll let you know what we think)

Images I looked at:  Honestly, I’ve only looked at my own!  I’m editing about 200+ little kids head shots for a special surprise project that I can’t talk about & I’m awful at keeping secrets & I really just need to blab to someone, but I can’t!  So, hopefully once the project is unveiled, I can share with y’all!  (shhh…but maybe if you ask me personally I can tell you, or not)  Anyway, looking at my own images (sounds conceited,right?) makes me realize that I love shooting children & I think I have almost cemented in my mind that a “Portrait” photographer is what I want to be right now.  Weddings are great, & lovely, & wonderful…but maybe just not for me currently.  Doesn’t mean I won’t shoot them, but I am not going to label myself as that.  I can’t be an everything photographer.  I want to be a one thing photographer, and be really good at it.  There, I said it, so now it’s final!

See y’all later!

I met Adele through our daughters’ preschool.  We are working on a special project for Asbury’s upcoming fundraiser & I got the priviledge of working with her.  And I’ll even credit her with turning our family on to Deer Park bottled water delivery!

Adele asked if I’d be able to come out to her house & get some quick photos of her family in time for their Christmas cards.  I said, “Uh, yeah!”  They have such a lovely, warm home.  Not only is it decorated so elegantly, but it just makes you feel right at home when you walk in.  Adele just has a way of making you feel welcome from the start!

Thanks so much for inviting me in to your home & letting me get to know your family better.  I had a great time and you can feel free to invite me back any time!  (*wink wink*).  Have a wonderful Christmas!