Not on Theme - update on Grandma

So today has been a crazy day. I went to dd's play date and nobody showed up. I waited in the car for 10 minutes (a little irritated but oh well). So I decided since we were out we would go to the hospital and check on Grandma. I was a little hesitant because dd doesn't do well at the hospital and today was no exception. When I got there grandma didn't look good at all she was interested in talking, I can't really put a finger on what it was. It was lunch time so I thought maybe dd would be better if I went to the cafeteria and got her lunch. Grandmas nurse walked by as I came out and stopped me. She said that they were releasing her from the hospital that there is nothing wrong with her medically any longer (everything was resolved) and that the real issue is depression. She is not eating or taking care of her daily needs (mainly because she is too weak to do anything). The recommendation is that she goes home, is not left alone and she sees a psychiatrist. They also stated that her medical problems all stem from the depression. They put her on medication for depression but said it would take a month to really affect her. I have been in tears all afternoon. We are not prepared for her to come home. She lives alone and we don't want her to be alone. We don't think she could even make it to the bathroom if she needed to without falling (she is weak and shakey). We just don't have anyway to even bring her into our home. I live in a tiny tiny basement apartment. We thought they would give us 24 hrs before they discharged her so we could make some decisions. Haven't been able to set up home healthcare or anything. I'm really kinda freaking out and I just need to get this off my chest. You typically think that when someone leaves the hospital they are better but she is not better. The nurse told me she won't eat and we can't force her to eat and in my head I'm thinking so your telling us to take her home and let her starve herself to death. Ok that's a bit dramatic but it's what I'm feeling. I just don't know what to do.

To top it off I went to take a picture of my dd for today (trying to occupy my mind) and my camera isn't working I'm getting error 02 so I guess my cf card is broke or damaged or whatever. The picture I am posting is of my dh. I took these pictures the other day just playing with my camera. He is the most wonderful person in world and I don't know how I ever lived with out him. He loves me completely and unconditionally and it's the greatest gift I have ever recieved. These are the many faces of Pete. It makes me laugh to see because it show all the sides of his personality. Thanks for your comments and friendship. It brightens my day to look at my blog each morning.

On Theme

So there is another storm today and I didn't want to go out in it. I was able to get these pictures today and actually catch up on the blogs. I thought the necklaces worked really well for horizontal so here's my take. They also work with my ABC Book. Thanks for looking and your cc. I will keep you updated as we learn more about dh's grandma. Off to the hospital.

Words D is for Daddy

So I haven't really been able to do much as we have been real busy with dh's grandma being in the hospital. We just got home from the hospital and dh left to go. DD has been quite demanding lately as daddy hasn't been around much. It's been a pretty stressful week. I did manage to take this picture of dd hugging daddy. I just love smile on dh's face. Thanks for looking and for all your words of concern. On a happier note dh let me buy the 50mm 1.8 lense. I'm pretty excited to get it should come in the mail next week. I've really been struggling with my lense and getting good pictures. However I have been working with a 2 yr old that's always on the go. I figure if I can learn to take great pics of her then I can do anything. Ok maybe not anything but you get my drift.

Not on Theme Technically

Ok so this has been one of those weeks were I wish I hadn't gotten out of bed. I am recovered from my sickness, (thanks for think of me) which is a good thing since on thursday we had to take my husbands grandma to the emergency room. It was a pretty scary day and felt like if anything could go wrong it did. I spent most of the day at the hospital. At about 5:15 that evening I left to get my dd from a very good friend who was kind enough to watch her. On the way I got stuck in a snowbank, I got out the car to see what I needed to do to get out. The car was still running and in gear (didn't realize this) I stupidly shut the door and the car locked. So my car was stuck, running, in gear, and everything I needed was in the car (cell phone....etc.) Talk about nightmare. My husband couldn't come help me cause he was in class and I had his car along with my own. (His keys were also in side my car). So it took 2 1/2 hours to get into my car. So I didn't get to my dd until 8 at night. She had been at my friends since 1:30. Can I just say that Thursday was a nightmare of a day.

I do have to mention that the day didn't start out all bad. Before all this began my friend let me come over and take some picks with her studio lights and backgrounds. (Very kind of her) I was able to get these pictures for my ABC book. I have F and L completed. Thanks Shantel! As usual dd is not smiling in any of these but I have given up on fighting with her about it.

As a follow up on grandma, she is doing much better. She had stopped eating, bathing, and drinking and had become so weak she couldn't do anything. Now she is where she can be cared for and we can find out what caused her to go down hill. I truely am greatful that we live in a place where she can get the needed medical attention to make her well again. Thanks for listening to me ramble on. I truely appreciate your comments, feedback and words of concern.

Words 2

I really have nothing all that exciting today. I have been really sick all day and am just barely starting to feel ok. I had planned on working more on my ABC book but that was shot when I woke up this morning sick and in the bathroom most of the day, so here is what you get. This is what my day usually consists of with dd. These videos are what makes it possible to get anything done in a day. We let dd watch signing time and it benefits both in so many ways. I get stuff done and she gets educational entertainment. At a year she started signing so I have really always been able to figure out what she needed. She is very good at signing and has a large vocabulary because she signs. It's great, whenever people meet her they think she is "so smart". And what parent dosen't love to hear that. She loves to sing because they use music to teach sign language. So she is always singing (very fun to hear, especially at church). So bascially I am one of those moms who lets my child watch a lot of TV. And I justify it because it's educational. Oh well. Sorry I didn't get to anyones blog today but I will try and catch up tonight. Thanks for all your cc.

ss 1/125 f/4.0 Iso 400 Just gave it a little color boast.

Words

Ok can I just say that this past few days have been a complete nightmare. Someone did something to my computer and I couldn't sign into two peas all weekend. And then once I finally got into two peas last night I couldn't get into blogger. It has been such a fight with this stupid computer to try and get things working right. I have no idea what happened. But finally it's fixed and I am back. Hopefully without any further problems. Here is my first entry, these are some wood blocks that I have out for V-day decorations. (Yes I am already decorated). I couldn't come up with anything super creative and I'm feeling far from love for my computer right now and if I can get my dd in bed any sooner it might be a good night (if any of you moms know what I mean). Don't get me wrong I do love her just don't much appreciate her attitude tonight. So sorry for my sob story and I am glad to be back. I don't have any of my setting, really I am just lucky to be up tonight.

Before and After

So I have a couple for you to look at today. One texture pic to be on theme(didn't take pic today though) and then 3 for my book. Well techniqually 2 but I can't decide which one I like the best for S so please I really need your two cents on this one. Let me know what you think looks better the vintage look or the color pop or you can say neither if you just plain don't like it. So as far as the texture one goes I wish I could tell you what I did but I can't really remember I just kinda went and played. I just downloaded a curves plug in and have been having fun trying to figure out how that works so I did play with that a little bit. So thanks for looking and all your CC. Sometimes it's the hightlight of my day to come and see what everyone says about my work.
before

SOOC ss 1/1000 f/4.0 iso 100
after



I'm so excited about this one as I think these pictures turne.d out really well. The only pping i did on these was levels to brighten them up. My fav is the picture of her washing her leg, she looks like such a young lady lol. And then don't we all wish we could read in the tube. Sorry I just love these pictures. Oh and just a little note about "tubbers", it's dd and grandpa's favorite word. So this one is for Papa.

Do you like this one or............

this one? Or neither?

Before and After

I spent all day yesturday making tutu's for dd and one I got done she wanted to play in them. DH got home from work and the two of them started to play on the bed. I took these pictures which were lots of fun but just turned out terrible. My settings were all wrong and there just isn't any light in that room. I figured I would play and see if I could give them a grunge look. First pics are sooc except for crop. PPing involed croping adjusted levels added a vignette. Used Michelles crossprocessed action (really like just looking for right photo to use it on). Added a grunge texture and then a grunge border. Also added A and C for my ABC book. Thanks for looking. You all are awesome.

Before and After - letter B

I didn't take this picture today I took it in November when I was in Florida. I got inspired with all the texture looks and so I thought that I would give it a try. I just love this picture cause my dd is trying so hard to cathch the birds. It was fun to watch and capture. On my ABC book pages I created all my templates in PSE 4.0 and I just do them as I go. Thanks for looking and all your CC. I really try to follow your advice and appreciate all the feedback I get.

SOOC sorry I don't know the settings as I shot in auto mode using the action setting.

On this I duplicated the image did a gaussian blur at 10 then changed the layer mode to overlay and lowered the opacity to 80%. I used two seperate grunge brushes from Brusheezy.com one in black and one in white. The brushes were called nature grunge. Then I added a grunge boarded that I got from obsidian dawn.com. Then I used Jess's tutorial for a vintage photo and tweaked the settings to my liking. I love the way the picture turned out and thought it would be cute for my letter B.

Before and After

Ok today Gabby was playing on her rocking horse she got for christmas and I was inspired to do H for her alphabet book. I had to take about 75 pictures to finaly get the settings right and pictures that looked good. I just adjusted the levels did a gaussian blur and the background (erased the horse and dd) then changed the layer on the background to screen to lighten it up. Page size is 8x8.



SOOC SS1/125 F2.8 ISO 1600 Natural Light

SOOC 1/125 F/3.5 ISO 1600 Natural Light

SOOC SS 1/125 F/3.5 ISO 1600 Natural Light

Some people said they wanted to see this in black and white so here it is. I'm actually think that I might blend the one I did yesturday with this one. Do the ones with pig tales in the previous wash and the ones with the hat in black and white. Thanks for all the CC it really helps to get other ideas and feedback.

Before and After

Well I'm not sure if I like the way this looks but here it is. I did shoot these today. I used michelledavies cross processed action on these and it did a brighten/contrast on the eyes to get them to pop. Not sure if it works on the ones with the hat but liked it in the other two. CC please on what you think.

For the ones with the pigtales SS1/80 f/6.3 ISO 1600 natural light shot in tv mode
For the ones with the hat SS1/200 f4.0 ISO 800 Flash shot in tv mode

Before and After

Ok I took the weekend off so I could spend some time with my family. But I am really glad to be back. A while ago I was looking through two peas and found a tutorial on putting a picture inside a picture and wanted to try it. So I played with a valentines card with that Idea in mind. Finished project it the picture at the end. Under each picture is a description of what I did as I combined these three pictures to get the final product.

SOOC ss 1/200 f/5.6 ISO 400.
First I changed the background to layer and used the magic wand tool to empty the picture frame. Then I changed the bright/contrast settings to 50(b)/40(c) create a duplicate layer change to threshold then gaussian blur at 20. Change blend to screen and lower opacity to 20%.

SOOC ss 1/200 f/5.6 ISO 400.
I followed the same instructions above starting with Bright/Contrast.

SOOC ss 1/1250 f/5.0 ISO 400
Changed the background to a layer then used the magic wand tool to remove the white background. Increased the saturation.
For final picture I copied dd into the picture with the frame and resized. Copied the flower over 3 times and resized. The brush is from obsidian dawn. Gave it a boarder and added the title.
CC always welcome. Thanks for looking.

On Theme

So the first photo is a story board I have been working on. I was really struggling with it getting the white back ground but getting orange skin. But I finally got it. (I think). I'm going to give this to grandma for Valentine's Day. So one of my focus is get a better understanding of how to use photoshop. Most pictures I do I can't recreate exactly what I did cause just do stuff and don't pay attention. But in this case I know exactly what I did.

My next focus I have totally fallen flat. I set a goal to go to the gym 4-5 times a week and I haven't been once this week being that both my vehicles ended up in the shop and then we had a mager storm (didn't want to drive) and then DH has a class tonight and since our other car is in the shop I am carless. So next week I will recommit to making it the gym and working out. At least shoveling snow and climbing the hills when sledding has been giving me a bit of a work out.

ss 1/160 f/3.5 ISO 200 Flash SOOC... I was also working on apeture.

On theme

So I know these pictures aren't good but they were fun. I won't even put the settings cause I know they aren't good. We got about a foot of snow today and it took an hour to dig our car out. We just went outside as a family and shoveled and played in the snow. One of things I want to focus on this year is playing more with my dd and spending quality time as a family. Today was a great day. We had lots of fun jumping in the snow. My dd just kept saying "more, more, more". I love the snow and love when it snows like it did or is (still snowing) today. It really makes me happy. Thanks for the CC I didn't know how to respond to some of your questions from yesturday So I just posted below. Thanks for all your help you guys are all awesome.

My dd really had a hard time walking in the snow. It was pretty funny but she was determined to get to her daddy.

In Response to Last post

Retouches based on your CC thanks for all your comments.

I just adjusted the levels as it was a pretty overcast day.



Some of you asked some questions about my last post and I didn't know who to respond to those questions so I thought I would just post here. On the colored pictures the reason they have a glow is because I do a guassian blur and then change the blending to overlay. It really gives it a nice color burst (only way I know how to do it) then you lower the opacity to taste. I like to do this on my photos that the focus isn't very good. It gives them a soft look. Thanks for the suggestions on lightening up the picture with my dd in the pink coat. On my other conversions I create an adjustment layer Hue/Saturation and change the blending to color. I don't adjust anything on that layer yet. Then I create a second adjustment layer, hue/saturation and lower the saturation to a black and white photo. Then I go back to my previous layer and adjust the hue until I get what I like. Then I create a fill color layer change it to soft light. Then I just play with the colors til I find something I like. I'm not sure if there is a better way to do it but that's how I do my black n whites, sepia etc. The self portrait was soooc. Thanks for looking and all your cc. I work on a lap top so I'm not always sure of the colors.

Playing in the snow

I have finally come to the decsion that I don't get the whole lighting thing and that I need to just stick with outside and natural light. I took a dozen pictures in the house with dd and the lighting is just horrible I can't figure it out for nothing. I was by a window, even opened the door to let more light in (brrrr cold). Brought out a lap everything turned out dark and grey looking. I just don't get indoor lighting. So after deleting like 50 images I took dd down to the park way to play in the snow. Here are a few that I have edited and would like some cc. I just signed up for a photography class at the ATC that starts in 2 weeks. So we will see if I can improve. Any CC on my conversions would be great. Thanks for looking and for all your CC.

SS 1/1000 f/10.0 ISO 400

SS 1/1600 F7.1 ISO 400

Same as first photo just diff conversion

SS 1/1600 F 9.0 ISO 400

1/100 F 5.6 ISO 100 Flash
I really wanted to do a self portrait and I am pretty proud how it turned out. I really like it. I should mention that the ones of my dd were taken in action mode so as to actually catch a decent picture. She moves to fast.

Photography 101

Ok so today is the first day of Photography 101 and we are doing aperture here are my pictures. I bought this flower to use as a prop for my dd's birthday picture (which I will be taking soon). I
thought it would look really pretty in the new snow we got yesturday.

ss 1/2500 f4.0 iso 400

ss 1/1000 f6.3 iso 400

ss 1/100 f 2.0 iso 400

This picture is for POTD "Focus". My dd is looking through my DH's photography book from his class he took a couple years ago. I have been studying the book. I really need to work on my '"focus" and my "focus" this year ly in taking care of my dd and also improving my photography skills. Thanks for all your comments I really look forward to getting them and following your suggestions.
ss 1/100 f4.0 iso 100

I really had to fight to get these pictures. My dd is really just done. I think that I will need to take a break with her for a little bit. I really wanted to get a sharp picture with her. I had to have her dad help so she would slow down. She didn't stop but she did slow done a bit. I would love some cc on my conversions. Thanks for all the comments I really look forward to them.

I did get her to sit still long enough to get a somewhat good picture with her dad. I'm just not so sure about the conversion.

Settings ss 1/200
f/5.6
ISO 100
Flash
White Balance set for shade. (forget to reset that)