hello to all who read…

ok people….do you know about actions and no one told me until now?  summer mentioned it in passing the other day and mentioned also doug boutwell….ok …where have i been??  i knew what an action was because graphics people offer them quite often to make light of work….i.e. resizing pictures for the website in bulk….as opposed to doing it how i have done it every season (and this that is why there are only thumbnails…DONE resizing thumbnails or not until next season, sorry patience officially expired)….

ok so back to actions…get ready you are about to be mmmmm saturated or drenched (like that? new word for inundated?)… i used the FREE photoshop actions that i acquired in a frenzy once i realized how fun they are….my i.t. husband quietly awaiting a virus that he will have to fix….ugh!! double ugh!! be careful!!

ok wait…first watch this…if you have photoshop and use it http://www.gettotallyrad.com/#video-tutorials-7a1da

this is a kindof ruthless guy but he explains it really well…..

ok next…look!!

the first will be “as shot” and after that scroll over each picture to see what the action was called that i used…i am really afraid this is going to be as exciting as itunes….well, maybe i can’t use photoshop actions in the car and on the treadmill sooo….ok ENOUGH…look!!

you get the point right?  so fun…ONE BUTTON…and really all it requires is knowing how to open a picture in photoshop and get to the actions tab ….which he shows on the tutorial above….so much fun right?  enjoy!! holla if you have questions….i probably can’t answer though so maybe you are better off with google…..

so mia gets alot of air time these days as she is still a willing participant…i kindof feel bad logan doesn’t but he certainly doesn’t care so i’ll just have to catch him in a cooperative mood…

so have fun…consider yourself drenched and enjoy!

all of my love to bebek and sam, and of course my person…

hello to all who read….

a little roadtrip today to go get miss mia from nonni…halfway or a little more to TN after a few days of only having one 6yo….heaven for a little while even though the void was more than obvious…

road trips of  just about any length ALWAYS include my ipod of course a little sonic diet cherry limeade….although today i had to get a diet coke…my head…my stinkin’ head…:)

so the workroom was a little better for it as miss mia was away ….as are the junk drawers and all of my bathroom drawers as they all received the quiet household “workover”…sigh…clean drawers but back to regular routines which i find lots of comfort in…as do my kids….

healthy waho routine at 7…coffee & cleanup, gym, yayaya, workroom…nap complete with very cold diet coke…dinner , family time, and bedtime in a nutshell….now mixed with a little baseball with tons of blackberry inbetween to manage my life….

BUT…. today with a little twist…i got something new today that i am more than excited about…sigma 50mm 1.4/af ….means lots right??  to me that means close up shots with lower f-stop capability (explanation coming)!! yay!!   thus the pictures from my trip…i picked up the long-awaited lense literally on the way out of town so i was absolutely dying to mess with it….nevermind i did so while driving, man is it heavy too…i am so glad for those little bumpy ridges on the side of the road that let you know you are not paying attention

ok this one is for paige!! ( i do have the nikon d60 for new readers and love it!! )  lightweight but gives you most of the options that the d80 and others give….if you bought the “outfit” you got the two lenses that came with it (fabulous) but i really wanted one for close ups and macro photography….the sigma is the answer…you can’t just buy any lense for the d60 or a d40 as the lense will not auto-focus without an internal motor…thus the sigma (nikon just came out with one too but good luck finding one in the next 6 months)….they are really hard to find right now as the demand is there approximately 2 months after everyone got one for christmas and wants the low f-stop shots…(really low)

….my pictures are FAR from perfect and i have so much to learn but i absolutely love trying and tracking my kids and business this way…. i  take alot of pictures and i am learning along the way …i adjust in photoshop where i am inadequate- so every picture just about gets to be edited….here is the rundown….

here is the very best explanation of apperture (A- mode) i have every read/heard…. straight from the pioneer woman…who is also fabulous at explaining tons of other things…her blog link is in my favorites ——> to the right…so follow her closely as she is a great teacher and she has free photoshop actions to download….even MORE fun…she explains that photography depends on light and you have to understand how your camera deals with it as a result….

http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/2008/05/what-the-heck-is-an-aperture-part-one

http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/2008/11/one-reason-i-shoot-in-raw/

yes, photoshop is fantastic….it really can’t create what is not there…i am learning that the temperature and really most lighting issues can be corrected but blurry is an automatic delete…..there are several modes that you can shoot in on the d60- under image quality you can shoot in RAW (you can adjust the most kinda like a slide), fine, normal, basic, jpeg basic or raw+jpeg…. shooting in fine is great but the very best option (if you have photoshop…a newer version with a plug-in from the adobe website to handle NEF format) in my totally unqualified opinion, just a mom trying to take pretty ok pictures with this big huge over-my-head camera shoot either in fine (if you don’t have the above) or raw +jpeg – this way you have the jpeg image like the fine but you also have the option to adjust so much more than the regular photoshop stuff….see picture below….this is CS3 and it is wonderful…..

this is menu you get BEFORE you get to the regular photoshop screen if you shoot in RAW format or NEF…look at all of this stuff you can adjust!! see where it says “as shot”…that is meaning lighting as you shot it…leave it as is in other words…the drop-down there is really kindof if not the same as the white balance menu on your camera…so if you didn’t adjust it when you took the picture you get to adjust it at your leisure just because you chose to shot the pictures in RAW + jpeg….make sense???

ok….probably enough for tonight (this blog post can be described as motor mouth at this moment)….my excitement about this lense is kindof gooberish…so i will leave you with that…hope it all makes sense but just ask the pioneer lady if it doesn’t ok…i’m sure she is really sweet

one more thing before i give all of my love and hugs to my fabulous people…the picture below was taken with the new lens…see how the fuzzy to the left and clear to the right?  low number f-stop…so for your kids….their cute little faces super clear and the stuff behind them super blurry, make sense??

goodnight and of course all of my love to bebek and sam….no really…i love you both dearly….

hello to all who read…

it’s a two-post day i guess…finally sitting to edit the pictures … the internet has been on the blink here so it has been slow going…. so sharing a little project….the finished product is off to be monogrammed so sharing more later with”i finally really did finish the project” pictures…

wearing an old tee of mine mia painting FOREVER…loving life with fingerpaint…she insisted she needed to paint lots and who i am to argue with a large chunk of time filled with creative independent play…smiling…precious little….

a little subdued tonight…so i’ll leave you with these….(i PROMISE i am do not have a personality disorder)…smiling once again….

all of my love to my people…..

hello to all who read…

sharing a picture of my little jertain in the curtain (dr. suess if you don’t know)….she hides every night when “DADDY IS HOME!!!”….and wants to be found…..

i have about four posts that are partially written but i wanted to share this one first….these are the lyrics to a fabulous song…itunes if you can…it’s worth it…a great song for the running shoes to move to..(AF here you go…a little motivation for you and your yellow shoes which are COOL!!, smiling…)….OK wait feeling a little guilty…i need to tell you right along with the fabulous song i downloaded flo rida ” right round” which is really pretty fabulous as well…..ugh a little tattling on myself there….oh and gold digger is there too (but it’s been there)…double ugh…please listen…it’s on the playlist below as well…

by tenth avenue north….by your side

Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don’t turn away

Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching as if I’m not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run

‘Cause I’ll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don’t fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world’s sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life
I want to give you life

Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I’ll never let you go

hello to all who read…this is where i started this draft earlier this week…

it’s been a really long week and i still haven’t found time to write since monday….some weeks fly by and others seem to move so slowly that i wonder if it has really been two weeks… and no one told me that i missed the weekend…not possible without a doubt as the pace changes so quickly but i wonder why it seems that way sometimes….

this week lots has been accomplished but it seems that i don’t seem to move forward…. the reality of it all hit home in a 6am spin class on thursday… i had plans of walking/running with my usual crew and the girls overslept (uhmmm) so i found myself there and being roped into a class i simply didn’t have the energy emotionally or physically to do…but it taught me alot suprisingly… i am about to feed you an analogy so pardon in advance….

so i was wearing the wrong clothes for spin first of all and while i know you are accomplishing alot with an hour of that type of exercise you go absolutely NOWHERE… the dumb bike is in the same spot no matter how hard you work…with or without alot of resistance (that you add yourself) you work really hard….funny part i was already sore from those blasted kettlebells from two days before…so you can see how (you might) this parallels alot of things in one’s life…i was already suffering…and then to punish again…

totally unequipped and unprepared, you meet resistance, work hard and seem to go absolutely nowhere…hmmm… so i didn’t think i would “make it through” the class- not a physical issue….i have done my gym time…but it was an emotional toughness i was missing that day…. but in the course of this realization i was surrounded by those who seemed to be doing fine….i wasn’t….but i put my head down, closed my eyes and pushed myself….hard…and made it through the hour…barely

i don’t tell you any of this to tell you that i got up early and “gymed it”….not at all…(especially you M.M from buckhead)….i tell you this because i think this is all of us….at some point or another….finding ourselves unprepared and certainly unequipped emotionally…that toughness doesn’t come from within ourselves…as that hour cost me dearly throughout the course of yesterday…i was completely spent and my emotional cup was at capacity… i know that this is a sign of needing my cup to be empty of myself and what i could “make it through” and filled with a Savior in complete surrender…. i, like all of us need complete and total surrender…. but i am not sure how many of us know what that means…. i am certainly not saying that class hour would’ve been easier if that was the case but emotionally, yes….

there are so many topics that i have promised and i just haven’t gathered my thoughts enough…or had the energy to approach…but i am struggling with surrendering…my emotions, my hopes, my desires, and my future, and all things that pertain to why i am here… this is not a reflection of the people and things in my life currently…i could not be more grateful for those that surround me…my family and friends are more than what i could ever ask for….and my life could not be better from the outside looking in…but my cup needs to be filled daily by my Savior and those people….and the recognition is there…. i will journey that as well…i will put my head down and close my eyes ….and be taught slowly and in God’s timing….

father God, thank you for your patience with me…. i know that being vulnerable is part of your plan…God teach me…

a quote from my planner today…

“i’m not afraid of storms, for i am learning how to sail my ship”….louisa mary alcott

all of my love to bebek, sam (i hope this speaks to you as well)…and my person as always