Just digging into the photos from this session....

But thought I'd share this one that is my favorite so far (I've only edited 7).  My favorite role in life is being a mama, so the joy on this mama's face captivates me!  Just beautiful....

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL...

I hope anyone who reads this is blessed this holiday season and knows how much Jesus love them!  It has been a year of ups and downs for me and mine, but I always count the blessings and remember the One who loved me first.  Thank you Jesus.... Love to you all...

Christmas Blessings...

I will never cease to be thankful for my children.  No matter the stage of life I'm in, or the state of my relationships with them... I choose to be thankful... God has been gracious to me.  I pray he will continue to create me to be a more gracious, patient, forgiving, loving and godly mother.  I can't imagine my life without having had Nicholas (25), Ciara (21), Christina (19) and Annalise (15).  I don't even know what my life would be like if I had not experienced giving birth to them, and loving them their lives through.  I love you, my darlings.  Here is a recent shoot of Annalise for her 15th birthday, which just passed this month.  Enjoy!

I love baby Santas...

And I love shooting photos of Jakyri.. why is it that baby boys have the longest lashes?  Feast your eyes on this little darling...

Ho Ho Ho? Or Bark Bark Bark....

Oh Mutt Fun I had....har.... I had the opportunity to shoot to awesome sweet, albeit a little disobedient, canines this weekend.  Though they didn't necessarily sit, lay or stay on command, neither were they naughty... What sweet little   giant babies they were.  I am accustomed to shooting little 3-7 lbs dogs, so...my perspective may be different than some.

 I had a blast shooting them, and watching their mom dress them in their little outfits.  Hugo, the boxer is just a baby, at 7 or 8 months old... He was amazingly calm and well behaved for a giant puppy. Louis... well, you can see he's endured his mama's ministrations for years...hehe.   Thanks, Erica, for the opportunity to meet and play with your babies....

Family....

I love my family...inside and out.  I'm just so thankful for God's grace and how much He has blessed me.  Best of all... I love the children in our family... Yesterday I was fortunate enough to get to spend time with all my great nieces and nephew!  I went to bed exhausted but happy that I was able to capture their beautiful faces with my camera.... Here are just a couple previews...I've barely started editing and no time today... It's our Christmas Tree Day, which is huge at our house!  The girls will hem and haw and argue over which tree to get at the tree farm, while Mike and I trudge along laughing.  Eventually they will agree, and will take turns at chopping it down... Finally, Mike will take over an finish. UNLESS, Miss Christina manages to get all the way through the trunk this year!  I bet she will try!  Blessings, everyone... I wouldn't want to hoard all this blessing for myself!

Love....

I choose love today....  

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

1 Corinthians 13-4-8a

Love never fails. 

Golden Sunlight Overlay

This little birdie was by the shores in California.  I was amazed how many little birds there were.  So gorgeous.  This overlay I created with several color layers and the Mixer Brush tool in Photoshop, plus different blending layers.  I like the effect it had and will be trying it on some of my portraits.

One more Overlay Creation

This one is my favorite and I can see it being used on many images..

On my own...

Today I decided to try to create my own texture overlays.  It's quite spendy to purchase every wonderful texture, action or overlay you find online.  I thought my knowledge of photoshop is surely advanced enough by now to try to create my own.  Here is my first creation... I like it... but am excited to continue experimenting.  The overlay is the little square at the top.  I masked it off of Christina's skin.  I think it enhanced my photo a bit! By the way, you can click on the image to view it larger...
 Have a great day!  It's crisp but beautifully sunny here in Buckley today!

New edit... trying out my Florabella Actions

I had this unedited photo of Caelan that I thought I'd try my new FB Actions on.  It's always hard to figure out exactly the best way to optimize actions on your own images, I think, since everyone has a different shooting style.  This is just what I came up with today while waiting for my girls to shower so we can get to Christmas Shopping!  So just a quick play with Florabella Luxe II.