This week’s theme was “bokeh”, which is that effect you get when you have a subject in focus in the foreground, and the background is blurred. I had a hard time narrowing down my ideas for this… I love, love me some creamy bokeh :) Especially with pin points of light in the distance. I kept my eye out for some great opportunities, but it wasn’t until this morning that I saw the sunrise in the backyard, and the leaves in the bushes reflecting the gorgeous sun:

With all the warm weather we’ve been having, the bush was still a bright green, which gave me some lovely colors! Feels like spring out here! Granted, I ran out to get this shot without shoes on, and the ground was still definitely frozen… but still felt like winter was on it’s way out! :)

(Benjamin is 3 years 1 month 1 week 6 days old)

This week’s photography theme was “food” and I really struggled hard with this one. I’m not the world’s greatest cook and to be honest, I really, really don’t like to cook, bake, or anything related to “creating” food. I only do it out of necessity because Joe doesn’t get home in time to cook dinner on weeknights ;) So my cuisine isn’t exactly photography friendly, and not very “interesting” material. I played with a few fruits and veggies… but I hated the lighting, and finally just started looking for interesting shapes in the kitchen to play with. Low and behold, I give you… gummi bears!!

I’m sure some of my foodie and animal friendly friends would argue whether gelatin is really “food” or not, but hey, I like ‘em, and we scoured Wegmans to find the “healthiest” gummi bears in the store! Ben loves them, especially after he was introduced to the wonderful world of fruit snacks after our trip to Michigan last year ;) To be honest, I’m still not thrilled with the lighting for this one. The flourescent lighting in our kitchen doesn’t give much depth, and I feel like this was thrown together more than the last topic. The 52 week challenge is definitely making me slow down and think about my shots, but I really feel like I could have done better here. Maybe I’ll stage another gummi photo shoot tonight, but for now, this is week three for me :)

Happy Friday!

(Benjamin is 3 years 1 month and 5 days old)

This week’s theme was “up”, and I played around with the idea all week. I had ideas for balloons, trees, planes, birds… and then last night I watched Ben climb the stairs and KNEW that it was “the” shot I wanted. But, being the typical 3 year old, Ben rarely cooperates when I want him to, so I didn’t have high hopes it would turn out. Tonight though, he didn’t run from the camera, and he actually paused on a few steps for me to take his picture with his “coffee” (his water bottle) :) I may not have ruined him from cameras (yet)! :)

(Ben is 3 years 3 weeks and 2 days old)

Happy birthday to my sister, who makes me laugh, makes me cry, and who I love more than anything. Hope your Friday, the 13th celebration is as amazing as you are :)

Love ya!

(Ben is 3 years 4 weeks 1 day old)

This week’s theme for the 52 week photography challenge (where you take one picture per week for a year): breakfast!

I’ve been mixing up smoothies with our beloved magic bullet, and my favorite at the moment is frozen strawberries, blueberries, 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt, spinach, and a scoop of chocolate protein powder. Ben loves helping me mix it up!

One week down, only 51 more to go :)

(Ben is 3 years 3 weeks old)

Hate waiting around until I update the site? Now you can enter your email address and have entries emailed to you automatically, whenever I post a new one :) Just look to the right hand side of the page, and enter your email address in the box below the archives, and click “Subscribe”. You will receive a confirmation email if it was successful. Just trying to streamline the access! It also means you won’t have to enter in a username and password to see the updated entries, just check your email, as all new posts will be delivered (not just the public ones)! I have control over who can subscribe, so this makes it easier for those who just want to see the photos!

(Ben is 3 years 3 weeks old)

Just a simple reminder to all my fellow photographers out there: get out from behind the camera and make sure YOU are in those photos, too! Thank you for sharing this beautiful story, Katrina!

http://blog.katrinaleephotography.com/north-central-nebraska-photographer-priceless/

(Ben is 3 years 2 weeks 6 days old)

With the New Year, I’ve joined a few challenges and am loving the giveaways from some of my favorite photography sites. The first challenge is a photography related one from a group of ladies on Clickin Moms. Every month we have a theme, and then have to blog our photos of that theme by the 2nd of the month. Then we link to each other’s posts, and there are 12 of us in each group. The first theme is “The way I view beginnings”. Still brainstorming on this one, but excited to see what everyone comes up with :) Check back on February 2nd for my ideas!

Now that it’s been over a year since we moved into our house, I’m also brainstorming on how to kick things up with our home organization and designing. We still have stuff in boxes in the basement, and I’m determined to finally clean out both the attic and our basement this year. I’ve joined another group over at Clickin Moms, but instead of photography, we’re helping each other with the “Fly Lady” method for cleaning and organization. I haven’t scoped out the details yet, but here’s hoping I can whip our place into shape!

The other challenge is of course, back to Weight Watchers. I spent all of 2011 maintaining my weight, and I managed to stay within the same 5 lbs ALL year. I’m ready to kick it up a notch and finally shake it up to lose the final pounds. Weight Watchers is new and improved, and I’m already planning my first week of the year to start off on the right foot :)

The last thing is a giveaway from one of my favorite sites: Crave Photography. Check out her blog post at Crave Photography to win an 85mm lens (Nikon or Canon, you choose). SO AWESOME!

Planning on taking 2012 by storm! :)

(Ben is 3 years 2 weeks 3 days old)