six things

1. My garden is blooming!  Tomatoes, young cilantro, basil, lots of oregano, and that bright blue is a new hydrangea!

2. My Uncle Todd is back (read more here).  He and JT are off to climb Mt. Whitney- apparently the tallest mountain in the US... I took a picture of them with their backpacks on, just like on the first day of school :)

3.  While Todd is climbing a mountain, my aunt, cousin, cousin's kid (second cousin?), and this guy is staying over... meet Oscar everyone:

4.  Mr. Incredible as a Wii Mii... I just love the Mii feature of the game!

5.  No words for this one- just enjoy the photos:

6. Just wanted to let you know we're still here- at least for a few more days!

Photoshop Fun...

I haven't done this yet on this blog... but here goes nothing!

I found a great, free photoshop action set here that I couldn't wait to try out... so I headed out to my garden just before sunset and took a few shots to play with in Photoshop.  I will show you the SOOC- straight out of the camera- photos and then the manipulated image.

When I first started learning about photography in high school, we would manipulate images in the dark room using a variety of techniques including scratching the paper, using filters, and adjusting the processing time... its amazing to realize that I can now accomplish all that without staining my clothes with the developer or straining my eyes going from dark to light over and over again!

Ok- here we go!

The SOOC- straight out of camera shot:

followed by the manipulated image:

SOOC of my pink columbines:

(that I strive to keep alive despite Mr. Incredible's negligence when I'm out of town)

photoshopped- I love the 'lush' texture!

SOOC:

kind of a vintage leaf look:

this is one of my favorites- I love the SOOC!

but this is pretty cool:

SOOC tomatoes:

but here's some very cool, textured tomatoes... 

maybe not great for eating but they'd look awesome framed on a wall!

With all photo manipulations, beauty is somewhat in the eye of the beholder... some like the dark, gritty look that these actions create... but maybe its not your favorite.  I'd love to hear what 'look' or 'style' of photography you like best!  (*hint* leave me a comment!)  No matter what style/look you like or is popular, the essence of the photo still has to stand for itself.  In other words, if the photo is not good in and of itself, then no matter how many cool affects you play over it, it will still be a bad photo.  So even though most of us say goodbye to the days of mixing chemicals and spending long hours in the darkroom, there's still much to be said to good ol' fashion photography techniques and practices!

Sorry for the photo philosophy!  Tell me what you think of these great actions!

-CtF

Memorial Day Weekend- all its cracked up to be~

We had a relaxing Memorial Day Weekend remembering the sacrifices of those who served our country with family in another country!  (I know, sounds terrible... we've found ourselves doing this for the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving too so call us unpatriotic if you must!)

We headed south of the border for a weekend at Mr. Incredible's parent's house on the Rio Hardy.  Heeding my father-in-law's advice from a Sunday sermon (that Mexico is safe if you're not a drug dealer), we crossed over the border on Friday and spent the weekend soaking up sun, doing a little wakeboarding, playing games with family, participating in a truly epic river poker run, and of course, eating!  Here's the photographic highlights of our Memorial weekend Mexico adventure:

Mr. Incredible's dad (Mr. Incredible Sr?) wielding the mighty spatula and grilling.

Chips and Salsa (and Tecate)- we were in Mexico!

Winners of the Poker Run (1st and 2nd place from our boat!)

A quiet morning paddle with Nora Nora.

A sad, left out pooch observes from the shore.

Sunset over the Rio Hardy...

-CtF