Such Beauty

I took my pictures of my expecting friends to my photography mentor, Mel - and she worked a little Photoshop Magic on them.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

What a gorgeous difference! I still need to learn the art of Photoshop. Sadly, I've had Elements for 2.5 years now... and still haven't installed it on my computer for fear of not having enough memory space. What a waste.

By the way... this beautiful couple isn't expecting anymore! They are now parents to a sweet little girl! Yeah... there will be pictures. Count on it.

One Click at a Time

One of the resolutions toward My Life Improvement when I started this was to become a better photographer. I recently found a professional photographer to take me under her wing, and I'm excited about learning more.

I've always been good at composing pictures. It's the technical side that needs work for me. So my Mentor is teaching me to use my manual settings... the ISO, shutter speed and cranking that f stop down as low as it can go.

For me, that meant buying a new lens. The two lenses I already had limited my f stop range to 4.
My new 50mm lens came via UPS today so I tested it out on my friends, the expecting parents.

I'm mostly pleased with the results. Can't wait to hear what they think!

How About Something A Little Different?

I'm starting to think of tomatoes as a crutch.

They're every where. In every dish. I'm thinking a few cooks oughta try challenging themselves and make something without tomatoes for a change. And chicken.

Can you say 'Blah'?

See, I am allergic to tomatoes and chicken, among other things.
So every time I go out to eat I have to skim past anything on the menu with these ingredients. And let me tell you, the food out there that doesn't consist of tomatoes and chicken... is really freaking delicious!

Friends with whom I dine often look at my plate with envy. If I give them a taste, they swoon. But they always order something with tomatoes and chicken.

BORING!