That Was Then...This is Now

The young lady in the picture above was the first person other than my daughter that let me take photographs of her. I did her senior pictures in July, 2008. I was just learning about photography and didn't really know much at all about editing pictures. I've learned a lot since then and recently started wondering what these pictures would look like if I went back and pulled out the original, unedited photos and started over again. So, that's what I did. The picture to the left is the edited version from July, 2008. The picture to the right is the one I just edited today. I am going to run a series of collages so you can see the difference.





This is her sister during the same photo shoot. I can't believe the vast difference!


This was my favorite picture from the photo shoot.

Here are a few others I re-edited in a softer, vintage version.

I think she's just beautiful!


Mom and daughters :).


My daughter - same shoot.


This was fun comparing the editing techniques I have learned with what little I knew a year and a half ago!

i♥faces Hilarious Outakes, Week 9

The challenge this week at i ♥ faces is Hilarious Outakes! So, I immediately thought about some photos I recently took at the state qualifying speech and debate tournament. This is my favorite picture - not just because of my daughter's expression and her friend's laughter, but because of all the things going on in the background. So typical speech and debaters - lol!

These three are always good for a laugh! I never know what my pictures are going to look like when they are involved - lol! They always make my day!

Doing their "Barbaloot" impersonation from Dr. Seuss :). . . .

. . . .as well as their "hummingfish" impersonation :).

One thing you see a lot of at speech tournaments is students standing in the hallways talking to the walls - lol! It's a given! Here Kali is practicing her speech -- to the wall -- and totally oblivious to everyone, and everything, around her. Typical speech and debate behaviour! And some serious hilarious outake opportunities! To check out a whole lot of other shots, visit i ♥ faces by clicking here.

Welcome Luna

I got a new baby this week. Here you see Gus checking out the trailer. He knows something is in there, you just can't see it through the windows. (That shadow - is Mark and Rascal.)

And here she is. Luna is a miniature donkey. She's 15 weeks old and about 27 inches tall. Short enough that she can walk under the horse divider in our trailer :).

Rascal was really curious. All the horses were, but Rascal more than the others.

You can really tell a bit of the size difference here. Mark is taking Luna into the field with the other minis.


We put her in with Mona and Hershey. Mona was fine with Luna, but Hershey took off running to start with.

Luna immediately took to Mona. She wanted to nurse. She followed Mona around in circles trying to convince her - lol!

Isn't she beautiful?

Mona was like, "can I just get a break already?!?"

And Rascal kept thinking he was her momma. He's always been protective of the mini-donkeys.


The donkeys do have some good sized ears on them - lol!

This is our neighbor. She loves our animals as much as we do!

Apparently Luna loves her, too, because she gave us such a big smile :)!

Welcome, little one!

Elderly Couple Play It Up at the Mayo

An elderly couple walked into the lobby of the Mayo Clinic for a checkup and spotted a piano. They've been married for 62 years and he'll be 90 this year. Check out this impromptu performance. We are only as old as we feel, it's all attitude. Enjoy! They certainly do!

HL Quarter Horses Farm

This is where Luna came from. We went out to visit two days ago. We went to meet Luna and see if we wanted her (what's not to want? she's beautiful! and sweet!) and were happily surprised with all the animals Judy and Helmet have. They were everywhere - literally!

Gorgeous birds. Many, many birds. So many varieties :).

I had never seen a white peacock before.
I didn't know there were such things as white peacocks!

And this is Smokey. Beautiful and soft and loves to be rubbed!

There were two miniature donkeys that I looked at. (Neither are in this photo.) Their moms are in this picture, as well as a tiny little jack. (For you non-donkey folks that's a male donkey.) And a beautiful pony that belongs to the granddaughters :).

Kali took this picture. I think that's the little jack off to the left-hand side of the picture by himself.

She also got this shot. I think it's the best she's taken so far!

Who wouldn't love this face?!? We call him a mashed-potato dog, because he's so fluffy and white! I can't recall his breed name, but he is a guard dog for the other animals. I think this particular one is a pet during the day, and by night he roams and protects the horses and other animals at HL Quarter Horses. Scary looking, no?

This is what he really looks like :). He was my buddy there. He'll walk up, put a paw on your leg, and wait until you start petting him. If you stop before he's finished, he'll stick that paw back on your leg again - lol!


I just liked this angle on the shot - those are some pretty impressive horns!

Kali took these last 3 shots. This is Patches - she was Kali's buddy on this trip :).

That would be a miniature donkey eye close-up shot! One of my favorite shots to take :).

And this beautiful peacock just roams around the property. Kali got a great picture of him.

These are just some of the many animals at HL Quarter Horses. Obviously, you can tell from their name that there are horses there - a bunch of them. Quarter horses and show horses. It started storming though, so we didn't really get any good pictures of them. They also raise miniature cows with horns - they are called zebus and are sooo cute. Tiny and gray with pointy little horns! Sweet! I hope to go back one day and take some real photos at HL Quarter Horses, that would be a great way to spend a morning or an afternoon. I'd love it!

Meet Luna - First Peek

Here is the only shot I got of my new baby miniature donkey Luna. She was a little skittish because of the lightning and the pouring rain on the tin roof :). We will bring her home tomorrow. I believe her owner said she is 25 inches tall. Luna is 15 weeks old. I will try to post some better photos of her tomorrow :). I can't wait to get her home and let her meet allllll the other animals :).

Week #8, i ♥ faces "Hands-On-Fun"

The i ♥ faces' challenge this week is hands-on-fun. I love baby hands, especially when they are paired with the mom's hand! I edited this one to be hazy-looking to give a feeling of dreaminess. The mom loved how it turned out! and hopefully so will the judges this week - lol! To check out all the other hand shots, head on over to i ♥ faces!