Random pieces of my life...

You know, I just got over being sick a few weeks ago. It wasn't a bug but more something physical. Still, sick is sick...right? Well, Last Monday I started feeling a cold come on. By Tuesday I was toast. One of the worst colds I've had in a very long time. In fact, I am still coughing and still have a lot of congestion. That's 9 days!!!! It's all good. I'm slowly getting back on my feet. I'm hoping not to get hit with a third wave...you know, 3's a charm and all that.

Anyhoodles...

I've done next to nothing for 9 days! The past few posts I already had those pics edited(except the Friday fix-it. That's not my picture. It only took me a couple minutes to edit.) I wanted to share a few more pictures I took of my nieces and nephew. I took them the weekend before I got sick using my brand new 50mm 1.8 lens. Not only do I love these kids to tears but they are also very willing to be my practice models. Especially as I have lost my live-in model. Speaking of my niece Rose, today she turned 15!!! I feel like she was just here. We miss her. Okay, moving on...

I bought these lovely flowers at Costco last weekend. I've been enjoying them on my bar all week. I had to use my nice pitcher to hold them. They had super thick stems. I do not have a vase that would hold that thick of a bouquet. They were also top heavy so I needed something with height so they did not topple over. I really just wanted something with Autumn colors. I have Autumn envy!

I noticed the petals started falling off so I started playing with them. Before I knew it I had all the petals off all the flowers. The colors were gorgeous. I had to photograph them. My creative juices were not flowing(they were dulled by the cold meds, lol). I cut a few flowers super short cause they were pretty too...even without the petals. In the end I liked the flowers better then the petals in the pics. These are just 2 of the pics I took. The blue underneath is one of Rose's bed sheets. I thought it would make a good contrast.

On Friday I found out it was going to be a full moon...sorta. The full moon was the night before. On this night it was considered a 99% moon. I convinced hubs to drive me to the mountains to our favorite view point overlooking the desert below(and I happily wore my pajama pants as I never got dressed last week!). We got there a few minutes before moonrise. It was perfect. I took my little mini tripod only to realize that I removed the connector off my camera a couple months ago. Whoops! I would be free handing this shoot. I used my 55-250mm telezooming lens. It was super windy. What finally ended up working is we parked the car facing North. I sat in my seat and faced East, rolled the window down part way and used the top of the window edge to help stabilize the camera. When the moon first came up it was a bright orange. Over the course of a half hour it changed to it's normal whitish glow.

This is from the view point as well. We saw a gorgeous sunset. This picture is perfect proof that water sunsets are not the only glorious sunsets out there.

I was wishing I had a lens that could do this alone. But, this is a VERY cropped picture. Still, it's amazing! I didn't even edit these. I didn't want to change the original colors.

Okay, so anyrambling...

I decided it was time to learn how to texturize a photo. I could have done something super artsy but I decided instead to change the background on a rather boring dull pic. Nothing major here. I just put the 2 pics together then used my eraser tool to erase the texture from her body. It was tedious! Not bad for my first time, eh!

Oh yeah...here's the original. Great girl...boring background! (This pic is not sooc. It was edited first to even her skin tone and give an over all boost.)

Wow, are you still here? I thought I lost you a few rambles ago! Sorry about that.

I found a new great book. It is The Phantom of Pemberley. It is written as a continuation to Pride and Prejudice. I am so in love with Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth that it pains me to see the story end. I always wondered what their life might be like after they married. It is written as a romantic mystery. There is a lot of mysterious action plus you get a follow up on your favorite characters...and even a few you love to hate. The sickly Anne may find her way out of her mama's grasp and into love...but with who? And will mama approve? Georgiana grows up and falls in love. But does her man live through the trials at Pemberley? You must read it to find out. This book was written by Regina Jeffers. I think she stayed true to the era and to the original story while bringing a current feel to the book. It is NOT a christian book! There are a few risque scenes between Darcy and Elizabeth...but they are married after all. The scenes are more suggestive then gross and dirty. I was not offended at all by them.

Of course, I found this book while looking for another Pride and Prejudice book. My friend Erin mentioned on her facebook status that she was reading it. Well, HELLO? It's me! The wannabe Mrs. Darcy!!! The day I saw that status I convinced hubs to take me to the bookstore. The book is called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I also found it had a prequel called P & P & Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls. The first book follows the original story line but has Zombies written in. It's quite something else. The prequel is a complete new book. It shows how the Bennett sisters became Zombie fighters. Anywho, make of it what you will. I bought them all and read them while I was sick.

As a P & P lover I would recommend The Phantom of Pemberely for sure. If you are a die hard like me get the Zombie books as well. Whatevs...I'm really long winded tonight!

Leave me some love!!!!!! and don't unfriend me just cause I ramble...please!

Before and After

I am linking up with Pixel Perfect again to share a before and after photo. This photo was taken this past weekend while hanging out with friends for the day. I grabbed my niece, who I rarely see, and took her outside for some random shots. I have edited several versions of this photo. I chose this one because it was far different from any of the edits I have done before. I used the Coffeeshop action Vintage Blush. It was a learning experience  to finally figure out how to paint out parts of layers you had put on. The "blush" washes out the whole picture in a pink tone. I had to erase the blush from Alyson's body. I think I did it at a 50 or 60% opacity as I liked some of the pink tone.

Anyhoodles...

I am far from being an expert, but rather, a beginner in the art of photoshopping! Comments, advise or simply lavishing mad love on me is more than welcome!!!

I shoot with a Canon Rebel xsi and photoshop with cs5.