Jaci & Mike {wedding}

I shot this couple's engagement photos a while back and a week or so ago was their big day.  They went on an extended honeymoon, so I've had a little extra time with the editing process.  Here are some samples from their day.

A Pat on the Back

I interrupt your regularly scheduled programming so that I may take a moment to brag.....about myself. That's right. I don't often take big chances in life.  I will take that leap if I'm pretty sure of the outcome, and this was one of those times.

I was talked into entering some photos at the Western Idaho Fair this year.  Not something I would normally do, but hey, I thrive on competing and figured it was time to see how my stuff did.  So I went down and entered my photos - I chose the professional category because I fit within the parameters.  One photo that I knew would place was my bridge picture.  I haven't met a person who doesn't like it.  My brother had it framed in his house.  My parents have it framed in their house.  And I have a huge print of it framed in my house.  It's awesome....if I do say so, myself.  ;)

So when I went down yesterday to place my business card on my photos for some free advertising while the fair is going on, I noticed a shiny ribbon hanging from my lovely bridge picture.  A red ribbon, signifying I had earned second place.  Second place!!!  Out of all the people in the state who entered their photos in the specific category, I won second!  I stood there, pretty shocked....and yes, I cried.  I think people were wondering if I was okay because it's just a photo, ya know.  ;)  So I snapped a quick picture with my phone and skipped off, back to work.  Here is the phone pic......we're going back on Monday with Carter for family day, so I will take more formal pictures and post them later.

Mallory & Ben {WEDDING}

Mallory was actually a bridesmaid at a wedding I shot last year, and she really liked how I took charge of the whole wedding picture operation. So when she set her own big date, she called me up and asked me if I would like to take a little drive to Stanley.  Gorgeous Stanley?  Why yes, I would love to drive there....especially if it meant a long weekend for us at the cabin!  Here are some shots from Mallory and Ben's special day.

Project 2011: Through His Eyes, Part 32

Here are Carter's pictures from last week:

 He is super proud of these little kid work gloves - his papa wears the same ones (in adult size obviously), and Carter says "I have to put on my gloves so I can do hard work."  It's so cute!! Eric found them in Stanley last weekend when we were at the cabin and they are just a tad too big, so he will be able to wear them for quite some time.....for that hard work, ya know.  ;)

 Daddy and Kendall

 These self portraits he does crack me up.  This was in the car while running errands.

 These were some new flowers I got - he apparently likes them.

 And the tomato plants that are growing like crazy.

And a tomato of course.

Stepping Out on a Limb

So my office manager's husband is kind of a photography buddy of mine....though he does entirely different stuff than I do.  He's more of just a hobby dude, with a love for the great Idaho outdoors.  (aren't we all?)  But he gets out a lot more than I do to capture what Idaho has to offer.  He doesn't do much with the weddings or portrait stuff.  So we do have some differences. 

Last year, he entered some of his work in the photography contest at the Western Idaho Fair, and this year, he talked me into doing the same.  It was super short notice, so I really had to scramble to get my pictures (you can only submit three) printed, mounted, and submitted.  And when I was down at the Expo Building yesterday submitting my photos, there were a LOT of people there.  Really made me nervous, I'm not going to lie.  And they ended up taking only two of my submissions because my one of Kendall was considered "nudity".  Apparently they had some strange dude a year or so ago who tried to submit a nude photo of himself (creepy, right?), and ever since then, they had to crack down on the rules for what is and isn't considered nudity.  And to play it on the safe side, they just consider it ALL nudity.  So I am down to just two submissions this year and that's totally fine.  I was very picky in what classes I submitted...and next year, I will be even more picky because I'm not going to wait 'til the last minute, lol!

So, here's wishing ME good luck!  There are some small cash prizes to the winners; but honestly, it's all about exposure.  There are tens upon tens of thousands of people who go to the Fair every year, and having my name out there for all of them to see (whether I win or not) is totally awesome!

I'll keep you updated on how it goes....and when I go down there later in the week to check out the submissions/winners, I will post some pictures.  :)

Yellow Flower

(disclaimer:  I seriously had no other creative name for the title of this post....so "Yellow Flower" it is)

Last week, I decided it was time to replenish my supply of actions and textures.  I'm a huge action user for Photoshop, but not so much a texture person.  Mostly because they are just a lot of work; however, they do add a fun dynamic to the right photo.  So I found some awesome deals through My Four Hens Photography, using some codes she hands out to those who like her Facebook page.  (you can find her site here: http://myfourhensphotography.com/shop/ )  I got several action sets and some textures as well.

Then, my mother in law sent me a link to another site that was having a killer deal on some more textures, so I helped myself.  The link to this site is here:  http://kimklassen.com

Since I'm diving into textures more and more, I decided to properly educate myself on how to use, apply, and edit them with my photos.  There are some wonderful tutorials here:  http://florabellacollection.com/blog/

I'm using lots of the actions and textures on the two weddings I'm currently editing; however, for a quick sample, I ran out front and snapped a picture of the yellow flowers that I have blooming at the moment.  And I played around with some textures, and here are three samples I played around with: