Scavenger Hunt - Just the Girls

1. Black & White
I showed Rowan how to make the "I love you" sign once and now she does it all the time.
I love it!

2. Reflections in Glass
This is an old photo.
{Jenn, I'm sure you remember it 'cause you've seen every single photo I've shot in the last 3 years and seem to remember them all! :)}
The sky was reflected in the car windows which was reflected in the side mirror.

3. Headlights
This is an old photo too.
And while it was taken last fall, the air certainly feels this thick with the humidity we're currently experiencing.

4. Seeing Double
To get this I simply overlapped two nearly-identical shots.
{please excuse my bad hair and lack of make up.}

5. Bare
This was not my first idea...or even my second at that, but who can resist tiny little bare feet?!

Scavenger Hunt - Last Minute Hunt

This week flew by...much like the entire summer and this entire year.
So yesterday morning I was scrambling to think of an idea for each prompt and then put it into action!
Lucky for me, things just kind of happened to fall into place.

1. Looks Like a Letter of the Alphabet: "G"

2. Weather

This one's from the dusty archives. It's from a year ago and one which I thought had been deleted until I came across it a few days ago! I was pretty excited to find it, but completely disappointed to see that from a technical standpoint it's terrible. I really had to boost the exposure in post processing to show off that amazingly awesome sky...which consequently led to those hideous red and blue lines. At the time I didn't know that my camera even had the bulb mode nor did I realize that I should have been using it. ...just further proof to read your camera's manual. ;)

3. Bling
I must admit, I'm not a bling kind of girl. So for this prompt I turned to my kids and their dress up gear.
{My son's going to love this one when he's older! haha!}

4. Tangled
Hours at the pool + a nap immediately after = a tangled mess.

5. Dark
I am really loving all those 'through the doorway' shots that are popping up everywhere.
...so I copied it...

I made an Instagram-for-PSE frame/action set!
Go to this post to see it and access your free download!

Scavenger Hunt - Thanks

A super big thanks to Ashley for using not one, but all of my suggestions for Scavenger Hunt Sunday last week!!! That girl has been pimping my blog and Etsy shop with links all over the place!

A big, big thanks for that Ashley...you're a doll! :)
...she's so cute and pretty that she really could have her own doll...just maybe not this face. ;)

1. Pop of Color
In this shot Grandpa was teaching the kids the fine art of playing with fireworks! ;) 

2. Crossing Thresholds
Taking this shot totally creeped me out!!!
I kept having that "Watcher in the Woods" meets "Black Swan" feeling...like the back of one of my heads would turn around and stare at me.
(enter shuttering noise here)

The alternative shot to this was of our bedroom door at night, which looked like something out of "Ghostbusters".
Our house is not normally this creepy. I promise.

3. X-Ray
This is actually a photo I took a little while back, but I gave it a new look, which I LOVE.

4. Toy
I was having a hard time narrowing down which toy to take a picture of for this prompt.
But my husband came to the rescue when he brought home all of his little toy soldiers.
My son and I set them up - and this shot was one to mainly get my focus, but I loved it even though my focus isn't spot on....when is it ever, eh?!

This shot really struck a chord with me and I thought it a fitting one for the 4th of July.
I often feel that this is how I - and many other Americans without a direct tie to the armed services - see our military...as faceless pawns with whom our government plays soldier. But there are faces: some are very worn and empty from trauma, too many are cold from death, and others are scarred from battles.
The cost of our freedom is amazingly high and I thank all the brave men and women who pay that price for us!

5. Hidden
Do you see him??

Scavenger Hunt - Beautiful Things

1. Windows/Doors
This shot is from a long time ago...




2. Eyelashes
and freckles!



3. Paint
Anyone who has been around my photo blog for very long knows I am a sucker for photographing art supplies!



4. Leaf Veins




5. Faceless Portrait
This is pretty lame. I had wanted to do a shadow shot with the kids, but they were less than cooperative when the sun was out...so I settled for this spur of the moment shot of the kids and Daddy walking to the mailbox.

Scavenger Hunt - Bits of Childhood

1. Emotion

joy

[joi]   


–noun   the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation.

...such as an attack on your sister with the squirt gun...

2. Flower's Point of View

3. Natural Frame
Just past this soy bean field lies my old high school in the super tiny town of Alleman, Iowa.
It can be easily identified from miles away thanks to the disturbingly high quantity of very large radio and television towers...one of five is seen here!

4. Letters

5. Bliss
One homemade Rice Krispies treat + ten newly painted fingernails = a blissfully happy little girl!

Scavenger Hunt - Here, There, Everywhere

1. Long Exposure
This is from the archives. There. I said it.
I was hoping to get out and shoot the night sky, but that just didn't happen in time, so instead I'm sharing light-writing!

In case you're wondering, here's how I did this:
I went to our super dark basement (or any room at night will do!) put my camera on a shelf, set my shutter speed at around 10 seconds or so, then used a flashlight to write my word....I wrote mine out normally, so it ended up being backwards in my camera, but I just flipped to around when editing. I also added the pink hue to my edited version! :)

2. Shapes
I found these terra cotta whatever-they-ares piled back by the bean field at my grandparents' home.

3. Green

This shot is of the leaves from the clematis in our backyard. I did a purple abstract shot for my Scripture & a Snapshot meme. And shared some macros on Saturday.

4. Fruit
Fresh strawberries. 'Nuf said.

5. Childhood Memory
These are just a small sampling of the children's books at my grandparents' house. I wish that I could share with you the musty-sweet aroma that rolls out of the cabinet when opened. That aged book smell makes me smile with fond memories every time!

Scavenger Hunt - Things Around the House

1. HOT HOT HOT
A charred jalapeno on the grill...yeah, I'd call that hot!



2. Finding Form
This was a tough one for me. I knew I wanted my image to be in black and white, as I thought color would be too distracting from the actual form of the object. I took a lot of photos of various things before deciding on this lamp.



3. Front Page of the News
There's not much to explain about this shot.
I ran PW's Seventies action and also layered with Kim Klassen's 'Coffee Tea or Me' texture.






4. Chore
I am not a fan of cleaning in general.
I love how things look after the icky work is done, but I certainly do not enjoy the process.



5. Beads
This necklace was my Great Grandma's. I consider myself very fortunate to have met three of my great grandmas and to have fond memories of each. But what I'm finding even more wonderful is that my children are able to enjoy the memories of these wonderful women, too!






And of course, this whole post is linked up with Ashley!