A little sprinkler action in the summertime!

I took this picture yesterday afternoon and was happy to get a clear one of the sprinkler with all the water cascading around. The sun was right, the grass was green, it was perfect.

Then I started in on some edits...

I love the edginess (is that a word?) of this black and white one. With the darker edges and crisp contrast, it just made me proud ;)!

This one I just kept the sprinkler and a little water clear, increased the contrast and blurred the edges, I love this one too.

Both of my edits, in my opinion, were great improvments on the original picture. Of course for both I was using the coffeeshop actions I had downloaded for use in my Photoshop Elements. They work great and I think look perfect. What great fun!!!!

This is one of my wiegelia shrubs that was shocked me today by being in bloom. On top of a wonderfully sunny day, with blue skys, the dark coloring was WONDERFUL! I love being surprised by the beautiful outdoors!

...additional engagement photos!

I really loved working with the pictures I took of Andrea and Arnold. I played with them, messed with them, tweaked them...yeah, I tried every action I had downloaded from Coffee Shop Photography. It was a very fun experience. Did it help that my subjects were amazing...I am sure of it!

Here is a long line of pics I took (sadly, it is not all of them!) that I thought turned out wonderful. This one at the top is almost my favorite, there is another one further down that I will committ to that claim. Enjoy them all though!

I actually love the original one that is in full of color of this one, but somehow the softness of it with the love between the couple...it just works for me!

I was a little surprised by this one below being my favorite since I am such a color hound, but this one in black and white moves me. We had taken pictures similar to these and when we went back to the computer to check them out, they were gone...we loved the thought of them so much that we went back and took a few more. I am so glad we did, I think they turned out great!

I know you already saw this one, but I just love how it looks like vintage painting!

Sometimes Color is Harder to Find

I think that sometimes, especially in Minnesota, we just need to be okay, that blues skies and colored jackets are as good as the color gets. So today, my daughter's pink coat, my son's red coat and my other son's navy blue shirt are the colors I sought out. At least the lack of color isn't slowing down my little people's high adventures in the great outdoors!