Photography and Tips — Page 2 — raisingthreeknightsandaprincess.com

The Football Dance

Most of our year is taken up with football in one form or another. After finishing flag ball this year we’ve plugged through the Florida heat and conditioning camp.

Since being gone for the Fourth of July the boys had a particularly hard training session yesterday. We had thunderstorms all around us which made the humidity and the bugs just horrible. The heat was bearable, however the mosquitos that tried to carry us off weren’t.

I purchased a new camera and a new lens a while back and I’m having fun getting accustomed to both. I love the new camera and toted my 50mm 1.4 yesterday.

Here’s a couple shots of the boys during practice.

This is Son#3 with his buddy Cam.

Son #2 with Ms. Kayla as everyone on the squad calls her. She’s a tough one and loves football.

Running full speed backwards. My backside would be on the ground!

This one just never looks fun:

Got to love the one who will pose for mom!!

Because one never will!!

Working the hips on the ladder:

This is just plain working hard!

Check out the height in these two photos:

Playing after training:

Stretching as a team:

I love this one. He loves his new cleats.

Tuckered out after stretching:

I’m thinking Mike needs to train my backside back into shape. What are you doing to keep in shape this summer? Anything?

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1 Comment

Posted: June 23, 2012 by Julie |Category: Photography and Tips | Tags:

Abnormally Normal

These are the photo processing choices I usually make but I often don’t stand on the beach as a subtropical storm bears down on me either. So it’s Florida and I feeling a little grungy in my processing!!

The angry the sea yesterday!

No one was allowed in the water and most were leaving the beach (crazy people)! Cool photographers though!!

1 Comment

Posted: May 29, 2012 by Julie |Category: Photography and Tips | Tags: jacksonville fl., ocean, tropical storm beryl

Someone’s turning eight…

She honestly was born just yesterday.

She called out, “My boys, my boys” every time she saw her brothers. She cuddled with my youngest son in her crib (video proof).

Now, on Memorial Day, she is eight.

It’s hard to believe growing up happens so quickly. Days sometimes crawl but as you look back they were gone in a single breath.

We celebrated her birthday with friends by a chilly pool, but kids don’t care! They had a blast.

One forgot her suit so she swam in her clothes. We’re easy like that.

Her brothers even made an appearance. This is one of my favorite shots. Something about the tilt of his head, the texture of his hair….

Life flies by so quickly.

Go hug your kids.

5 Comments

Posted: May 21, 2012 by Julie |Category: Our Family, Our Lives | Photography and Tips | Tags: birthdays, family

Photography Actions

I love Pioneer Womans Actions as well as MCP Actions.

So I wanted to share a few of my before and afters with you. (After posting I realized this isn’t EXACTLY the same shot, but goes with the 4:30am editing)

Before:

After:

One Click Color by MCP Actions at 40% – Lovely and Etherical at 100% by Pioneer Woman Actions – Selective Sharpening turned up to 80%

Then here’s baby girl:

Before:

And After: One Click Color again/ Raised exposure in Camera Raw and used MCP’s Magic Powder

I should have lightened up around her eyes some more but oh well….it was 4:30 this morning and I couldn’t sleep.

Here’s one more but I couldn’t tell you what I did!! I just love her hair in this one. It needs a little more work but here it is anyway….

Before:

After:

I had such high plans of this being a great tutorial but my early morning wakefulness got the best of me.

Enjoy anyway!

Rain, Glorious Rain!!

Last night we finally had rain. Real, pouring down, thunderous, booming rain!

It was glorious!

Jacksonville has resembled the Majava Dessert. I swear a scrub brush flew by yesterday.

This morning our neighborly little friends were bathing outside the house. Of course I ran for my camera. These were my favorite shots.

Isn’t her reflection spectacular?

Don’t you wonder what they are thinking?

Oh, to be a duck!

He’s our hero!

All three of my boys had football games on Saturday.

There are times when son #3 takes an interest and other times when he doesn’t really care about what’s going on. But I’ve noticed this season as we have progressed so has he.

Saturday I watched him run for 40 yards or so, but my proudest moment was this one.

He was chasing after the guy carrying the ball, got trampled, picked himself up and pulled the guy’s flag.

I tell ya, it was a moment that would make a mama cry!

Enjoy it in pictures as I did on a breezy Saturday morning in Florida…

The collision…(he’s the guy on the right getting clobbered)

The knockdown….

The pain…

And the snag! You go little man! You’re our man!

2 Comments

Posted: May 14, 2012 by Julie |Category: Our Family, Our Lives | Photography and Tips | Tags: flag football, PAL, Pop Warner

A little Photoshop!

I’ve been playing with some new techniques with Photoshop and wanted to show you the end results. I’d love to tell you all I did but I was interrupted so many times I don’t know where to begin.

Cropping, Clone Stamp and some Camera Raw adjustments and here you go.

Before:

After: (no kids in background, no gatorade on ground, no poly cone). One photo I did not center him but he likes them centered so I did this one for him. Usually, he’s left or right of center.

So go play with Photoshop! I love the YouTube tutorials! This one is my new fav because I shoot with a high ISO at times to capture the action on the football field. It reduces NOISE or all those annoying speckles.

1 Comment

Posted: May 8, 2012 by Julie |Category: Photography and Tips | Tags: camera raw, photoshop CS5, reduce noise

Football Time!

Here’s our starting line!

My two stars!

This guy earned a starting QB position this year.

This one’s a defensive coach’s dream!

Run Forrest Run!!

Have a blessed Friday!

2 Comments

Posted: April 20, 2012 by Julie |Category: Our Family, Our Lives | Photography and Tips | Tags: flag football, PAL, Police Athletic League

Exposed

Some of you know of my strange but loving obsession with farm fresh eggs. I love the ones that are multicolored. Each one is unique, yet the same. This morning I was cooking eggs and something struck me about there being three left in the carton. An odd number, three.

A divine number.

So as I cooked I looked over at the cracked eggs and thought how much like the eggs my life is.

It’s all broken, slimy, crooked. Oh, it often looks neat from the outside but when you look inside? Hmmmm…..makes a girl want to run and hide. Or does it? Maybe it’s in this broken slimy place that I feel God’s radiant love shining into my life. He doesn’t expect me to be perfect, knows I can never be even when I strive for perfection. I really believe when I stop pretending I feel Him the most. I take off all the masks and allow His light to fill me. The slime seems less slimy, the edges less rough and the crookedness a uniqueness given only by Him.