File Sharing & Cloud Computing For Photographers

People practicing the hobby and art of photography in modern times are lucky to have an incredible array of technology at their disposal. Even in the past few years, numerous programs, apps, and camera options have become available that make the process of capturing and editing photos one that holds incredible potential. However, modern photographers are also able to take advantage of technologies that are not meant exclusively for photography. For example, consider something like advanced file sharing and cloud computing storage as it may relate to the needs and desires of a photographer.

When you get into the practice of photography, you'll likely find yourself wanting to share photos and entire albums online, whether with friends and family, or even with clients if you take your hobby to the professional level. And, while some of this can be done via basic email, it's often true that photo files are a bit too large or complex, and require more advanced file sharing options. So, here are a few of the specific benefits a photographer like yourself might enjoy from such options.

Sending Big Files
As mentioned, extensive photo albums or even high resolution photos can be a bit difficult to transfer via ordinary email systems. For that reason, many photographers prefer to send large files with ShareFile, a prominent provider of advanced file sharing and cloud computing services. With a program like this, large and complex files are easy to send and receive, and allow you to send your photos and albums back and forth with whomever you like, without giving it a second thought. It's simply a more convenient way of transferring photos.

Storing Photo Albums
You can also take advantage of advanced file sharing options through the cloud computing services that often accompany them. With access to a cloud storage system, you suddenly have a very safe and very simple place to store and organize your photography projects. With your photos saved to the cloud, you will be able to access them from any device that can connect to the Internet, which provides both convenience for you, and valuable backup. This way, if a computer you use to store photos is damaged or lost, the photos themselves will still be safely stored on the cloud.

Collaborating On Projects
Finally, you might also enjoy taking advantage of the collaboration opportunities that cloud storage can provide. Basically, when you have photos saved to the cloud, anyone with access to your cloud can see and work on the photos. This can be a great perk if you like to collaborate on editing projects, or if you are working on photos for someone else and want ongoing feedback during the process!

Click It Up a Notch HUGE Giveaway

You all know how much I love Courtney over at Click It Up a Notch. You also know that I now sell camera bags.  So when Courtney hit 10,000 fans on facebook I asked her if she would like a bag to give away to one of her readers.  She graciously accepted and now there is a HUGE giveaway going on over there. I am honored to be a part of it.

You need to head over there and enter! You could win a Tamron 24-70mm 2.8 w/ VC ($1299 value!), one of my khaki Safari bags, and your choice of strap from Abie Straps.  You know you want to win!

It Won’t Be Long Now

Guess what?  I know people hate it when you start a conversation off like that, but I wanted you to guess.  It is finally happening!

The adoption.

It is so big that I had to set it apart from the other words. We have a court date set to finalize the adoption.  Holy cow!  On Monday, April 1st, we will stand in a courtroom and some person in a black robe will tell me what God put on my heart almost years ago…that one tiny girl is mine.

I have already warned them that if it is an April’s Fool Day joke there will be serious consequences, but everyone assures me that it is no joke. 

So next week be prepared for some photos.  I mean a lot of them. Two and half years worth. Consider yourself warned.  ;)

February Twitter Party!

It is that time of the month again!  No, not that time of the month.

It is time for the photography twitter party.  Join me and Courtney from Click It Up A Notch as we chat about photography, answer questions, and just do some girl talk.  You can follow the conversation using the hashtag #shuttertalk.

I hope to see you there.  It was a lot of fun last month and should be just as much fun this time. 

The graphic was done by the wonderful Molly Mason. Check her out.

Project 52: Self

So this past week was ‘self’ on Project 52 over at SHUTTER|bag’s facebook page.  I have been trying to make a point of doing my hair and make up every day.  Most days it actually happens.  The days it doesn’t are the days that pretty much nothing happens. You know how that is though, don’t you?

So here is a photo I snapped of myself with the iPad.  I really wanted the extra grain that comes with shooting with the iPad indoors.  I wanted more of a vintage film look.  Plus it always helps when you can see yourself (big plus for using the iPad).

That is me.  Don’t let it fool you, though.  The light is bouncing off of my pale skin so you cannot see all of my freckles or acne scars from my teenage years.  I also placed my hair over the corner of my jawline to make it look more angular and not as squared off as it really is. 

I did not edit this at all with an external program.  I took the shot in Instagram and then applied one of their filters to it.  No cropping, no nothing.  The easiest shot I have taken in a long time.  ;)

I would love to see you join in the fun.  Next week is “Steps”.

A Horse is a Horse…of course

I know that I shared with y’all that I am participating in the Project 52 over at the SHUTTER|bag facebook page.  This past week was ‘animal’.   Here is what I shared.

Nothing too special.  I don’t love this photo, but it will do. 

My stinking dog kept running from me when I got my camera out.  He had diabetes and doesn’t run from getting his insulin injections, but me with a camera makes him run.  Go figure.  Everyone is my house has been permanently scarred by me being a photographer.  lol  Is your house like that?

This week for the Project 52 is ‘self’.  You can interpret that however you want.  Take a photo of your hand, feet, or face.  You can take a photo of your child and say how much you self yourself in them.  Anything goes with interpretation.  I would really love to see you guys share something over there. 

I was actually excited about doing a new selfie, because all of my avatars are of the same selfie I did almost two years ago.  My hair is now really long.  But this week my face decided to look like I was 14 again, too bad all of my wrinkles didn’t get the same memo.  Let’s just say I will be using some Photoshop tricks this week.

Break The Cycle

Have you ever noticed that Hollywood only references foster care when it involves some horrible situation to provide a backstory on why a character is so screwed up?

You never get the plotlines of the kid that had a horrible family situation and foster care came in and turned it around.  There are no tales of case workers working above and beyond to help birth parents get it together to reunify their family.  There are no tales of foster families being there to provide love and support for the children while they healed and grew.

Why is that?

I know why.  Because these tales are even too rare for Hollywood.  I know that sounds pessimistic and kind of dark, but sometimes life is like that.  When you get calls from a foster agency telling you about a child that needs placement because a judge has ordered them removed from a different foster home, it makes your skin crawl. 

Foster parents are supposed to be the safe place, the warm refuge.  Is being a foster parent easy? Absolutely not.  Is being a biological or step parent easy? Absolutely not.

If you feel a nudge to be a foster parent, I encourage you to start the process of at least getting more information.  Take it step by step until you reach a point in which you know it isn’t for you. 

Does reunifying kids with their birth family hurt? Yes, sometimes.  Especially when you know they will be better off somewhere else.  Sometimes not so much, because let’s face it some kids are gigantic brats.  Yes, I said it.

But would you love to know that you were a safe place (even for just a brief moment) in a child’s life? Would it warm your heart to know that your family’s love inspired a child for the rest of their life? 

YOU could break the cycle!

 

I understand foster care is not for everyone. This post is not intended to guilt you or try to make you be involved if your heart isn’t saying it. This post is for the hundreds of people that have emailed me over the years saying they have always wanted to be involved, but couldn’t stand the hurt of returning a child. 

Can you stand the hurt of knowing a child is not safe right now, but could be if you could just get over your fear?

This Year’s Photography Project

So January is almost over and I am just now sharing that I have started a photography project for the year.  I decided at pretty much the last minute that I was going to start a Project 52 on the SHUTTER|bag facebook page. 

I have kept up with it, despite only talking about it here until now.

So here are the photos that I have shared so far.

Week #1 was Future:

This is Little Lady with a dirty face and before I did her hair for the day. Our future involves her adoption…sometime.  Ugh.

 

Week #2 was Past:

This small cross statue sits on my desk next to my monitor. It reminds me that no matter what my past has in it, He still loves me and has a perfect purpose for me.

 

Week #3 was Heat:

This is Cole gazing into the fire while staying warm.  I love this shot of him.

 

Week #4 (this current week) is a Wild Card, so there is no theme.  Every month there will be a “free” week to keep the pressure off. 

I bought some sunflowers at the grocery store because they were stunning.  They never opened, but that is alright. I was really infatuated with the deep purple leaves underneath and the detail of them.

 

So there you go.  I have caught you all up.  I will share my photos on here every week as well as on the facebook page. That is if you don’t mind.  ;)

It’s Party Time!

Grab your red Solo cup, cause we’re having a party!!

Did you ever participate in the #photochat twitter parties?  I did and I loved them.  Well Darcy at Life with My 3 Boybarians has been so busy with her super successful photography business and Kent Weakly has been bopping all over the country doing some exciting photography work himself.  They are just a tad busy and haven’t done a twitter party for photography in a while.

So I have teamed up with the wonderful Courtney over at Click It Up a Notch to co-host a monthly twitter party.  January is going to be our first month and the party is happening this Wednesday (January 16th) at 8:30 pm CST. 

Just follow along with the hashtag #shuttertalk. We will be discussing photography, your goals for this year, and just having fun and connecting with others over a common passion. 

If you don’t follow Courtney her twitter name is @ClickItUpANotch. Since starting my new business I changed my twitter name from momtriedit over to @ShutterbagUSA. So if you were following me, you still are. If you don’t follow me, I would love to connect on twitter.

By the way a HUGE shout out to the fabulous Molly Mason of MollyMason Photography and Graphic Design for creating this graphic.  She rocks and if you need any design work, I highly recommend her!

Fisher Price: Moments of Joy

I am mom of young children.  I have also fostered other young children.  To give you an idea of my house, I am pleased to announce that for the first time in 6 1/2 years, my house is diaper free.  Oh yes, you read that correctly.  At one point I had three children in diapers. I think I permanently smelled like poop for a year during that, by the way. 

My house knows toys.  The toys I choose to buy for my kids are usually ones that I know will be able to handle the level of participation that this offers, plus is a brand I trust.  I had Fisher Price toys as a child, as I know many of you did as well.  Some of my moms favorite photos of me have me playing with my googley eyed Fisher Price phone. 

Those are moments that became precious memories for her.  I have the same kind of moments.  The ones that I know my young children will likely not remember when they are older, but I will never forget.  Those moments of joy.  Not the posed photo moments.  Those real life moments.  When the lighting is horrible.  When I only had a crummy point and shoot and didn’t know a thing about photography.  But the photo captured my child’s joy or my joy in my child in that moment. 

Fisher Price has a new program called Moments of Joy.  Upload your moments and share.  You could win $1000 just by uploading your moments.  You will automatically be entered when you share your photos.  You share on your blog, on facebook, on twitter, and on Instagram, so why not show off your sweet kiddos over at Fisher Price, too. 

You can upload your moments easily directly on their facebook app, too.  You know you are on facebook multiple times a day (don’t deny it).  While you are on there, head over to Fisher Price on facebook and like them, too.  The app is very quick and easy to use. You can sign in with Facebook, Instagram or Fisher-Price. Then pick whether you want to upload a video, photo or story. You can even upload straight from Instagram! Then add a description, who is in the photo and you are all set. Official sweepstakes rules can be found here.

Five weekly winners will be randomly selected for $100 gift cards, along with one grand prize winner selected at random to win up to $1,000 of Fisher-Price toys!  I don’t know about you, but that sounds awesome to me. 

Here is one of the photos I shared.  This is one of those photos that has a story behind it and is so precious to me.  Charley was obsessed with being like her brother.  She would run in his room and get his clothes to wear them whenever she could.  She would dig into the dirty clothes hamper to grab his underwear (her favorite thing).  She had not interest in potty training, but loved his underwear.  Makes me smile just looking at it.

Now she would not do that to be like her brother.  now she would do something similar, but her intentions would be to torment and tease.  Oh how the times change.  Look at how little she is!  It hurts my heart just to see it.  She is now riding a bike without training wheels (because she cannot let Cole be able to do anything that she cannot do).

Here is another one of Cole and his best buddy Roxi.  Roxi is no longer with us, so this photo is very precious and no doubt will be one he will cherish, even if she was moving and blurry.  *Sniff*  Roxi was my baby before I had babies.  *Sniff, sniff*

Share your moment.  Share that perspective.  Share that brief glimpse.  So many other moms will appreciate seeing it just as much as you will love sharing it.  I want to see them.  So when you share come by and let me know, or tweet at me so I can go over and see them. 

Disclosure: I was provided information of the website, promotion, and giveaway by Fisher-Price and was compensated for this post.  This compensation in no way effects my opinion or love for Fisher-Price products or the company.  I loved their products as a very young child and now purchase them for my children.  This post and my involvement with them in relationship to this post has nothing to do with that.  I would recommend their products any time and place to anyone.  Period.

The Ups and Downs of Foster Care Adoption

Life is a roller coaster, no doubt about it.  But there is something about adoption that makes you feel the extremes even more.  I have been pregnant, I know those emotions well.  I have been unable to conceive (obviously before the pregnancies and corrective surgery) and have experienced those emotions, as well.  But nothing prepares you for adoption. 

International adoption comes with a lot of waiting.  Hoping. Waiting.  The heartache of meeting your child then having to leave them.  Then finally you get them. 

Foster care adoption.  Is a whole different animal.  You get that child and then pray for their safety.  There is no guarantee in the foster care system.  Birth parents could do some of the worst things you can imagine (or allow those things to happen), not care, not comply, and then at the last possible moment show a slight interest and everything is simply reset.  Birth parents do not have to get their lives together to get their children back.  The only have to meet the minimum standards of compliance.  Doesn’t that sound fantastic?

In some cases reunification is the best option for the child and the family.  In some cases it is definitely not, but still happens.  Then in many, many cases the process is simply dragged out as long as possible.  So the child spends years in the foster care system, because no one cared enough to give them a permanent home and stability. 

That is right…no one cared enough. 

• Not their birth parents, who could comply and do their required services to get their children back. 
• Not the foster parents, to advocate for them and push people to get things done.  {Now I do want to say that foster parent rights are severely lacking and foster parents can only do so much} There are many fantastic foster parents out there that fight for the children in their care every day. But frankly many foster parents don’t care enough.  They just care about the check.
• Not the case worker, who has almost all of the power to make a difference in these kids’ lives. But usually does not because their case load is overbearing and they are pushed to the brink of burnout which has resulted in a hard, jaded person.
• Not the court system, who just pushes files around from one stack to another.  Half of the time not reading the atrocities within the files.  Just looking at forms of what services have been done and what services need to be done.  Never taking an interest in that child or their well being. 

Back in June, Little Lady had her parental rights terminated.  It was a beautiful moment for us, because our hearts could just beat for a moment without having the cloud over our head that this beautiful little girl (that is ours in every sense, but the legal sense) would be given to a woman that has no business having children. 

We have simply been waiting on the foster care system to process our adoption packet and get that filed with the state. 

Um, scratch that.  Upon looking through the adoption packet, one person found a page in a visitation record in which birth mom said that her boyfriend was named _______.  She was pregnant at the time with Little Lady.  So the case aid, not the case worker, transcribed that the unborn child’s biological dad is likely that person.  Even though birth mom never put bio dad’s name on the birth certificate and she told the case worker his name once. The man she named was NOT this boyfriend.

So when rights were terminated, rights were terminated on that man that birth mom specifically named as the father once, and ANY AND ALL POSSIBLE FATHERS.

Turns out that last part is not good enough.  Child protective services here in Illinois will not let our adoption paperwork proceed because that one boyfriend was mentioned and could possibly be the bio dad.  They want a specific court order that says his rights are terminated before they proceed.

The court (State’s Attorney and the judge) say that he would fall under any and all possible fathers declared in the court petition and declaration.  So they are not setting a court date to terminate this man or doing the necessary public posting to process his termination.  The office of legal council in child protective services is not allowing us to proceed without it. 

So we are stuck in the battle of pride between two offices.  None of this would have been an issue, had our case worker properly reviewed the file  and notated his name, as she did the other man.  Or had child protective services noticed this man’s name the two previous times they reviewed the file to even get to this point. 

So once again a child is stuck in the foster care system because the court doesn’t care enough to swallow their pride and stand up one way or another; because child protective services won’t suck it up and admit that they approved the packet without his name specifically written and agreed to termination and are now saying everything has to be redone because they didn’t see this the TWO times they had reviewed the file prior; because our case worker does her work at a bare minimum requirement.

BUT there is one big difference.  This girls’ foster parents are not going to take this!  We are going to fight for our daughter.  We want to make this adoption final.  We want the paperwork to match what our hearts have been saying for the past 2 1/2 years…this girl is a Young and belongs in our family!

Orange Pumpkin

We went to a pumpkin patch last week for Charley’s pre-k class.  The photographer in me wanted to take photos of everything, but the mom in me wanted to be a part of these memories, not just capture them.  So the camera came out on two occasions, then I played in corn tubs, went down culvert slides, and made s’mores. 

Here is a photo of Charley showing me the pumpkin she chose from the pile behind her. 

Nikon D700 with Nikkor 28-300mmG lens. Focal length 78mm at f/5.6, shutter speed 1/100, ISO 320 about 4 feet from me. 

That isn’t noise in the background, I used a texture from Jessica Drossin called Harper.  It is a free texture you can get from her facebook page.  You know I love textures.  I have bought some of hers and they are awesome.  I want more!

Kroger Event

I shop at Kroger.  I love it.  My Kroger is the only grocery store that has the shopping carts with the cars at the front, which please my girls.  They have a Starbuck’s inside, which I occasionally indulge in.  They have great prices and the employees at my Kroger are simply fabulous. 

Right now Kroger is having a special going on called Buy 5 and Save $5.  You buy 5 items from select General Mills products like Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Pillsbury Toaster Strudel, Betty Crocker Cake and Brownie Mixes, Hamburger Helper, Totino´s Party Pizza, Yoplait and many more and then receive a coupon printed at checkout for $5 off your next purchase*.

It is a great deal.  I only wish it would load on your Kroger card, because sometimes a busy mom forgets a coupon.  You know what I am talking about.  ;)

So head over to your Kroger store to stock up and save.  You can connect with Kroger on facebook and twitter to learn more about upcoming events.

* Products must be purchased during one shopping visit. To view a list of participating products see your store for details. The $5 coupon offer off your next shopping trip offer expires 1 week from the print date, with the coupon prints ending October 24th. Any offers printed on October 24th will expire on October 31st.

Disclosure: Kroger and General Mills provided me with the information and gift pack through MyBlogSpark.

I am Alive

Yes, I am alive.  No, nothing is wrong.  I have been enjoying my time playing with my kids.  Doing lots of stuff and lots of cleaning.  My house still looks like a disaster, though.

I have not been promoting my photography business at all because I know I will need to focus my time on the camera bag business, but I keep getting referrals or repeat customers.  Which is a good thing!  So that has taken up my time recently, too.

I thought I would share a cute little guy with you.  I did his newborn photos this summer.  Now I did his 3 month photos along with his family.

Isn’t he adorable? Just look at those eyes.

SHUTTER|bag Giveaway over at Clickin Moms

How would you like to win a high quality leather camera bag? 

You would?  Imagine that. 

Well head over to Clickin Moms and read their fantastic article about what it takes to operate a valued photography business.  There is some good information that is really insightful and should be helpful for many.  One lucky commenter on that post will win a khaki Safari bag valued at $299.95.

Head over and read/enter now!

The Sweetest Face You Have Never Seen

I know I haven’t been blogging.  I am not going apologize for it, because I haven’t really missed it.  I know you all have busy lives and didn’t miss me. 

I am getting a shipment of camera bags soon and our website is supposed to go live this week. I am super excited!

I have been keeping my computer time in check and trying to keep it relating to SHUTTER|bag business and stuff more than blogging.  Trust me when I say that when I have bags in stock and a website up, I will be shouting it from the rooftops (and here).  I am also spending lots of time reading to my kids and playing Barbies.  Oh, I hate playing Barbies.

But I will share a photo with you that I took a few weeks ago.  It is someone you haven’t seen their face before on the blog.  I cannot really tell you anything about the person in the photograph.  I can tell you that she is much cuter in real life, though.

By the way, her eyebrows are that perfect.  I did not touch up the skin her face at all.  I did clean off some pen that was all over her arm, though. Gotta love toddlers.  ;)

WW:The Rest of the Photos

That’s all.  You know I couldn’t be wordless. 

More from the Train Depot

I promised more of this shoot and I am definitely going to share. 

Here are a very cool brother and sister that attend my church.  They agreed to be my volunteer models.  Both of them are very musically talented and this could not have gone better.  And I have to admit, they were way easier to shoot than disagreeable toddlers.  ;)

And here is my classic struggle black and white or color.  Both show the story and give a feel of the location.  I think it is just a style preference for this particular photo.  So here are both.  That should please the color junkies and b&w junkies along with the fence riders like me.  {For the record I prefer the color of this one. }

I originally took this shot and had to completely blow the background to get my subject metered correctly (no, I still haven’t experimented with my off-camera flash). So everything off of the brick was so bright white that it looked cropped and put on a white background.  I asked for advice on Clickin Moms and a woman on the forum suggested I return to the depot and take a shot metered for the background.  Duh!  I felt so ding dong-y for not thinking of that.

These photos are actually composites.  The tracks, grass, and parking lots are merged on from a separate image.  Everything from the curb and over (everything on the bricks) is from one shot by itself.  I just used a layer mask to merge the two parts.

I Clicked It Up a Notch- August

I love Courtney’s site Click It Up a Notch.  Every month she does a link up in which you can show off you best shot of the month.  It is fun to see your own photos each month and see how you have been “clicking it up a notch” yourself.  The idea is not to compare yourself to others. The idea is to compare yourself to your yourself.  Watch your photos mature and your style change/evolve as you keep growing.

I really had an ah-ha moment this week (not the 80’s band).  I did a photo session with a couple of young adults that go to my church.  They were gracious enough to be my guinea pigs, um models.  I was trying to get a shot to submit for the Chic Critique Photography Idol contest to submit as a wild card slot. 

The assignment was posing and prop.  You needed to create an image that TOTALLY reflected your style.  I really had no idea what my style was.  It changes with my moods.  So I asked them if they would be willing to model.  I met them at a location I have been wanting to photograph at forever. 

I worked really hard to make it mine and own it.  Like the pros do.  I hit a breakthrough.  I pushed myself and I am so happy I did. I got some fantastic feedback from great friends (you know who you are) that took my editing a step further by giving me some fresh eyes and a new perspective. 

This photo is one from the session.  I will share many more.  I loved them!

SHOOT.EDIT.SUBMIT. 08.31.12.

I can’t believe I haven’t posted since last Friday.  This week has been extremely busy.  I have been doing quite a few blog posts, but not for here.  My craft posts come in waves and right now I have three due this week.  All have now been done and two have been written and submitted.  One to go.  That will be done today during nap time, I think.  I have been photographing and editing, too.  I will share those next week.  I am particularly proud of them.

On with the show, though.  Man, I really loved going through the photos this past week.  There were awesome sunsets, fantastic macros, and great portraits.  You name the kind of photography and we likely had it last week.  It was awesome!!

I am really honored and blessed that you guys come over and choose to join in and share your work here.  I know there are so many blogs out there and the fact that you take time to come and share here means a lot to me, so thank you!

You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out

Yes, she was there.  You have to click over and read about the trip.  She gives so much background and detail.  Beautiful, beautiful scene.  You captured it so well.

 

Sarah Halstead

This newborn portrait is so darling.  Not only is it a creative idea to incorporate the parents’ interests, but the depth of field and composition is great.

Here is your button, ladies.

<center><a border="0" href="http://www.momtriedit.net/search/label/SHOOT.EDIT.SUBMIT." target="_blank"><img src="http://i802.photobucket.com/albums/yy303/momtriedit/SESBUTTONTOP3.png"/></a></center>

This week’s winner is…

From Sarah’s Camera

I love this shot.  The light is so soft and dreamy.  I love how the composition is following “the rule of thirds” nor is it centered.  It is just enough to keep you looking, but not distracting or wrong feeling.  It is just creative and artistic.  Very pretty.

Here is your button.

<center><a border="0" href="http://www.momtriedit.net/search/label/SHOOT.EDIT.SUBMIT." target="_blank"><img src="http://i802.photobucket.com/albums/yy303/momtriedit/SESBUTTONwinner.png"/></a></center>

Join in with your shots from this week.  You all had some really great ones this past week and I cannot wait to see more.  Every week we seem to have more entries and more fantastic photos to see.  Thank you again for sharing and joining in. 

Here are the guidelines:

1. Photos can be anything, there is never a theme. Even though the name is shoot, edit, submit you do not have to edit the photo.  It can be SOOC (straight out of the camera). No theme, no real rules for type of photos.

2. Photo must be taken in the past week - I want you to get out with your camera!

3. Only one entry per person, please.

4. "Shoot. Edit. Submit." button or a link back to this contest must be on your post in order for it to qualify.

5. Link only to your blog post not your main blog URL. That makes it so much easier for everyone to find your photo.

(If you submit a photo you are granting me permission to copy and paste it onto our blogs if you win.)

<center><a border="0" href="http://www.momtriedit.net/search/label/SHOOT.EDIT.SUBMIT." target="_blank"><img src="http://i802.photobucket.com/albums/yy303/momtriedit/SESBUTTON.png"/></a></center>

SHOOT.EDIT.SUBMIT. 08.24.12.

Summer is kind of winding down here in the U.S., but maybe not so much for some of you.  It is still pretty hot out there.  Fall will be here soon and this year has flown by.  My Southern hemisphere friends are gearing up for Spring and I cannot wait to see your photos of it. 

Last week I talked about images being disabled.  Just to be clear that is fine, I have no problem with it at all, so don’t feel compelled to change your settings.  It is your blog and you do what you want.  I just felt bad about not being able to share the photos.  I still would love to see your photos, I just need to make sure I allow enough time to contact people in case I need the image to share.

This week’s top photos are form these super talented people…

Live, Love, Travel

The color in this shot is fabulous.  The perfect depth of field makes me feel lost in the meadow (it really was a lavender farm). 

 

Making Pinterest My Reality

Oooo, I love the use of negative space here and the colors just pop so well. 

Here is your Top 3 button.  Thank you so much for sharing!

<center><a border="0" href="http://www.momtriedit.net/search/label/SHOOT.EDIT.SUBMIT." target="_blank"><img src="http://i802.photobucket.com/albums/yy303/momtriedit/SESBUTTONTOP3.png"/></a></center>

And the winner this week is definitely showing us that Spring is headed her way.

Pieces of Contentment

Oh my goodness.  The detail is simply amazing.  The colors are so bold and beautiful.  I love the composition, too. 

By the way, she has this print for sale along with many of her photos.  I know I would love to see her work on my wall, so you should check it out. 

<center><a border="0" href="http://www.momtriedit.net/search/label/SHOOT.EDIT.SUBMIT." target="_blank"><img src="http://i802.photobucket.com/albums/yy303/momtriedit/SESBUTTONwinner.png"/></a></center>

Join in with your shots from this week.  You all motivate me and push me more than you will ever know. 

Here are the guidelines:

1. Photos can be anything, there is never a theme. Even though the name is shoot, edit, submit you do not have to edit the photo.  It can be SOOC (straight out of the camera). No theme, no real rules for type of photos.

2. Photo must be taken in the past week - I want you to get out with your camera!

3. Only one entry per person, please.

4. "Shoot. Edit. Submit." button or a link back to this contest must be on your post in order for it to qualify.

5. Link only to your blog post not your main blog URL. That makes it so much easier for everyone to find your photo.

(If you submit a photo you are granting me permission to copy and paste it onto our blogs if you win.)

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The Last of the Horses

Here are the last photos of the horses I took this past weekend.  This comng weekend is the fair!!  While I would love to get some shots, I don’t know if I will take my camera or not.  There will be a lot of people there and we will be having to keep track of a 6 year old, a 4 year old, and a 2 year old.  Yep, the girls will be having a birthday soon.

Back to the horses.  Here you go and now you are free of horse photos for a while, maybe just a little while.  I did enjoy taking these a lot.  And I have access to horses anytime, so there may be more.

Don’t forget to join in tomorrow for SHOOT.EDIT.SUBMIT.  I love seeing your photos.  They really do inspire me to go out and shoot.