Black and White Wednesday - "Mine"

Color shots from today are posted here. :)

Black and White Wednesday - Bubbles

CLICK HERE to view a larger size of this image.

You can view other participants' black and white
images HERE at The Long Road to China.

Mom and Dad, I'm so thankful that you're able to play a big role in Hannah's life! --Sarah

Black and White Wednesday - Easter

Hope your Easter was filled with joy!

Black and White Wednesday - swim

I'll post more later tonight about our "spring vacation" in Ann Arbor, but had to share a pic of our little swimmer! :)

Black and White Wednesday - bathtime grins

I'm just learning how to use my speedlight flash, and I haven't been happy with the results thus far because the flash is too harsh. Monday night my friend Jeri surprised me with a mini softbox. Tonight during bathtime, I experimented with the mini softbox on the flash. Our bathroom is not lit very well, and the flash helped immensely in comparison to previous dark and yellowed bathtime shots. Post processing was very quick. I bumped up the exposure with Lightroom. Then I opened the file in Photoshop, ran the Florabella BW Rich Vintage action, followed by BW Tints & Hazes for the milky haze. Thanks, Jeri!!!

I never really understood the white balance settings on DSLRs and how to manually set the white balance until Jeri brought over a DVD on our 7Ds. I learned a lot, and watching a video that I could pause and replay was so much easier than reading a book. White balance adjustments really improved my bathtub shots, as well.

The Augmentin is working on those double ear infections, thank goodness! We all slept through the night last night with just one wake up due to a wet diaper. Unfortunately, we have to hold Hannah's arms down when we give her the medicine. If I give it to her without Dada's help, she sticks her tongue out and wipes the chalky medicine off her tongue with her hands. Flavoring the prescription helped, but watermelon flavored chalk still tastes... well, chalky.

Hannah's new words this week: Medicine (surprise, surprise!), sad (after several readings of "What's Wrong, Little Pookie?"), ketchup, and camera.

Black and White Wednesday - every leaf

every leaf, a new discovery
I don't have much to write about this week, except that I'm so glad the weather is warming up and we can be outside to explore leaves and go down slides. Yesterday afternoon was beautiful and we went to the elementary school to check out the slides. Hannah went down each and every slide, even the highest and fastest ones. She had a runny nose but was a very happy girl. Thirty minutes later her attitude slid downhill and she's been a wreck ever since. After a trip to the pediatrician this morning, we learned that Hannah has double ear infections. No amount of Tylenol, juice, crackers, and holding her can comfort her for very long. Mama has boogers on each shoulder of her shirt and is very tired.

Our 2010 census mailing arrived yesterday. Taiwanese Americans and parents of Taiwanese Americans, be sure to check "OTHER ASIAN" and write in "TAIWANESE." Be counted. Be recognized.

Black and White Wednesday - color conversion

This week on Black and White Wednesday, I thought I'd follow the leader and show you this photo's transformation from SOOC (straight out of camera) to the finished product.



I was taking these shots with Hannah playing around inside an ottoman. When this was shot, she had laid back and found herself a little stuck, hence the "uh oh" face. Had to cover her up a little bit!



I fixed the owie on her head, smoothed out some eye boogies, and sharpened her eyes a little bit. Then I spent a lot of time getting the crop just the way I wanted it. Might have spent more time on the crop than on the rest of the steps below! I bought the Florabella actions this week, and they are sure pretty and easy to use! I used a milky haze and a tint from the actions. This was my first time playing around with haze and tints. Seems like my best black and whites always come from getting the color just right first, and then doing the black and white conversion.



I used one of the Florabella black and white actions for the conversion, and then adjusted the lighting to get the exposure and shadows just the way I wanted it. I flattened the black and white layer and the previous hazy color image. I placed the black and white image over the hazy color image, and then reduced the opacity until I got just the right amount of red to peek out from the flower on Hannah's head and a wee bit of warmth to peek out from her skin.

My birthday is coming up later this month, and Kevin is helping me treat myself for my birthday. I'm upgrading to a Canon 7D, decided to get my first taste of L glass with an 24-70mm f/2.8L, and a speedlight. Decided that I'd rather have camera equipment right now then a newer car! I'm really excited about having video on the 7D. My old Canon point and shoot takes great video but sucks down batteries, and I am not going to carry around two cameras at the same time.

I'm going to be selling one lovingly used Canon EOS Rebel XSi body, an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, battery grip, an extra battery, and a few photography books. Haven't finalized a price yet... but I'm watching eBay auctions to help figure out what the going rate is right now. Leave me your e-mail in the comments section if you are interested.

Black and White Wednesday - Beautiful Bella

Kevin's niece visited us a few weeks ago. It was so refreshing to photograph a child that would actually look at me and follow directions, at least for five minutes. :) Photographing Lucky the dog was a lot more like what I was used to. Feeling REALLY LUCKY that I was able to get that shot with the two of them together!