Trying to get Christmas card worthy pic

The kids didn't have school today, so I went out trying to get a picture for our Christmas card. I even bribed them with pizza for lunch and ice cream for dessert. Maybe the problem really doesn't fall on my children and their cooperation, but on my ability. I have not been feeling confident in my group pics lately and now I am wondering if the problem that I always blame on the children might actually be me. Anyway enough with the rambling, on to the pictures.

Happy Halloween!

So this is by far my least favorite holiday. People dressing up, not knowing who's who. Complete strangers coming to the door begging for candy, and seriously if your not going to dress up, then why bother. My favorite costume of the night was a little girl at most the age of three, with mom, came to my house in a costume I can best describe as bloody bride, I mean seriously, three. What did they tell her she was dressed up as. We always have a big shindig, at our house on Halloween. Everyone brings chili and we mix into one big pot and it's the best chili you've ever eaten, and then you can't replace it. It's awsome, we had a really big turnout this year, loads of people showed up. I don't even know that I knew everyone. I'm sure my husband was in heaven, and don't get me wrong, I love having people over, or should I say I love the idea of having people over. Then everyone gets here, and I'm not really a people person, often times at some point in the evening I break out in hives. Damned anxiety disorder, why I am this way is beyond me, but I just keep having folks over in the hopes that one day I'll feel like joining in the fun, instead of sitting in a corner by myself.

A couple of different ones from me...

I played a little bit with my family session this weekend and got some great stuff. The location was awsome!

My "Beautiful Man"

Sometimes my son cooperates, most of the time he runs from the camera.

Sunrise

This is what I woke up to this morning.

walking the katy trail

with some friends.........

moody

sometimes it just works

Butterfly

Caught this butterfly on a walk. I couldn't get him to open up before he flew away.

If you're a mom read this

I found this link today and wow it was like reading my thoughts. Too many times as a mother I don't feel valued and like maybe there is something else I should be doing in my life. This brings it all into perspective.
http://theartfulflower.blogspot.com/2007/09/2-sentences-you-need-to-know-to-feel.html

A picture of the capitol

I was playing around one day last week and grabbed this one.

Website name change...

You can now get to my website just by typing in www.leighlearphotography.com isn't that exciting! Anyway thought I'd pass along that news for anyone interested.

Taking pics of my son in the garage...

Got some great pics in my garage yesterday morning! Just as a FYI for you photo junkies out there I did nothing to his eyes, that's just how much light was in there!

Tour of Missouri

I caught this yesterday at the race, pretty amazing huh?

Tour of Missouri

We spent the weekend watching the Tour of Missouri, it was and amazing exerience. Here is Ben looking down the street to see the riders coming.

Got my Canon 430ex speedlite !!

I got my external flash yesterday and really loving the results.

Here's one from a today's photo shoot.

Aren't these a couple of cuties!

It's been a while since I've posted...

I thought I'd put a pic of my kids. I took this in the bahamas and just played around with it today.

Another from last nights session.

Here is one of them together, aren't they sweet.

He's gonna break some hearts someday!

I had a session last night with this little cutie and his sister, they were lots of fun. It took a while to get him to warm up to the camera, but once he did, as you can see I got great results.

Kiss

I hardly ever put pics of me & my honey on here so I thought I'd share this one. Aren't we sweet!

A pic from last nights session...

I had a photosession last night with this cute little boy. He was a blast to take pictures of and was busy, busy, busy.

Are you tired of seeing this picture?

I have been playing around with different conversions of this picture. I'd love to know which one you prefer. Just scroll down and take a look at the different ones and let me know what you think.

Jack lost his first tooth!

This actually happened about a month ago, but I am just getting around to posting it.

Digging into the archives...

I was looking for a picture and came upon this one of the three of my kids. It's not the best, but I like that they are all looking at the camera, which is more than I can say for my recent attempts.

Beautiful green eyes!

My son has the most gorgeous green eyes, he gets compliments all the time from total strangers. I wish I could take credit, but they are all his dad, in fact it's one of the things, physically anyway, that attracted me to him. This picture doesn't do them justice, but someday I will get them in all their glory.

Photoshoot

I've been trying to get some really good pictures of my daughter. I've noticed that I don't have nearly enough of her. I guess just because she's always in school or at some event and I have a ton of the boys. I mostly have Ben because he's the one home all the time. So my goal this summer is to even it out a bit.

Maddison

The kids were playing in the sprinkler yesterday and I got this of Maddison. Isn't she beautiful?

Something new I learned today!

I made my first storyboard today, I am so proud of myself. It looks very simple, but I can add just about anything to customize it.

Vintage play

I was messing around in photoshop, I know this really doesn't work for this pic, but was having fun playing around.

A look into the future?

If this a picture of what is to come, I think we are in trouble. Ben was giving his friend Eilee a ride on his Harley and kept making sure her arms wer around him, it was so cute.

Meet Libby!

Our new little mutt, she is great. She's a little timid and barks at just about everything, I think she has the makings of a great watchdog.

New Life...

Well we are giving it another go with a puppy. This one was free and from my hometown, where maybe they breed a little stronger pups. She is black lab/blue heeler mix and very cute. I will soon have pics but just wanted to give you an update.

Sad Day.....

Our puppy died yesterday morning at 7:55 am. The vet said she probably had a heart defect or something like that, but it was awful. The kids watched as Andrew tried to give it mouth to mouth and it happened so fast we were just a mess. Don't know what we are going to do next, but it has not been easy to deal with two dog deaths in 7 weeks.

Chives a bloomin'

I was playing around with macro today and look what I caught.

The newest member of our family!

Meet Sadie, the newest member of our family. We got her yesterday and fell in love immediately. She is super sweet and is already becoming spoiled rotten.

Big Splash!!

We went to a lake this weekend with some friends of ours, who graciously let us tag along for free. We stayed in a cabin and went around the lake on a party barge and the boys rode the waverunner. We had a blast and I couldn't believe my boys rode the waverunner, they loved it!!!

My kids on the beach!

Here's one of my kids on the beach , we went to the Bahama's last week and it was wonderful!

Ben having breakfast at the beach house

I loved the lighting in this house, it was wonderful.

Playing with some new color actions!

I love Brenda's color boost, it's just subtle enough. I can't wait to do more with it.

Just when I thought I had a good picture...

Someone makes it sooo much better. I belong to this photography website, where i am surrounded by geniuses and one of them did this to my pic.

My three year old!

I've been trying to get some pictures of my three year old, since before he turned three. It is just not easy to get eye contact. Anyway here is a few of the ones we took today.

Moody black and white.

I was taking pics of my son trying out different locations in our house. It turns out the evening sun in my youngests room is pretty good for picture taking.

A boy and his best friend...

My son lost his best friend, and on his birthday. I don't know how long it typically takes to get over losing a pet, but I think it will take longer with a three year old in the house. He asked again today where Edy was and why can't the doctor fix her. It's been rough, we were visiting with the neighbors and all Ben did was follow around their dog. He loved our dog, probably more than anyone, except maybe my husband.

Edy, R.I.P. April 26, 2007

Our sweet puppy died yesterday. We are out of sorts this week, as it was pretty sudden. She was only 7 and way too young to die, I envisioned her being around a lot longer. We will move on, but it is quiet around the house and so we remember her.

More bubbles!!

Here's another of my son blowing bubbles.

Bubbles!!

We had fun playing outside yesterday! The weather was awsome and the kids enjoyed blowing bubbles. It's so great to be able to get outside and play!

Just my son

Just my son
Originally uploaded by llear.

We went for a walk this morning. It was so much fun, we looked at trains, flowers and fountains. It didn't turn out to be the photo session I was hoping for, but that may never happen.

A black and white conversion

I am trying a new black and white conversion, let me know what you think.

My new toy!

My first attempt at using the RAW setting on my camera
Originally uploaded by llear.

I took this using the RAW setting on my camera and then played around with it in Adobe Lightroom. It is amazing, I don't think I'll go back.

My friend's daughter

Here is a picture I took of Miss E on our walk the other day.

This is what I get when I ask my son to look at the camera!!

He really doesn't like getting his picture taken. Actually when I get my camera out he often goes running in the other direction. So this is what I'm left with.

A new pic of Jack

I have a trial of photoshop cs2 and have been playing around a little. It is so impressive, I wish I had gotten it sooner.

It's gonna be slow for a while....

It's going to be slow for a while, I just got a new laptop and I am trying not to put as many pictures on it. I have an external hard drive for my pictures, but this computer has Vista and quite frankly it a huge pain. I have to figure out all the little things that are different, but most important is the fact that a lot of my programs are not compatible with the Vista system. So if your in the market for a new computer, my suggestion is stay away from Vista and get a Mac.

Beautiful Weather

The weather has been gorgeous, so of course we've been outside everyday. This is great for the kids, not my allergies. I haven't gotten very good pictures, because I can barely see out of my bloodshot, swollen eyes, let alone get a good shot. Here is one of Jack, he really doesn't like getting his picture taken.