Bird Photography - Take #1

Saturday afternoon, Daddy Layne took us all to the beach. We grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, had chips and cookies, and enjoyed the nice weather. Although the beach was pretty packed with people and the tide was in giving you only about 4 foot of walking space, we enjoyed the small time actually on the beach. Lol. Most of our time was spent around the grill talking, waiting for the food, eating chips, smelling the food, eating the cookies and taking pictures.

 The red cardinals were really active around the tables, probably because of the food they were waiting for. We threw some chips out in the leaves and watched them. Thankfully, this time I remembered to bring my camera along and was able to get some really cool pictures.

 The males never came close enough for long enough for me to get a close and really nice shot. But the one above I zoomed in to almost my max to get. He is a real beauty.

 The trees served as a nice place to eat for them because the moss wouldn't let the food go; but it kind of got in the way for me.

 Finally, the sun was going down, the birds were calming down and I didn't think I was going to get any more shots. But this guy came pretty close and perched. (above) Then got comfortable. (below)

This is the best silhouette picture that I have ever been able to capture. I was so super psyched!

And so, this is my first try at bird watching. Not very successful, but I wouldn't put them down.

I hope y'all all have a blessed day!

Bethany

Senior Portrait ~ Stephanie

A couple of weeks ago, an old friend of mine came and stayed the week with us. When I was 9-11 she came every summer for a whole week, but then she moved. Her family moved to WV and we didn't keep in touch. But she moved back only a few years later.

~She is so beautiful!~

 

So just recently we've started talking again, and Amy has done a lot of things, and gone a lot of places with their church youth group. But Stephanie is going off to college this Fall and needed her senior pictures done as well as a profile to send in with her application. So here is what we did.

 

As you can see, we went down a dirt road that was beautifully shaded. The trees came to a really nice cover and it was just recently plowed.

We then were headed to a different location and decided to stop for this one.

 

 

These next few pictures were taken out behind a Church, about 6 miles from my house.

 

 

 

 

"Stephanie, you are an amazing person and I'm glad to call you my friend. Thanks for letting me do your pictures I had a blast!"

I actually am really proud of these pictures because I didn't have to edit hardly any. The last three I did because there was some stuff in the background, but with the locations we picked the lighting and composure was perfect.

Have a blessed day!

Bethany

 

My Garden

Hello! I'm so glad you've stopped by. This is the first time doing my own garden, so I'm posting pictures on request (Sarah), and because I'm really excited to see how it works. ☺ So, please excuse the enthusiasm over some of the small things, or un-important things, that you think may be silly, childish, or prideful; I'm just really excited. ☺

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Today I finished getting my square-foot garden ready for planting. Here are my two 8 X 4 garden plots. Normally, they would be made out of wood; untreated, 2 X 6 boards. But because of the lack of this, and the plenty of cinder blocks, I used what I had.

(I love my pathway!)

This first plot is filled with Jungle Growth Mix.

 The second plot will be filled with Mel's Mix, from the Square-Foot Gardening book. I bought the materials to mix it myself, instead of buying the pre-prepared stuff.
~ Peat Moss
~Vermiculite
~Compost

Mel says to use 5 different kinds of compost, but I only got two (it was all I could find).

 I dumped half of everything onto a tarp. Once you do that Mel says to wet it (lightly) so that the ingredients don't get carried away by the wind. This is very smart because the vermiculite is really light and it was flying away every time I stirred or turned the soil. ☺

 Then you turn it, by pulling the corners of the tarp to each other corner. Back and forth, and back and forth, until its mixed. This was really, really cool because it wasn't as strenuous as trying to stir it all and not bust the tarp. And... turning it this way mixes it up nice and even. ☺

 Once that was mixed I put it in the plot. My tarp started tearing so I finished mixing the rest up in the plot.

Here is where I really appreciated having blocks for my boarders; I could stand on them, lean on them and walk on them to spread and turn the soil. Mixing the soil this way was harder because it doesn't mix as even as fast; you have to use more man-power, (or woman-power lol).

After I mixed it all together and spread it out evenly, I wet the soil, and now I'm ready to plant.

So, what am I planting? Stay tuned and you'll find out. Haha! ☺

Have a blessed day!
Bethany

Photo Edit

This past week we have been keeping the Pastor's kids while him and his wife go off to a couples retreat. Today I took them out for a photo shoot to get some sibling photos, and we had an interesting time.

Where we went there were some terrible sand gnats; (and when I say terrible, I mean they were terrible!) So we kind of cut it short, but here is a picture of Scarlett, the oldest, that I fixed. The picture above is the finished product. Below is the original.

It was really cloudy, and foggy, but with the white and a light glare Scarlett got blown out.

First I darkened the whole photo. Next I brightened the colors, and enhanced the contrast by a smidgen. Below is that difference.

For a long time I've been needing to learn how to fix this next problem and today I did; (I'm so proud of myself. lol) Glasses glare. On Scarlett's left eye you see a glare on her glasses, and here is the simple solution.

Clone the right eye, to the left eye. Then use your Spot Healing Brush to soften the difference and make it a smooth change.

When I got done and compared the two pictures side by side I loved the change. I was so excited!

So there it is, how to take the glass glare off your glasses.

Have a blessed day.

Bethany