My model is so moody.

I had to go out today and do some test shots for an industrial and patterned backdrop request and had to drag along my 10 year old to be the "model". It's like pulling teeth and he is not very happy about it! Here are just a couple:

One more time with Photoshop

My oldest earned his green belt in Taekwon Do this week and wanted to do one more "scene" (like the ones in my post below) with all of his belts together. White vs. Grey, Yellow vs. Green. Here it is:

Fun with photoshop

I just learned this fun new technique in photoshop and I've been having a little fun with it this weekend. Check it out!

This was the first scene I did with my 10 year old. The first method I used didn't work so well but after I learned the new method, it looked much better.


This is our cat Frankie. I had to throw treats all around the room to get her to go where I wanted. Then the dog came barging in the room and she ran away.


This is my 5 year old sitting around the table playing cards, having an argument and just being cute.


After we saw how cool the first rock band came out, we decided to take it up a level to include another guitarist and a wardrobe change for each member of the band:


The little one is really into army men and he wanted to reenact a battle scene. Is this is his way of honouring our fallen soldiers this Remembrance Day? He's such a nut. Anyway, I reduced the color saturation in all but the green channel. Gives it more of an old time feel while enhancing the green of the army guy.


It was a fun little project, hope you enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

Tonight was the night! I finally got around to taking some pictures of the house all dressed up for Halloween. There are a few more I need to take at night with the spotlights on so will post those later.

Here is a wide angle to get the whole house in. My favourites are the picket fence and the spider up on the second story.



Close up of the spider and to the right is her egg sack:




Spider family on the front porch.



The big headstones are made out of Styrofoam. They are so real looking!



Skull getting picked clean by a rat:



Scary zombie guy:



Skeleton guy coming out of the ground:




Posted this one below but here you have it again:




My oldest as a zombie:






Youngest is a skeleton:





This was the big show piece this year, moving ghost in the window:




Here is the wooden frame and whole contraption to make the ghost move. It was powered by a BBQ rotisserie motor.


Just a shot of the yard at night:



Edited to add a picture of us at a Halloween party from Saturday night. I was an 80's aerobic instructor and my husband was Nacho Libre!



And there is me in the background, these are our friends the porno director and the hippie girl.

Lensbaby

What a beautiful fall day it was today. Most of the leaves are gone now, but the weather was beautiful. Winter is imminent. Better enjoy it while we can.

These are some shots I took today with my Lensbaby 3G. In case you are not familiar with this lens, it is a selective focus lens that gives a "sweet spot" of focus in the center that is surrounded by lens blur. You push, pull and tilt the bellows lens until you get the sweet spot where you want, then manually adjust the focus. You can fine tune the sweet spot to a precise point and shoot away. The aperture is selected by drop-in magnetic discs that vary in size from f/2.8 - f/22. It's a fun lens to play with but it takes some time and patience to get the hang of it.

www.lensbaby.com

Here are a couple from today:

There was a weird cloud system moving in this afternoon that left a distinct straight line in the sky where the system ended. It was pretty strange looking as it stretched completely across the sky as far as the eye could see in either direction. You can see it here in this picture of a group of poplars:


Just a bunch of dead leaves on horizontal branches:


Fallen, dead, decaying tree:


Some little bug's house:


More dead stuff:

A black and white of the poplars:


Enjoy!

Halloween House

Halloween is a big deal at our house, my husband goes crazy with the decorations. Just have time to post one scary skeleton coming out of the ground.



I'll post more later.

Weekend at the Farm

We went to my in laws farm this weekend for Thanksgiving. The boys always have such a fun time out there, they are true farm kids. Even the dog loves it.
The kids spent the afternoon shooting the pellet and BB guns, here are some pictures of that:

Grandpa and Uncle setting up the target:



Taking shots:









This is my nephew shooting a coke can off the fence post. It ripped a big hole in the side of the can and coke exploded everywhere. He was so shocked!





Don't shoot Grandpa in the butt!


Showing off his mad target shooting skillz:



Here are some images from around the farm:



Old abandoned tractor steering wheel:


Swather:


Rust:

1964 Chevy:


Rusty hook:


I don't know what the heck this thing is! Is Grandpa building WMD on the farm??

This is an old, cratered honeywagon:


Pretty wood grain:


Weeds. Why do I like taking pictures of weeds??


That's all I have processed for now. If you want to see more of the farm, see my smugmug site:

http://candratinis.smugmug.com/gallery/3570410_BRrwk#394277774_Lae49