Oh Snap! Sunday Scavenger Hunt Gone Wrong

So, as I've mentioned before I am trying to learn more about photography and that takes lots of practice, right? To that end, I have found and been following some new photo memes...there are hundreds! I never knew. Anyway, last week I jotted down the theme for a photo challenge and set to work taking shots for each prompt: capture the sky, every day, furry, life and blurred. I noted that my post needed to be up between Sun and Tues and to link up at Ashley Sisk's site.

So, I sat down tonight after the kids were tucked in bed to get to work on editing my images and writing my post, only to realize that my prompts were all wrong. Not only were they NOT the prompts for Ashley's Sunday Scavenger Hunt for this week, but I can't find a post anywhere that to which these prompts would apply. Huh. Perhaps I was dreaming.

Ah well, such is my life. A blur of chaos and confusion. I'm posting my pics nonetheless. I hope someone out there enjoys them.

Capture the Sky:

Every Day:

Furry:

Life:

Blurred:

~ Melissa

My Favorite Photo of The Week

I'm joining in the Favorite Photo of the Week Contest over at Through A Photographer's Eyes. This pic was taken last Thursday, on my birthday. My older kids were playing outside in the back yard and baby girl was watching through the glass door. Thursday was my birthday and this picture reminds me that the greatest gift I have ever received is the honor of becoming a mom. Though hubs did out do himself this year with buying me a fancy new camera lens, flash and photography tutorials...nothing could top the gift of those four gorgeous little souls with whom I have the privilege of spending my days.

So this is just a simple shot that I took with my iphone. I was too busy at the time to get my Nikon out, and yes, I nicked off the top of her head, poor girl. It is not the "best" photo I have taken this week, but my favorite nonetheless.

~Melissa

Summer Photography Series Week 1

5 Minutes for Mom is hosting a Summer Photography Series to help other bloggers learn more about how to take great photos. I signed up for the weekly email alerts so that I can follow along. You can read more about it here.

The focus this week is on getting to know your camera and utilizing settings other than Auto. For me, this is actually in perfect timing with the "Know Your Camera" class I am taking through Love That Shot. I have been shooting in Aperture Priority mode on my Nikon D5000 with a new 55-300mm lens and playing around with the depth of field to get some shots with that lovely bokeh in the background. (If you aren't sure what bokeh is, here's the definition from wikipedia: "In photography, bokeh is the blur or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image, or "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light.")

Since I've taken about a bazillion photos of my kids and the flowers in my yard, a trip to a park on the river provided some new inspiration.

These were taken with an aperture of 5.6.

This was pure luck. I was trying to get a pic of all 4 kiddos together and happened to spot this moth on a nearby flower.

It was fun chasing this little squirrel about trying to get close enough for a good shot without spooking him off. I'm glad I got one with him looking at the camera.

This one was taken from farther away with a longer focal length so there isn't any bokeh. I thought she was lovely though and I love the greenery in contrast to the bronze figure.


Looking forward to checking out the posts of other participants. Come join the fun!

-Melissa

Aloha Friday #102

 

Greetings friends, and happy Friday ;) It has been a long and exhausting day (long story...not blogable) suffice it to say I'd rather move on to better things. I'm just getting to my email and have some catching up to do, but I love visiting my Friday friends so I'm posting this quickie ;)

My question for today is simply: What is your all time favorite ice cream treat?


In the spirit of today's post, be sure to enter my Blue Bunny giveaway for some free frosty treats!


Thanks for stopping by! I love hearing from you ;) Be sure to visit An Island Life for more Aloha Friday fun.
Link up your posts here:

A Thousand Words Thursday - It's Back!

Hooray, it's back! One of my favorite meme's hosted by The Mom Jen. She took a hiatus, but decided to bring it back. Join in!

Blue Bunny Review and Giveaway!

Is it hot enough out there for ya? Yikes, the summer heat has set in. It's so hot that even my kids (who practically live outdoors) will only go out for 10-15 minutes at a time. It's that time of year when the pool and ocean have lost their cool and start to feel more like bath water. Summer swelter has set in!

The other day, in the midst of the summer heat, a super cool, dreamy treat showed up on my doorstep. A big beautiful frosty package of Blue Bunny ice cream treats!

Blue Bunny has a tasty new line of mini treats. They're adorable, snack-sized and super-yummy! I received a box each of the new Blue Bunny Mini Champ!® Mini Swirls Ice Cream Cones, Mini Variety Ice Cream Sandwiches and Champ!® Mini Swirl Birthday Party Ice Cream Cones.

We tasted them all...immediately of course, and I don't think we could pick a favorite. They were all so good. Did I mention how cute they are? The birthday cones tasted just like birthday cake and would be perfect for any party.

The kindly folks at Blue Bunny have offered a giveaway so that I can share the sweetness! One lucky winner will receive a coupon for a free box of Blue Bunny treats! I dare you to find a better way to cool off ;)

To enter and leave me a comment telling me which Blue Bunny treat you'd like to try. 


For extra entries:
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Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry and a valid email address. Open to U.S. and Canada only. Winners will be chosen by random integer selection. The winner will have 48 hours to claim the prize or a new winner will be chosen. Contest will close on July 21, 2010 at 12:00 AM EST. Good Luck!!!