Castle in the Clouds

I only have three seniors that I've photographed this year: my nephew Mikey, my little cousin Harmony, and my best friend's niece, Jessie.  I wish I could say that I'm done editing all of their photos, but I wasn't able to focus on their pictures until after Christmas.  I spent most of the fall editing hundreds and hundreds of wedding photos. Have I mentioned that I hate photographing weddings?  Well, I do.   They require so much time!  Not only do they require you to spend anywhere from 8-12 hours photographing everything and everyone on the day of the wedding, but then you have to weed out and edit hundreds of pictures.  Even if your brides are patient and kind, which mine were, there's a lot pressure to get pictures of the big day to them as soon as possible.  Of course, high school seniors do have a couple of deadlines that I need to keep track of, too.  The first of which is the yearbook deadline.  The more photos they have ...

Edited to say:  I didn't realize this actually attempted to post yesterday.  I thought the system malfunctioned, and I decided it wasn't worth the effort to battle it out.  Seems the system fooled me! Anyhow, even though I love scrapbooking and have at least a dozen bulky 12x12 photo albums completed, I don't display them because they can be a bit unwieldy.  That's why I've opted to create these little 8x8 photo books from Shutterfly.  Unlike my handmade scrapbooks, these display nicely on my shelf.  For this reason, I've decided to start doing a Year in Review style book each January.  The trick, though, is to work on it throughout the year and have it ready to print when Shutterfly sends me a half-off coupon. Click here to view this photo book larger Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

This collection of short stories has kept me entertained for the last week or so. Hoping to finish it tonight or tomorrow night. Although, with anew episode of Bones waiting on the DVR, it's more likely that tonight will not be the night I finish it. #iHeartFaces

So, I was supposed to take a picture of an elf today.  I thought I might be able to find a Christmas tree ornament on the tree, but it seems I'm not much of an elf collector.  So, I made my own little elves sit down and get their picture taken after they finished helping me with the holiday decorations. I think these elves are so much cuter than any ornament could ever be.  :-) #iHeartFaces

I didn't forget to take a picture today. I was simply in a no cell phone coverage zone with maybe one bar and no wireless access. So...this is me. I took the picture at the extended family Christmas party. #iHeartFaces

It was a Sunday.  Ken was on his way to a friend's house to help fix another friend's truck.  With the house to ourselves, the kids fired up the PS3 and I made my way to my craft room in the basement.  I was sitting down there, playing Castleville on Facebook, if I remember correctly, when I heard Ken hollering for me to get my telephoto lens.  And hurry! I imagined the turkeys had made a reappearance.   I never imagined this beautiful creature was feasting on some carrion across the road from our house.  Eagles are not something we see in our neck of the woods.  They're supposed to be "up north".    Look close...he's there.  In the center of the old corn field, shrouded in early morning mist. Trying to get his picture wasn't easy.  I jumped out of the car, Nikon strap around my neck and camera in hand.  Jogging across the two-lane highway we live on, I immediately trespassed onto my neighbor's lawn an...

As you know, I've been scanning in old pictures and marveling at the tender wrinkles in infant skin and the chubbiness of little cheeks. My last post showed how much my baby has grown over the last 9 years. Now it's my oldest baby's turn. (Don't tell him I referred to him as my baby...he's too old and cool for such monikers, dont' you know.) It's simply shocking to compare these two pictures and know the child is the same in both. Where has the time gone?! My precious baby is becoming a teenager! A teenager. You know, one of those moody, snarky creatures that seems determined to have the last word on EVERYTHING, that's what my boy is becoming. Instead of riding his tricycle, he's getting his ORV and watercraft licenses. It's sheer madness. And I know the years are only going to go by faster the older my boys get. Watching them grow into admirable young men (most of the time) makes me so proud, but there are definitely times I wish the cloc...

I first watched this YouTube video on Paperback Writer's blog. Just had to share!

My mom moved to California a few weeks ago. Because space was rather limited inside the moving truck, she had to pick and choose what to take with her. When the last of the boxes were tucked away inside the semi, she had a collection of boxes that needed a new home. If no one took them, they'd end up in the trash. When she told me the boxes contained pictures and other bits of memorabilia my great-grandparents had left with her, I volunteered to come pick them up. It took a few days. Sometimes our lives get so busy with work and school and the boys' sports schedule, that I forget about the spontaneous obligations that spring up. I'm glad I didn't forget this one. Taking time out of my busy schedule to drive over to her old house and bother the new tenets was worth the effort. I ended up with six boxes and you cannot imagine what treasures I've uncovered. When our Team-Up Thursday assignment was announced - nine - I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I pulled...

Love Originally uploaded by Krheiser Earlier this week (or was it late last week?), I signed up for the Team-Up Thursday photo challenge. As you may have guessed by the name alone, this challenge requires a partner. One I didn't have. Luckily, I wasn't the only one who signed up without a clear idea of who I'd be working with. Looking through Kari's Flickr stream was a bit intimidating. She takes beautiful photos. She's artisic. While my photos tend to focus on people (mainly family members and friends), hers seem to highlight the beauty of a snow-hugged river or the fabric of a woven scarf. Gorgeous stuff. I tried to imagine how our two styles would mesh in the world of diptychs. I hoped I wouldn't disappoint her. Well, today is our first entry. The theme for the week was love. Since my little guy was in the middle of filling out his Valentine Day cards for his school party on Friday, I decided to focus on the cards and candy (pixie stix...yum!) cele...

It was a busy weekend. Saturday I spent 12 hours on my feet, something I must admit I'm not used to, especially since I ended up with very tired and sore legs by the time I crawled into bed. On the bright side of things, I got some nice gifts for myself (thanks to Mom & Dad H!) and managed to finish up a few more family members. After all that shopping, I guess you'd expect that I would be done Christmas shopping. Not so! I had promised the boys I would take them them to the store so they could pick out something special for their dad. This meant I got up early Sunday morning to take them out. After we got home it was time to pull together all the ingredients and get baking. First we made the chocolate chip cookies. While the first batch was in the oven, we mixed the sugar cookie dough. Since it has to be refrigerated for an hour, we played some Devil May Cry 4 while finishing the chocolate chip cookies, which I overcooked and are crispy instead of soft. I blame thi...

20091206_1410 Originally uploaded by Krheiser

If you were to wander through my house right now, you would find pictures of my kids hanging on the walls. Not surprising, right? I'm a Mom. It's what we do. The shocking thing is that the majority of these pictures are old. Old, old. As in my youngest is still a toddler in most of them. (I know. I should hang my head in shame...) The only up-to-date pictures are their school pictures and those happen to be sitting on the plant stand in my bedroom right now; we had to make room for the Christmas tree. Now, I've been using the lack of leisure time in our lives as an excuse to explain the chubby cheeks and dimpled fingers in those pictures. We don't have time to get family portraits done. Trying to fit in an appointment between sporting events, school, and family obligations is darn near impossible. Unfortunately, the excuse doesn't really work all that well. I have a nice camera and I'm not afraid to use it! The truth is I have great pictures of my kids...

I took a vacation day on Tuesday so I could go on a senior photo shoot with my new step-sister, Jenna. Here's a few samples of our day together. I was pretty happy with the results. There are a few that need some "tweaking" in Photoshop. Mostly, it's sharpening and adding depth with vignetting. I'm sure in more capable hands these good shots would be even better. Lucky for me, I never claimed to be a professional!

I resurrected my photo blog . I know. As if I need another blog, right? I have a hard enough time keeping this one up-to-date. Thinking I can keep two of them current and interesting is probably stretching the fabric of reality. You can blame this latest bit of craziness on photo blogs like this , and this , and this . Totally their fault for being so photo-fantastic. It puts crazy thoughts in my head, thoughts like "You should totally do this, too!" And I can. I certainly take enough photos. Even if I failed to pick my camera up for the rest of the year, I could easily post a picture a day without any trouble whatsoever. So. Photo blog has new life. Go . Visit.

If you're trying to view this in Internet Explorer, don't! Apparently IE hates this slideshow frame. Try viewing in Firefox instead.

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned the fact that the boys are at home during the day now. While the hubby and I are off at work, they're enjoying their computers, DS games, and playing basketball with their cousin in the driveway. Of course, it can't all be fun and games. They're getting a dollar-a-day allowance for doing small chores around the house. Chores that need to be done before Mom and Dad get home from work. These tasks range from cleaning their bedrooms, to sweeping and vacuuming, disinfecting their bathroom, and doing the dishes. Before Ken and I left for our little mini-vacation on Friday, I opened the cupboard door to find this... What a disaster! Not only were things not stacked very well, they weren't even put away in the right cupboard. Sure evidence that the kids had taken care of the dishes. When confronted with the mess, my little guy, the guilty party, could only offer a teasing smile. He wasn't smiling quite so much after I had him h...

Jodie at MCP Actions is hosting another giveaway. Don't miss out on this opportunity to win a new lens for your SLR! More info here: Win a Lensbaby Composer .

I meant to post these a day or so after the week 1 pictures. Sorry they're a little late! Our second week of camping was at Tahquamenon State Park near Paradise, MI. While the scenery was absolutely gorgeous, the mosquitoes were outrageously numerous and persistent. We couldn't be outside without a thick layer of bug spray coating every exposed inch of our skin. Still, the Tahquamenon River was picturesque and the falls were amazing. Here are just a few of the pictures from our trips to the lower and upper falls. The scenery wasn't the only thing worth looking at, either. The last time we vacationed in this area we visisted Oswald's Bear Farm (see old pictures here and here ). After that first adventure, how could we not revisit the bear cubs and the older bears? We just had to go back! A day or so later we took a nice long ride through back country roads to get to this lighthouse on Lake Superior. The climb to the top was very narrow but the view was well wort...