I Heart Faces, Constructive Feedback Friday

HELP!! I'm a beginner and I often find my photos under or overexposed. I know that I need to work on getting the exposure right straight out of the camera, but when I don't, are there tricks for rescuing a photo that I've ruined? I don't know, but I hope the experts at i Heart Faces can provide the answer! They'll be dropping by today to offer tips for fixing my photo!

Below is a shot I took of Beauty several months ago on my Sony Cybershot. She has the cutest expression and I want to salvage this photo but don't know what to do with it, since it's so terribly composed and underexposed. I've tried two different crops, increased the exposure, upped the contrast and played with color and effects in Picnik. Nothing has worked. Maybe you all can do better. Thanks in advance for any advice, examples, tricks you can offer! Please feel free to leave some suggestions for what I could do in Photoshop or Elements since I often use GIMP which is similar enough that I can usually translate PS directions into GIMP tasks. Thank you.

The original: f/2.8; 1/25 sec; ISO 100; 9 mm (I know, I know. I needed a higher ISO and faster shutter speed. I took this the first day I ever put my camera in manal and didn't know what I was doing!)

Sepia:


Color Pop:


(At the last minute, just before linking up, I changed the photo I wanted help with. The first few comments are from regular readers who saw the first photo I posted. Thanks)

What the %@*#?! Wednesday, Fashion Show

"WHAT THE %@#*?!"

That's the first thing my husband said when I emailed him these photos. The next thing he said was, "Some things just aren't funny."

Well, duh. Like train wrecks. Or cancer. But this? This is stinkin' hilarious.


The little Beast begged and begged to play with the girls. Cried and whined because they excluded him.



Finally, they got tired of listening to his complaints, and let him in on the fun.


Let that be a lesson to you, Beast. Be careful what you wish (or whine) for.



*The blondie (you know, the one with the underwear on her head) is our very own Ms. Smartypants, a cousin, and the adorable little brown bear is a family friend.

**I apologize for the poor quality of these photos. I suck. I also had the wrong settings on my stupid camera. For much better photos, head over to SevEn CLoWn CirCuS for Wordful Wednesday.

i Heart {Hats} and Faces

This week's theme over at i Heart Faces is hats. My kids entry is a recent shot of Beauty in her cupcake hat and rainbow-colored tutu. This was the day after she started crawling and she did NOT want to sit still and have her picture taken!


And my adult entry is hubby and the little Beast in their sun hats during our family vacation last July. (stupid Blogger cuts off the edge of the picture if I resize it bigger, grrr...)


Please feel free to offer constructive criticism of my photos; your feedback helps me improve, thanks! And despite tons of online research and 2 hours playing with cameras at Best Buy, I'm still using my point and shoot. If you have an affordable, quality dSLR recommendation for a beginner, please leave that advice in your comments too!

To view more people in hats, head over to i Heart Faces.

I Heart Seattle Giveaway! Super. Awesome.

Okay everyone - get ready for a super awesome giveaway!

You noticed my spankin' new blog design, yes? Isn't it BEE-YOO-TIFUL?! Heather at Adventures of Aidanpod gave me a makeover and since she's a local girl - and since I'm celebrating my husband's return home to Seattle after five months stuck in dreary Oklahoma (no offense Oklahomians Oklahomites rednecks) - I am giving away a basketful of my favorite "Made In Seattle" goodies, a prize worth more than $70!!!


This prize includes the following so far (though I keep adding to it as I discover more "Made in Seattle" things I love. Hmmmm.... I wonder if the little Beast would fit in that box. Although, technically, he was "made" in California while we were on vacation. What?! TMI?)

Seattle's Best Coffee, Ground, Anniversary Blend

Starbucks Coffee, Ground, Colombia Medium

Starbucks Mocha Dark Chocolate bar

6 bliss-inducing Seattle Chocolates truffle bars (including my very favorite candy of all time - the Coconut Macaroon Truffle Bar - as well as other flavors like Pike Place Espresso, Rainier Cherry and Meltaway Mint.)

Cougar Mountain Original Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Copper River Sockeye Smoked Salmon from Anacortes, WA

Tim's Cascade Jalapeno Seasoned Potato Chips (so delicious that I already ate the bag from the photo above!)

Chocolate Caramel Kettle Corn (yummy. No, I've never eaten an entire bag by myself in one sitting, I swear!)

Seattle Magazine. (The place I work is featured in the latest issue - I took the photo and wrote the ad copy myself. If you win, I'll tell you which one is mine)

Sunset Magazine. (I think it's actually published in San Francisco, but there is a lot of information on Seattle and its suburbs!)

Washington State stationery, playing cards, and postcards.

A copy of Just Breathe, the latest book from Susan Wiggs. (Fantastic novelist who just happens to be from the Seattle area.)

See, I told you. Super. Awesome. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post telling me one thing you think you know, or like, about Seattle. If you can't think of anything, tell me something you like about my new blog - I love compliments!

To earn extra entries, do any or all of the following. Be sure to leave a separate comment for each as that counts as your extra entry:

1. Follow my blog.
2. Visit Heather over at Adventures in Aidanpod and tell her what a great job she did designing my new blog. And be sure to mention her adorable Aidanpod too!
3. Blog about this contest on your own site with a linkback here. Then leave the url of that post in your comment.
4. Fave me on technorati (click the words "add to technorati" at the bottom of this post. Then leave your technorati username in your comment here).

The contest will run until Saturday, May 16th at midnight Seattle time. A winner will be chosen randomly by the random.org widget. Only residents of the US are eligible to win this prize. If you don't live in the States, you can still enter to win, but I'll send you a prize that costs much less to ship, LOL!

Thanks for playing, and best of luck to you all!

SWS: Uh-Oh!

Watch out! Look who's started crawling!


Or:

Can I keep up with two?!