If Only For A Second

IF ONLY FOR A SECOND
20 cancer patients participated in a unique makeover experience.
They were invited to a studio. Their hair and makeup were completely redone.

During the transformation, they were asked to keep their eyes shut.
A photographer then immortalized the moment they opened their eyes.

This discovery allowed them to forget their illness, IF ONLY FOR A SECOND.

This is seriously one of the most beautiful and amazing things I've seen. Definitely grab some tissue!

Magic

 

 My daughter, Izzy.

She wanted to wear this to school today, 

we settled for a photo shoot and changed into a tshirt and jeans.

Photography: A Love Story

Good Morning Isabella I

Falling in Love
     I was about eleven years old when I got my first camera. It was instant love, my first love. I took it everywhere with me. Every flower in sight was shot, my friends became models. My dog became an endangered animal in the Sahara that was to be the epitome of my photographic lifetime. Being a  photographer quickly became my dream.

The Truth is Often Disappointing
    One day my father took me for ice cream with a side of let's talk about actuality. Simply put; he told me photography was a wonderful hobby and he was glad I found an interest in something. Then came the harsh reality; it takes a lot to become a professional photographer. Most people only ever do it as a hobby; only a select few ever make it a career.

Putting it Down
    I can’t tell you if it was the disappointment of learning my dream job wasn’t likely to happen or just a phase where I moved onto something new and amazing. I’m going to assume it was somewhere between the two, I sat down the camera and moved on. We saw each other from time to time but the infatuation, passion and desire were all drained.  It was over between us.

Moving On
    Putting down the camera didn’t kill my desire for art and creativity. I fell into a sort of adoration with a green Jackson; my guitar and writing music. When I was 13 I worked all summer to save for my dream guitar and more music lessons. I stayed up at night; my fingers bled and calloused.
    My porch became a stage, my friends were rockstars and the trees in my yard were our ever loving fans. After a few months came what is now referred to as the talk of reality and disappointing honesty happened again.

Finding deviantART
    I got my first deviantART account when I was 14 in 2005. I found it while looking for inspiring visual artwork to write off of for my 9th grade creative writing class. I looked through it and it seemed like a good place for my writing (which had become my forte at that point). I was in awe at the visual artworks. It all seemed so unfathomable to me. Drawing had always been something I wasn’t talented in. Photomanipulation seemed absolutely unreal to me. Pretty quickly though; I found myself drawn to the photography. It amazed me; one of the first photographers I can remember finding equally amazing and inspiring was kkart.

New Beginnings & Old Friends
     About 9 years later: June 22, 2009: it was 5:24 am; I was driving to the
hospital to have my daughter. The sun was just beginning to touch the sky,

Good Morning Isabella IV

turning it to a bright pink. I pulled over at the rest stop and took nine photos of the sun peeking above the water in the straits. Then I carried on with my day, and had my beautiful daughter, Isabella Rose.

    Within a few weeks after having her and taking those photos I found myself falling in love again. Slowly I began taking my camera with me when I’d go for walks with my daughter. I craved it all over again.

My First d-SLR
    Finally in 2011 I got my first d-SLR. I had saved anything I could for 5 months and put it towards it.
The funny (and painful) thing was; it took me about 3 months to get comfortable even holding it. I was so afraid of breaking it, but as soon as I gathered the courage it quickly became my favorite possession.

Dreams Come True… [kinda]

    Within the past few years I’ve learned that all those things I found unbelievable are fully believable. I am still far from the most amazing photographer; but I am far better than I was when I was eleven. Or twenty-one. kkarts photos still leave me in a slightly more than envious awe, as do many other photographers.

     Yet still… I’ve started my own little business doing portraits, weddings, etc. and selling my prints. It’s far from a career but I’m still doing it. I’ve both succeeded and failed in the world of photography. I’ve been rejected and praised. I’m growing, learning and I'm in love again.

EDIT: I got a Daily Deviation on this on deviantART!!! You can see it on this deviation

I've Loved Flowers That Have Faded

…because some dreams linger long after you wake up. 

maybe you’re my dream.

can we live in this haze forever? 

“someday love, you’re going to have to wake up.”

truer words have never been spoken.

i’m awake.

^{…and ’ve never cared much for mornings…}

Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats

Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats

Ingredients

3 tbsp. butter OR margarine
1 pkg. (10 oz., about 40) marshmallows OR c. mini marshmallows
6 cups rice krispie cereal 

24 tootsie rolls [approx.]

Green frosting & piping bag [or you can buy a can of decorating cake icing] 

        [if you make your own frosting from white, add green coloring until desired shade]

Red & yellow food coloring [or orange]

Directions

1. In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.
2. Add rice krispie cereal. Stir until well coated.

3. Add in red and yellow [or orange] food coloring until desired orange shade
4. Allow to cool slightly, yet still moldable. Roll into approx. 2 inch balls and set on wax paper

5. Push tootsie rolls into the top of each ball [or pumpkin]

6. Decorate around tootsie rolls with leaves [and vines, optional]

7. Allow to cool fully

Rivertown Rainbow Run

We recently had our first Rivertown Rainbow Run to raise money to provide wheelchair accessible swings at local parks.

You can see more of the photos in this Facebook Set

selective color tutorial - GIMP

I don't write a lot of tutorials, mostly because my descriptions are often confusing; but I notice a lot on Facebook people wanting to do selective color on photos of their children and such; so here is an actual tutorial for you. I posted it quite a while ago on my dA page, but it works for the latest updates of GIMP as well.
If you don't have GIMP it is free to download and while it's not photoshop it is a decent equivalent of it.

Some photos I've done using this method: