I ♥ Faces - Week 25 - Celebrating Teens

This week is "Teen Week" over at IHeartFaces ... I can't wait to see everyone else's entries this week - Teens definitely hold a special place in my heart!

I am definitely blessed & honored to coach - and teach! -some of the most talented & intelligent group of teens in South Carolina ... With that being said, I get to take lots of pictures of my team as well :) Each year I get to see a small group of them graduate and move on to bigger and better things, but they will - always - hold a special place in my heart. 

Here is a pic I took of my girls after they scored their first goal in the Lady Bearcat Invitational Soccer Tournament this past spring.  I love the fact that the girls celebrate as a team - They get to be such good friends season after season.  Two of the girls pictured are recent graduates that I'm going to miss dearly.  Both are headed to play college soccer in the fall.

Sports are such a big part of the high school experience, but by no means is it all ... These kids do everything from high school sports, to clubs, youth groups, volunteer work, are in honors classes and some even hold jobs! I swear, I don't know how they do it!  I'd be w - o - r - n out!

Be sure to stop by IHeartFaces and check out the other entries this week!

I ♥ Faces: Week 17 "Smiles" PhotoChallenge

I haven't entered one of these in quite a long time, but its "Smile" week over at I ♥ Faces ... And, well, I couldn't resist! Be sure to check out all the other smiley faces as well!!!!

Here is my Week 17 Entry ... The adorable Abby .... :) I love the subtlety of her smile .... So charming!

I ♥ Faces -- Week 21 Birthday & Pets

Another fun week over at I hearts; Faces ... This week's theme -- Birthday & Anything goes with Pets!

So here's my Pets entry for the week!

Meet Rascal. He knows how much I hate for him or his brother Rocky to get up on any of the tables in the house ... So, quite frequently I find Rascal sitting here on the arm of this chair ... Sitting very close to one of the end tables in the house ... I came over to snap a quick picture of him looking all pretty and what does he do? He stealthily slides that little paw of his down and just barely lays it on the corner of the end table right as I snap the following pic ... He looks away from me, as if to say, "What? Do I look good or something?" ... He's such a booger! I couldn't help but laugh at his rebel attitude!

Please don't forget to head on over to I ♥ Faces to check out all the other wonderful entries!!!! Have a great week!!!

I ♥ Faces -- Week 18 Laughter!!

Another fantastic week over at I ♥ faces ... This week's theme ?!?!? LAUGHTER!!!! So with a little assistance and the wonderful invention of the self-timer ... and many many tries .... here's my adult entry!!!
... Laughing in the rain this past Sunday ...
Had just finished up some Mother's Day festivities - and decided to buy myself the gift of a new Cannon XSi from Best Buy! So I decided to give it a whirl!!!!

... and for my kid's entry ...
a friend of mine's daughter - giggling up a storm and waving at the same time! She was so excited and happy to see everyone for Easter!!!

Be sure to check out all the other wonderful entries this week!!! I can't wait to start laughing out loud - Remember, Laughter can be contagious!!!!!

I ♥ Faces - Week 15's "Self-Portrait"

Its Week 15 over at I ♥ Faces and this weeks theme .... "Self Portraits" ... Something that I love! ha ha ha - so here's my adult entry for this weeks theme ... Took it a couple of weeks ago while I was bored one Sunday ....

I can't wait to see everyone else's Self Portraits as well - should be another great week of photographs and faces!!!!!

I ♥ Faces - Week 14 "Spring / Easter"

Not really sure that I constitute as an "amateur" ... But what the heck?!?!
With that being said - its "Amateurs Week" over at I ♥ Faces
and the theme is Easter / Spring ... Here's my entry, but be sure to check
out all of the other WONDERFUL entries in both categories!!! Such fun Easter & Spring
pictures!!!

I ♥ Faces - Constructive Feedback Friday!!!

IHeartFaces has decided to take a break from the Fix-It-Fridays and try a different approach - a Constructive-Feedback-Friday!!! The first 50 people who link their photo into Mr. Linky today will get I ♥ Faces contributors to visit their site and comment with constructive feedback! So I said to myself - HECK YEAH - SIGN ME UP!!! So here's my pic - literally! Its a self portrait (or attempt at one) !!!



1) Please choose only one photo that you have already edited. You can have multiple edits of that particular photo in your post...but please only feature one photo in your post.

Here's my edited pic:



Here's the original pic:


2) You will need to put our I ♥ Faces button or our special "Constructive Feedback" button in your blog post. (Done!!!!)

3) It'd be wonderful if you put the EXIF data for your photo in your blog post. (This tells you what your aperture, shutter speed, ISO and focal length were when you took the shot. An example: f/6.3 1/100 sec ISO 100 230 mm) ( I used a Cannon Rebel XT and used PhotoShop Elements 5.0 to edit it. I'm not sure what the rest of this stuff means, but here's the rest of the details ... f/4 , 1/60 sec. , ISO-400 , 28mm ... It would be AWESOME if someone could tell me excatly what this stuff means or why its important? - or maybe suggestion some reading that could educate myself a little more!!! Thanks a million - I always feel SO lost when it comes to these photography terms and things! Also, I took this inside - not much natural light and flash was used.)

4) Please let us know what exactly it is that is bothering you about your edited photo. (Is the skin tone off? Does the overall color in the photo just feel too warm? Do you feel like the crop job could be better? etc.) Whatever it is, let the people who visit your post today know what you think the problems are with your photo. (The skin tone is definitely off and the color seems to reddish maybe? And a little too bright ... Everytime I tried to adjust any of this stuff, it seemed to throw something else off ... I did sharpen the eyes and adjust the brightness & contrast some ... But I didn't do much else... I just feel like there's lots wrong with this pic - I just can't pinpoint all of the things ... )


So there we have it - Bring on the suggestions and comments and advice and everything else in between ...

Thanks SO much in advance!!!

I ♥ Faces - Week 13 - My Friend & I!

Welcome to Week 13 of I♥Faces!!!! This weeks' theme is "My Friend & I" ... Here are my entries for the week!!!

Adult Entry: My brother David and I at his high school graduation ... We haven't always been friends - or even always wanted to admit that we're related! - But the older that we've both gotten, the closer and closer we've become! He's now one of my best friends and I don't know what I would do without him!!!



Kids Entry: These three little ones are sisters - twins and a younger sisier - and definitely inseparable! They are all best friends! I shot this pic at a family member's rehearsal dinner with a Cinco de Mayo theme .... I caught these three sitting in one of the hammocks chatting it up about all the people that were at the party!!!

Be sure to check out all the other entries over at IHeartFaces ... There are some really awesome entries this week!!! Can't wait to see who the winners are going to be!!!!

I ♥ Faces - Week 12 - Pets!

This week "anything goes" for the pets' category over at IHeartFaces ....
So here's my Week 12 Pet Entry!

This is one of my darlings - Rocky - he's a 5 year old Himalayan ...

I wish this picture did him better justice - he's such a beautiful boy!!!

Be sure to head on over to IHeartFaces to see all the other Pet entries for week 12!!!
There are some good lookin' pets out there!!!

I ♥ Faces -- Another Fix-It Friday - On Saturday!?!?

Boy oh boy! Its another fix-it friday over at i♥faces ... these are always SO much fun - but of course i'm just getting around to fixing today ... so here are my entries ...

Be sure to head over to i♥faces to check out all the other awesome entries - if you wanna play along, just follow the directions and fix the pic however you want!!! Be careful - its addictive!!!!!

Original Photo: "Cutie Pie"

Here's My 1st Edit:

Here's My 2nd Edit:

And here's a couple of others that I did ... Just messin' around!

I ♥ Faces -- Week 9 's Creative Crop

Here's my adult entry for Week Nine's Creative Cropping!!!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Here's my kids entry for Week Nine's Creative Cropping!!!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Be sure to head on over to IHeartFaces to see all the other wonderful entries!!!!

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Here's another one that I did - I don't like it as much as the one I chose for the Adult Entry, but I think its a great pic anyways - Thought I'd share!!!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I ♥ Faces -- What a "Messy" Week Eight!

IHeartFaces has yet another photo challenge this week!

Week Eight's Challenge is a "Messy" one ... Here are some of my students - This was spirit week for fall homecoming ... Theme: TACKY DAY ... So these girls definitely constitute "messy" in my book!!! They were hilarious - and had a great time being tacky!

Be sure to check out all the other "messy" pics over at IHeartFaces!!!! There are some really stinkin' cute ones this week!!!

I ♥ Faces -- Fix It Fridays!

I'm losing my voice, so plans for the evening were literally a "mute" point! LOL!!

So, I thought I would give it a try!






Original Photo:








All Fixed Up:


#1






#2







#3






To see more Fix-It Fridays, head on over to i heart faces.

I ♥ Faces - Week 7: B&W

Well I've seen this blog several times & have enjoyed looking through all the pics - So I thought I'd give it a shot ... Why not right? Check it out for yourself at IHeartFaces !!!


This week's category is B&W - which I absolutely love!!! I can't wait to look through all the other entries ... There's just something about a black & white picture ... It seems to somehow tell a different story & have a deeper meaning ...
So - without further adieu - here's my entries for Week 7's B&W Adults & Kids!!!
Let me know what you think!!!

My brother David at his junior prom - Charleston, SC

Miss Spencer - out for a day of horseback riding!