Happy Independence Day!

We ended up going to fireworks last night with friends instead of going tonight (why do people do 4th of July fireworks on the 3rd??). It wasn't exactly spectacular but we had fun trying to get good pictures. I took over 150 pictures and I think I narrowed it down to only 20 that were worth keeping. :-)

These are kind of fun... though the green one on the left makes me think of some microscopic bacteria or something...

Happy with the sparkly bits on the ends of this (I didn't photoshop that in! :-)

Enjoy the 4th!

I Heart Faces - Hands

My friend and I went to a concert at the Lyon & Healy harp factory and before the concert started the showroom was open and we got to play the harps! There are probably at least 50 harps on the floor and you can play any and all of them! It was so much fun and the concert was incredible. I can't wait to go back. :-)

I Heart Faces - Best Face Photo of January

i heart faces seems to be liking these "Best Face Photo of..." themes. :-) It's another week off of the regular judging and so there will be voting (please vote for #76 here! :-).
As I'm sure you know if you've read my blog before, this is my sister... my wonderful, accommodating model. She's so nice to always be willing to pose for me. This photo was fun because I got to try out a new editing skill... the bokeh originally didn't cover the whole background, but it looked funny the way it was, so I figured out how to spread it. I try not to doctor up my photos too much as a general rule, but once in a while I will really change something. Besides... it's nice to know how to fix a photo if it doesn't quite come out how you wanted.

I Heart Faces - Smiles

Low light and cities... two things I really don't like and two things that, incidentally, appear in this photo. :-) This is one of the most delightful young women I know. She has such enthusiasm and an infectious smile. This photo is from when we were walking back to the train station in the city at night after a glorious evening of singing Handel's Messiah. It was a totally candid shot - she just turned around and smiled at me and I took her picture. Even though it is low light, I love it... it really captures her sweet personality. Not to mention I like the bokeh... :-)

Hello, 2011!

I was originally going to post these photos on New Year's Eve as we were getting ready for our party, but then the guests showed up. :-) So you're getting them after the fact!
I'm a natural light lover, but you can't always shoot in natural light... so you make the best of it. :-)

I decided to play with bokeh on this one... all those shiny, sparkly party hats come in handy!

You can't have a party without sparkling grape juice!

This is our traditional New Year's Eve game. Sjoelen! It's a Dutch shuffleboard game (my mom's family is Dutch).

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year! It's crazy to think that 2010 is gone already... but I'm looking forward to what God will do in 2011!