For the most part, I am not following the rules of this month’s 11 on 11. It’s supposed to be images that I shot in the past month, but with my upcoming workshop and recent return back to work (I’m a home health physical therapist), I haven’t had much time to get out there and shoot. I’ve been spending so much time marketing and getting ready for this workshop, that my poor camera has taken a backseat. Sorry, sweet camera. Add onto that that I recently did a presentation for Canon and am gearing up to a a few more (squeal!)…life has been busy.

But I hate missing out on the 11 on 11. So I decided to share some before and afters. I love editing. Like, it might be a bit of an obsession…. I just love looking at an image and unleashing all the awesome. It’s fun!

And hey, I did shoot a little bit, so I’ll share those images too.

Let’s start with an image of my amazing mama and my son. Words cannot express to you what this image means to me. I had it printed and hanging in my house within a week of taking it.

I love them.

So, I’ll share some of the more recent images I have taken. This was shot on the tenth. One day before this blog post goes live. I’m taking pictures of my best friend’s family this weekend and wanted to scope out my location and make sure the light was gonna be good. I dragged my kids there after school, and my bookworm daughter just walked around with me from place to place while I snapped some images. I thought this was a nice transformation.

And this one cracks me up.

I see this image every day. It’s a 20×30 canvas in my house. This was shot a few years ago, but I still love it. I had forgotten what it looked like straight out of camera. Pretty big difference!

And here’s some from a couple of years ago that still really make me smile. Are they not completely adorable?

This little girl is so full of wonderfully bubbly personality, I could just eat her up.

If you have followed me, you know I was OBSESSED with underwater photography this summer. I thought I’d share some of my underwater edits. Editing underwater images is challenging since the skin tones are very blue straight out of camera. But I’ve gotten pretty dang good at getting the color right.

And I love me some creative editing….

The black area around him on the left is from the port of the underwater bag. I was shooting with a 15mm fisheye, and it’s such a wide angle lens, the port made it’s way into the image.

I loved the splash of my daughter doing a cannonball, but just wanted it to be MORE. Thank you, Photoshop.

After shooting this image that I loooooove, I decided I wanted more space around them. I like it better like this.

And yes, I did point her toes in this next one. I’m crazy like that.

Hmmm… maybe I should straighten her knee too?

I’m bummed I didn’t pull out my big camera for a self portrait this month, but I did get some phone pictures that I sort of love. Just me being silly with my kids. A rather common occurrence. I love them. My finest accessories.

So, if you like what you see and want to see more, please follow me on Facebook!

And if you are dying to know some of my editing secrets, you really should check out my workshop! The introductory price is almost over! Save some cash and register today!

Next up in this blog circle mania is the one and only Sally Kate Photography.  Her imagery is all sorts of beautiful. Go check it out!…

It’s hard to post something on September 11th without saying something…. But I am at a loss for words when it comes to 9/11. A day that changed everything. Forever. I remember 9/11. I was driving into work when I heard it on the radio. I didn’t know where it had happened yet…just the first words explaining the horror. I remember searching the San Francisco skyline for planes or burning buildings. I remember the horror of it all. Being glued to the television for days. Not knowing how to feel. Choking up at every American flag I saw hanging at half mast. I remember looking for comfort in the eyes of my family, my coworkers, my friends.  I remember. We all remember.

But not my kids. They don’t remember. They weren’t born yet. When I tried to explain what happened 12 years ago, the looks on their faces…. Moments like that break a mother’s heart.

On this day, I am saddened that we live in a world with war and hate, with school shootings, with hate crimes…. It breaks my heart. But do you know what? We are also people that live in a country of love, laughter, and freedom. We can bask in the sun and swim and laugh. And so today, I remember 9/11. I can’t forget. But I also sit here and laugh through tears that I am the mother of two wonderful children who I KNOW will do good in this world. They already have.

I hope you enjoy my 11 on 11.

September is here, which means that sadly, school has started again. You can see how thrilled my son was about the first day of school.

I can’t blame him for his less than enthusiastic Obligatory First Day of School picture. We had a great summer. Here’s some highlights from the past month.

We lounged around at the pool.

She cannonballed.

She splashed.

He splashed.

Even the shallow water was fun for my Special Head.

We stayed cool.

Being in the water is nothing short of magical.

While it may look like we spent the days in the pool, many a day was just spent lounging about at home.

I learned the finer art of Pokemon cards…as interpreted by my boy.

We went camping at Big Basin Redwoods State Park in Santa Cruz.

Daddy started teaching the kids to play guitar.

We went to the beach. I saw this just as we were walking up.

God’s Eye.

She kinda sorta maybe was having a good time.

So much of what we did was just fun and spontaneous. Folding this blanket on a windy day turned into a 15 minute game of parachute.

This last month also marks the month that I got some beautiful pictures of my babies that I will cherish forever.

What’s this??? A REAL smile AND eye contact? Perfection.

And yes. I will be printing this. And yes. It will be big.

And an 11(ish) on 11 isn’t complete without a self portrait…. I had to look pretty hard to find one, but here you go.

Me, getting climbed on by my monkey children.

If you want to see more of my work, you can follow me on Facebook!

And if you want to see more of my underwater photography, check out last month’s 11 on 11 right here!

Next up is the wonderfully talented and beautiful Utah photographer, Marie from Bloom and Grow Photography. Her work always makes me smile, and her self portraits always drop my jaw. Go check her out!

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Let’s just start this off by saying that today is my 12 year anniversary. Happy Anniversary, sweetie! Thanks for sticking with me! I love you!

Summer is in full swing here, which means, I hardly have time to get this blog post up. So let’s just see if I can keep this to 11 images this time.

I’ve had this idea for a while, but finally took and edited the picture. See the original HERE.

She cut 10 inches of her hair to donate to Pantene Beautiful Lengths, but before I could send it off, I needed to make this picture happen.

And I got an underwater bag.

And I’m obsessed.

My self portrait this month wasn’t taken by me, so it’s not really a self portrait. But, I had to share this beautiful picture taken by the talented Christie Hobson of Christie Hobson Photography. We were down in Orange County for our summer vacation, and I HAD to hire Christie to capture our family. I love her. Check out more of the session right here.

If you like what you see here, come like me on Facebook!

Up next is my amazingly talented friend, Taryn from Blu Hippo Photography from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Her work always makes me feel calm and happy. I know you’ll love it too!…