Affordable Pictures...Can It Be???

Hey all! I hope all of you are enjoying your summers so far! :) Ours here in Montana just started last Thursday and we have had mostly rain. LOL! Oh well, I have also been sick so I have been just in bed and on my laptop editing pictures.

Which is why I am doing this blog post-Pictures!

As a mother, I know the importance of documenting your children and family through the years. As the manager of MY HOUSE...I also know that it can cost a fortune at times and with the economy being what it is right now even a sitting fee can be too high for my pocketbook. :(

It does make me sad, because I know a lot of photographers that I would LOVE to use. I have very talented friends who LOVE what they do and it really shows.

If I was making more money, I would definitely get my family's pics done professionally. I am not talking Sears or Wal-mart professional either. While I feel that those places are good places to go for a "quick pic fix", they just are not for me.

Before I started working again, I was a scrapbooker. Taking pictures was part of that. Documenting my family's life in pictures and words was what I did. So, I appreciate a more on-location feel and different lighting that you just can't get from Sears or Wally World.

My youngest was turning 5 this year and my family was chomping at the bit for updated pics of her. I was worried that we wouldn't be able to get them done because of living paycheck to paycheck. So, I took matters into my own hands and after work on my daughter's birthday, I dressed her up, did her hair and we jumped in the van with my camera and off we went.

Living where we do, there is A LOT of beautiful parks with LOTS of green and natural settings for us to take advantage of. So, that is what we did. It was an overcast day so the lighting wasn't too bright at all. :)

I even found some graffiti to try as a back ground! :) And it was "G" rated! :)

The camera I use is a Canon Rebel T2i. I absolutely love this camera and wonder why I didn't buy a Rebel in the first place.

I actually have to shoot Sasha in sports mode because she will not slow down for anything and is always moving. I have tried posing her and telling her to be still and she still moves. The girl has ants in her pants I tell ya! ;)

By the end of the shoot I had 244 pics that I could go thru and have family go thru and edit. :)

I use two programs to edit. On my BIG computer downstairs I have Adobe Photoshop Elements and on my laptop upstairs, I have GIMP. All of the images you will see on this post are edited with GIMP. I will tell you, if you want a easy editing and free software..get GIMP. The site is---> HERE.

Now for the pics:

Thanks for reading and I hope this helps! :)