Christmas Nativities

I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said "Leave the Christ in Christmas" and it really stood out to me. I don't know if there's a literal translation for Christmas or not but mas in Spanish means more so to me it means More Christ. I am so grateful for the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ. He brought so much light into a world of darkness and replaced deep fears with joy and hope. I know from personal experience that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer. I am grateful for this Christmas season that reminds us to have more of Christ in our lives. So to honor Him, I wanted to do a special photo shoot of nativities. My favorites are the first and last two.

Photo Challenge 2014 Week 50: Still Life - Groups

I'm a food blogger so it was nice to finally have a challenge that would also work for my blog! Killed 2 birds with one stone :) And if you want the recipe, my food blog is In a Faraway Kitchen and these really are the best chocolate chip cookies. They have pudding mix in them that must make them fluffy or something.

Photo Challenge 2014 Week 49: Composition – Experiment

This first one I have already kind of posted, this is a different crop though. The experimentation was in the post processing.

This next one was fun. It's my 18-55mm lens and we dangled Tigger upside-down behind the lens so that in the photo he would be right side up. It was a fun process to get this photo. Tigger says "Merry Christmas!"

These next few were made by placing my 18-55mm lens right up to my 35mm lens. The orbs of light and color are coming from my Christmas tree. And the last two I had fun with the color in post-processing.

Photo Challenge 2014: Week 48 Landscape - Cityscape/Townscape

This is Bellevue, WA. Not exactly the best location for a photoshoot but it's really hard to get up and away from trees without standing in the middle of the road or interstate...

Photo Challenge 2014: Week 47 Nature & Wildlife – Litter & Trash

Soooo..... All I saw were a ton of ugly pictures of trash this week. People seriously pulled out their phones and shot a photo with little thought to composition or something. Simply terrible photos of garbage. I tried to do my best using composition and editing to make my garbage a little more interesting. So uh... enjoy looking at trash!

Photo Challenge 2014: Week 46 Still Life - Macro

I've just got to warn you. I'm completely geeking out right now. I was feeling all discouraged because my current lenses are not capable of macro photography and that's what the challenges for the last two weeks have been... or so I thought!!! Turns out, if you remove the lens and literally hold it on backwards, it turns into a macro lens!!! WHAT?!! Coolest thing EVER!!! Now there are a lot of limitations with this method but I've just gotta say, WOW. See for yourself.

So first off we have this:

Plus this:

And we get this!

Any guesses?? Think hard. Here's another clue:

I think you should have it by now. But just in case:

If you still don't know, keep scrolling and I'll tell you!! I'll even show you my ghetto Set up. Next up: Popcorn kernel that I found under the couch while laying on the floor.

And now on to some special things. This is my engagement ring. I was blown away when I zoomed in on my computer. You can see every imperfection. So crazy.

Next we have my deceased Grandma Lefevre's Ring. I'm in love with it.

This next one is a dried rose. My aunt died when I was about 10 and this rose was on her casket.

And in memory of my Grandma and Aunt, the only relatives I've lost:

Alright. Ready to know what that was up there? Drum roll please!

Bruce

This was my first photo shoot where I walked away and was like NAILED IT!!! I was stoked. Here are some of my favorites of Bruce.