The Snowfall | Wordless Wednesday

Happy New Year to you all!
I pray 2013 brings you much joy, good health and a multitude of blessings!

..................................................

I recently created a Facebook page for my photography! Be sure to check it out here and like my page. You can also find me on Instagram @tishoconnor. 

Hugs,
tish

Merry Christmas!

Oh Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining, 

It is the night of the dear Savior's birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining.

Til He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth. 

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

Fall on your knees!

Oh, hear the angel voices!

Oh night divine, 

the night when Christ was born. 

Oh night, 

Oh holy night, 

Oh night divine. 

Oh night, oh holy night. 

Oh night divine! 

Celebrating the birth of Christ! 

Make sure to take time this season to be thankful for the amazing gift of His birth as well as the gift of family. In a world filled with uncertainty, I'm clinging tight to mine and feeling so very, very grateful. We are also continuing to lift up those families of Sandy Hook ... prayers for comfort, grace, peace 

and strength.

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas and 

prayers for a New Year full of blessings. 

From my family to yours. 

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Share Your Story with Photobucket Stories

Photobucket launched an awesome new way to share your life stories digitally through their new Photobucket Stories. From everyday events to epic milestones, turn these events into a digital storybook to share with family and friends. 

I absolutely love this idea. Having friends and family spread out in different cities and states, I found this to be the perfect solution to sharing. And since I'm not a traditional "scrapbooker", I found this to be an easy solution to preserve our family's memories! You can share your story on Facebook, Twitter or even email your story. 

I recently created a story of our trip to Paris, complete with text narrative, photos and even a few videos. Want to see it? Click below to check it out... 



It was so easy to create a story and I entered mine in Photobucket's Life's an Adventure Story Contest for a chance to win a $25,000 grand prize or be one of five $500 prizes. You can too. It's simple and easy. 




1. Create a Photobucket account
2. Upload your photos to Photobucket from your computer
3. Choose which photos you want to include in your Story
4. Add captions
5. Photobucket Stories allows you to customize by: resizing images, adding text, changing themes, etc.

Hurry up and get started! No story is too ordinary and you can enter as many stories as you want for a chance to win! 
The contest runs through December 9, 2012. Be sure to vote for your favorites too!!  For official rules, click here. 

Oh ... and if you haven't already, be sure to become a fan of their Facebook page. And if your story happens to be chosen as a winner, be sure to stop back in and let me know!! 

*I was asked to share on behalf of Photobucket.  All opinions are 100% my own. 

Texture Tuesday ... On Friday

I've finally had some time this week to delve into Photoshop and really begin to learn and explore all that it has to offer. One of the things I wanted to learn first was how to apply textures to my photos and use layers. I was referred to Kim Klassen and I was able to explore her site this week. Wow! If you are looking for great tutorials on how to apply textures in Photoshop, her site is a wealth of information. Her work is stunning and every photo is truly a work of art. 


I went to her Textures in Ten Classroom and used the FREE tutorials. My final image is above! I'm in love with the result!! I photographed this beautiful Magnolia flower down the road at one of our local parks. The tree was loaded with flowers and the fragrance was euphoric. I just love how this photo turned out. I applied two of Kim's textures, first Be still and then Faved.


I also learned this cool mouseover photo trick from Project Alicia. You can mouse over my photo to see the original SOOC shot. I have copied the code below if you want to give this trick a try for yourself, or you can find it on Alicia's site here. 


<a href="TARGET URL GOES HERE"><img src="URL OF FIRST IMAGE GOES HERE" onmouseover="this.src='URL OF SECOND IMAGE GOES HERE'" onmouseout="this.src='URL OF FIRST IMAGE GOES HERE'" /></a>


I'm off to walk my pup. It's a bit cool here today, but the sun is shining brilliantly! 
Have a great weekend! 


-tish xoxo

Creating shaped Bokeh!

Cool, right?!  

This is a photo I took of one of my small Christmas trees in our 

family room! 

I've come across several blogs, especially now during the holiday season, that feature shaped bokeh. I'm always up for learning new things and finding ways to play around and experiment with my camera. The possibilities are endless and

 I just HAD to give it a shot. It was really pretty easy and so much fun. I've included a little tutorial below so you too can give it a whirl! Go ahead and add a little extra pizazz to your holiday photos!!  :D ha ha

The first thing I did was to create a few different shapes. My husband bought me a Cricket last year for Christmas and I LOVE it!! I've found so many uses for it throughout the year

and now, another!  I picked a few favorite shapes, set my size to 3/4" and cut. But not to worry ... if you don't own a cricket, you can still make shaped bokeh. Just use a shaped paper punch or trace a shape onto paper and use an X-Acto knife to cut it out. 

Next, I measured the circumference of my lens (I used my 

50-mm) and cut a strip of black paper to that length. (The 

black paper prevents light from seeping in.) I then taped it into a circle that I could fit over my lens. 

After this, I  cut a circle top to fit over it. In the center I cut out a square which is where I taped on my shaped cut-outs. It is far from perfect, but I was still able to achieve the desired effects. 

I used my 50-mm lens set to f/1.8. This allows the maximum amount of light into the camera, allowing for a shallow depth of field. Simply stated, you can focus in close, but the background will be out-of-focus.

Start snapping away! Don't be afraid to try different shapes. The more out of focus you make it, the larger the size shapes. 

And here is my pup, always a willing model.

Go on, give it a try!! You know you want to!  ha ha

I hope all of you had a Merry Christmas! 

We're having a wonderful time with family and friends. I'm also enjoying these precious days off from school. It means a little less running and craziness for us which is certainly welcome!