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

Ornamental Reflections | (Not So) Wordless Wednesday

I've been radio silent here for a few weeks - I'm excited to say I've been busy with multiple photo shoots and editing not to mention all the holiday prep. We had Thanksgiving here this year, so I was in charge of the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and cleaning. :) After dinner we all watched Elf, one of our favorite Christmas movies. It was a truly a fabulous day spent with family. I'm hoping you all had a wonderful holiday filled with lots of turkey and time spent with family as well.

The passing of the Thanksgiving holiday marks the official start to the Christmas season! I took these photos after the Christmas card photo shoot I had with my girls last weekend. I can't give away any of the photos until after I send out my cards, but you can get a tiny peek into our set up.





It's snowing here in the northeast today. So I'm just catching up on some more photo editing, right in front of the fire with a nice bowl of hot Turkey soup. Stay warm and I hope you all have a great week. :)

xo,
tish

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!  

Christmas Card Photos

I was privileged to have very good friends of ours ask me 

to photograph their children for their Christmas Cards this year. They have three talented children and they wanted to highlight one of the sports that they each excel in. 


First, the horse-lover. 

Next, the football star. 

And last, but certainly not least ... the softball player. 

Our last session included all three of them together.

Thanks to the "Z" family for allowing me 

to be part of your Christmas! 

Happy Holidays!