Giving Gifts...

I have a great friend at work, Teri, who just turned 50 a month ago. I was in London for almost 2 weeks leading up to her birthday.

I had thought and thought and thought about what to get her for her birthday...but was so busy with work that I didn't have time to act on my thoughts.

Well, she is a very close friend of mine (we sit next to each other and talk ALL THE TIME)...and we're very much alike.

She's a great photographer, has 3 grown boys, and loves to look at photography. She's been monumental in encouraging me to start my JVW Photography business.

So, I got back to work on a Wednesday...and her b-day was on Friday. I thought and thought about what to do and came up with the PERFECT gift.

I IM'd her husband (he works at the same company) and asked if I could borrow her boys for 30 minutes so I could photograph them as a gift to Teri.

He called the boys, arranged them to meet me THAT SAME NIGHT, and I met them that evening. They were wonderful, and I got some fantastic shots.

I went home that night, downloaded them, edited them, and picked my favorite. I sent it off to get printed and picked it up Thursday night on my way home from work. I bought a 8x10 and a 4x6 frame (big one for home...smaller one for desk) and got it all wrapped up.

I brought it with me to work the next day (along with a cake, balloons, streamers and big 50 signs everywhere) and put it on her desk.

She was surprised about the decorations, not so surprised about my cake (in case you don't know...I used to decorate cakes) and was even more surprised by my gift.

Now, I had the big one wrapped in tissue...and it was kinda obvious once you picked it up that it was a frame. This is not unusual for me to give her a frame for her b-day or X-Mas (because as I said...she's a lot like me).

She started unwrapping it and was talking to everyone standing around her and having a great old time.

That was...until she unwrapped it, and glanced at it. At first...you could tell she was looking at a nice frame and all was well. Until it CLICKED that those were her boys in the frame...and not some cheesy random stranger that is normally on the insert.

She gasped.

She flew her hand over her mouth.

She looked at me.

And started bawling.

When people say it's so much better to give than to receive....they really do mean it.

At least I do. Because let me tell you...I haven't felt that good in a long time.

She'll treasure it forever. It's the only one of its kind (her last good photo of her boys was about 8 years ago). And I feel great.

Oldie...but goodie

It's funny how I can go through old pictures and run across a photo that I've always liked...but didn't absolutely love.

This was all before my beloved Photoshop entered the picture.

So I'm going through some older photos (last summer) and came across this photo that I always liked...but didn't love in color. I tweaked it, cropped it, edited some dirt off of his face, and changed it to black and white.

A prime example on how a few edits can make a good picture GREAT! I love his eyes in this photo...and the fact that the freckles on his nose are really prominent. And the color before made his hair really red and crazy...but b&w it makes it perfect.

Now I'm on the hunt for other old photos that I liked....but didn't love. ENJOY!...and dig out your old photos to edit. Trust me...it's fun!

News Flash...

I'm an idiot.

This is not some big news flash. It is what it is. And as I get older...the more of an idiot I am.

For example:

The other day I did a load of delicates, and forgot they were in the washer until 2 days later as I was getting ready for work. I got ready, and on my way out the door, I re-washed them. I was in such a hurry, I did my normal thing and just turned it on and ran out the door. 20 minutes into my drive (and about 3/4 way through the cycle), I remembered that I just set to wash my "delicates" on my normal setting of my washer.

Kinda defeated the purpose of washing them on "delicate" the first time around. Luckily, everything was fine with the clothes...but this is just an example of a ding-ey thing I've done lately.

Another example:

In February when I was in London for work (5 more weeks til I go back!), I toured Windsor Castle and some other cool places. Well, since G-Man is ADDICTED to swords of any nature, I found some cool knight-swords that make noise that I thought I'd bring back to him.

So I'm packing my bag, and my battery-operated swords will fit in my suitcase. However, any move I make, my luggage sounded like a sword fight was going on. So, I had a bright idea that I would just carry the gifts on board the plane with no problem.

Arrive to London Heathrow Airport (yikes...a HUGE-ass airport) and check my bags, and go through a maze of security, etc. Hmmmm...come to find out you CAN'T CARRY TOY WEAPONS ON BOARD AN AIRCRAFT.

DUH. What was I thinking?!?!?!? Seriously....I must not have been thinking very hard because HOW DUMB COULD I BE?

So, an hour later after going out of line, going to a store in the airport, and buying a stupid bag (all for a 14 pounds sword-set, which is really $28...damn the weak dollar) and re-checking my second bag, I finally got through security and to my gate out in no-mans-land with no pounds in my pocket and no place to buy a freakin' diet coke with credit that didn't have a line out the store door.........

That trip is a post all in its own.

So, it's stuff like that that annoys the crap out of me.

Oh! I remember another stupid thing I did in relation to my London trip.

My flight left at 6:00 a.m. out of Indy on my way to Newark. I parked the car at 5:00 a.m., and a shuttle was right at the pick-up point. So, I jumped out, grabbed my purse, grabbed my suitcase, and ran to the pick-up station. I got on the bus, no problem there, until I'm about 5 minutes from being dropped off and I remembered I DON'T HAVE MY COAT.

#$%^!!!!! Did I leave it on the back of my dining room chair at home? Is it in my trunk? I have absolutely no idea. My brain is blank. All I'm thinking is....Oh my God...I'm going to London in FEBRUARY...with NO COAT.

So, the driver dropped the people off at the terminal, and I go on the route with him. We get to my drop-off point, I leap out of the bus, run to my car (with a bus-load of people watching me) open my hatch, and THANK THE LORD JESUS that my coat is in the back. I grab it, lock my car, and run back to the waiting bus. (I thankfully stayed warm while in London in FEBRUARY).

I made it to my gate with time to spare and got to Newark fine (and ran into Mike Tyson!) (YIKES) and to London with no problem.

But again, it's stuff like this that KILLS me!

So, enough with my stupid ramblings. I really am a quite intelligent woman....with brain farts that occasionally ridden my brain.

In other words, I'm glad I'm practicing on friends and family with my photography.

Like on Sunday. We're at my dad's for dinner and my nieces are there. It's a glorious day, and the kids are riding their bikes. I'm taking photos, and getting some really good shots.

I go home, and later this week I Photoshopped them a bit.

But wait....what is this grainy blur on my photos? Why are they not super clear? Is the resolution crappy? What is this problem?

Oh....yeah....I took all these photos with the wrong setting on my camera (?) and somehow got the photos to turn out grainy.

I think this is the problem...and checking my photo details realize I think this is the problem. So from now on, I am going to be much more careful on what setting I have it set on. I just thank the Lord that for my really great photos of the triplets the other day, I had it set on the RIGHT setting.

See this photo???? It's GRAINY. And I hate it. Open it up in Flickr here to see the original file.

Oh well....we learn from our mistakes, right?

I sure hope so.