I Heart Faces: Enjoying Life Photo Challenge

The latest photo challenge at I Heart Faces is to depict someone enjoying life. My baby girl always enjoys life. She is the happiest child I've ever met and can turn any lemon into lemonade. All that said, I think she is happiest when she is hugging or swinging. What do you think?

By the way, if you enjoy my photos, check out the website for my portrait business at www.DonnaWallacePhotography.com. Thanks!

Photo Challenges: Flower Portrait and Hey Girl

This sweet little picture of my oldest daughter is a treasure. Lately I get a lot of fake smiles and lots of toothless grins, but I miss my sweet little baby. This shot takes me back. Those huge eyes and that sweet face just melt my heart.

I've decided to enter this into two photo challenges too. First, I Heart Faces is having a challenge title "Hey Girl." They want pictures with girls faces. Second, Rock the Shot Forum is hosting a "Flower Portrait" challenge. Well, I went with a flower headband for that one. :o)

   

I Heart Faces: By the Book Photo Challenge

This week at I Heart Faces, they are doing a "By the Book" photo challenge. Chloe and Sophia both LOVE looking at all of the scrapbooks I've made them. But the favorite (by far) has got to be the book about our vacation to Disney World. Just an hour after opening the email and seeing this week's theme, I turned around to see Sophia checking it out again on the floor of my office. So, I took the opportunity to snap a quick picture.

I Heart Faces: Best Face from 2011 Challenge

It's always hard for me to pick a favorite photo from a session, but from a whole year...that's just about impossible. So, I'm going with this, but still not 100% sure. Ha!

The Paper Mama & I Heart Faces: Pet Week

Both The Paper Mama and I Heart Faces are doing pet photo challenges this week. I was about to torture my poor cat with yet another photo session when my friend and neighbor called and asked me to photograph her foster puppies for her. Whew! These pups were high energy and very fast. I was kinda worried as I left that I didn't actually capture a thing. But then again, puppies are so adorable that things don't have to be technically perfect for the photo to still touch you.

   

I Heart Faces: Beautiful Eyes

I Heart Faces is also doing an eye challenge this week, but I decided to enter a different photo for this one. This picture was taken the other day when I was just hanging out in the playroom with the girls, but I still love it.

I Heart Faces: Friends

I love that my daughters are truly best friends. They do have so much fun together (99% of the time).

I Heart Faces: Water

Here's my entry for the I Heart Faces water photo challenge.

I Heart Faces: Props

The challenge at I Heart Faces this week is to use props. It was a great chance to dress up for a tea party. Of course, I ended up liking the non-tea related pictures better than the actual tea party. But I guess the hat, necklace and fluffy skirt still count.

July 4th and Red, White & Blue

Sure, I have lots of photos with lots of patriotic colors from this past weekend, but for some reason I have decided to enter this one for the 4th of July/Red, White and Blue challenges this week. I know it's just a small little spot of the red, white and blue, but I think it's just so cute. Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend (if you are in the US) and that you enjoy my baby with her tatoo.

  

I Heart Faces: Let's Hear It for the Boys!

In honor of Father's Day this past Sunday, I Heart Faces is asking all entries this week to include a boy or a man. This is not a great technical shot, but I love this moment with Daddy teaching our youngest to fly a kite. She was super excited about it and couldn't stop beaming. So cute!

I Heart Faces: Bright & Vivid

This photo says bright and vivid to me for multiple reasons. First, I love the bold primary colors. But, more importantly, I love the bright eyes and vivid smile on my little girl's face. She is one of the happiest children I have ever met and is filled with so much love for life and for others. She can brighten anyone's day with that big grin.

I Heart Faces: Yellow

Here is my entry for the I Heart Faces yellow photo challenge. Of course, the yellow in the photo is the bow she is wearing, but I also processed the photo with a very light yellow fill layer at a very small opacity just to give it a little more warmth. This is something I'm still new at trying (the fill layer stuff).

I Heart Faces: May Flowers

Here's a happy little flower I shot last week. I love the cheerful yellow!

I Heart Faces: Motherhood

I Heart Faces is hosting the first of what I am sure will be many "motherhood" themed challenges this week. So, I decided to practice a little using my timer setting to see if I could capture a few mother/daughter moments. It's not often I actually get to be in the pictures and maybe if I get better at this sort of thing I can continue to include myself in the girls' scrapbooks. Ha!

This photo depicts the way I often feel when looking at my oldest daughter...like I'm looking in a mirror. We have the same big brown eyes and she has my childhood haircolor (which I've tried to preserve through highlighting). But our similarities go much deeper than that. We approach life in much the same way and we clash most often because we are too much alike. I do hope that I can help her to avoid some of my mistakes and to model my successes, but mostly I want her to celebrate the wonderful unique little lady that she is, in spite of the fact that she is my mirror image.

I Heart Faces: Soft & Sweet

Here's my soft & sweet photo from the other day. These little beauties are my friend's daughters and they sure did love these baby chicks. For more soft & sweet entries, visit I Heart Faces this week.

I Heart Faces AND Simplicity: Pets

I Heart Faces and Simplicity are both asking for pet photos today so I'm torturing our poor cat, Scuttle. She's old and grumpy and sits around all day except when I want to take her picture. Then she moves around every 5 seconds trying to find bad lighting so that I can't get the shot. Ha! I guess that's just part of her charm.

 

I Heart Faces: Wind

When I saw that I Heart Faces was doing a wind challenge this week, I immediately thought of this photo I took last week. I love the way the wind caught my big girl's beautiful, long hair almost as much as I love the moment of peaceful happiness captured on her faces as we took pictures in the wildflowers.

I Heart Faces: Shadows

Okay, so this photo isn't necessarily about a clever shadow capture as much as I love how it illustrates how little sister is just like big sister's shadow. I just love that! And I also love the way the light is hitting and well, I just love this shot and this is my entry for the shadow challenge over at I Heart Faces.

I Heart Faces: Slice of Life

I chose a photo from my little hike at the Nature Center with the girls last week for the I Heart Faces: Slice of Life photo challenge. It always makes me laugh that the girls get so excited about collecting leaves or playing with a stick. Why do we have all of these toys again? Jeeze! The girls wanted a break from our hike and parked on these stone steps and Sophia was so into telling a story about a girl and a stick. It must have been a good story too because big sister is sitting very patiently listening to it all.