I've got one picture to share from my last session...

This is my favorite picture from the entire session.
The love and joy on mom's GORGEOUS face, the hint of a little grin riding on her shoulders,
her hand (with her wedding rings) gently holding her precious child,
and OH THAT SANDY LITTLE FOOT;

all of that adds up to one of my favorite pictures ever.

Enjoy!

~Carey

Here I was thinking that is WAY too late to get anything custom in time for Mother's Day,
but I was WRONG!!

I just found out that my friend Fran, from Little Windows is still taking orders and promissing
delivery in time for Mother's Day!!

If you order by May 1st and choose Priority Mail shipping, she says you'll get your order by May 8th!

She also has fun DIY kits so crafty moms can make awesome creations themselves.
I want to try that some day, but for now, I'm just going to let Fran keep making my Little Windows.

...like this custom bracelet she made for me:

I am going to force my kids to let me take pictures of them after school today
so I can order one of Fran's "Double Sided Clip-on Charm" for Mother's Day.

I've wanted to get one of those for a while now, and I'm going to treat myself!

If you want to order some Little Windows of your own, use promo code

LWCS10808

to save 10% on your order.

You've got until May 1st to get those custom Little Windows orders in for Mother's Day delivery,
so get started!

If you miss the Little Windows deadline, don't forget about Mpix!
A book from Mpix, some magnets, or some framed prints would all make great Mother's Day gifts,
and they always ship your order within one business day.

Happy e-shopping!

~Carey

Families always ask me, "Where should I take my CD to make great prints?"

My answer is always the same: MPIX! Mpix ROCKS!

Have you seen the framing option when you're checking out at Mpix?
It's AWESOME!

When you have a print in your shopping cart, press the "add a frame" link,
and this cool tool comes up:

That was a 10in x 10in print that I put in my cart,
and I had fun playing around looking at all the different frame options.

The Mpix frame tool even shows the frame to scale, so you see how big the frame will be around your print.
You can add a white mat or a black mat, and the tool will show you exactly how it will look!

By the way, when you add a mat, the print doesn't get smaller. You'll still get your 10x10 print,
with a mat beyond that, and a bigger frame.

A nice frame like that would cost a pretty penny from Target or a frame store,
and Mpix still ships the order for $5.95!
(Unless it has glass, then you have to use FedEx. They are more careful with glass,
and you don't want the glass in your frame broken, right?)

I was playing around with that image because I thought it would be cool to make a square framed print,
then put it on the wall on a diagonal, like this:

That would look nifty, wouldn't it?
I could see it in a bathroom or on a small wall where there's not much room.
It would be a different cool way to fill up a small space on a wall instead of a
same-ole-same-ole framed picture.

So, go upload some pictures to Mpix and play around with that frame tool!

~Carey

PS: Are you following me on Twitter? My twitter name is @CareysHair
(silly name, I know. HERE's the story behind it)

You also need to follow @Mpix!! They are always announcing contests and COUPONS on Twitter!!
That's a twiiter feed worth following for sure!!!

Have a great weekend!

~Carey

Quick question for San Diego folks:

Is there a painter out there who wants to barter?

I promissed my son that I would get his room painted CHELSEA BLUE
for his birthday, and I still haven't done it.

Right now, his room is a vivid green color (from back when green was his favorite color).

Now that his blood runs BLUE for Chelsea, his favorite color is... duh ... blue.

Is there a painter out there who would want to trade a bedroom paint job for a Mini Platinum??

The materials for the job would be $100-200 for the primer & and the paint & such,
so add in your time & labor, and I think the trade works pretty well.

Let me know if you're interested!! barefootmemories@gmail.com

~Carey

My photoshoots are usually in the morning for a few reasons, but the main reason is because
during the afternoons M-F is when my "mom hat" is firmly planted on my head,
not to be removed until the kids are in bed or off at school the next morning.

So, weekday photoshoots are in the morning.

Sometimes I'll schedule afternoon photoshoots on the weekend,
and last weekend brought me to La Jolla about 2 hours before sunset.

These families were so fun, the beach was so gorgeous, the light was amazing,
and I had a blast playing in the warm afternoon air with them.

I have to warn you:
There are a LOT of pictures from last weekend.

I'll try not to screw up the pictures with a bunch of babble...

Daddy & Daughter:

Big brother jumped off the rocks with the courage of any crazy little dude.
His little sister needed to borrow some of mom's courage:

Of COURSE we did the Barefoot Memories flying kid (they never get old for me -- so fun!):

I love this picture of the brave big bro and the little sis who's still working on her courage:

Tickets to the Gun Show anyone?
And yes, the sky was THAT blue!
For images like this, I usually add a bitty bit of "pop" in Photoshop with some actions,
but I don't bump the saturation beyond what was really there that day. ...keepin' it real, ya know?

This is my favorite shot from this family's mini session.
I did warm up the temperature of this one in Lightroom a bit to get that "warm" afternoon glow.

Another family at this mini were professional footprint makers.

Here's one in color:

And a black & white with some artsy grain and high contrast:

This is the last shot from that mini,
dad heading up the stairs with his boy (and ahhh, that sky! I LOVE IT!)

Enjoy!

~Carey

PS: Here's some shop talk:
For that "pop" I was describing before, I use "oh snap" from Totally Rad actions:

For that grainy black & white, I use Kubota "B&W KPZ GMap grainy film" from Kubota Artistic Pak I: