Big changes are coming to the Barefoot Memories blog.

I'm hoping to show you soon, and it's gonna be really cool!

As I get that blog stuff ready to show you, I have other exciting stuff to tell you!

Mpix has agreed to sponsor the New York City myFUNcamera workshop on October 23rd!

Every attendee will get a free expo pass to the AMAZING PhotoPLUS Expo
AND a $25 Mpix gift certificate!

Check out the myFUNcamera site for more info & signups!

There are a few spots at the sale price of $200 if you hurry!
After the $200 spots are taken, the rest are $250.

Portrait sessions for NYC have sold out, but a few of those workshop spots are still there for you!

Have a great afternoon!

~Carey

Summer vacation is in full swing, and the kids are having a BLAST!

My work hours are really cut short, but I don't mind.

Summer is all about playtime, not work time, RIGHT?

(Hence no blog posts since Fathers Day -- man, that's some serious blog neglect!)

I have to share these photos with you, though, while my kids finish up watching an iCarly re-run.

Last week I met my annual playgroup in the park.
I've been taking pictures of these kids for a very long time!
Many of them are featured on my website (like HEREand HERE, for example).

This playgroup is a large group of super fun moms whose kids were all born within weeks of each other.
There are older and younger siblings, too, which makes for a big fun pile of crazy photo fun!
It's fun and not insanity because the group is led by a super organized playgroup leader who
keeps this photo day running SO SMOOTHLY I can hardly believe it!

It seemed this year was the year of the GIGGLE.

I was even giggling looking at the photos a few days later on my computer!

Here's one brother and sister giggle pair:

Here are the captain's kids being very goofy on the grass together:

and one more from the grass when I told them they could finally make silly faces (they'd been begging):

Apparantly, a silly face for a 9yr old is impossible without silly hands, too, but I love how
you can still see hints of everyone else's silly faces, too!

And one last goofball duo:

Can you just hear them laughing at each other??

It is impossible for me to pick a few favorite pictures from that day,
but those are among the top.

I think I hear the closing credit music for iCarly, so time to wrap up the typing!
During my next mommy break (AKA Hannah Montana or Spongebob),
I'll be getting this group's gallery online so all the mommies and daddies can see their photos!

Have a great day!

~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:

During WPPI last week, I had many requests for the sand and shells I used in my hard cover books that Mpix had on display.
CLICK HERE to see more about the Mpix hard cover books.

I created these images by collecting shells from right here in San Diego
and taking high-quality (super sharp) pictures of them.
In other words, these aren't stock images that I found or bought online somewhere.

The sandy backgrounds are jpgs, and the shells are png files with transparent backgrounds,
so it's really easy to drag them into the Mpix book software or into Photoshop.
BUT, you don't HAVE to have Photoshop to use them!

There are 5 shells (including a starfish), a sany background, and a background
with lots of jumbled little shells from Imperial Beach.

I've included lots of background sizes for different sized books, cards, and layouts,
so you don't have to worry about resizing or cropping to create the size you need.

The files are big, so you can make any size book or card or scrapbook page,
and you won't have to worry about quality loss when you GO BIG!

Here's a 100% view of some details.

GO HERE to purchase at myFUNcamera.com.

Once your payment is complete, you will get a link to download your purchase.