i heart faces :: boys

First of all, excuse my absence (a month, ack!).  I hope to start posting on this blog more often now.

 "Let's Hear It for the Boys" is the current I Heart Faces challenge and I couldn't help but remember this darling shot I captured of my dad and little brother yesterday while opening Father's Day gifts.  Perfectly imperfect, anyone?

more lovelies here.  thank you for stopping by!

love,

hannah

i heart faces :: pet week

We were at a lovely little Easter event yesterday, and let's just say Stephen totally adored the chicks and bunnies.  Yeah, just a little bit sweet.

Hope you all had a beautiful Easter!  In my case, today was a celebration of my birthday as well...so much fun!! (Like, two of my favorite days of the year combined?  Pretty much.)  Currently, I'm longing to try out a certain camera-related-lovely-item that I've received.  Eeeeep!

In the mean time, I'm linking up to I Heart Faces' Pet photo challenge.  Thanks so much for stopping by--I love getting the chance to return your sweet comments and "meeting" y'all!

with love,

---hannah m. 

i heart faces :: favorite face from february

It's another "people's choice" week at I Heart Faces...where we share our favorite face shot from last month.  This is a selfie that I took towards the beginning of February. To be honest, it really put me out of my comfort zone to shoot myself this close up...but I ended up really liking this photo:

More lovelies at I Heart Faces this week!

And those you stopping by, so glad you're here!  I always do my best to leave you a comment in return and love seeing your photos. ;-)

Update - also, starting Wednesday, I'd love for ya to vote for my photo - #34!  I know Hannah (oh wait -- that's me!) would really appreciate it! ;)

---hannah m.

PS - have you entered the giveaway over at my main blog yet?  You have until tomorrow!

i heart faces :: anything but a face

Even before I really got interested in photography, I loved focusing on parts of the body other than the face when telling a story with my camera...and so I was excited when I Heart Faces decided to devote this week to "anything but a face".
The only problem was, I had a lot of narrowing down to do.  Eep.

Finally, I decided to go with this lovely that I just "rediscovered" today.  I'm really happy at how well it converted to B&W, and even though her face isn't showing, you can still tell she's a sweetie.  Most of the time. ;-)

Looking forward to seeing the entries at I Heart Faces this week!

Also, thanks to those of you who stopped by - so glad you're here!  I always do my best to return the sweet comments you leave me.

with love,

---hannah

i heart faces :: hearts

I had grand and imaginative plans for this week's challenge, really I did.  I'm a girl, you know, so I was kind of bursting with ideas for incorporating a heart and face into a photo...But was never exactly able to carry any out, courtesy of a certain Pride and Prejudice play and exhaustion.  With "something new" out of the question, I considered something from Megan's shoot, but since it's nothing extremely special and I had already shared them, I decided on something else.


This is me testing out an idea that I'd wanted to try on Megan.  No, it was not entirely successful, but still rather cute. (Whoa - did I just call myself cute?  I don't think I meant it.)

Thanks bunches for stopping by - I always do my best to leave a comment in return at your blog and love getting to "know" you a little. ;-)

More lovelies at I Heart Faces (oh, no pun intended...heehee!)

---hannah m.

a vote, please?

The voting for this week's I Heart Faces challenge has begun!  And, I've a favor to ask of you - would you like to spare me your vote?  I'm link #76.  And if you're having trouble finding me, I'm on the very far right in my line.  You'll also see Megan's laughing face and the link to my blog - Hannah M.  Head to the direct link by clickin' here.

In my title, you'll notice I said please.  Now, honestly, how can you resist that?

And this too.

No pressure or anything!  But you do realize Megan will love ya  forever, right?  Okay, so I can't really promise that.  Don't be deceived by her angelic expression above!
I just realized I need to take today's 365 picture, so I'm off.  Hugs!

with love,
Hannah

i heart faces :: favorite from 2010

It was so incredibly difficult to choose a favorite face photo from 2010 to share at I Heart Faces this week...but I've (finally, finally, finally) decided to share this.  I'm pretty sure I've posted it in color before, but I was experimenting with alternate edits today and fell in love with the following...

Laughter is, by far, one of my favorite things to capture as a photographer.  It's beautiful on so many levels.  And so, although this was taken back in July...when I barely knew the difference between aperture and ISO...It's what I'm entering today.

I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone's favorite photos from 2010 at I Heart Faces!  Do join in the fun - just click below.


 Blessings,Hannah

I Heart Faces | pet week

I've shared this before...but it's definitely a favorite photo of mine.  This little fellow was in our dill patch early this fall.  And after getting in some of the most uncomfortable positions ever, and braving swarms of bees (kind of), I finally captured this.

And it was seriously worth it.

More pets and animals at I Heart Faces this week...


 And don't forget to check out CC's "Warmth" finalists and vote on a winner (poll above).  Thanks for your help! -Hannah

Me | i heart faces and happy monday

It's been such a long time since I participated in an I Heart Faces challenge and I've been meaning to participate in "Happy Monday" (now hosted at Allie Photography) pretty much ever since it began.  So I'm feeling super-duper-proud for finally getting around to both.

The themes for this week are both "self portrait".  This is one I took back in October during my quest for a new profile picture.  I truly love it:)

Find more selfies below~

{Actually, I've absolutely no idea if anyone else calls self portraits "selfies".  But seeing as it's 10pm and I've a rather annoying headache going, please give me a break. ;) }

Also, don't forget about the latest CC Photo Challenge - right here.  This week's theme is "warmth".  I can't wait to see your interpretations!

-Hannah

fix-it friday #77

Man, it's been awhile since I've participated in a Fix-It Friday over at I Heart Faces.  I was very much afraid that I was going to have to bypass it again this week, but when I saw this sweet gal being featured...well, I couldn't help myself. ;)  Today we're using these beautiful photo of Michelle Johnson's:

Here's SOOC:

I really didn't have to do much here - Just a few minor changes in layers, exposure, and temperature in Picnik.

I then decided to add some texture just for fun - and I really like what it did.

I was also curious to see what this would look like in black and white, and did an addition B&W with sepia edit as well (click to enlarge).  Loveliness:-)

What do you think?  And, as usual, which is your favorite?

More beautiful edits of this photo at I Heart Faces!

Have a great weekend, everyone!
-Hannah

i heart faces :: smirk

I wasn't exactly sure what to use as my entry for I Heart Faces this week, mainly because I wasn't entirely sure what one should consider a "smirk".  Here's how it's described...

A smirk refers to a smile evoking insolence, scorn, or offensive smugness. Whatever you think constitutes a “smirk” on someone’s face will be acceptable for this week’s challenge.

 I finally decided upon this one of Megan from the "pixie photo-shoot" I did with her a while back.  I rather think this pixie expression could be considered a smirk...It's definitely something:-)

Isn't she darling?  This photo makes me smile.  Like, real big.

Looking forward to seeing everyone's entries at I Heart Faces this week.  Do head on over!

i heart faces :: vroom, vroom!

I had some grand plans for incorporating a vehicle into this week's challenge, but, me being me, none of them ever came into being.  I'm still working on it.

I therefore had to resort to a shot from Stephen's birthday party on Labor Day weekend.  His brand new Playmobile motorcycle - definitely the best present, in his opinion.  It lit up, and it was a motorcycle, for goodness sake. 

He loved it like I would love it if some sweet person randomly decided to give me photoshop, a few new lenses, and an this camera bag.  (That's another way of saying a lot, just so ya know.)

The downside to the shot?  It was taken at 9pm, meaning a high ISO and not-so-great lighting.  Sigh...

But hey, when you have a cute three-year-old model by the name of Stephen, things like that don't really matter.

Nope, not at all.

More vehicle shots at I Heart Faces this week...

i heart faces :: fix it friday #70

It's been a few weeks since I participated in Fix-it Friday, but I had a bit of time over lunch today and jumped on the chance to join the fun and edit this adorable gal...

{above - sooc}

My edit, done on Picnik.com, using premium elements. In a nutshell, here's what {I think} I did...

~adjusted exposure, contrast, and colors a bit

~cropped and sharpened

~applied airbrush to background

~applied "shine-be-gone" to cheeks and forehead to reduce glare.

~added text

I didn't have the time to do multiple fixes for this shot, although I wish I could have.  What do you think?

More lovely edits at I Heart Faces.

i heart faces :: beach fun!

This week's theme for I Heart Faces is "Beach". So I thought of this one of Megan from our trip to Virginia.  She was digging an epicly massive hole one day when she found this rock. 

 I love her wind-blown hair here.

More "Beach Fun" at I Heart Faces this week...

i heart faces :: fix-it friday #67

It's Friday again, and I couldn't help but fix up this adorable gal I Heart Faces is featuring today!

SOOC:

All edits done on Picnik.com with Picnik Premium.

I bumped up the exposure and contrast, and raised the temperature a *lot*.  I then cropped, sharpened, brightened her eyes, and messed around with curves a bit.  The final product...

I'm really loving how this turned out!

And, of course, my customary black and white edit...

More lovely fixes at I Heart Faces...

What do you think?

I Heart Faces :: Gotta Wear Shades!

We're celebrating sunglasses at I Heart Faces this week - how fun of an idea is that?!  I don't have anything extremely amazing or unique for this week's challenge, but I do have plenty of lovelies in my folders that would qualify for the theme.  Looking back at our Virginia Beach vacation (which I really, really, really need to edit!) I found this one of my sweet Godfather...

Taken on the dolphin-watching cruise we went on - lots of fun! I love how you can see the reflection of the deck in his glasses:-)

Head over to I Heart Faces for more photos... 

And I'd love to hear your thoughts as well, my dears!

I Heart Faces :: Surprise!

This week's I Heart Faces theme is "Surprise".

And I had my customary hard time picking out a photo.

I looked through my shots of Stephen in the airplane, but none of the pictures really seemed to fit ...although he did display just about every other emotion out there: )

Then I thought of this photo of Megan.

Taken way back in April, with my point-and-shoot...

when I wasn't nearly as good at photography as I am today.

So maybe the quality isn't the best in the world, but I love this photo.

I love it lots.

Come share your favorite "surprise" photo at I Heart Faces this week...Because you know you want to!

Love and Blessings,
~Hannah

I Heart Faces :: Fix-it Friday #65

I know that I should technically be editing and posting pictures from our lovely Virginia Beach and Williamsburg vacation, but I couldn't help but edit this sweet little boy featured on Fix-it Friday this week.  So, sorry Charlie, those Virginia pics are gonna have to wait;-)

Original picture:

Look at those eyes!

I really didn't have to do much in my edit - basically raised the exposure, saturation, and temperature slightly, and brightened the eyes.And my additional edits...

Ahhh, the chocolate egg recipe, my personal favorite:)

What do you think?

And, if you, like me, were unable to resist those sweet blue eyes, head over to I Heart Faces to submit your own edit and see others' as well.

And now - off to get to those Virginia photos!

Love and Blessings,

~Hannah~

I Heart Faces :: Fix-it Friday #62

I'm joining Fix-it Friday at I Heart Faces today.  I absolutely love the sweet picture we were given to edit...

Original SOOC:

My Basic Edit:

I cropped, re-sized, sharpened, and brought up the exposure, contrast and temperature a bunch.

I then decided to try out some of the Picnik Recipes that I shared in my last post (thank you for the feedback on them, by the way!  I'm so glad that they were helpful!)....

{Actually, I tweaked this recipe a little here and brought the exposure up as well as the contrast, just so you know.}

I love how these turned out - Which of these is your favorite?  I can't even begin to decide on mine!

Head over to I Heart Faces for more fix-it fun!;-)

Love and Blessings,

~Hannah