... few things are better

... than the warm smile of a friend. especially when she asks me to take pics of her and her lil' brudder for the upcoming mother's day celebration. they haven't been in pics together for couple of years apparently, so I was flattered. with her permission, my dear friend and coworker, the "lil gelfling" honored me deeply by asking me to do this. i gladly and exuberantly accepted. even though the day turned overcast and drizzly quickly, i was able to fire off a couple of shots before it took a rainy turn for the worse.

thankfully, our friend photoshop will allow me to lighten up 2-3 of the shots that printed a little dark though.... i decided to provide her with a CDR that has all the pics on them, the "keepers" sized for her in 8x10 format, for her printing pleasure. I also printed 3 shots off of my epson printer that does high quality photos (don't they all tho, nowadays!?) and she was tickled pink with the results. I also surprised her with this fun lil' collage of her and her sibling. gosh they had fun posing, swinging on a tire and more... just thought i'd share. they made such great subjects with their smiles....

i used to do a lot of photography, mainly jes' for me to practice my skills and such; but over the years i'm occasionally asked to do some photo-work for friends such as portraits. this time was odd for me though because i have done so little photography over, say the past 2-3 years, that i don't even own a 35mm camera anymore. this was actually a depressing reminder of how things have changed so quickly over the past few years.

i remember when my father helped me purchase my first 35mm camera. it was a minolta X700 35mm semi-automatic camera. it positively glistened and sparkled the first time it came out of it's case. i had a zoom lens, and a special macro lens i purchased with it that i was jes' dyin' to try. omgoodness i took pictures of everything... i practiced cropping, framing, macro shots, portraits, motion/blur, night time shots and so much more. it was magic.

nowadays, i look at some great sites such as eurekablyth and another fingerett and it just makes me want to run screaming to the nearest kits cameras or somewhere reputable and purchase a new lens... maybe a new mix camera that blends digital, 35mm and SLR in the same package... oooooooooh, shiny....