Sorry to disappear like that. I’ve been working on a little Mother’s Day project that seems to have usurped my usual blogging time.

I’ve been making a photo book for my Mother-in-law.  Mostly I’m using photos from our trip; shots of her with the children, her with Steve, pictures of the little ones playing around her yard, but also some favorites from this season, taken other places.

I’ve really been working on learning how to take better portraits lately.  It’s good to have goals, right?

Steve recently bought me Photoshop Elements and I’ve been having a lot of fun with it.  A lot. of. fun.

Too much fun really.

At first I thought it kind of felt like cheating, to be able to change a photo so radically, but I’ve come to see post production as a sort of art in it’s own right.

The problem now is finding a balance and not using too heavy a hand.  It’s so easy to go overboard.  It’s exciting to be able to do so much, but just because I *can* do it, doesn’t mean I *should*.

Though the kids do very much enjoy it when I, say, turn their hair purple.  I’m thinkin’ it’s best not to save those changes though….

It all kind of puts me in mind of this post, which I stumbled across recently (check out her new blog, it’s gorgeous!).  So funny.  I think that white background one is one of my favorite pictures ever, but probably not for the right reasons.

But I find it particularly funny because that’s exactly where I’m at right now.

I know there will come a time when I’m looking back at many of my pictures, with wide eyes and raised eyebrows, exclaiming, “what on earth was I thinking?!?”.

(honestly, I feel that way about some of them already, but not enough to change them or I just don’t know how to make them the way I want yet or I’m somehow ok with their awfulness or something)

And that’s ok.  It’s part of the learning process.  I can only hope to get better.

Learning and living and keeping on going.