The One With the Giveaway!!!!!

For the seventh day of my photo challenge, here are the five favorite photos, as most nominated by the few of you who check in every day or two. I think it’s funny that you like the grandma shoes! I gave you less than 24 hours to nominate a photo, so if you still want to weigh in and express an opinion, please feel free.

Now, here is the fun part. I’m doing a Giveaway to celebrate the 5000th hit on my blog… By commenting on this post, you will get one entry. If you link to my giveaway in your blog (just let me know), you will get a second entry, and if you agree to do the week-long PW photo challenge like I did, you get yet another. You should try the photo challenge…it was really fun! It made me look around and see things differently, and it made me get my camera out and dust it off. Digital photos are virtually free…so why don’t I take more pictures? And for heaven's sake...if you don't have a blog, comment anyway! You don't even need a Google ID to leave comments on my blog. But don't be anonymous, or I can't give you a prize.

Details of the Giveaway. There are two packages:

1. Photo Package. This is only redeemable in Southern California, so if you don’t live here, and don’t plan to visit here, don’t choose this one. It is a photo shoot. I will take pictures of you, or your kids, or your dog, or your motorcycle, or whatever you want. I will spend some time in Photoshop and do some cool effects for you. I won’t remove all your wrinkles…maybe some…but I will definitely remove any pre-cancerous growths and then show you the before and after, so that you will run in fright to the dermatologist to have them removed for real. I know you think I’m kidding…but I once photoshopped this old guy… okay, too much information. Then I will post your favorite photos from the shoot on my blog (only if you want) and I will provide you with your digital negatives.

2. Domestic Goddess Package: This one will find you, via expedited delivery, anywhere you live. It includes a sexy 50s-style apron (you must provide your own high-heeled shoes), my favorite cookbook (the one that makes me feel like a rockstar in the kitchen: Barefoot Contessa Parties), a loaf of fresh homemade bread and the best chocolate chip cookies in the world…enough to share, but I don’t recommend it.

I will draw for two winners, and each winner will have his or her choice of one of the packages. Even if both winners choose the same package, I will comply with the requests. I will draw at 5:00 p.m. PST this Sunday, April 4th. Good luck!

Entry Number Two: The One Where Mom Went to Her Happy Place

It’s me, Cam…and I get to do a guest post today. I took pictures of my mom in her happy place. Her happy place is in this little triangle between her piano keyboard and her computer. She loves the computer so much she would probably marry it, if she wasn’t already married. Now, for the photos du jour: I took them, and then my mom and I fixed them up in Photoshop. We didn’t take out the wrinkles or the gray hair, though…heh heh heh… click on the photos to see them GIGANTIC and you can see. What we did do was play with the lighting a little bit…it is pretty dark in my mom’s happy place. AND on one of the photos, we did my favorite thing, which is called desaturating. We took the color down by 90%. But I wanted my mom’s eyes to stay blue, so she selected them first and only desaturated the rest of the photo. Cool, right?


My mom’s eyes are pretty freaky, you know. First of all, sometimes they look blue…sometimes green…and sometimes gray, sorta like mine. You can’t spell chameleon without Cam. Even weirder: they can see right inside of you. She always knows when one of us kids is doing something wrong. She can also see problems very clearly. People are always asking her for advice about things, because she can see right to the heart of the matter. She doesn’t need glasses or anything, either. She can read the tiniest print ever. I told you…freaky eyes.


The other thing in the pictures that you should pay attention to are her hands. She thinks he hands are kind of ugly. But anyone I know will tell you that they make the best food in the world, no contest. And when she plays the piano, she is pretty good. I don’t get it, but people always cry when she plays in church. It is not really all that sad…people really ought to just get over it.



Cam’s photo-taking tips: Take a lot lot lot of pictures because: it doesn’t cost any more to take 50 than it does to take three. And because out of 50 photos, there might be three good ones. And you don’t know which ones are going to be the good ones. Don’t center the person’s head in the center of the frame. Position the head at the top of the frame, but don’t cut off the top of it. Try taking some pictures from very close up. That way you can catch all the wrinkles and gray hair… MWA HAH AHHAHA!

The One Where She's a Genius in Her Dreams

When I take photos of someone, I fall in love with them a little bit. Maybe all the way, because in order to take good photos, I have to see the beauty in a person, and in the course of doing that, it seems that they become more and more attractive with each photo. Lynda and Allen are no exception. I took pictures for their 50th wedding anniversary, and I just finished all the color correction in Photoshop.

That is probably why I had this weird dream last night. In the dream, I invented something truly revolutionary. I keep a notepad and pencil by my bed for just such occasions. So this morning I scrambled to find the notepad. Did I remember to write it down? Yes, I did. Two words: Photoshop Makeup.

Apparently I invented a makeup kit that contains a set of tools very similar to those found in Photoshop. How awesome is that? In my dream, I was out in public after having used almost the entire arsenal of Photoshop makeup tools. I used the smudge tool to smooth out that little vertical wrinkle I have above my right eyebrow. I whitened my teeth using the dodge tool. I lengthened and added hair, using the rubber stamp tool. I used the burn tool to darken my eyebrows and eye makeup, and I made my eyes just a little bit more blue, using the paint bucket.

I was talking to a friend, and she kept staring at a spot somewhere just above my eyes. I finally asked what she was staring at, and she told me that there must be something wrong with her eyes, because every time she looked at my forehead, her vision was blurry. Dang. I should have used the clone tool instead of the smudge tool. Oh well. Thank goodness for undo. Maybe I should just use the airbrush on everything. Then no matter how close someone gets, I will still seem a little aloof and unattainable. Who doesn't want that?

Photoshop Makeup. Recommended for professionals only. Please use responsibly.