Tales as the clock ticks...

Week 4 - “Texture” Photo Challenge!

2010-01-25T20:33:00.004-05:00

Firstly, I have to say that I miss my blog and all of you!!! It has been so long since I update this blog because I have been spending most of my time over here or here, but I have so much ♥ for this blog! This was where I learned more about myself and my love for photography. Thanks to I ♥ Faces I practiced and fell in love with the art of making my images my own!! It has been awhile since I have participated in their weekly challenges and I am excited to enter this week. One of my goals for 2010 is to try to participate at least twice a month!! I miss the interaction with all the wonderful bloggers and the inspiration by seeing such amazing talent on a weekly basis!! Here is my entry for this week's "Texture" Photo Challenge. It's an image from when I first started my photography journey and I am so excited to share with everyone! :-) Be sure to check out all the other wonderful entries by clicking below!

{Click on the image to view full size}

I ♥ Faces Photo Challenge-Autumn Beauty

2009-11-17T21:45:00.005-05:00

I can't believe the year has passed by so quickly! My daughter will be 10 this Saturday, UNBELIEVABLE! It seems like it was just yesterday that she was learning to walk! (insert tears of happiness here) She told me this week that she does not want a birthday cake this year, she wants to replace it with a pumpkin pie! Oh, and she wants a photo shoot on her birthday (she has a specific theme & colors in mind, so keep a look out for those upcoming images soon...I am sure they will make you smile! :)

Here is my entry for this week's challenge. My daughter Karina, after school, enjoying a stroll in the park a few weeks ago. :) I loved the colors from the image so much and also wanted to start playing with some texturing! It screams Autumn Beauty to me! ;)

Enjoy and don't forget to stop byI ♥ Faces to see the other wonderful entries!

I ♥ Faces “Balloon” Photo Challenge

2009-11-02T01:47:00.001-05:00

I ♥ Faces “Balloon” Photo Challenge

It has been a while since I submit an image to an I ♥ Faces photo challenge (and boy do I miss it!) but I couldn't pass up this week's theme! I ♥ balloons and a few weeks ago I had a photo shoot at my university (University of Tampa) with the two most awesome models, Joanna & Meagan. They were such great sports and had no problem when I brought out a bundle of balloons in our school colors, red, black and gold. I especially loved this candid shot!! I just had to submit it for this week's entry. You can take a look at the rest of the images of that day at my website's gallery. Be sure to visit I ♥ Faces to view the other submissions for this week! Have fun and have a great week!!

Fix it Friday #34 with a Halloween Bonus! :)

2009-10-30T09:33:00.003-04:00

Wow! It has been awhile since my last post! :( Unfortunately, with school starting back, launching the photography business, and everything else, I have neglected my blog! I ran across this week's fix it friday over at I♥ faces and I just had to edit that beautiful picture. Look at those eyes, she is a true beauty! I had so much fun editing, that I came up with a few different finals! Be sure to let me know which one you like! And after your done, head on over to I♥ faces to view other entries!

By the way, if you want to check out what's been keeping me busy this whole time, my new website/blog for the photography business can be found by clicking on the small storyboard below! Take a look and let me know what you think! I promise I will start spending more time over here, I really miss it! =)

Have a great weekend!

This is the Original:

and just for some Halloween fun!!! Enjoy! :)

FIx-it Friday!

2009-09-18T14:25:00.000-04:00

It's that time of the week at I ♥ Faces ! She is so precious! Sarah submitted this photo and my favorite part of the image was the natural rainbow streak across the sweetie's face! Click on the button below & check out all the other "fix its" this week! =)

Have a great weekend!

"Contemplative" Photo Challenge

2009-09-14T00:52:00.006-04:00

Happy Monday to all! I am submerged in reading and writing for 3 classes so I have to sneak away from my HW and post this quickly! I am excited about this week's theme and can't wait to see all the submissions (during coffee breaks, of course)! Click on the I ♥ Faces button to view more "Contemplative" images! :)

Fix-it Friday

2009-09-11T02:08:00.000-04:00

I can not express how much fun I have on these fix-it friday images! And not to mention how much I have learned!! I ♥ Faces is an amazing website and if you are reading this, you have to visit their website! I assure you it will be a great experience. :)
Here is the original photo submitted by Anna followed by my edit! Hope you like it and don't forget to click on the button below to see some more different and beautiful edits!

"Back to School" is in the air!

2009-09-07T01:11:00.004-04:00

I hope everyone is enjoying this long Labor day weekend, I sure am! Hopefully I can get caught up on my to-do list, if my wonderful children and hubby will let me that is! Over the weekend we took the children to the park, but I can definitely tell that we are "Back to School"! My daughter was not playing on the playground as she endlessly did over the summer- she actually brought her library books to read to the playground!! She is excited to get through all the books before Tuesday so she didn't want to waste a minute! Talk about determination! I think I will follow her lead! :) I was able to get her to look up for five seconds from one of her books to take this shot, I thought it was a good one to send in to I ♥ faces
for this week's "Back to School" photo challenge. Be sure to click on the button below to see the wonderful entries for this week!

Fix-it Friday-Hands-On Photo Editing Fun!

2009-09-04T14:50:00.003-04:00

I have been super busy this week! With the children back to school, and my first week of classes at the University of Tampa it has been almost overwhelming! But TGIF and a long weekend!! =) I have also started another blog for fellow commuters to my university. The campus's student body consists of 70% living on campus, so I thought it would be a great idea to start a blog where the other 30% of us can meet and share information! :) Let's see how it goes, hopefully it will be a great resource! Here is the address if you want to take a peek:
www.spartancommuters.blogspot.com

Well, with all the happenings this week I almost didn't participate this week in Iheartfaces fix-it Friday :(
but when I saw this cutie patootie :) I had to take a few minutes to play with the image! Here is the result! I used photoshop CS3. Some adjusting to the original image, added texture and font and Voila'! :)

Let me know what you think! And after that click the button below and it will lead you to more edits that have been submitted! Enjoy and have a safe and enjoyable Labor Day weekend!!

Fix it Friday Beauty

2009-08-28T10:38:00.005-04:00

Wow! I was speechless when I saw the fix it friday at I ♥ Faces! This little girl is so beautiful and the photo is so gorgeous, that I can definitely understand this week's title, Beauty! The image was submitted by Jaclyn from The Polhamus Family. It was a pleasure to play with your image Jaclyn! I got creative with photoshop CS3 and actually made an illustration of this beauty, I even added some wings! :) For my second edit, I had even more fun with her brick background! I went ahead and added a grunge border & some graffiti to give the image a grungy look (while maintaining this little girl's angelic beauty). It made for a magnificent contrast! Below is the original image along with the two edits! Let me know what you think! Don't forget, after your done visiting, click on the button to see all the other edits for this friday's fix it!

Worldwide Moment-Photograph for Peace

2009-08-26T08:47:00.012-04:00

Mark your calendars!!
When I stumbled on this AWESOME event, I knew I had to share the info with my blog followers! Actually, I will be sharing the info by any means (twitter, facebook, word of mouth, etc...) I am sure you will too!

Worldwide Moment is a simultaneous photography project for peace.

The concept calls for people to take photographs at the exact same moment in celebration of this event. Whether you are comfortable at home, hard at work, or in the middle of fighting for a cause you believe in, Worldwide moment wants you to participate and share in this moment.

To learn more about this event visit Worldwide Moment. You can also follow Worldwide moment on twitter & facebook.

Here are simple steps to participate:

1) FIND your corresponding time and date here:

http://www.tinyurl.com/wwm09

2) SET an alarm! On your mytouch. On your iphone. On your blackberry. Go ahead. Set an alarm right now!

3) TAKE a photo at that moment. Use whatever type of camera you want. Photograph whatever or whoever you want.

(If you do not have a camera, contact http://www.worldwidemoment.org/contact/ They want to give you one!

4) SUBMIT your picture and story from the moment to website:

http://www.worldwidemoment.org

That's it!

I hope you will join me on that day from wherever you may be! I will be sharing my image of that day here on my blog, so be sure to come back and take a look!

* I have added a Mr. Linky below so that on 09.09.09 you can share your shot here too!!

"Nostalgia"

2009-08-24T00:34:00.020-04:00

This weeks theme at I ♥ Faces made me very sentimental and I had a hard time choosing which photo to share. I quickly was flooded of memories and wanted to include so much of my family, hopes and dreams, life as I can remember up until now. I have so many favorites, it was hard to pick just one! :)
After much deliberation, it was interesting that I ended up choosing the very first picture I had thought of when I learned of this week's theme! A picture that I took of my daughter in Epcot, taken just this year. But the image brings tears of joy to my eyes. It was my son's birthday and my children's first time in Epcot! They had such a wonderful time, that I can not describe in words. They enjoyed every minute there, filled with fantasies and daydreams! My husband & I were right there with them, feeling just as emotional (and just as childish)!
At the time that I took the shot, my daughter was posing for my husband's camera and she had no idea I was also taking pictures of her. The scenery was so breathtaking, the weather simply superb, and the atmosphere full of love! If only we could have stayed in that moment forever!
I know there will be many moments in our future that will bring my family much happiness, sadness, and every other emotion that a human can feel-but this day will be embedded in our memories and referred time and time again. Even if we go back in the future, it will never be the same as this day!

Be sure to click on the button below to see more "Nostalgia" inspired images!

Fix it Friday-No Limits

2009-08-21T09:48:00.006-04:00

It's friday! :) This is the last weekend before school starts, so I am planning something really special for the kids! Don't frazzle, in my next post I will surely share our tale! But for now, take a look at this handsome man! This image was submitted to I ♥ Faces by Alesha for their weekly Fix-it-Friday. I went ahead and played with my magic wand~Photoshop CS3 :) and Voila!
Let me know what you think! And after your done visiting, click on the button to take a look at the other creative edits! Have a great weekend!

'Chegging' Back to School

2009-08-21T03:11:00.000-04:00

Who wants to pay a wad of cash for textbooks? Not yours truly. I’m Chegging, baby.

Seriously, go to Chegg.com where you can rent textbooks rather than buy them. You’ll save between 65%-85%. Yes, I’m serious.

Just search for the books you need and order. Chegg ships them to you super fast and when your term ends you just ship them back for free. And guess what? They plant a tree for every book that’s rented. Pretty cool.

BUT – make sure you use this special promo code CC100334. You’ll get an extra 5% off your order. Enough said…

Bubbles

2009-08-18T19:40:00.004-04:00

What a busy week! With two little ones gearing up to head back to school and I myself headed back to school, it has been non-stop! I've been meaning to work on my blog design some more and I am also way behind on my posting, but I know I will be all caught up soon! Thank you to all my readers for your patience and for bearing with my slowness!

Now unto a fun topic! This week's theme over at I ♥ Faces is "Bubbles"! Which is such a coincidence, being that my husband & I took our son recently to the park and brought along his bubbles, so I got some funastic ;) shots!

I had a hard time choosing one photo to submit but finally decided on this one:

I will be posting a cute little storyboard that I made last week and some more pics on my next post! Hope you enjoy this picture and after your done, don't forget to head over to I ♥ Faces and see all the other cute "bubble" images!

"The Eyes Are The Window To The Soul"

2009-08-14T21:46:00.007-04:00

This was my favorite fix it Friday entry since I have been participating!! This handsome boy is definitely destined to be a heart-breaker with those deep blue eyes! I couldn't wait to get home and get started! I had a lot of fun with the image. As I was editing his face, I could almost feel that baby soft skin!! Surprisingly, my son also suffers from food allergies so while editing Amy's pictures I realized that I can definitely find some pics of my son to play with too! =)
Here are the fun edits I came up with along with the original image!!

The original image was submitted by Amy to I ♥ Faces. Head on over to their site to check out all the fabulous submissions!

Since I couldn't get enough of this angel, here's a cute storyboard with three more edits:

Crazy, Silly Funny Face!

2009-08-11T16:01:00.004-04:00

I believe there is something about heavy machinery that attracts ALL men!! On Sunday, we decided to grab the camera and head to the park for the afternoon. We were casually passing by my kiddo's school and there it was, basking in the afternoon glow, the "whatchamacallit!" At least that's how I refer to the yellow tractor! My husband's & son's eyes twinkled! I could tell by their expressions what they were thinking! "NO, N-O!" I said. But my objections were to no avail, a few seconds later, my son was up on that machine and modeling for the world to see! Both of them were in heaven! My son kept yelling, "Take a picture, take a picture!" After a few minutes of hysteria, with vivid images of cops asking me what my son & husband were doing, I caved in. I can't wait to share the images from that day, but before I do, I have to share just one! I am entering this one into the I ♥ Faces contest "Funny, silly Faces" for this week. My son's expression was so spontaneous, I couldn't believe we had caught it! We laughed for hours after we saw it! I can only imagine what he was thinking, but I assume it was something to the effect of "I bet I can drive this thing with my eyes closed!" =)

I will be posting the rest of the images from that day later this week, so please drop by again! To see more funny & silly faces check out:

Twitter Backgrounds

2009-08-08T16:21:00.004-04:00

It all started with my interest to make my twitter more appealing. I created my background in photoshop, with the help of my A-mazing hubbie. I got an overwhelming response to it. I wanted to help others enjoy having their own backgrounds and now I have created one for my hubbie (he loved it), a friend, and even entered a background for a contest(See details below). Currently, I have in queue 4 more twitter backgrounds to create. It's really exciting and I think I might start a side job creating these backgrounds! :) They are so much fun to do!
Take a look for yourself and don't forget to leave comments!

Here is my entry at The All-American Rejects Contest:

http://contests.twitterbackgroundsgallery.com/2009/08/07/marianahmosli/

Be sure to stop by and vote! :)

Polaroid Emulsion Transfer

2009-08-07T15:21:00.007-04:00

I was anxiously awaiting Friday this week. I could not wait to try out some new skills on I ♥ Face's Fix it Friday. I have learned so much over the last few weeks and it is so motivating to see fresh new images each week!
This week, Fix it Friday's image was submitted by EL and I have to admit, the original image was perfect and that beautiful boy had my heart melting! So I had to be a bit creative...

I decided to go in reverse, away from digital and into polaroid! Here is my stab at Polaroid Emulsion Transfer. If you like this style, here is the link where I got my inspiration:

http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=polaroid+transfer&m=text

There are many examples.

Here is the original and my edit! Enjoy! =)

Photography

2009-08-05T15:29:00.003-04:00

I have been so busy with the last few weeks of my summer classes, that I have not dedicated more time to my blog. Slowly, but surely, I will get there. A big thank you to my blog followers and visitors that have left comments and continue to motivate me! :)

Have I mentioned my new found obsession with the Arts? Particularly photography? Yes, I admit it, it is addictive. I find myself immersing my eyes from website to website, with amazing images and vivid colors. I want to just get out there and shoot anything! With my camera that is. :)
I have always had a creative nature, but God has paired me with the most inspiring and creative partner, my husband! We are a match made in heaven! I don't know the first thing about taking pictures, (I can envision very well what I want the image to look like- I guess it's the technical side that I have to figure out) but he can take amazing shots and he has never even taken a photography class! A year ago, I bought my husband the Nikon D60 as a graduation present. Little did I know, I would slowly fall in love with it myself! Let's see where this new interest leads us...

By the way...I came across an awesome giveaway for all you amazing photographers out there (even the new aspiring ones like me)! I ♥ Faces is offering:

A Tamron 18-270mm VC

The World’s First and Only 15X Zoom Lens!

(Value $629)

I already submitted my entries! Be sure to click on the I ♥ Faces to enter too!! Good Luck!

Fix it Friday "Southern Belle"

2009-07-31T05:17:00.021-04:00

I had a lot of fun playing with this beautiful picture. I especially loved the little girl's dress! The photo without editing is very artistic in a Victorian & antique way. It was very inspiring! I decided to add a bit of landscaping for some color & fun! :)
I couldn't pick a favorite, so here are the 3 edits along with the original.

I am loving I ♥ Faces ! :) Sneak over to their page & check out all the other "Fix it Friday" submissions!

Have fun!

*Original, last (4th) photo,was submitted by Vika Jones

Swinging at the beach...

2009-07-28T21:53:00.005-04:00

Our family is definitely enjoying the summer time, as it is rapidly fleeting. I can smell the back 2 school specials already!
On our last trip to Clearwater beach, we spent the day at the pier. It was absolutely beautiful. Gorgeous sky & great weather. We enjoyed the people, music, and fun activities. Although, my son did spend most of his time on the swings and in the sand. When it was time to go, he did not want to let go of his swing. :)
I am submitting this photo for I ♥ Faces, "beach" theme this week. There is just such an awesome expression in his eyes and face, that this is one of my favorite shots of our day at the beach!

Check out all of the other gorgeous "beach" theme submissions on their website!

Blog Construction under way!

2009-07-27T17:00:00.003-04:00

During the next few weeks I will be constructing my blog to meet my design standards. :)
The theme will be fresh, modern, and unique. I will be doing everything on my own, so wish me luck! While surfing the web, I have come across beautiful blogs out there and they have served as inspiration.
Though I contemplated the thought of having someone create my design, I don't think it will be as thrilling or rewarding as doing it myself!
Please excuse while the blog does not look it's best during the construction phase, but I assure you it will be an awesome result!
Keep checking back and feel free to leave comments & suggestions! I want to make sure my blog followers enjoy themselves and feel right at home while visiting!

By the way, it was so much fun creating this poster image to display for my blog construction! I found a tutorial by PhotoshopStar and tweeked it to create my design. :)

Make any web page print friendly

2009-07-24T20:22:00.007-04:00

It is a great feeling when you come across tools that can make your life much easier (even better when the tool is good for the environment)! I was on cloud nine when my husband told me about Printfriendly.com I couldn't wait to share the info! I have uploaded a screen shot of the website's demo and a video tutorial (see below).

You may also notice that on my post section I have added the Printerfriendly button. I am so excited that I was able to do that! Now, not only can my blog followers print from my blog but also save as PDF files, share via email and tweet . Isn't that great news? =)

Definitely visit their website to get your printer friendly button!

Fix it Friday

2009-07-24T02:41:00.006-04:00

I am excited to participate in I ♥ Faces weekly fix-it Friday. This is my first time and I think that it is a great concept! This project inspired me so much that I am pondering the idea to go through some of my family pictures and see if I can improve some images to display. I had a lot of fun playing with our young Mr. Handsome model's photo. :) I used Photoshop CS3. I tried out a few different ideas and I couldn't pick a favorite, so I decided to post the three (along with the original). I am a beginner, so this is great practice and an awesome opportunity for learning. Hope everyone likes the final result! Please let me know your thoughts. :)

*The original picture of this handsome young man is from Cayle Ngo.

Warm Summer Days...

2009-07-21T12:12:00.001-04:00

Feet can describe so much of their owner's tale. :) More importantly, feet can take us to places located only in our wildest imaginations. Thus facilitating tales, told generation after generation, to travel.
My first blog is dedicated to... yes, my family's tootsies!
My husband, daughter, son & I lazily enjoyed Mother's day at the beach this year. It was a great feeling. The heat of the sun, the spontaneous breeze and the sand between our toes! Our minds wondered off into fantasies of deserted islands and ships full of treasure. Quickly followed by laughter and conversations describing the views of life in the eyes of a nine & seven year old.
These pleasurable days, along with many others, will last in our memories for years to come.

These moments create our tale as our clocks tick and hopefully as our cameras click! :)

This week has been eventful! After starting my new blog, I bumped into an amazing website called I ♥ Faces. This week's theme is -feet (not faces, surprisingly)! I am participating for my first time in their contest and it's very exciting! This is my entry, but I definitely suggest to go and check out all the incredible entries submitted at the website!