Just released from DPS, is this fabulous ebook, Photo Nuts and Bolts, that compiles excellent tips and help for you to get to know your camera and improve your photos.  If any of you are wanting to improve your photography, this is going to help you a great deal and the fact that the information comes from such a trusted source, Darren  and his DPS peeps, it’s packed with tons of very useful information from respected, seasoned photographers.

From the site:

10 Lessons to Give You Control Over Your Camera

Buying this book – you’ll be walked through the following topics:

Lesson 1 – Light and the Pinhole Camera
Lesson 2 – Lenses and Focus
Lesson 3 – Lenses, Light and Magnification
Lesson 4 – Exposure and Stops
Lesson 5 – Aperture
Lesson 6 – Shutter
Lesson 7 – ISO
Lesson 8 – The Light Meter
Lesson 9 – White Balance
Lesson 10 – Metering Modes and Exposure Compensation

and so much more!

I ordered and downloaded my copy of  Photo Nuts and Bolts today and I highly recommend you do the same, especially because it’s on sale right now!

OH…and THERE IS A 30 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE Y’ALL!!

When you arrive to their site, you are in awe of the breathtaking, endearing photos to the right and soothed by the color palette.  You immediately notice the focus on the photos and the welcome but can easily see who’s supporting the site with the drop down tab at the top. So subtle, yet clear.

I’ve seen a many communities in my day but I have to say, Clickin Moms is quality built, thinking of every kind of photographer.  Once a member, you have access to some of the kindness, most talented women I’ve met.  They immediately make you feel welcomed and even though you might feel a slight bit of intimidation by all that talent, don’t let it scare you. Like Jennifer told me,

“I look back at stuff from even one or two months ago (mostly post-processing, since that is what I will be focusing on) and I can see vast improvement, all kudos to the info and help I’ve received here. Don’t be intimidated and just focus on your journey and learning experience. :o) Everyone was new at some point.”

Those are the kind of people I like to surround myself around.

Not only are there good people at Clickin’ Moms, there are fabulous photo tutorials, challenges, resources for actions and templates, and even a vendor thread just in case you’re interested in purchasing  trendy camera straps or booking a photo session!  The gallery is the perfect, safe place to share your photos.  I love seeing the tweaked photos against the untweaked ones and how, if you are willing, you can see a whole new perspective when someone else plays with your photo.  Honestly there is a wealth of information made available to members that is sure to keep your busy for hours.

Anyone who is into photography should consider becoming a member.  I have no doubt that you’ll enjoy every second you’re there.  All this fabulousness does come with a cost. A cost that is very budget friendly and worth every cent in my opinion. A quick look at price packages:

• 1 Month ($8.00 for each month)
• 6 Months ($30.00 for each 6 months)
• 1 Year ($50.00 for each year)

You can see more options at the site.  You’ll definitely benefit from purchasing the advanced price and that’s what I recommend.  And of course, you can always pay for a month and try it out!

The only flaw I could find were a couple of forum errors. Nothing major at all.  I give this photography community two thumbs up and hope to see you over there!

SOMETHING FOR YOU

A one year subscription is up for grabs.  To enter, simply leave a comment one thing you’d love to learn about to enhance your photography/photography skills.

Additional ways to enter, leaving each one in a separate comment.

• Share on an social networking site like twitter, facebook, online communities, etc. If using twitter, please include my handle @ACowboysWife and don’t forget to follow Clickin’ Moms on Twitter too!
• Sign up for free updates from Clickin’ Moms
• Sign up for MY monthly newsletter.

Giveaway ends on Oct. 11th.  Good luck!

Truett loves Max. He goes down the slide with him, sometimes pushing him down.  He acts like he’s shoeing him.  He chases him and pulls his tail but it’s this sweet 15-second moment that shows his kindness.

I know you can’t tell but they are both laughing together. I don’t know what about and I don’t want to know because that is their moment.  Mine is watching father and son having a giggle together.

I have no clue what little man is lookin’ up at ’cause I didn’t see anything there.  Maybe it was a plane I missed, maybe a bird that flew by, or maybe he’s seeing a glimpse of his abuela and great grandmother….who knows, but he was still for what seemed like forever.

It’s rodeo time and game-face is on!  Both cowboy and horse are in concentration, making sure not to let that steer get by.  Still can’t believe I’m the mom of a 16yr old.

Who doesn’t love to see their son with his Dad but what I love about this photo, is seeing their hands together and my man’s thumb on little man’s hand and his hand holding Dad’s finger.

I know that everyone gets busy with things but I hope y’all are taking the time to enjoy the simple moments.

Every month,  a photo contest will be held here, each one with a different theme.  There will be two judges for each contest, whom of which will narrow down the entries one by one to choose the winners.  There will only be one Blue Ribbon winner.

I will be sharing my own photo for the current theme, however, it will not be eligible for the contest;) It will be a fun way for me to involved a little bit too.

SEPTEMBER BLUE RIBBON PHOTO CONTEST

Please read the complete rules before submitting your photo!

Photo entries will be taken from today, September 1st through September 20th at 10pm CST.  That’s over two full weeks to get your photo submitted here!

The September theme is “Sapphire”. I would love to see some creativity with these theme.  Sapphire is September’s birth stone so anything blue related applies to this photo contest.

The prize for September is:

• Blue Ribbon Winner – Kodak Zi6 Pocket Video Camera in Red and is valued at $160  The winner will also receive a 2GB SD memory card to use with your new Kodak Video Camera!

Kodak’s handy pocket video camera offers HD, easy video editing and easy uploads to youtube.  Comes in 3 colors; black, pink, and red but the winner will get red.

Here is my September, “Sapphire”  photo, which of course is not eligible but it’s fun to share my viewpoint of the theme.

Now it’s YOUR turn! Remember to read all the rules BEFORE submitting your link here to avoid disqualification.  I hope that you find this fun and exciting and really hope that you spread the word and participate.

Once your submission is ready, upload your photo into the comment box.  Share the title of your photo and feel free to tell us more about the photo in your comment.

Winner will be announced on September 28th.

Feel free to leave your comments here about my photo, other entries and the contest in general. I welcome your feedback. Be sure to check out each entry and leave comments on their submission as well!

I included all sorts of actions, text actions, and tutorials. Have fun with it!

COFFEESHOP

My new favorite place is CoffeeShop. Tons of great actions for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. She even has things for Lightroom. It’s a place you’ll spend hours at so prepare yourself with coffee and snacks, get a babysitter, and enjoy!  Also, these are all free and she works on donations. I recommend a donation no matter how small (or big) because these folks put a lot of time into creating these so that you don’t have to.

• ~ CoffeeShop’s Actions and Presets
• ~ Storyboard Actions and Templates —>Love this!!!
• ~Textures —>Tons of beautiful textures/backgrounds & tutorial to show you how to use them.

PIONEER WOMAN

You had to know these would be included.  Her and I have a lot in common with the whole cowboy life so naturally her actions are a good fit for many of my photos.  She has also updated her current actions and is working on set number three!

• ~ Pioneer Woman Set 1 —>My Favorite that includes Vintage-Boost-Quick Edge Burn (& more)
• ~ Pioneer Woman Set 2 —>Includes my fave, the 70’s.

PANOSFX

Great free and paid actions. The free ones require registration but are totally worth it!

• ~ Reflections
• ~ Out of Bounds
• ~ Border and Bend
• ~ Page Curls
• ~ Fan
• ~ Snow Globe
• ~ Rule of Thirds of Cropping
• ~ Oldies

devianART

• Vintage Photo
• The Polaroid Generator
• and many, many more….

LIKNES

• ~ FilmStrip
• ~ Puzzle Action
• ~ 3D
• ~ Borders
• ~ Text

SHUTTERFREAKS

• ~ Hayes Island Cafe Effect
• ~ Rob’s Bleach Action
• ~ Cool paid ones!

Extras

• ~Text and Image Effects by FinesseFX
• ~Turning Turnip: Photo cube effect – Apply 3D photo cube effect to any image.
• ~Page Curl Photoshop Action - Create a page curl in any of the four corners of an image.
• ~ Grungy Goth Painter
• ~ eCover Action
• ~ Explosion Action
• ~ AstroTurf Text Action and more
• ~ Electric Light Text
• ~ Blood Text Action (Great for Halloween!)

PHOTOSHOPROADMAP (who did a heck of a job linking to all the different ones!!)

100 Wonderful Photo Effects Photoshop Tutorials
70 Horror, Blood and Gore Photoshop Effects and Brushes
Dreamy, Magical and Lighting Effects Photoshop Tutorials
15 Artistic Watercolor Effects Photoshop Tutorials
15 Fantastic and Absolutely Free Photoshop Plugins
Complex and Sophisticated Lettering Designs Photoshop Tutorials
30 Fascinating Video Game Inspired Photoshop Tutorials and Brushes
35 Creative Portrait Effects Photoshop Tutorials
30 Awesome Photoshop Text Effects Tutorials
25 Inspiring Movie, Music and Art Posters Photoshop Tutorials
30 Beautiful Photo Frames and Borders Photoshop Tutorials, Brushes and Actions
64 essential guides, tips and tutorials to definitely master Photoshop like a pro
The Best 80 Photoshop Text Effects on the Web
100 Awesome High Resolution Photoshop Brushes
Grunge and dirty Photoshop tutorials, brushes and textures

BUY

• Adobe Photoshop at Amazon
• Adobe Photoshop at Ebay (Research the Seller before Buying)
• Adobe Photoshop Academic Superstore (HUGE discounts for students and teachers…..

Finally, if you want to create your own Photoshop action, check out Veerle’s Blog for a step-by-step tutorial!

Man there were some GREAT entries with this theme!! I am so glad that I didn’t have to choose the winner this time around because I would not have been able to do it!  A couple of my favorites are this strong fella fighting back the tears. What a great photo capture of emotion.

This lil cowboy outlaw was another fave of mine!

But the Blue Ribbon Winner in the Face theme is………………

The blue in the cake and those eyes are brilliant and just look at it…priceless!  Congrats!!! If you could email me with your shipping address, I’ll get your Flip HD  out to you ASAP!  Well, actually, it will be after I get back from Chicago because this prize is sitting here on my desk;)

All entries were beautiful and creative in their own ways.  Congratulations to all of you and thanks so much to everyone for participating.  And if you didn’t win, please don’t get discouraged.  Just try again!

The August theme will be announced on July 31st so be on the lookout!

You guys can email me at lori {at} thecowboyshack {dot} com

And if you would like to sponsor or a judge for the future Blue Ribbon Photo Contests, please feel free to contact me at the same email!

Anyways, little man loves to be with dad and becomes quite the helper during the works.  I think he needs some leggin’s though don’t you?  He also needs a horse, bigger socks, and some new boots.  Anyways, after “helping”, I saw him just standing there, either takin’ a break or playing boss-man..not sure which but he looks just like his dad standing there when he puts that thumb in his pocket.  Cute. I could squeeze them both.

Hope you guys have a great weekend!

Anyways, don’t cowboys and their gear just look better vintage style?  It’s like it takes you back to those John Wayne days, the days where people worked hard and had values.  When things meant something, not that they don’t know but it was a different day back then.  You had more appreciation for the little things.

So I was looking at some photos and turned a million of them into the vintage look because I think it’s a natural cowboy look.  The one of my son is my fave of course. Everytime I look at him, I just can’t believe he’s growing up so fast…..just a couple more years and he’ll be on his own:(

*Sigh*  I guess I’m a little sappy tonight.  I blame that on the movie Kramer vs. Kramer I watched tonight.

Do you have a favorite look that you give your photos?

Every month, I will hold a photo contest here, each one with a different theme.  There will be two judges for each contest, where we will narrow down the entries one by one to choose the winners.  There will only be one Blue Ribbon winner and 2 runner ups.

I will be sharing my own photo for the current theme, however, it will not be eligible for the contest;) It will be a fun way for me to involved a little bit too.

JUNE’S BLUE RIBBON PHOTO CONTEST

Please read the complete rules before submitting your photo!

Photo entries will be taken from today, June 1st through June 20th at 10pm CST.  That’s over two full weeks to get your photo submitted here!

June’s theme is “Faces”. I was looking through some of photos and was laughing at some the “caught off guard” expressions.

The prize for June is:

• Blue Ribbon Winner – Flip Mino HD Video Camera!

Here is my June photo, which of course is not eligible but it’s fun to share my viewpoint of the theme.

Somethin’ Stinks!

Now it’s YOUR turn! Remember to read all the rules BEFORE submitting your link here to avoid disqualification.  I hope that you find this fun and exciting and really hope that you spread the word and participate.

Once your submission is ready, put the link below that goes directly to your photo entry.

Winner will be announced on June 25th.

Feel free to leave your comments here about my photo, other entries and the contest in general. I welcome your feedback. Be sure to check out each entry and leave comments on their submission as well!