Vistas of Life Photography

"Self Portrait"

2010-12-06T14:18:00.000-08:00

Its been a long time since I've posted anything on my blog or even done an I Heart Faces Weekly Contest. This weeks theme at I Heart Faces is "Self Portrait." I took this photo of myself a few weeks ago. I was having a good hair day and decided on a whim to take a new shot of me. Its by far my favorite photo of me!

Don't forget to check out other entries over at

May 14 Fix It Friday

2010-05-14T18:32:00.000-07:00

So getting to this Fix It Friday a little late but here it is. He is adorable!

This is the original:

This is my edit for today. Here is what I did using Photoshop CS3:
Removed the red spots using the spot heal and clone stamp
"Warm It Up Kris",
"Boutwell Not So Magic Glasses"
"Yin/Yang" (on the face - lighten the darker side/darken the brighter side)
"Pro-Retouch" (toned down the opacity though)
"Big Blue" and "Eye Bump" on the eyes (again toned down the opacity)
"Pool Party"

*actions used are from Totally Rad *

And here is the result:

Well, hope you enjoyed! Please visit other edits at

Fix It Friday, May 7th

2010-05-07T09:26:00.000-07:00

Yay for Fix It Friday and the little cutie here!

This is the original.

A crop, a black/white conversion, a little skin retouching and an eye bump later made up my first edit.

A crop, some of Totally Rad's actions (such as Warm It Up Kris, Prettyizer, and Clarify), and little skin retouching and an eye bump made up my color edit.

I hope you enjoyed this sweet little face! Check out other Fix It Friday posts at

Fix It Friday April 30th

2010-04-30T08:19:00.001-07:00

So this will be my first time doing a "Fix It Friday" post. I am using Photoshop CS3. Hope you guys enjoy!

This is the original:

Time for some editing! I personally liked the composition of the photo so no cropping! So on to editing! First things first, clone out the signs! Check! I completely adore the actions from Totally Rad Actions. They make editing fun and fast and completely customizable! Here's what I used: Warm It Up Kris, Lights On, Oh Snap, Prettyizer, Derelicte, Dirty Diana, Dirty Lip, Yin/Yang. It has a moody feel to it!

Since, I can't leave well enough alone, I decided to edit it another time.

This time around I used: Warm It up Kris, Lights on, Dirty Diana, and Dirt Lip. Then I used the Soft Urban action from Florabella. I did remove the blue color fill however. Less moody, more urban!

Now for one more just because I like to play around! I used Warm It Up Kris, Oh Snap, Technicolor Dream World, Pross Crossessed #1, Lights On. I'm loving the green! This one ended up being my fav of the three.

Thanks guys! Check out the folks at

I Heart Faces "Smiles"

2010-04-27T14:54:00.000-07:00

This weeks theme at I Heart Faces is "Smiles." This newborn gave me a sweet smile just for a second. So happy I caught the moment. Enjoy!

To see more smiles head on over to

Black and White

2010-03-28T20:46:00.000-07:00

So this weeks theme at I Heart Faces is "Dramatic Black and White." In February, a local park here in Tennessee was completely destroyed due to arson. I can't even begin to understand why someone would do this. Its just sheer selfishness and ignorance. "Project Play" as it was called, was a park that was built and funded completely by volunteers several years ago. It was devastating news to this small community. It was known to the kids as the "castle park." My kids loved playing at this park. Here is a link to a picture of what it looked like beforehand. Here is a link to a picture of the fire. The community is pulling together to rebuild the park. This is what is left.

To see other dramatic black and whites visit the folks at

I Heart Faces "Angles"

2010-03-22T19:21:00.000-07:00

This week's theme at I Heart Faces is "Focusing on Angles." I took this picture over the weekend. My kids love my husband's bike. Three boys plus dad! I'm in for it when they are all teens!

To see other awesome angles go to

I Heart "Bundled Up"

2010-03-15T13:53:00.001-07:00

This week's theme at I Heart Faces is "Bundled Up." I live in West Tennessee and we usually do not see much snow around here. Well this year we got a few good snows. This picture is from the first snow we got. My kids had a blast sledding. It was extremely cold that day too! I just love the expressions on their faces!

To see more great bundled up photos, head on over to

I Heart "Jump for Joy"

2010-03-08T07:16:00.000-08:00

This weeks theme over at I Heart Faces is "Jump for Joy." One of the many things my kids love to do is jump in the moon bounce. We finally had some really nice weather this weekend, so I took the opportunity to snap some pictures. Enjoy!

To see some more jumping head on over to

I Heart "Hilarious Outtakes"

2010-03-01T13:42:00.000-08:00

So this weeks theme at I Heart Faces is "Hilarious Outtakes." Being a mom of three boys, I have plenty of photos of them being less than "picture perfect." Its makes for a good laugh though. Enjoy!

Ty's expression is priceless. :)

"Caught my first fish but wait there's something more important I must tend to."

This is his "default" expression for when he doesn't get his way.

If looks could kill!

Silly!

To see other fantastic outtakes visit the folks at I Heart Faces.

"Hands On" Fun

2010-02-23T07:07:00.001-08:00

This weeks theme at I Heart Faces is "Hands On" Fun. This photo was taken a couple of weeks ago. We were out of school for 4 days for snow. My son had to make a valentine mailbox for school. So on one of the snow days we worked on his project. It ended up being a skunk made out of a 2 Liter Coke bottle. To check out other fantastic "Hands on" Fun photos check out

Bellisimo!

2010-02-19T06:24:00.000-08:00

I had the blessing of doing a newborn session this Monday. I had an absolutely wonderful time. The mom is just gorgeous! I am so excited about this session! Lots of wonderful memories!

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T12:02:00.001-08:00

Just wishing everyone a splendid Valentine's Day!

I Heart Faces "Kisses" Contest

2010-02-08T06:55:00.000-08:00

This week's theme at I Heart Faces is "Kisses." I was excited about this theme because I had the perfect picture for it. This photo was taken several weeks back during a maternity session. It was about 40 degrees outside and the wind was very chilly that day. This mom was a trooper going out in just her dress! I am absolutely thrilled at the outcome of the photograph! It has become one of my favorites!

Sweetest Pregnant Lady Ever

2010-02-06T16:44:00.000-08:00

So several weeks back I had the opportunity to take maternity pics for a sweet soul, Kristina. She is pregnant with her third child, a girl. She has overcome many challenges in this pregnancy as it has been very painful and trying each and every day. She has two sweet boys and a loving husband. It was my absolute pleasure to photograph this special time in her life. She has now had her little angel. I am looking forward to doing her newborn session in the next couple of days.

My kids

2010-02-05T07:54:00.000-08:00

So I wanted to talk about my kids for a minute. They have to be some of the sweetest little boys ever! They are all so different. Ethan, my oldest, is so head strong but caring. He is doing amazing this year in school, top of his class. Jace is just as sweet as can be. He's the one you want to go out somewhere with. He loves one and one time as this is where his personality shines. Tyler, the baby, he's a doll. He will melt your heart with just his smile. So in honor of my sweet kids, here is a picture of them.

First Blog Post

2010-02-04T17:45:00.001-08:00

Hi Everyone! So I am new to this whole blogging thing. I look forward to learning the ropes of it all. Check back soon for new blog posts!