If we live good lives, the times are also good. As we are, such are the times. ~ Saint Augustine of Hippo
It’s been pretty quiet around here! I have been working hard on some exciting updates to my website for photographers, Love that Shot, and one of those changes will affect my blog. I will no longer be blogging here, I’ll be blogging at Love that Shot! I’m so excited to merge my blog with my business and I hope you all will follow me over there when we’re ready!
Anyways, on to the fun… It’s I Heart Faces’ 2nd Birthday this week and they’re celebrating with an awesome theme – SMILE! Birthdays always make me smile. They’re such fun and happy times! Here is my interpretation of “Smile,” my baby girl being silly! She always makes me smile and I love the little smile on her face. She’s so proud of herself for coming up with such a great disguise!
It’s time for Fix-It Friday at I Heart Faces!
This was such a fun edit this week! I love how Angie caught a sweet moment of her son at play. The motion blur adds so much personality and I really love how she composed the photo. I love the depth of field and the leading lines and the color… this is just such a cool image! I really wanted to bring out the gorgeous fall colors that are somewhat hiding in there and bring the focus right to Angie’s son.
1. The first thing I did, as I almost always do, is add a Levels Adjustment Layer. I brought the two outside sliders in towards the middle just a bit to give a little color and contrast boost and lift the digital haze.
2. For the next few steps, I turned to my actions and Photo Veils from Love that Shot. All of the actions I used are available free to Love that Shot members! First I ran the Technicolor action. This really gives a nice boost to the colors, more than the Levels adjustment.
3. Next I thought the photo could be a little warmer so I ran the Warming action.
4. Then I applied three Photo veils: Brave, Northern Lights and Serenity. I set them all to Soft Light blending mode and adjusted the opacity on each.
5. I ran the A Little Lighter action, used a large, soft brush and painted over Angie’s son to bring him out of the background a bit.
6. Finally, I sharpened the photo using the High Pass Filter.
And that’s it! I love falling back to my Photo Veils when I want to do a quick and easy edit! They’re so fun! 
Michelle Johnson is a fine art photographer and the co-founder of Love That Shot, a website for photographers with tutorials, workshops and fun products! Find her at her blog, My Two Seasons, and her website, Love That Shot.
This week at I Heart Faces the theme is Beef! Yum, I love beef!
A little while ago, I did some experimenting to try and recreate a black beans and rice dish. This is the closest I came to it and I had to get a picture!
*Edited to add… Due to popular demand 
here is the recipe!
Black Beans and Rice
3 tablespoons olive oil
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 to 1 1/2 pounds stew meat or any cut of beef you like, cubed
2 teaspoons oregano, divided
2 teaspoons ground cumin, divided
2 (16 ounce) cans black beans, undrained
Salt & pepper
Pinch chili powder
Juice of 1 lime
3 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups white rice
Chopped green onion
In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat and add garlic. Saute for 1 minute. Increase heat to medium high. Add beef and stir until cooked. Season with salt and pepper. Decrease heat to medium, add 1 teaspoon oregano and 1 teaspoon cumin. Simmer for 1 minute.
Add black beans, remaining spices, and lime juice. Blend and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. While beans are simmering, bring broth to boil in a pan. Add rice. Decrease heat to simmer, cover, and cook 20 minutes until rice is fluffy.
Serve the beef and black beans over rice. Garnish with green onion. Enjoy!
Check out all the yummy beef dishes at I Heart Faces and enter for your chance to win a $250 gift certificate for Nolan Ryan’s beef!
Today is the last day to enter our Love Your Shot! | Link-Up! We have nearly 150 entries already! Thank you all for excitement and enthusiasm. It’s been a pleasure to see all of your favorite faces!
If you haven’t had a chance to enter, you’re not too late! You have until 11:59 pm tonight to get your links in. Check out the fun interview we had with Angie and Amy of I Heart Faces. They are such fun girls and it was a blast getting to know them a little better. They are our guest judges this week and their winner will receive a $100 gift card to Florabella Actions and Textures!
Here’s one of my favorite faces… my sweet little Autumn. She always has something going on in her head. When she gets this look… watch out! She’s got trouble brewing!
I took this picture in the morning before school. We were in full shade in front of our house with the sun rising behind Autumn. The sky behind me, and in front of her, was bright and lit the houses across the street from us. This gave her some really nice catchlights. If you’re shooting in full shade, try to position your subject to the very edge of the shade. This will allow you to get some of the bright light beyond it and create bright catchlights in the eyes.
Click here to enter your favorite face(s) photo!
Canon Rebel XSi | 50mm lens | f/1.4 | 1/800 sec. | ISO-100
