A Baby’s World

Yes, Biceps and I have been married 11+ years. Yes, we live in midwest Oklahoma. No, we don’t have five ankle biters-yet.

And, to oppose the rumors swirling around these hard to deny facts of sans babydom-yes, I do like a clean house and fresh clothes without spit-up, poop or Lord-knows-what on them. And, I like to be on time, all the time.

But, that in no way, shape or form would ever overrun the decision to have a baby, or two. Or three. I’m ready for the mess. I will embrace the chaos and try to remain sane.

When this little guy comes to visit for a few hours and we both go through the emotions of elation, hunger, gas and then finally, a total breakdown, I’ve realized-this too shall pass.

(No pun intended on the gas portion of the sentence. Ok, maybe a little pun intended.)

I’ve seen my friend’s kids grow up all too quickly–to the point that I don’t recognize them immediately. “When did she start wearing a bra?”
“Who’s that boy smooching on her-I’ll kill him!”
“Is it really legal for her to be driving?”
“What’s with the dang Justin Bieber hairdo? I can’t see his beautiful, blue eyes.”
(All real thoughts from my weirdo brain.)

This little nephew of mine came into this world as a tiny newborn protected behind a shield of glass, but has transitioned into a smiling, crawling, fuzzy headed little dude that loves to sit in front of a fan or enjoy his Uncle Bicep’s crazy, fast pony rides.
(In my opinion they are crazy, fast pony rides. This does not reflect the opinions of others-namely, Biceps.)

Before too long, this little guy will hopefully be calling me Aunt Tabetta, throwing temper tantrums about taking naps and getting potty trained.

And hopefully, I can be there for most of those moments. And maybe throw one of my own little guys into the mix, just to keep things lively during our weekly Family nights. Or maybe two. Or three.

Who knows? I do live in Oklahoma-the land of encouraged repeated reproductivity. I’d better get busy.
No pun intended.

Sweet Baby No Likey

Our family (on both sides) do not like to produce females. Thus, I have six nephews total-and counting. It’s pretty awesome since I tend to understand boys better than girls. The “let’s play house” scares me-even though that should be an easy fit. Throw me a rubberband gun, some cammo paint and a pit of dirt and I am in my element.

Therefore, I was in heaven when Bicep’s brother and his wife decided to produce another boy bearing the Greiman name last December. And, they named him Sweet Baby Angus (ok, I added the “Sweet Baby”).

But look at this cute mug. Can you blame me for adding the “Sweet Baby” in front of his birth name? I say you cannot.

Angus is a texture guy and he apparently does not like the texture of green beans.

His mommy tried to hide the green beans in other food. He was quite crafty for an almost-one-year-old. Somehow, his sneaky little tongue separated the green beans from the decoy food.

During our picnic, this is the look that Angus decided was “for him”. Not much changed throughout his feeding. I guess these sorts of things start young.

I still can’t get over the texture of tuna due to a disgusting tuna-noddle-casserole incident. I have your back, Sweet Baby Angus. Auntie Rebekah will never force you to eat tuna or green beans. Unless Mommy says so. Then, my hands are tied. You know what they say about Momma Bear and I do not want to be on the loosing side…

Holy Cute Pudginess

Softening Harsh Light & Removing Imperfections with Photoshop
I have five super cute nephews. No nieces, just nephews.
(I guess it’s up to me to produce some females in this family.)

I love to photograph my cute little nephews any chance I get.
This little guy, the youngest of my five nephews, can instantly melt your heart with those sweet dark brown eyes.This straight out of the camera shot was a little dark, however. And the background had too many distractions in it. Using photoshop, I did a little quick fixer-upper.

After making a background copy, I clicked on the ‘Image’ tab and then to ‘Adjustments’. I chose to increase the brightness and the contrast of the photo just a smidgen.
Now you can really see those cute pudgy cheeks.

I wanted to soften the harsh sunlight cast on the left side of his face. Clicking on the ‘Filter’ tab and then down to ‘Distort’, I chose the ‘Diffuse Glow’ function. I played with the sliders until I was happy with my image.
The ‘Diffuse Glow’ is rather flattering to skin tones. I recommend it for your portraits.

His eyes were still a little too dark for me. I wanted to try and make them pop, even though they are a dark brown naturally.
Using the lasso on the left hand side, I drew around his eyes. I then went to the ‘Select’ tab and clicked on ‘Modify’ and chose to first ‘Expand’ my selection. Then I chose ‘Smooth’ in the same tab.

For this next function, I have to give props to Pioneer Woman.
With his eyes selected, I clicked on the ‘Filter’ tab, scrolled down to ‘Sharpen’ and then over to ‘Unsharp Mask’.

You can see the amount, the radius and the threshold that I chose to increase the brilliance of his eyes.
You can play with these sliders until you like the look of your eyes. But, don’t get crazy-you can make people look possessed if you go too far….

I decided next to tone down on all of the distractions behind his cute little face by cropping the photo.

Now it was time to get rid of the tiny imperfections. I chose the ‘clone’ tool on the left hand side and cloned out the food particles on his shirt.

And then I ‘cloned’ out the baby acne on the right side of his face.

This is the ‘after’ with just a few quick fixes. And below is the ‘before’.
But, he’s just so dang cute, no matter what I do.

Unconventional Photos

Making your subject at ease can be tough. I like to put the client in a familiar setting or position to help them relax. My subject was most at ease doing this-blowing a bubble.
Isn’t he just the cutest?

I liked the photo, but there were a few things that needed a fixin’. (That’s Okie talk…)

I didn’t like the chair sticking into the frame. I made a copy of the background and then cropped out the offender.

His skin looked a little flat, so I used the ‘diffuse glow’ function. It’s very flattering to skin tones-boys and girls alike.

He looks so darn purty now. But don’t tell him. He is very macho.

The overall color was too brown for me. I adjusted the levels using ‘color balance’ (found under the tab ‘Image’ and scrolling down to ‘adjustments’).

His eyes needed to pop a little more, so I lassoed both of those cute little suckers and clicked on the ‘Filter’ tab. Scroll down to ‘Sharpen’ and then choose ‘unsharp mask’ and adjust the amount, the radius and the threshold to your liking.
I learned this from Pioneer Woman. I like her. And her photo tricks.

Next, I wanted the bubble gum to stand out a bit more. I lassoed it and then clicked on the ‘Image’ tab and scrolled down to ‘Hue and Saturation’. I brought out the pink in the gum a little more.

Here is the cute finished product. I just love this little guy. However, he is my nephew after all, and I am a little biased.