Getting those Holiday Pictures

I brought my camera to my grandmother's house for Thanksgiving so I could take a holiday picture for my sister's family. She wanted pics of the boys in Santa hats - an idea they weren't too thrilled about. I had them stand back-to-back and asked them to look tough, like a gangsta. They were totally unable to keep a straight face. My teasing wasn't much help! Here's one of my favorites of the boys.

Shooting for Myself

I've read often where other photographers suggest that you take the time to shoot for yourself from time to time. In doing so, you work on skills, creativing, or simply learn to love the craft all over again. Normally, I just don't make the time to shoot for myself since I shoot for others so often. However, this past weekend my family was gone and I asked a friend to spend the weekend with me and practice shooting in varied lighting situations. She brought one of her daughters (who is a great model and up for anything). We spent several hours Friday and Saturday shooting in full sun, open shade, backlit and with off camera flash. Then I played with the images in Photoshop. I don't use textures often, but wanted to apply some here. (Hey, these are just for fun, right?) Here are a few from the day.