Life Thru My Lens

2008-10-16T09:17:00.001-07:00

My little man learned how to drive his Power Wheel over the weekend. Oh you should see it. He is SO proud of himself. Now Daddy wants to get him a big boy one. I think we might wait until spring time for that though.

And here is my Andrew. He looks SO good in this picture. In case you didn't know he has a thyroid disorder. Since he's been medication he has lost about 40 lbs and gotten SO much energy. This picture makes me want to cry tears of joy!!!

Trick Or Treat!

2008-10-10T15:10:00.000-07:00

Halloween is fast approaching my house! We can't wait. Last year Alex was Buzz Lightyear, so this year I had to get Maddox a matching Woody costume. So yes, I did buy a costume just for pictures. LOL And I bribed Alex into letting me re-do his Buzz Lightyear pictures.

My little Woody.

Buzz Lightyear

He is 2!

2008-10-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

Yes, the baby is 2 already! How in the world did that happen? I was so sad about it the day before he turned 2, but on his actual birthday we had a lot of fun! He is and always will be my baby, only now he gets into a bit more trouble. LOL

These cookie pops were the BEST tasting cookies I have ever had!

That time of year...

2008-08-20T14:02:00.000-07:00

The big boys start back to school next week. I went ahead and did their school pictures.

Andrew is going to be in the 7th grade this year. His 13th birthday is in 2 weeks!

Austin is going into the 5th grade. He is 10 years old. This year he is going out for student council.

Alex will be 5 next week! While most of his friends are heading off to kindergarten we are keeping him home for an extra year.

Where is Maddox? Hey, when was the last time you got an almost 2 year old to sit still?!?!?

Pictures

2008-07-24T15:22:00.001-07:00

Maddox - 21 months

Alex - 4 years Austin - 10 years

Andrew - 12 years

2008-06-08T06:19:00.001-07:00

These pictures are a bit blurry, but I still love them to death!

Alex

2008-06-04T14:45:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful day today! When we got home from school I took the boys outside to play in the sprinkler. Here are just a couple of pictures I got of Alex. You can see more on my Flickr.

2008-05-05T08:59:00.000-07:00

04-23-2008

2008-04-26T05:48:00.000-07:00

Another cute foot

2008-04-07T14:14:00.001-07:00

Another cute foot
Originally uploaded by Ashley Hiskes

He's so vain

2008-03-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

So now I have that Carly Simon song in my head. And if you don't know what I am talking about you are younger than me & I don't want to hear it. LOL

Imagine my surprise when I found this egg my 9 year old son did. I mean we all did our eggs together, but I didn't see this one. When his 4 year old brother showed me I couldn't stop laughing. And yes, it is true. Austin Rocks!

Brothers

2008-03-23T06:49:00.000-07:00

I have faith that my sons will always be the best of friends. At least my older sons will. LOL

They love each other so much. The hardly ever fight and you can see the care they have for each other in their eyes. My oldest is having surgery next month and his brother is so worried about him. Even now he keeps waiting on him hand and foot and telling him that he knows he will be fine. Honestly, I couldn't ask for better sons. I love them all so much!

2008-03-22T06:40:00.000-07:00

No POTD today. Strep throat & scarlet fever have kept me a busy Mommy. :-(

Carnation

2008-03-17T17:30:00.000-07:00

My take on green today - a St. Patrick's Day carnation.

Then I went on to play with it in PS. The green flower is the one I bought.

It's been a while...

2008-03-16T14:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been around much. I have been in a bit of a winter slump. Plus, we have had the sickies in our house like CRAZY. Hopefully this will be the first of many, many more post from me. :-)

Here is my take on Green. My two youngest boys in their St Patrick's Day shirts, with my new green seamless paper.

Nice HHCC appreciated!

Alex - 4 years

Maddox - 17 months

POTD - Words - Jan 25, 2008

2008-01-24T13:55:00.001-08:00

I finally got my fake flooring together. I LOVE IT! I just wish my little guy would sit still for more than 2 seconds. LOL

Here is my theme picture - he is "reading" words. LOL

Here is my because he's so cute picture. I hate that I cut the toes off.

NICE CC wanted. LOL

POTD - Words - Jan 23, 2008

2008-01-22T16:23:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures with my new lens. I got the Canon 50mm f/1.8.

The second picture sticks with the theme. And the words are SO true. ;-)

Both pictures are -
ISO 400, SS 1/125, F/1.8

CC wanted, but please be nice. LOL

POTD - Words - Jan 22, 2008

2008-01-21T14:32:00.000-08:00

I took all of last week off. Between snow, sick kids, kids being out of school, and me being tired I just didn't make it here LOL. Hopefully things are starting to calm down, but they are calling for ice in the morning. When is the first day of spring?!?! LOL

For the theme of words I took a picture of my phone. (It has words on it! LOL) I LOVE my Blackberry. Not only is it the coolest phone I have ever had, but I love it because of the awesome deal I got on it. It is a $200 phone and I got it for $50. It was a refurbished phone, but it works great for me.

For both pictures -

ISO 400, F-stop f/5.6, SS 1/125

I like this picture best, but I didn't know the screen was so dirty. LOL

So here is try number 2.

POTD - Before & After PS - 1/16

2008-01-15T14:49:00.000-08:00

When I picked my son up from pre-school his teacher said to me "Today when we were making Snowmen in class Alex told us that the Snowmen where hats just like Slash." Guess that is what happens when your brother is 5 years older than you. :0)
For those who don't know Slash is from the rock band Guns-N-Roses. My 9 year old plays as him on guitar hero.

1. SOOC

2. retro wash & texture (along w/ curves & USM)

POTD - Before & After PS - 1/15

2008-01-14T15:46:00.000-08:00

I love the action that Kristi shared with us yesterday!!! Thanks once agian.

Before -

After -

POTD - Before & After PS - 1/14

2008-01-13T15:45:00.000-08:00

Did a Valentines Day shoot with my 15 month old. The only way to get him to sit still was to give him a lollipop. Boy do I miss the days when he would just stay where I put him. LOL Anyway, I looked at Target for the famous $1 heart lollipop but they were out. Thankfully I still had one from Christmas.

Before -

After -

Just did a little play in Curves, USM, and some Lightness and Contrast (I think that is right! LOL)

POTD - Focus Into 2008 - 6

2008-01-12T17:06:00.000-08:00

Something I seriously need to focus on is cleaning. Man, I HATE to clean. It seems five minutes after I do it someone comes and messes it all up.

This is what happend when I was playing with custom white balance and forgot when I turned my flash on. I thought it came out pretty cool.

POTD - Focus Into 2008 - 5

2008-01-12T04:41:00.000-08:00

I need to focus more time on my son's and less on the computer.

My 4 year old came to me the other night and asked if we could have a tea party. Having no girls around I had to come up with our own tea party set. Let me tell you - it was the best tea party I ever went to!!!

Not a perfect picture I know, but it's the memory that makes it perfect for me :o)

POTD - Focus Into 2008 - 4

2008-01-09T17:39:00.000-08:00

My son focused in on his video game.

ISO - 400 F/5.6 SS 1/100

POTD - Focus Into 2008 - 3

2008-01-08T14:40:00.000-08:00

I want to focus more on healthy eating and less on junk food.

ISO 100 - F/5 - SS - 200

Flash used

POTD - Focus Into 2008 - 2

2008-01-07T15:02:00.000-08:00

I will focus on being a better Mom and not let him eat so much dirt!
Seriously, I was doing the aperture lesson and not paying him as much attention as I should have been and found this dirty face when I was done. I think he got his 1 pound of dirt all in today. :-)

Settings -
ISO - 100, SS 1/100, F/5

POTD - Focus Into 2008

2008-01-06T16:01:00.000-08:00

Just my 3rd little guy. LOL We were playing in his room with some wonderful morning sun. I just wish there would have been a bit more. LOL

ISO - 400, SS - 1/100, F/5.6

ISO - 200, SS - 1/100, F/5.6

Both pictures have a bump in curves and a little playing with brightness and contrast.

POTD - White Balance

2008-01-05T17:20:00.000-08:00

I did some playing with the white balance settings on my camera. Tomorrow - custom! LOL

ISO - 100, SS - 1/200, F/5.6 - Flash used
White balance - Tungsten

same settings as above, but white balance flash

And as a side note, I can't wait for some spring outside pictures!!!

POTD - Hats off to the New Year

2008-01-04T16:43:00.000-08:00

Santa is tired! His hat is off until December.

Hope you had a wonderful Holiday season. :0)

One of my goals this year is working w/ the flash. Not thrilled with this, but it will do.
ISO - 100, SS - 1/200, F/5.6

POTD - Poor Baby

2008-01-03T14:43:00.000-08:00

My little man got his shots yesterday. I hate shots so much. I can't wait until this part of his life is over. (On another note my 4 year old got his flu shot and didn't cry a bit. I bribed him with Mac-N-Cheese LOL)

Manual - ISO 200 - F/5.6 - SS 100

And a vanilla PS action (can't remember the exact name of it)

POTD - Another Hats Off

2008-01-02T17:48:00.001-08:00

Darth Alex
Originally uploaded by Ashley Hiskes

Well can I use a helmet instead of a hat? LOL
Getting a picture of this Darth Vader mask was not an easy thing to do. Just another thing for me to work on this year. This was taken in all natural light.

Ok, the settings - ISO 400, f 5.6, SS 100

Winter baby

2008-01-02T05:02:00.000-08:00

Setting for both images are...

Manual mode - ISO 100 - SS 1/125 - f/5.6
(I hope I posted this right. I have never posted my settings before.)

Toy Story

2008-01-01T05:26:00.000-08:00

Toy Story has been a staple in our house since it's debut back in 1995. My first son, who was born in 95, loved it so much. Now it is my 3rd sons turn. We were excited to learn that they are now working on a Toy Story 3 movie. It will be out just in time for my 4th son's first movie! Here is #4 (we call him Maddox around here. LOL) playing with Woody.

POTD - Hats off to the New Year

2007-12-31T06:15:00.001-08:00

So my pictures aren't all that great for today's theme. I was able to get DH and our 4 year old in a hat at least. Maybe I will be more creative for tomorrow. LOL

Just adding this one because he is cute! LOL

Christmas Pictures

2007-11-06T15:14:00.000-08:00

Just playing with my little guy while his brothers were at school.

POTD - Animals

2007-10-31T05:12:00.000-07:00

My cat was not in the mood for pictures. LOL

POTD - Chores I hate - 2

2007-10-24T16:11:00.000-07:00

I really didn't want to take a picture of the dirty dishes in my sink, but a chore I hate is dishes.

This is part of my fiestawear collection. I ran it through Skye's Retro Wash action.

POTD - Chores I hate

2007-10-23T12:48:00.000-07:00

While I love my children more than anything in this world, I hate car line at school. The baby and I get to the elementary school at 1:45. We pick up the preschooler at 2:10 and then the 4th grader at 2:35. Then we head over to the middle school where we get the 6th grader at 3:00. But this is my Mommy job, so I try to embrace it with all of the love I can!

Waiting in line at the middle school.

Austin - 4th grade

Alex - Preschool

Maddox - the baby :-)

Pumpkin Patch

2007-10-22T13:20:00.001-07:00

Just a few shots from the pumpkin patch over the weekend.

Getting a shot of all 4 boys is NOT easy.

Hungry?

2007-10-20T11:53:00.000-07:00

This is an older picture that I took, but it stays on theme. LOL

POTD - Words

2007-10-18T17:19:00.001-07:00

I think words are the theme this week. Am I right?

The word Jeep on DS's stroller

This is a statue at the cemetery by my house.

2007-10-18T05:23:00.000-07:00

Brother love! My 9 year old & 1 year old.

I love his eyes here!

ok, I don't know what this is. I think it is sap coming out of the tree. But it did make a cool picture. LOL

2007-10-17T06:27:00.000-07:00

These are just a few pictures from our wonderful fall afternoon yesterday.

My boys :-)

2007-10-15T05:08:00.001-07:00

Here are my 4 boys. Andrew (12), Austin (9), Alex (4), and Maddox (1).

I know that I do a lot of backdrop pictures, but there is a good reason for these. I didn't buy the over priced school pictures this year. This is the first year I haven't. So I hope these look good enough for the grandmothers. LOL (And no, I wouldn't be buying school pictures of the baby anyway, but I still had to include him. LOL)

2007-10-11T05:59:00.000-07:00

2007-10-08T05:13:00.000-07:00

2007-10-06T04:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, this isn't on theme, but it was in the shade. Does that count? LOL

Are you ready for some football?

2007-10-05T09:09:00.001-07:00

I was hoping these pictures would bring the Panters a little luck, but I guess not. LOL

2007-10-03T10:17:00.000-07:00

How cute is my little guy? I just love him to pieces. These were his first birthday portraits.

He's one!

2007-10-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

That's right,the baby is 1 now! Time goes by just to darn fast. I have done quite a few shots of him that I haven't put up yet. So expect those over the next few days.

2007-08-08T14:20:00.000-07:00

It's been a bit since I have posted. I haven't been in the picture taking mood lately. I have really been my own worst critic. Hopefully I can & will get out of my funk soon.

Anyway, these pictures are of my middles. LOL They are SO much a like that it isn't even funny. I took these by DH's shed out back. TFL

2007-07-12T04:10:00.000-07:00

When I first saw that the theme for this week was shoes my mind went right to Barbie shoes. As a Mom of 4 boys I don't get to do many pink "girly" pictures, so this one was fun to do. All of these Barbie shoes belonged to me, my Aunt, and my Mom.

2007-07-11T05:27:00.000-07:00

I know this picture is oof, but these little feet move FAST! LOL

This picture has nothing to do with the theme, but I wanted to share it anyway. I don't know if you can see my DS' nose, but he has a boo-boo on it. He got rug burn from rubbing his face too hard w/ a towel after the pool. How funny is that?!?!

2007-07-10T03:59:00.000-07:00

The shoe theme is hard for me. Maybe I will have better luck today.

CC always appreciated!

Two Left Feet

2007-07-08T14:24:00.000-07:00

My sweet little almost 4 year old insist on wearing his fake Crocs on the wrong feet.

HHCC always welcomed!

Hands at play

2007-07-06T06:20:00.000-07:00

These aren't the best pictures in the world. It's kind of hard to keep his chubby little hands still long enough to get a picture of them. :-)

2007-07-05T04:21:00.001-07:00

Daddy & son holding hands.

2007-07-04T06:48:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of my oldest DS's hand holding a bug.

And here is DS #3 eating a brownie.

2007-07-03T04:34:00.000-07:00

I keep thinking how I would like this picture so much more if the chalk bucket was clean. I guess with 4 boys I will take what I can get! LOL

2007-07-02T11:53:00.000-07:00

Most of my pictures right now are of my kids. I really need to start taking just everything pictures.

2007-06-28T14:25:00.000-07:00