Check out this Giveaway

Just a fabulous year-end celebration to check out. Working on a new blog that I hope will be up soon.

Amanda Buechler Photography Year-end Giveaway

Gone with the Wind

This weeks I Heart Faces challenge is wind. I had quite a few shots from windy days, but these of Red and a fleeting love she met at the park one day are some favorites. This little boy followed Red everywhere she went. He was very obviously smitten and she very obviously was not. By the end of the day, however, they were fast friends.

Little kids have the ability to see the world and others through rose colored glasses. Funny thing is, while they make fast best friends, those friends made at places like the park are usually "Gone with the Wind" once the day is over.

This shot was taken on a slightly windy day and the breeze is blowing through Red's hair as her new friend admires her necklace.

Springtime in the Country

This past weekend, Red, Bee and I traveled to the small town where I spent my teen years for a very special birthday. Before coming home, we stopped by to visit with my friend, Sue, at her farm. The girls had a ball playing with the dogs, chasing kitties and just enjoying the peace and quiet of the country.

One of the things that is not allowed in most subdivisions of the suburbs are clotheslines. I remember as a child visiting Missouri from our home in California; how I used to think they were so old-fashioned and it meant that people didn't have the luxury of an indoor washer and dryer. Now, when I see clothes on a line, I'm still reminded of that err in my thinking as a child, along with a simpler time and way of life. In the Midwest, you truly know spring has sprung when you take a drive just a bit out of the city and see clothes on a line. It always reminds me to slow down and enjoy some of the most basic things in life, like fresh air and sunshine. As a suburban dweller, I always wish that I could have one of those magical lines, so that my sheets would smell like those my great-grandmother used to put on the old antique bed she had on her sleeping porch. I loved to sleep on that porch. For me, that was as close to camping as I ever needed to be. It was heaven on Earth laying there with a cool breeze blowing over me listening to the sounds of spring as they faded into summer.

This shot was taken at sunset which gave me some great sun flares (I especially love the large red one over the grass). To add some interest and make it feel a bit more vintage (like my childhood), I did a bit of post-processing and texture.

Me and My Shadow

A week or so ago, one of my peeps told me she dreamed that I had won a "I Heart Faces" photo contest. So, when I saw that this week's contest was all about shadows, how could I resist.

This picture is from a trip to a local sprayground a couple of summers ago. Red was really just discovering her shadow and was fascinated at how it was her constant companion. This is a capture of her studying the dark image that looks just like her without color.

A Fishy Little Story

It all has to start somewhere, so why not with a contest. My entry is the newest member of our house, a fish named Kitten. He was named by Red (aka Ainsleigh Jayne) and is supposed to be her school mascot. She goes to a pre-school focused on the fine art plus the fundamentals and I totally expected this guy to get a much fancier name than Kitten, but who am I to argue with a very opinionated three-year-old? It's probably not the best picture in the world, but it's one of those faces that in all honesty, you can't help but love.

I've decided that fish, like hummingbirds, are a photographers test in patience. They hang around waiting for food until you get out the camera and then zip, they are 101 places at once. I used a macro to capture Kitten with just natural light boosted by some under cabinet lights. Post-processed by adding some texture.

The Shiner - 21 Months (20 Nov 2008)

The Flight of Time - Various (22 Feb 2007, 2008, 2009)

A Child's Laughter

One of a kind this cheerful sound
A child's laughter wherever it's found
From the giggling of a baby in a playpen
To the laughter of a toddler again and again

A child's laughter can bring a smile
To one who hasn't done so in such a long while
I know because that one was me
Until my daughter's laugh set mine free

A child's laughter so gleeful and pure
An innocence adults miss for sure
Laughter that can bring back the past
And memories of a youth that flew by so fast

A child's laughter can bring out the best
Of most any man when he's depressed
Cause his spirit that's fall to soar
Until at last he laughs once more

Harry J. Couchon Jr

Ainsleigh celebrated her second birthday (officially) today. It's kind of a bittersweet moment for a mother. It's so much fun to watch her grow and learn new things, but so sad when I look at her and see she's really not a baby anymore. She had a very full weekend with a party and then a special lunch at Macaroni Grill today where they sang "Happy Birthday" to her in Italian, complete with candles on the ice cream. I think the sugar high might possibly last for at least a week.

Her outfits the past two years have been done by Cammie of My Little Fairytales. Her work is amazing and her outfits are always so unique and colorful. Always fit for a Princess, even though the Princess usually has her crown off five minutes after the first kid arrives.