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.