I Heart Faces: Autumn Splendor

I love it when I Heart Faces announces a photo challenge and I know immediately which picture I want to submit!  For "Autumn Splendor" this week, this shot was my clear choice.

Our old house was built in a subdivision that used to be someone's corn field...flat with no mature trees.  So naturally, the kids wanted the new house to have woods (or at least a tree they could climb).  They've waited since the move in August for the leaves to start falling...they wanted to rake...they wanted to jump in the piles!  And they finally got their wish!

I love this photo because it's pure spontaneity.  I suppose it could have been a posed thing, but it wasn't.  They literally landed in the leaves that way, all laughing, all (uncharacteristically) managing to look in my direction at the same time!  Splendid.

Leaves

Thanks for looking!  Don't forget to check out the other gorgeous entries at I Heart Faces!

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I Heart Faces: Fix It Friday

So, I've never participated in an I Heart Faces Fix It Friday before!  But, I've been playing more and more with photo editing, and this pictures was just too cute to pass up!  And since I'm determined to drink the entire pot from my new coffeemaker this morning, I decided to give it a whirl!

Here's the original shot, courtesy of photographer Adrienne Zwart...

And here's what I did, working in my trusty ol' Photoshop Elements 7...

1. Lighten Shadows (25%)

2. Pioneer Woman Fresh Color (no Hue/Saturation adjustment, Soft Light 30%)

3. PW Bring Out the Eyes (70%)

4. PW Sunshine (10%)

5. Flatten

6. Duplicate layer, Screen (25%)

7. PW Edge Burn (25%)

8. Flatten and crop to recompose

My final product...

  

Thanks for stopping by!

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