How to Edit in RAW

Taking pictures in RAW is one of the things I wish I had started doing sooner. After taking the suggestion from a fellow photographer, I started doing it...and I love it. I took a class on it and it helped me so much.


First, open Bridge. If you have Photoshop, you have Bridge. Open the picture. Press command (if you have a mac) then R to open in Raw.

I'll start with one of my daughter, Lylah.

Here she is, on Easter. This was taken in RAW. She is about to fall asleep on her Great-grandma's lap at the Easter Egg hunt. She is great grand kid #20! 

So this is a great picture, Right? Right? Well, we can make it so much better. Here's how. 

1. Command and then R. Click the dropper at the top. Find a nice grey, neutral spot on the picture and click it. Then, I always up the exposure. I like that look. Not everyone does, but I love it.

2. Up the contrast. A little. I like +33.

3. Lower clarity.  I like -7. Up Vibrance. (just a little)

4. If you have skin color issues (not you personally, the subject) then you can up the orange or red on the tab that has the tiny lines. Play with it until you feel comfortable with the image. Here is our image now.

Already looking better, right? 

Now it's time for our vignette. Not everyone is a fan. I like a little vignette.

Go to the tab that says fx. Click where it says Amount and LOWER the number. 

A slight vignette can be pretty great. 

now add your photoshop magic...

That's a whole other post!

Don't forget....Open the image in Photoshop and save as a jpg. 

"Did your baby fall out yet?"

Just had to share some of my students' latest gems. They are so funny and I will miss them so much. I am staying home next year and possibly for a few years after, so I will miss quotes like these. But I am sure Lylah will give me some good quotes and stories as well. Enjoy...

"Did your baby fall out yet?" --1st grader, and yes, he was totally serious

"When people are pregnant, aren't they really mean? My mom was."

"When you're pregnant, aren't you supposed to fart a lot?"

"You're having a baby? You should name it Justin Bieber."

"Are you gonna take a baby?" (Spanish speaking 1st grader)

"Where were you yesterday? Did you have your baby?" (I get this one A LOT!!)

Oh yeah, I have a blog.

Okay, I am awful at keeping up with this thing. I would throw in the towel, what would my two, maybe three (when someone comes here by accident) readers do without me? There are better blogs out there than mine. Morgandi's is awesome. Katie updates her blog very regularly. But me? I forget I have one. But I bet you that I read yours. All the time. I'm faithful like that.

Well, what's new? I got a job. About two months ago. (I warned you I'm not good at this.) I teach music at two elementary schools in Richardson. So far I have been called Mrs. Harn, Mrs. Ham, Mrs. Harmony, Mrs. Harmes, Mrs. Harns, Mrs. Haowabaeb (mumbling) and Hey You.

Here are a few little gems I have heard so far:

"Mrs. Harm, It looks like you painted your hair."

"Mrs. Harn, I gots to use it. Now."

(To another student)
"You're turning 10 today? You're almost a teenager. But teenagers make really bad decisions. Don't set someone's trash on fire."  .....What?

"Bye Mrs. Harmony. Your name sounds like someone who is really good at harmony."

More to come, I'm sure. These kids give me lots of material.

In other news, we renovated our kitchen. Here is before: (It's blurry, I'm sorry. I promise if you have me take pictures of your children or family, they will be better than this.)

Before

After

 
I'm in love with our kitchen. I want to live in there. I seriously considered sleeping in there.

That's all for now. See you in a few weeks months.

Rhyming

Me: "Okay, I will tell you a word, and you tell me one that rhymes with it."

Student: "Okay. "

Me: "Snow."

Student: "Flick."

So I'm a teacher again.

So, I thought it was time. Time to get out this laptop and face the fact that it does not connect me to the church anymore. But, suprisingly, it is not that painful.

Previously, on Allison's life..

Allison left her job to return to teaching kids in Allen ISD. She is a long-term sub in Kindergarten for 6 weeks, and then 1st grade until the end of the year.

Kindergarteners are funny. I mean really funny. They say really funny things.

"Mrs. Harms? I can't go to recess. I have an appointment."

-----

(tears streaming down the child's face)

"Mrs. Harms, I didn't do all my morning jobs!"

-----

"Mrs. Harms?"

"Yes?"

"You're pretty."

------

"Mrs. Harms!!?!?!?!?"

"Yes?!?!?!?"

"I need to go bad. BAD."

----

"Okay, it's time for a class meeting."

"We can't have meetings! We are too young!"

----

More to come.....

Enjoy.

Yes, It's True.

Yes, it's true. I am leaving my job at Prestoncrest to return to teaching. I have been thinking for days on how to post this on my blog. I have mentioned before that I struggle blogging about my job, because it is slightly "high profile" and if the wrong person reads it, I could get in big trouble.

But I am an over-sharer by nature, so this has been difficult for me the entire time I was at Prestoncrest. Most people can come home, kick back and type on their facebook "Man, my job STINKS!". Well, I couldn't. Because there were friends on facebook who were moms, even elders were reading what I wrote. And to be honest, I guess I still cannot share to the fullest extent why I am leaving.

I am leaving because I am a teacher. I love to teach. I love to be in a classroom. And most of all, I love to teach music. I was awesome at it. My kids loved me, I loved (most of) them, and I got along with the teachers, principal, etc. But apparently God had different plans than I did.

I will tell you the story in person, if you would like to know. But for now, I have lots to do. A new job to prepare for, and a job to wrap up.

Updating

I am very very sorry for my lack of blogging as of late. I feel awful. I feel like I just read other people's blogs and twitter nowadays. I love twitter. To keep you updated on my life, because, let's face it....why else would you read this? I will tackle this update the best way I know how. With a list.

Without further ado, here are the top five new things going on in the Harms house.

1. We went to see the Sooners play the Shorthorns on Saturday. And no, we don't want to talk about it.

2. We want to get another dog, and we are trying to get this puppy that looks just like Sadie. I am not sure why. Because we want to mix them up? Because it will be fun to not know which German Shepherd mix made the mess or chewed the shoe?

3. I am having trouble with blogging, because I want to just tell everything and I can't....because I think it would get me into trouble if the wrong person read it. Does anyone else feel this way when they blog?

4. We had a Baby Blessing yesterday at church and we have 25 new babies! And after that, we had a Baby Blessing Brunch. (Say that 3 times fast. I dare you.) We had over 90 people there! Yes. 90! 9! 0! Craziness. If you know me at all, you know that I was just a little bit stressed about it.

5. I just read "Ten Thousand Splendid Suns" and would HIGHLY recommend it. It was recommended to me by my good friend, Allissa. She gets a gold star for this stellar recommendation. It is a fantastic book.

Much love,

Allison

Still nothing too exciting to post about...

The Fall Quarter starts Sunday and we have all of our volunteer/teacher spots filled. And there was much rejoicing throughout the land! Every quarter I fret, and I worry....and then the spots are always filled when the quarter starts. God takes care of us.

Here are the words to my aforementioned first-day-of-school-music-rap:

Did I use the ford "aforementioned" correctly? Anyone know? I mean that I have mentioned it previously.

Listen! Listen!

Lend me your ear.

Here's an expectation rap for the music year.

Enter the room quietly and have a seat!

To yourself keep your hands and feet.

Listen carefully to what you hear,

Follow directions throughout the year!

Show respect to everyone

Work together to make music fun!

Time to start with no delay

Let's Sing, Say, Dance and Play!

Cheesy, I know. And it had instruments. (For shame.)

Much love,

Allison

Gotta love kids...

Last night at Sunday Night Bible Hour.....

Cute little boy: I went to Walmart today. 

Allison: You did? That's cool. 

Cute little boy: Do you want to come with me later? 

Allison: (laughs) We'll see. What did you get at Walmart?

Cute little boy: Megatron!!

Ryan: Wow, from Transformers? 

Cute little boy: No, from Walmart. (looks at Ryan like he has two heads.)

Gotta love kids!

Much love, 

Allison

Summer Children's Ministry Events

Yesterday we had our Mother/Son BBQ, which was our last official "Summer" event. It was a success! Here are a few pictures of that event, and our Father/Daughter Tea! 

I really enjoyed putting these events together. I loved seeing the Dads bring their little girls all dressed up to the Tea, and the Moms bring their sons in their "western" gear. At both events they had their pictures made, played games and did a small craft (a frame for their picture). It was so much fun!

FATHER/DAUGHTER TEA, June 2009

The food table....

The centerpieces! The girls got to wear and take home the jewelry, and they loved that! The frames with the stickers was the craft they did. It was perfect to keep them busy...but the cupcakes actually took care of that!

Yummy cupcakes!

MOTHER/SON BBQ, August 2009

Centerpieces! Little bales of hay that were so cute!

I didn't get a picture of the games, but they are in the very back. We had a little rocking "cow" that the boys could lasso, and a shooting game with nerf guns and ping pong balls on top of golf tees stuck in foam blocks. 

This is when people were just starting to arrive!

Some people I took pictures of that I know wouldn't mind being posted on my blog! :) 

Angie, Carson and little Tanner. 

I had so much fun taking the pictures!

It has been a fun summer at Prestoncrest! 

Much love, 

Allison

VBS

Some fun pictures from VBS workdays.....

Laura and I after Day 1 work! Making progress!

Laura with Julie, Rosa, Jake and Simon!

With details added....it is coming together!

More pictures to come! 

Much love, 

Allison

A different kind of Easter

Our weekend was filled with LTC, Bible Bowl, seeing old friends from OC, judging choruses as nicely as possible, driving, encouraging Prestoncrest kids (they did GREAT!), working in the nursery, and trying to keep the dog from destroying our house and backyard (she got lonely while we were gone). 

I wish I had some pictures to post of us in our Easter gear, or with Sadie with bunny ears on (that would be cute!) but alas, I didn't take any.  The Easter bunny didn't even visit Sadie. But it's okay, she didn't know. We will have to make up for it on her Birthday, May 20th. :)

The best news today? Ryan let me pick out where we went for our Easter lunch, and we went to Genghis Grill, which is one of my absolute faves. Loved it! 

Happy Easter!

Ryan and I are desperate need of an actual weekend. Here's to one next weekend? We'll see!

Much love, 

Allison

Puppet skits, Palin and Planning...

Things I did yesterday: 

1. Wrote a short puppet skit. 

2. Colored a puppet blue. 

3. Planned a bible hour and a class for Wednesday night. 

4. Watching the Palin/Clinton SNL video several times. 

5. Ate Mike and Ikes. (They rule)

:)

Allison Harms: It's Not Complicated

School is over for the year, which RULES, by the way. So now I have to decide how to fill my time. I must point out that it is 7:30am on a Wednesday morning, and I am trying to figure out why I am not working. My husband is off to work, and I am here watching reality TV and drinking coffee. Drinking coffee to wake up for.....nothing.Go figure.



Lately I have been watching reality shows, mostly because there is not much else on, but also because it is like a bad car wreck. You just can't look away. Recently, "Denise Richards: It's Complicated" premiered on E! and I can't look away. Just can't.



Poor Denise Richards. That is the premise of the show. Poor thing. So misunderstood. Made millions, married Charlie Sheen. Had two really cute kids....stole someone's husband (supposedly)....and decided that she should make a reality show because her recently deceased mother wanted her to make one. Really? She did? I find this hard to believe. While she was dying of cancer, she told Denise that a reality show would be a great recreational activity and really help her career?

Do they not see that all families who do reality shows fall apart? The Nick and Jessica, Kimora's marriage, the Hogans? Ring a bell? Maybe Denise thinks that since her marriage is already over, maybe she thinks there is nothing left to mess up? Only up from here? I don't know.



So far, most of the show shows her trying to defend herself against tabloids and other antics like spray tanning, fishing, riding go carts and finding a mate for her pet pig. (Really.)





But her sister and her good friend sit and look at stories and pictures of Denise, and Denise claims that they are "so untrue". I wonder if they will read this? That would be awesome. COMPLETELY awesome. Denise, if you are reading, tell your friends. Tell your friends about my awesome blog.