Point & Shoot: Fun with Editing

It's not always practical to lug the SLR everywhere.  When I'm alone with the girls, I'll do it if I can travel light.  But for daytrips where lots of diapers/sunscreen/snacks are required amongst masses of people, I haven't figured out a way to keep Sha-Sha in line while holding Moo without repeatedly clunking them in the noggin with the camera around my neck.  (I assure you I'm more concerned with their noggins than my lenses...sorta :)  So these are the times when I pocket the Point & Shoot instead.

Alas, I'm always grumbly when uploading the P&S photos because they're usually tainted with the glare of the on-camera flash and just don't have the manual options I've grown to crave with the SLR.  But this weekend I'd thought I'd try something new.  My photo software has a series of downloadable "presets", which are a sequence of editing commands you can apply to your photos with the click of a button and a few minor adjustments.  I typically lean towards a clean post-processing look, so rarely do anything too wonky to my photos...but since these P&S shots were less than stellar to begin with, I thought I'd just have some fun with them.

The first batch is from a Kids Club Live event that my girlfriend and I took the munchkins to.

 Getting "Warm & Fuzzy" with Sid the Science Kid

Arts & Crafts in "CoolShades Vintage"

I thought the red-eye added to the grittiness :)

"Surreal Edgy Effect" for the Barney mosh pit

Molly's "oooooh"

(heart melting) ♥ 

And Charlotte begged for my camera phone to take pics of her purple idol.  My little photog in training! 

Andy took the next few at a Movies in the Park showing of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Charlotte shared her blanket with Tess and our neighbor, Kaylee.

The "Rogers Park" preset seemed fitting:

Combined with the Grand Opening of our new library and a very rare family trip to Ikea followed by a not-so-rare stop for ice cream, it was shaping up to be a fun weekend for all... Until it ended with the worst migraine in my 31 years and a very long night in the hospital.  No preset in the world could have prettied up this mental picture of me: crying for hours in a packed ER waiting room, in a fetal position with a blanket over my head to block out light/muffle sound, wedged between my devoted husband and trusty puke bucket, begging to be hooked up to an IV in the hallway since there were no rooms available.  So apparently that only happens in E.R. and Grey's Anatomy??  Anyways, thanking God for a very special neighbor who spent the night on our couch while our babies slept and I was (finally) pumped with drugs.  Also grateful for a lazy Sunday to recover with Andy home to help with the kids and the cooking.  Feeling better now, and looking forward to more summer fun in the week ahead!