I Heart Faces Week 48 Challenge: Scenic B&W

As you all may remember I ran a cutest kid contest on my Facebook site. Well one of my favorite shots of the day was a scenic Black and White and it fits perfectly for this weeks I Heart Faces Challenge! Here is Caleb enjoying the ducks in the park! Happy Monday!!!!

I Heart Faces Challenge: Silhouette

I did this photo while ago at a wedding and it's my favorite silhouette!! It's one of the first few weddings that I helped shoot! The bride had the perfect body for this! I love to get creative at weddings!!! Enjoy!!

I Heart Faces Week 43 Challenge: Pink Week (in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness)

Many of you don't know too much about my family and our history with breast cancer. It's a touchy subject for me, partly because of what me and my family have been through and partly because I am concerned for my future. My mom is the first of the breast cancer survivors in my family, followed by BOTH of her parents. It's interesting that she got it first and then her parents had it several years later. There were no warning signs for my mother and I admire her even more for fighting through it. She is such a strong woman and I hope to be a great example to my children as she was to me. I also have to give thanks to the man above. Because of his good grace, he saved all three of their lives. I can not tell you enough how good he truly is. It's been just me and my mom for as long as I can remember. She is my heart and soul and I have no clue where I would be without her.

Despite the bumps in the road, dealing with breast cancer has prepared me for my future and it has made me take extra precaution at an early age. I can't stress the importance of breast cancer awareness to people enough. Take care of your body and get checked out. Not only for your benefit, but the benefit of your family, freinds, and loved ones. Be an example to those you love.

As you can tell I was very excited about this particular I Heart Faces Challenge. Not only can I honor those men and women (yes...guys can get it too) who have been and are currently going through the breast cancer battle, but I get to incorporate one of my loves....photography! The picture that I chose to use for this competition is a picture from one of my first ever shoots that I did. It's amazing when I look back at the photos I took just 6 months ago and I can see how much my photography has grown.

If you didn't get anything out of my story.......please remember this one thing: Think Pink and keep the awareness going...not just in October, but every day!

I Heart Faces Challenge Week 38: Smirk

When I first heard of the I Heart Faces challenge, I already had a picture in mind. There was no question about it. This is one of my all time favorite pictures of children that I have taken this year. Lily is just darling in this picture! She was so happy to be in front of the camera.....and it shows. Happy Monday!




Click HERE to view the other great entries!

I Heart Faces Week 33 Challenge: Got To Wear Shades

An oldie, but goodie! My friend Colleen! This photo was taken just a few weeks after I purchased my Nikon in March of this year. This photo perfectly fits the I Heart Faces Challenge "Got to Wear Shades". Summer is coming to an end, but I have so many good memories to share in my first summer photographing! I love to learn and grow and doing these I heart faces challenges definitely have helped with the progression! Enjoy this beauty in her shades!

Click here to see the rest of the I Heart Faces "Got to Wear Shades" entries!

I Heart Faces Week 32 Challenge: Surprise

Surprise doesn't quite get any better than a SURPRISE 70th Birthday Party. As many of you know I recently took a trip back home to Canada to surprise my grandmother for her 70th. That's right....15 hour drive up and 18 hours back home to GEORGIA within 5 days. Now that's love people. I would say the surprise was a success, but you can judge for yourself! Happy 70th Birthday Grandma!!!!

I Heart Faces Week 29 Challenge: Over My Head

   

I haven't done an I Heart Faces Challenge in a while due to the wedding and needing some time to get my thoughts together, but now I am back and in full force. Check out what I've done recently here! I wasn't sure how to capture an "Over the Head" moment other than to show the obvious! The SKY is over our heads! LOL. I've had a lot of fun playing with my new favorite lens (Nikkor 50mm 1.8d)  and used it to get this shot! I love the sharpness and the bokeh effect that it creates. Cheers to things not being so "Over My Head" any more and to taking a dive back into my photography. Check out my groom! I am one LUCKY woman!  Check out the other great entries on I Heart Faces!

xoxo

I Heart Faces Week 22 Challenge: Barefoot Week

  As many of you know....I have been MIA the past two weeks because I was away in the Dominican getting MARRIED. Yes!!! I officially have the right to use the last name HICKS lol. During my time in the D.R., I was very inspired by the people there. Many times we take for granted the life we have, but we truly are SO blessed. This week was the perfect challenge for me. I Heart Faces is celebrating the wonderful charity Soul 4 Souls. It's a Nashville charity that that collects shoes from footwear companies and people like us and then they distributes these shoes for free to people in need. Check out their website to see how you can help.
In honor of the Barefoot Week Challenge, I took the perfect picture while in the Dominican. It truly speaks for itself. This child in particular holds a special place in my heart.



Let's appreciate the things and people we have in our lives, make every second count, and continue to do good deeds for the less fortunate. Do what you can to make a difference. There are so many things we can do to help.

xoxo

Renee

I Heart Faces Week 19 Challenge: Celebrating Mom

This weeks I Heart Faces Challenge is Celebrating Moms. In my mind I already had a picture that I thought was perfect for the challenge! I couldn't think of a better Picture than my friend Colleen and her youngest son Bennett! The picture says it all. He is adorable and you can just see the love that she has for her children.



This photo is an oldie, but goodie. Too see more of the Nieto Family, visit my Facebook Fan Page!!

Happy Monday all!!

I Heart Faces Week 17 Challenge: Smile

This weeks I Heart Faces challenge is "Smiles." I couldn't think of two more perfect boys to post than Kaden and Kai. This past weekend I had the opportunity to shoot them at their "2nd Annual Family Affair" dance. The kids had a blast....but with all the candy surrounding them....it wasn't hard keeping them happy. Who's bright idea was it to make this years theme Candyland? Lol. We all truly had a great time. These smiles capture the energy of the entire night. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did! Again......cross your fingers!!!



XOXO

I Heart Faces Week 16 Challenge: Collages

It's time for another challenge entry! There was no doubt in my mind what photos I was going to use for this weeks challenge. It's prom season!  Here is my I Heart Faces entry:

I Heart Faces Week 15 Challenge: I Heart Desserts

I fell in love with this week's I heart faces challenge. As many of you know....I LOVE to bake so desserts and photographing them is something I enjoy even more. This week's decision was a hard one. I was stuck between 2 pictures, but after thinking long and hard....I went with the most original choice. My cookie splash picture. Many of you may have seen this group of photos a while back on my blog HERE. This is when I first got my SLR. I figured there was no better opportunity to show these pics off than now! Hopefully this week's picture will place. Let's cross our fingers and hope!

I Heart Faces Week 13 Challenge: Dramatic B&W

This is a week where I could go crazy with my editing. One thing I hate is an over-processed photo...but this week gave me the room to do so. One thing I love is DRAMA a dramatic picture. There is so much you can do with them. I went to town. I had the opportunity to freeze my butt off photograph my little cousins soccer game this weekend and we had a ball. I was surprised at how well Kai could manuever the field considering that he had just scarfed down half a cheeseburger at half time. Forget oranges....this kid wanted grease. But like I've said before, Kai is my little rebel. It wouldn't quite be him if he ate and did the things normal kids do at soccer games. Each time that I am with this kid, I am more and more impressed with his ability to do things. He really is a star in the making, but that comes with the territory. His athletic older cousin (ME!!!) deserves all the credit. =)

Here is my dramatic black and white:

I Heart Faces Week 12 Challenge: Focusing on Angles

This week's I Heart Faces theme is Focusing on Angles. I thought this picture was perfect for the challenge. I love the opportunity to get down and dirty when shooting, so it was fun for me to be able to take this shot. I love taking portrait shots, but doing them from basic angles can get very repetitive and very BORING as well. How else can you show off your unique abilities if your pictures look like everyone else’s? Crossing my fingers that I place in this week’s competition. With smiles like those, who can lose? Wish me luck!!

I Heart Faces Week 10 Challenge: Jump for Joy

As on a earlier post I mentioned that I wanted to do either the I Heart Faces Challenge or Project 365. Project 365 required way too much of my time so I felt that I Heart Faces was the perfect choice.

This weeks challenge is "Jump for Joy." While shooting the kids this weekend, I had them jumping around (with joy of course) so that I could get the perfect shot. We had a blast with this one. I look forward to the following weeks challenges. Lets cross our fingers and hope that I win and then I really will be jumping for joy!!