The weather has changed (it is so stinkin’ cold!) and my boys have been forced to start wearing shirts again. Although the second we get home they still race upstairs to take their shirts off and throw on a pair of shorts. They are longing for summer already. So am I. One day back in August, Jake was toddling around the garden with his dump truck so I ran inside to get my camera.
I have been meaning to post these photos forever and while they have nothing to do with Christmas, I hope they at least bring warm thoughts of summer at the beginning of a very cold and busy week.
“What doin’, mama?”
If I ever needed to keep him busy this summer I would tell him to fill up his dump truck with something. Tiny, go collect sticks in your dump truck. Tiny, go fill up your dump truck with rocks from the driveway. Tiny, go find some acorns and fill up your dump truck. Tiny, go take your dump truck out to the garden. It worked every time.
A shovel and his dump truck is all he needed. Now it is winter and I need a new trick because three little boys running around with dump trucks inside my house makes a mama go crazy. Ha!
I don’t know how he is growing up so fast. This summer he went from baby to little boy and now all of a sudden there are no more babies in my house! I don’t know if I am okay with that.
He was my best tomato picker this summer. If his dump truck was involved he would pick tomatoes all day.
He was always so proud of his work too.
I don’t ever want to forget two-year-old Tiny and his dump truck. I am no professional photographer, but I am so thankful that I learned how to use my fancy camera to capture these moments. The photos I have of my kids are some of my most precious treasures. Everything I know about composition, storytelling and my camera, I learned from my friend, Ashley. I took her DSLR class about five years ago and learned how to shoot in manual. I wasn’t sure if I could ever learn but I am so, so glad I tried! SnapShop is now a subscription based photography site with two anchor courses– SnapShop: DSLR & SnapShop:Phone. I have taken the phone course as well and it is just as great as her DSLR course! By subscribing to SnapShop you have access to both courses, new information is added monthly and you can learn at your own pace. It is such a great deal! I love Ashley anyway, but she is really the best teacher. If I can learn this stuff, so can you!
Do you want to learn how to capture the beauty of your days through photography? Do you want to learn how to use your DSLR or phone camera better? Ashley is generously giving away a one-year membership to SnapShop to one of my readers! Yay!
Giveaway Details:
SnapShop (one-year subscription)
ONE winner chosen at random
ONE entry per person
Giveaway ends Tuesday, December 20th @ 10PM (CST)
To enter…
Leave a comment on this post telling me what beauty you would love to capture in your everyday.
And if you missed the Cyber Monday sale and are still wanting to join SnapShop, use code JESSMAC to get $10 off your registration fee (this will allow you to register for $40.00 with the $5.00 monthly subscription fee still applying). Make it a goal to learn how to capture the beauty in your days using your DSLR or phone camera (or both!) in the new year!
*disclaimer: affiliate link used
Rebecca S. - I want to capture the everyday moments with my kids and the feelings that go along with those moments!
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Mary - I have been blessed to be a stay-at-home Mom for 13 years now, and I became an amateur photographer right around the same time… I upgraded to a DLSR almost a decade ago, but continue to be discouraged with my (lack of) photography skills. Would love to work through this in the New Year! Thank you for the giveaway and for your encouragement!!!
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Joni - I would love to capture the sunrise and sunset on my daily commutes
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Melinda - Oh how I miss summer! I have 3 boys also, and I’d love to be better at catching the daily things that we do. I have a DSLR, but never learned how to really use it beyond auto.
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Lizzie - The messy and hard parts of this beautiful time with three small children that God has blessed me with.
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Cassie M - I’d love to be able to take better pictures of my kids-I love pictures and the memories they capture. I have a fancy camera that I’d love to learn how to use better:) Thanks Jess!
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Lauren - I got a DSLR a few years ago and have never gotten off automatic. It’s been my goal to switch to manual to get great shots of my little ones. I would love to just capture our everyday moments together!!
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Melissa - I would capture pictures of my girls.
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Courtney Daugherty - I have a 2yr old little boy and prayerfully more babies to come! We’ve struggled with infertility for years now and although I trust that God has a perfect plan and even if He doesn’t have any more biological babies for us… He is still good. I don’t want to forget these days of being a Mama to a little.
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Meg S - I have so many friends and family members that I just adore and can never have enough pictures of!
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Kristen S. - I’ve had a DSLR camera for 7 years and I haven’t yet learned to shoot in manual so the Snap Shop classes would be perfect! I have 4 kids and I would love to be able to capture their personalities in a shot.
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Laura Moffat - I want to learn to take pics like you and Ashley!!! ? I’ve wanted to do this for years! Pick me, pick me!!!
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Kasey - What a great giveaway! I bought my first DSLR last Christmas and still am shooting on auto! It seems so overwhelming every time I try to read my manual that I just give up. This would be perfect for us, because I could learn at my own pace from home. The beauty I would capture would be the everyday with my three kids. I love taking their pictures and would like to do a better job.
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Sarah - I’ve always wanted to sign up for Ashley’s classes! As my kids get older, I’m learning that the way I take pictures of them is completely different. Perhaps her classes would give me the boost of creativity I need! 🙂 Merry Christmas!
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Amy M - I took her phone class a few years back, and I really want to take the DSLR class. My main subjects for daily beauty are my horse and my dogs and the beautiful Texas Hill Country 🙂
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Rachel - I would love to win this giveaway! I feel like I have so many things I can still learn about capturing my children in pictures. They are my greatest muse.
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Julia - Our family and travels!
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Ashley - I would love to capture photos of my boys!
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Amy - I would love to improve my photography skills so that I can always remember these precious days with my young kiddos. =)
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jen - sports are an everyday in our house, and I’d love to capture great shots of both boys sports my oldest has just started high school so I only have a few more years.
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Keli - Sweet little snip-its of life as they are hurrying past. For me, the camera seems to slow it down just a little.
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Christa M - We currently have three little girls ages 2 and under…some days I feel like my mind is a blur…but goodness I would love to capture the tremendous bless and joy of it all too!
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Amber - Sweet little boys!!
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Jody - Just everyday life with my 7 year old niece.
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Carolyn - I’m getting married in 2017! So, all of the wedding prep 🙂
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Elizabeth Cannata - I would LOVE to learn how to capture my new nephew Luke. I waited 41 years for him to be born and just can’t get over what a tremendous gift and blessing he is. Thank you for the opportunity! Merry Christmas everyone!
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Tina Miles - I LOVE how she captures doing school with her kids and herself in the pictures with the kids…I want to do better at that.
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stacey - I would love to capture better pictures of my dogs. They are the most wonderful creatures on earth with the biggest hearts and I want to be able to show that in a photograph. They truly bring so much light to my life and to others and to capture their simple love would be a gift.
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Cristin Thurman - I would love to learn how to use my manual setting better to capture the dirty loving boys in my home!
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Amy - I would love to learn to use my DSLR to capture those special and every day moments with my five kiddos. We homeschool, and I would love to do a better job with pics during the day-to-day stuff!
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Emily Baker - My little growing family!
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katherine - I would love to better capture my little guy growing up!
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Johanna - I am frequently blown away by the breathtaking beauty of God’s Creation and would love to know how to better capture that beauty in the photos that I take.
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Emma - I want to capture the everyday moments with my three little ones. They are growing up waaaaaaay to fast!!
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Jess - Would love to take better pictures of my kids!
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Elizabeth Kelly - YES!!! This is an awesome give away! I almost pulled the trigger to purchase when she had the big sale last month and just couldn’t justify spending on myself with birthdays and Christmas ahead. I have 3 little ones to capture everyday moments with! 🙂
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Abby Rooks - I would love to capture the joyful moments in my day to day. Sweet memories frozen in time. Thanks Jess!
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Mackenzie M - I would love to capture the every day joy in my kids lives. Love the idea of capturing little everyday moments too. Time flies by so quickly and I love looking back and remembering special moments in our lives!
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Missy Allen - I would love to learn to capture those special moments of my three kids lives!!
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Christy Treffer - Sports and 4-H cattle/horse activities of my three children.
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Laura W. - I would love to be able to capture the special moments of my granddaughters and be able to tell a story with my photos. 🙂 Merry Christmas, everyone! (Or anyone who may read this…LOL)
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Emily Rowland - I have three beautiful kids that are growing too fast! I would love to use this to grow my camera skills!
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Macie - I’d love to be able to take better family photos, especially of those relatives who are getting older!
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Katie Carnahan - We homeschool and I love to document our days with pictures, but would love to learn how to better use my camera.
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Elizabeth - I want to capture the wonder in my 5 gorgeous grandbubbas. I take so many with my phone but often miss the best photos.
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Jessica - I would love to capture the beauty of our daily lives raising four children. Thank you!
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Megan - oh just life!! Like many others posting here, I’ve got super cute kids that I just want to remember their little lives some day. Why does life have to come at us at such a rapid pace?? Slow down, little ones!!
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Kasie - I want to capture the everyday moments of my little girl WELL. I take pictures daily and treasure them! Kate has such a personality that it is hard to catch-up all the time….
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Nikki F - I would love to learn how to capture great shots of three busy munchkins 🙂
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Brady W. - I want to capture my kids getting along! We’re about to have several days at home together (which is a blessing) and I’m praying for minimal amounts of fighting and a LOT of bonding time over the holiday break! I need to capture the moments because they seem few and far between–ha!
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TLL - The beauty of my beautiful life!
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Lindsay - I vowing to be in more pictures with my kids. So I need to help my kids learn a few things about my big camera so they can do this. I know they know they are loved but I want them to see it and remember it when I’m gone. Thanks for the great giveaway!
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Candy Foster - to see the calm over the chaos and the good over the bad
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Laurie P - I have three little girls that are growing up so quickly. So just everyday life with them. The oldest is getting her own “big girl” camera for Christmas. Her and I have so much to learn and it would be great to do it together!
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Lucy - I would capture the simple things in life. Creating memories of those whom I love.
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Stacey - I have a DSLR and am having the HARDEST time learning to shoot in manual mode. I would appreciate the course to see if learning online at my own pace would help. (I have taken classroom classes but they move too fast for me). As far as the beauty that I would capture are the details. We like to go visit towns around us and find things that make them unique, like a cafe, a memorial or a garden. I like to take photos of those things and then also get the details of things such as the doorknob of a building, the floors of a cafe or a leaf from the tree in the center of town. Many of those details have a story of their own and may be gone somewhere on down the line. It is like preserving a little bit of history. Thank you!
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Kelsey Pope - I want to capture life on the ranch and my growing boy!
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Elizabeth H. - This post resonates w/ my heart so much!
My husband and I are blessed w/ five boys (age 8-15) and a sweet pea (age 5).
As a stay at home, home schooling mom, the days often felt quite ordinary; even still, I grabbed my Kodak Easyshare and snapped photos. Now that they’re older and im not drowning w/ three littles in diapers at he same time, I cherish those grainy, poorly lit photos bc they remind of the beauty I often overlooked at the moment.
I LOVE Ashley’s heart for photography as a mom ~ to capture what often seems insignificant but in reality is absolutely lovely and beautiful! My brother in law “passed on” his DLSR to me and I’d be abundantly grateful to learn an ounce of what Ashley has to offer!! These days w/ my children are what I cherish most ❤️
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Gran - Love, love your photography. Would love some boy and dog photos – the best!
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Elke - I would love to capture my not-so-little-anymore baby turning into a toddler, it is so fun seeing her personality emerge 🙂
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Heather Shults - I would love to learn how to use my DSLR again…as it is sitting collecting dust right now. However, in my busy day life as a mom to 3 boys as well…I would love to capture the beauty of my boys and the memories they share or make together using my cell phone.
Thanks for the chance!
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Sarah Cox - I’d love to be able to capture the little moments that I yearn to remember but so quickly forget
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Tonya Evans - Everyday moments
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Sarah - I would capture pictures of the beautiful little boy that God blessed us with after 5 years of trying to have a baby.
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Logan - I want to learn to capture the beauty in my everyday. Ashley’s photography is stunning. I’d be honored to take these courses. She’s an inspiration as a person and photographer.
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Ashley - I’d love to catch and capture everyday little moments around our house and family that might otherwise be forgotten years from
now–it’s those tiny moments where all the growing up and learning and becoming a family really happens and I’d love to learn how to snap that better and hold onto it all forever!
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Amber willis - The every day mundane of my family and kids. It’s what I want to remember. The small things that don’t always Stan four years down the road.
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Lexi Kelly - I want to capture my four sweet kiddos, play time, school time, just being together doing our ordinary days.
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Amy Shotts - I would love this better capture all of the precious moments with my family! I was just discussing with my husband tonight how much trouble I have getting good photos! This would be awesome.
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Christen - My boys in their teenage years!
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Stephanie - I want to capture my sweet kids at this time in our lives that can be such a blur sometimes. The days are long, but I know the years are short. One day I’ll miss those chubby little cheeks so much!
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Courtney R - Would love this!!
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Emily F. - I love capturing the every day moments of my two boys (4.5/2.5). The years are going by so fast that I don’t want to miss a moment!
But, if I won, I would actually give this to my SIL who just got a fancy camera!!
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Amanda - farm adventures and my kiddos!!!
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Leatha - My daughter growing up.
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Mallory oosterhouse - My IVF miracle baby!
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