I Heart Faces: Beautiful Black and White

About a month ago, my wonderful husband bought me a DSLR camera. I knew nothing about photography, or even how to use my camera. My friend Amy, who traveled to China with us, takes absolutely beautiful pictures. She recommended an online photography class taught by Lisa, who blogs at www.thelongroadtochina.com. Lisa is not only an amazing photographer, but also a great teacher. I have learned SO much. Plus, a portion of the fees she collects goes to help Half the Sky, an organization that is near and dear to our hearts. I am a total amateur, but I can't tell you how fun this has been for me, I've always loved to take pictures, and now I'm learning how to beautifully capture these moments with my kiddos. It's also given me a hobby of my own, something I haven't had many years. I've taken over 5,000 pictures in the last month, and deleted them majority. :) Several of the photography blogs I follow have weekly challenges or competitions. I decided to try some of them for fun, and to challenge me. Not to mention, that this will give me incentive to blog again, and my mom and dad will get to enjoy photos of their grand kids more frequently.

This challenge is for I Heart Faces, and is called, "Beautiful Black and White." I love this picture of Grace, she brought this special dress downstairs to wear - she loves to dress up. Paul's grandmother made this dress for his niece about 12 years ago, and now Grace has it. It's a beautiful dress. She's also wearing both of our pearls from China, along with a few other treasures she pulled out of my jewelry box, another one of her favorite past times. I can't believe it was one year ago today that Paul and I boarded a plane to China to meet our beautiful daughter. She is such a joy.

To see more beautiful black and white pictures you can visit I Heart Faces.