Peaches. They’ve taken over my kitchen.

We recently purchased 25 pounds of peaches from Friend Orchards in Harrison, Arkansas. They’re gorgeous, deliciously fragrant and sitting on my counter, just begging to be consumed.

There’s just one problem. I’m 36 years old and I’ve yet to make a dish, dessert, jelly, marmalade or treat that calls for peaches. Shocking, I know.

Friends, I really need your help. I’d be so grateful if you’d share a few links, suggestions and your favorite peach recipes. My family and I would love to give them a try. And I’d love to pass any recipes I do try along to my followers and link to your blogs as well. Next week’s Crazy Days of Summer Photo Challenge theme just happens to be “summer treats”.

It’s perfect timing, if you ask me.

Peaches. They’ve taken over kitchen. Please help me use them.

Bubbles make me smile.

So do bubble-covered babies.

But photographing bubbles? Not so much.

This week’s challenge was a bit of a…well…challenge. A bubble’s transparency, thin film and short shelf life make them difficult subjects to photograph, but with a few tips you’ll be well on your way to capturing great images.

Bubble Photography Tips

While shots of bubble-blowing children are great, consider shooting bubbles in non-traditional ways too. Resting on grass. Floating on water. Or on an antique dish.

If you’re photographing outdoors, take care to shoot when the sun isn’t at its harshest – preferably during the early morning or shortly before the sun sets. If you choose to shoot indoors, use a dark matte background and a diffused light source.

Shooting when the air is still is ideal.

A windy day can complicate your shoot, but gentle breezes often create amazing effects.

Bubbles produce amazing reflections. Keep that in mind when choosing your location. Nothing ruins an otherwise decent bubble shot like your back deck and tiki torches staring back at you in a bubble’s reflection.

Employ some help. Bubble machines and bubble-blowing assistants supply an endless amount of bubbles so you’re free to click-click-click away. Unless, of course, your bubble-blowing assistant falls asleep on the job.

Photographing bubbles outdoors can be so much fun and the possibilities are truly endless! If you’re looking for a few great tips on photographing bubbles indoors, photographer Richard Heeks’ video tutorial is a great resource.

And if you’re looking to get even more creative with bubble photography, you might want to try your hand at photographing oil bubbles floating on water. It’s incredibly challenging to say the least. Though my shots are quite what I had in mind, I thought I’d share them with you anyway.

These oil bubble shots certainly aren’t my best work. I’m learning as I go, just like many of you. If enough interest is expressed in learning how I captured these shots, I’d be happy to share the entire process with you all in a future post. I’m not an expert, but I believe in sharing and learning from each other.

Speaking of learning and sharing, be sure to stop by my co-host Alicia’s place, Project Alicia. She always has amazing photos and great tips to share.

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I’m thrilled to be teaming up with the fabulous Alicia of Project Alicia for the Crazy Days of Summer Photo Challenge – a super fun weekly summer photography meme aimed at capturing the lazy crazy days of summer, complete with inspirational themes. We’d love for you to grab your camera and join in the fun!

Here’s what you need to know:

Share your favorite images inspired by the Crazy Days of Summer theme-of-the-week and grab our sweet button while you’re at it!

Please share your photos with others by linking directly to your Crazy Days of Summer blog post or Flickr photo, not your blog’s home page or Flickr Photostream. Feel free to share your photos in our Crazy Days of Summer Flickr Group as well.

The linky will remain open from 12:00am Friday – 11:59pm Wednesday.

Make a few new friends by visiting and commenting on the previous entry in the linky list.

Each Thursday, a few of our favorite images from the Crazy Days of Summer Photo Challenge will be selected and featured at Project Alicia and Live and Love Out Loud.

Next week’s theme will be summer treats. For a complete list of upcoming themes, head on over to the Summer Photo Challenge page.

August

Week 10, August 5th – Summer Treats
Week 11, August 12th – Fun with Friends
Week 12, August 19th – Blue Skies
Week 13, August 26th – Sweet Summer Finale

Alicia and I are so excited about sharing our crazy days of summer with you and can’t wait to see your photos. Don’t forget to stop by Alicia’s blog, (Project Alicia), after linking up here at Live and Love Out Loud. Her photography is amazing!

Spinning. Panning. Freezing.

The photos that came pouring in during “motion” week in the Crazy Days of Summer Photo Challenge were so much fun to look through. From jumping to splashing to spinning…oh my! What a great variety of photos!

Without further ado, here are a few of our favorite photos. In no particular order, of course…

Top Five Pics of the Week

Submitted by: The Daily Wyatt

Submitted by: More to Me

Submitted by: Bumbles & Light

Submitted by: Naptime Momtog

Submitted by: live. love. travel.

Thank you so much for joining Alicia (Project Alicia) and I in the Crazy Days of Summer Photo Challenge. We’re thrilled with the photos that have been pouring in each week. Don’t forget to join us on Friday, July 29th when we tackle a new theme: BUBBLES. All are invited regardless of skill level or time commitment. For additional details and a complete list of upcoming themes, head on over to the Summer Photo Challenge page.

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What’s a blogger to do when she finds herself totally unprepared on yet another Wordless Wednesday? She reaches into the deepest, darkest crevices of her family photo album vault once more and pulls out one of these….

Further proof that I was a complete dork.

It’s okay, go ahead and laugh.

Sixth grade was an awkward time for me.

My girl friends filled out their training bras. I didn’t.

My girl friends had great hair. I didn’t.

My girl friends had teeth that were actually in proportion to the size of their head. Obviously, I didn’t.

My high school years weren’t all that great as far as developing into a more mature young lady.

I still didn’t fill out my bra.

I still didn’t have great hair.

And my teeth, well, they finally looked proportionate to my head.

Believe it or not, I still feel like the dorky little 6th grader in this photo. Big teeth and all…

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Thank you so much for linking up with me at Live and Love Out Loud. I’ve been busy enjoying each and every moment left of my children’s summer vacation so chances are you did not receive a visit from me for the last two weeks. While I wish that I could make it to your sites each week, I just can’t and I feel terribly about that. I sure hope you’ll understand.

Looking for even more fabulous people to link up with? Head on over to the following blogs and link up with them as well. I do every.single.week.

This giveaway has ended. A winner will be announced on Saturday, August 13th at 12pm CST.

Add some seriously fun dance moves to your next Wii family game night with Ubisoft’s Just Dance 2.

The highly addictive, crazy-fun dance game from Ubisoft is a regular feature during Wii family game nights here in the Live and Love Out Loud household.

And we’re not alone.

Everyone’s getting in on the Just Dance craze. Toddlers. 97-year old grannies.

Thanks to the amazing folks at Ubisoft, two lucky readers here at Live and Love Out Loud will win an awesome Just Dance 2 Prize Pack for the Wii.

Each Just Dance 2 Prize Pack includes:

• One Just Dance 2 video game for the Wii
• Two neon retro Just Dance 2 sweat bands, colors vary
• One pair of retro Just Dance 2 sunglasses, colors vary

Entering the Just Dance 2 Prize Pack giveaway is easy…

Rules: The Just Dance 2 Prize Pack giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada only and ends on Friday, August 12, 2011 at 11:59pm CST. A separate comment must be left for each entry. Two winners will be chosen via random.org and will be contacted via email.

Mandatory Entry: Tell me who you’d like to win the Just Dance 2 Prize Pack for.

Additional Entries:

-Follow my blog via email or Google Friend Connect and leave an additional comment letting me know how you follow.

-”Like” Live and Love Out Loud on Facebook and leave an additional comment telling me that you’ve done so.

-”Like” Just Dance on Facebook and leave an additional comment telling me that you’ve done so.

-Follow me on Twitter and tweet the following no more than once a day: I’m entering the Just Dance 2 Prize Pack #giveaway at Live and Love Out Loud http://tinyurl.com/3vk47pv Don’t forget to leave the link to your tweet. If you choose to tweet daily, you’ll need to leave an additional comment each time.

Good luck to you all!

Disclosure: After reading a post I published about my family’s hilarious addiction to Just Dance 2, the folks at Ubisoft contacted me and provided the items for this giveaway. Why? Because they rock. Period.