birthday bowling

if you've visited here a time or two, you've probably noticed that i thrive on sunlight.  the winter months are difficult for me, to put it mildly.  i'm trying my best to stay positive about snowbird this year (even though he's had the nerve to show up early). 

one problem area for me is photography.  i adore natural lighting, but natural lighting is hard to find in hibernation mode.  hmmm.  but seeking the positive, this is a great time to work on my black and white photography skills, yes?  i mean, when pictures are of an inferior quality, converting them to black and white definitely helps, right?  so why not just work on actually taking cool black and white photos? 

that was the intent at my son's birthday bowling party last week (yes, i know his birthday was in october; i tend to get things done on my own time table around here).  it was hard getting into taking pictures.  indoor settings just don't seem to inspire me.  i'm really glad i tried though.  i like these few i took quite a bit. 

they didn't seem to work well in black and white, however, so i went with a vintage filter.  they're all edited in pictapgo with the "sx-70" filter at full force and then a slight bit of "lights on" added to it.  i think it's a fun look. 

this makes me laugh.  the big boys all used bumpers except for the second j.  they had fun bowling, but really it was just an excuse to visit the arcade afterwards.

these last two group shots are my favorite.  can't wait to scrapbook them.  :)