To say that the Fourth of July is a special event for my family is an epic understatement.  We celebrate our country, our birthdays, our anniversaries, and our families.  We are aunts, uncles, and cousins who love each other fiercely, and though we camp together for four or five days, it's never long enough.  This picture is of my son and his quadruplet cousins as it was time to say goodbye.

So this is the first time I really tried to make a favorite photo into a piece of art.   I didn't know how to manipulate the tools I have very well yet, but I was still struck by the details captured in this version.

Their little hands and bowed heads.  The stone in the fireplace. The clock on the back wall. The pictures on the stairway wall. The notes taped on the bookshelf under the phone.  All of these precious details pop in this version of the picture and touch my heart. 

I later learned a way to maintain the pop in the details while smoothing out the faces.  The next version is an oil painting look.  A little more refined and it retains the colors from the original. 

I went with a simple frame on this one and couldn't be more pleased with the result!