Archive for the ‘photography’ Category

Sneak Peek: C Family

November 7, 2009

What a genuinely sweet and sincere family I had the pleasure of shooting today.

They have spent hours upon hours working together at this orchard over the years.

What an apropos spot to get some portraits taken.

We were thrilled to see there were still some leaves hanging onto the branches this late in the fall.

Thanks for listening to my lame jokes this afternoon.  I promise to collect some new ones soon.

Enjoy your sneak peek!

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Sneak Peek: S & J

November 6, 2009

After keeping my eye on the fickle weather today as it rained on and off with gusts of wind here and there, I wasn’t so sure this shoot was going to happen.

Luckily, we ventured out and managed to avoid getting wet.

These two were awesome!  I only had to mention McSteamy and gorgeous Miss S would swoon just a little.  And the mention of Mr. J’s fine punting skills elicited some great smiles.

Thanks for trekking through dirt and cornfields and sand with me this afternoon.

Enjoy your sneak peek!!!

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fix-it friday

November 6, 2009

FacesFixIt

Before:

girl in pink

My workflow in CS4:

1.  Duplicated the image

2.  Color corrected using curves

3.  Levels adjustment to add contrast

4.  Using the patch tool to remove spot on cheek

5. Bumped up the exposure using a curves layer

6. Bumped up saturation and masked back the face

7.  hi-passed the eyes

8. Added Blue Lily’s sweet water action masking back here and there for variety

9.  Brightened eyes with an inverted curves layer just on the eyes

10.  Rotated 90% and flipped vertically

11.  Cropped to 5×7

12.  Noiseware at 40%

13.  Sharpened for web

A great picture to begin with if just a little under exposed.

My edit:

girl-in-pink-edited

And my black and white conversion with a touch of pink:

girl-in-pink-copy-3-bw

Head on over to iheartfaces to see more editing magic.

Happy Friday!

Sneak Peek: The M family

October 31, 2009

It isn’t often that I get to work with a family that will willingly climb a tree to get a shot.  And it wasn’t even my idea!

Kudos to these guys.  Despite the chilly weather and early hour, we were able to get some fun pictures of them for the holidays.

Thanks for a fun morning and for introducing me to a new location.

Enjoy your sneak peek!

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Sneak Peek: Josh

October 31, 2009

I had my first senior shoot this afternoon and, holy cow, was it ever fun!

Josh was so easy going and laid back.  He was a natural at posing and was “super” easy to shoot.

I think I could get used to seniors.  :)

Josh, enjoy your sneak peek.  I’ll have your gallery up and ready soon.

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fix-it friday

October 30, 2009

FacesFixIt

I love fix-it fridays because editing is one of my favorite parts of of photography.

And since I started Phaunt U last week, I’ve learned a few things I didn’t know before about Photoshop.  Fix-it Fridays gives me yet another photo to try out what I’ve learned.

Original:

girl in pink

My workflow:

1.  Duplicate image

2.  Curves adjustment and color balance to correct skin tones.

3.  Ran Secret’s basic colr

4.  Patch tool to get rid of bruises, paint, and under eye circles

5.  Bumped up the saturation

6.  High pass over eyes and lips at 50%

7.  Added Kaleidoscope’s flare texture hard light layer at 50%

8.  Added a flare brush.

9.  Noiseware to smooth skin

10.  Sharpened for web

My edit:

girl-in-pink-copy

If the weather holds out I’m taking the kids to attempt our Christmas card pics.  Considering it snowed yesterday, that may or may not happen.  I’ve also got a senior and a family to shoot this weekend.  And let’s not forget Halloween!  Think good weather thoughts!!!

Happy Halloween!!!!

One more…

October 26, 2009

from my session last Saturday.

Isn’t he adorable?

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Just in time for Halloween!

This was last year’s costume but it makes it’s appearance every so often throughout the year.

You can never get enough Darth, right?

darth

Check out all the other festive photos over at iheartfaces.

Happy Monday!

Sneak Peek: The B family

October 24, 2009

I’ve been hoping to find a family willing to get down and dirty for an urban shoot in the “big city”.

I finally found one.

This cute little family was up for anything.  So we took a stroll through some alleys and along some city streets and even into a catholic cathedral and shot along the way.  They were troopers, despite a blustery wind and chilly temperatures.

B family, enjoy your sneak peek!

(Oh, and next time we meet, I would like to hear a little opera, Andreas)

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Remember Baby T from this session?

Well, she brought the rest of her family back for another session.  She even gave us a few smiles today.  Maybe the sunshine and 70 degree weather had something to do with it.  Or it could have been the bright fall colors.  Or maybe it was her two crazy brothers and their wrestling matches.

I dunno.  All I know is that they were tons of fun to shoot.

Enjoy your sneak peek!

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