Finding Beauty Where You Live

As most of you regular visitors know, I have a passion for photography!  OK, it boarders on obsession but who cares right?  Anywhoo, I am lucky because my obsession is also my business which can sometimes get in the way of the passion I feel!  All I am saying is once in a while you have to take a step back and do what you love just for the love of it!  I take breaks from the business of my passion and just go out and shoot to shoot! 

Many people ask me where I get the inspiration for some of my shots and ask where the locations are but most of the time are disappointed when I tell them my own backyard!  I also include the city in which I live my own backyard!  I am never far from inspiration and that was proven on Thursday morning when I walked down my front steps to see my Gerber Daisy (my current fav) had given me another beautiful bloom!  I ran in got my camera and sat on my steps to do some shooting in the early morning light!!

I also need to make another confession here!  I am in LOVE with my camera!  There I said it!  I would marry it if I could because it is an extension of me!  I have never felt this way about a piece of gear before except for my iPhone which is a close second!

Back to business!  When I had taken a million shots of this one daisy, I turned to go back up the steps and saw this:

I love the shadows that the sun shining from the east creates on my humble abode!  So next time you are looking for some inspiration try walking out your front door early on a sunny morning and you just might be surprised at what you find!  Try getting up just before sunrise for a special treat for your eyes and your senses! Happy shooting!

My Fix

When it comes to photography, I try to get my exposure correct 100% of the time but sometimes when I am shooting a wedding at a fast pace it doesn't always happen! This past weekend, I shot a wedding that was outside and we were racing mother nature and several lines of storms that were preparing to hit our location! The bride threw the bouquet and this lovely young lady caught it and I knew I needed a photo of her! Here is the shot straight out of my camera:

It is a pretty good photo but I like things a little brighter so I could have raised the exposure but there was not time because the rain was starting to fall!  So I decided to work in post production to fix it!  The first thing I did was import into Lightroom 2 to raise the exposure a little and I also cropped the image to get a tighter shot and get rid of some unnecessary stuff in the background!  Then I exported to Photoshop Element and ran the Pioneer Woman action  Lovely and Ethereal.  I also did some skin smoothing and I was good to go!  Oh yeah, I also brightened her eyes a bit!  Here is the final edit:

And ya'll know how much I love me some black and white so I did a black and white conversion!

Now, happy shooting to you!  Grab your camera and go out and go for it!  Remember to fill your view finder with your subject for a great shot!

Fix-It Friday #53 - Hands-On Photo Editing Fun!

Here is today's image SOOC!  What a little cutie pie!

Here is my first fix imported into Lightroom 2 using the Super Hero preset from Siem Effects (button on side bar to click through)!  I ALWAYS import EVERY image with this preset and tweek from there!  Using LR, I was also able to pop the eyes and smooth the skin including his lips.  I also did some cropping.

I exported the image to PSE6 and ran a Pioneer Woman Action but cannot remember which at the moment (lack of coffee on my part)!  And then of course, a b/w conversion came next!

Now go check out the other fixes and have a great day!  I am working on a new post called Invisible complete with a photoshop project to go with it!

Fix-It-Friday #51

Here is the photo SOOC.  The photographer of this little beauty wanted to brighten her eyes and make the colors a little brighter!  For me the first stop was LightRoom 2 to boost the exposure and crop the image!  Next I imported to PSE 6 for a few PW actions including Lovely and Bring out the Eyes!

And, of course, a b/w conversion was just for my fun!  My latest passion is for the simple, clean feeling that I get from a great b/w!! 

Now join the fun or just go browse what others have done to this photo at i♥faces!

Fix-it Friday #50

I needed to do something just because today so I decided to participate in i ♥ faces fix it Friday!  Plus I could not resist playing with a photo of a beautiful subject!!  So here we go! Here is the image SOOC.

The first thing I did was pull the image into Lightroom 2 (my editing program of choice for most things). In LR2, I corrected the white balance and brightened the image. I also used the brush to brighten the eyes!  Next I exported the image from LR2 to Elements 6.  In PSE 6 I used a Scott Kelby trick to do some skin smoothing!  I made a copy of the image and used the Gaussian blur next I added a layer mask.  I grouped the copy and the layer mask and then used a soft white white brush to paint the layer mask and viola, great skin!  I set the brush to 60% opacity and was in lighten mode.  Next I used Pioneer Woman's Bring out The Eyes and Lovely actions!  Here is how the final image looks!

But you know me, I could not leave well enough alone and decided to add a texture just for giggles!!  This texture is a freebie from Jerry at Shadow House Creations and is called XSGrunge!  I just love his textures!!

And could I really go without a bw conversion using Pioneer Woman's BW?  Here ya go!

Now go check out all the other fixes at i ♥ faces!

It's All About Location, Location, Location

Most of my clients are anti studio, anti backdrop kind of people!  Let me say for the record, if you are a studio photographer that is great!  It's just not me or my clients!  For us it is all about a location that will highlight the personality of the clients I am working with therefore, I do not have a studio where I trudge everyday.  That makes it too much like work and the whole point of my photography is to have fun, make money and be able to stay home with my daughter!

So where do you shoot in the winter????  Well, during the colder months there is some creativity required but I am telling you that it is not impossible!!  For newborn shoots I usually go to the home of the client and carry a few things that really make the photos look like they were done in a studio.  I travel fairly light with a basket that carries various material, a boppy, hats, cocoons and a sling!

The photos of these two little cuties were done at my house on my couch and my antique sideboard in my dining room!  So easy and no studio rental to pay!!

OK, I want family shots but it is February and very cold and snowy!  What can we do?  I have found several great indoor locations and they are really cool!  Location number one:  the public library!  Oh, yeah it is really cool especially if you live in a town with an older, quaint library or a very new and modern library!  Both work great!!


This adorable trio was shot at the public library in Charleston, IL.  It worked perfectly and we also got some shots in new kids section of the library!  No library close by?  My new favorite location is Common Grounds, the local coffee house!!  It also helps that a Snickers Latte is my favorite hot drink and shooting there allows me to purchase this wonderful treat!!  Most of you know I have been trying to do the Diva's three year photos here but find myself in need of an assistant to help wrangle my own child!!  LOL!  You can see my feeble attempts here and here!  I also use an old warehouse that has been converted into a youth center for a local church and the new Fine Arts Center at Eastern Illinois University!  The next weekend I will be doing a session with a 9 year old boy in a barn that houses lots of cool old car, trucks and memorabilia!  This is the same little boy that I took to the historic train depot last year!

If your clients are really open minded and willing to try anything go to the laundry mat, during the off hours!  It can be lots of fun to shoot there and different!  So see, all you gotta do is think outside the box and create your own "studio"!!

My business has grown 500% in the first few months of 2010 so I am venturing out a little bit and getting ready to do some OCF (Off Camera Flash) when all my new toys arrive!  Stay tuned for more photo madness!!

One Rockin' Night.......

We set out to raise money for Haiti and Convoy of Hope and boy did we ever!!!  Common Grounds Coffee House was PACKED wall to wall and front to back!  There were NO seats available!  The best part was we raised $1088.00 for Convoy of Hope!  That will buy a ton of meals for the people who need it most right now!!

I had so much fun!!  Yes, I sang and no I did not get any photos or video of myself but I did take some cool concert photos!!  These were all shot without flash using a Sigma 50mm f1.4 lens!  This primary lens is my go-to gal for low light situations and she did not disappoint this time either!  I wanted to make sure to capture the mood that was set with the blue lighting on the artists while capturing the window of the coffee house and the lighting outside from traffic lights and passing cars! 

Here is the info for all the photos: 
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO:  400 (added to the edgy look of the photos!  One time when grainy is OK!)
Aperture:  f 1.4
Speed:  1/50 sec.

Now on to the photos of some great young artists!!

 

Bethany Hansen

AJ Schubert

 

Jenna Jackley

 

  

I am not sure of the names of the guys in the last two photos but they were a couple of my favorites shots from the night!!   The last photo is my absolute favorite!!  It was a great night for a great cause and I was just humbled by the response!

 

Get Help When Photographing Kids (Especially YOUR Kids)!

OK, I will admit that this is not advice that I took very well when I attempted to photograph the Dive for her 2 year shoot and, of course, I repeated the mistake just TODAY!  My thought process went something like this:  I am bored and photography makes me feel better!  Mistake number one:  I can take the Dive downtown and do her three year shoot (alone)!  Mistake number 2:  She is older, she will listen better!  Mistake number 3:  Bribery by cookie from the coffee house!  It is a great place for lattes and to do photos and they have great baked goodies BUT it is not great for a momtog with a bag of gear, a coat, a latte and an almost three year old!  I really could have used an extra set of arms and hands and feet and everything else!!

If I have learned one thing, it is that kids get stage fright when their parents are involved!  Some of the best shoots are when the parents step out of sight of the child!  The child relaxes because they realize that I am not going to demand a perfect performance from them!  You will find that kids do not want to disappoint their parents and often will not cooperate!  Sometimes it is better to use a Grandparent or Aunt or Uncle to get the child to smile a more natural smile!  So my tip of the decade is:  never go it alone where YOUR kids are concerned because another person (not a parent) can usually get a better response from the child!  So now you can look at our first take of the Diva's three year shoot!  Sigh........

 

  

I have arranged for help for the second installment of the Diva's three year shoot!!  Ha!  Ha!!

Free Textures in Honor of My New Look!

I have been so into textures lately that while I was doing laundry, I happened to notice two of our basement windows that have frosted glass!  I dropped the laundry and ran up to get my camera!  Here are some photos that I processed using my newly created textures.

 

 

OK, think you get the idea so here are a few tips for using textures for you that have never used them before!  All you do is open your photo and your texture in your favorite editing program.  Next, you copy and past your texture on top of the photo and then lower the opacity so you can see your photo below!  Next, you will erase (using the eraser tool) where you do not want texture, like, a face or skin.  Adjust your final opacity to taste and flatten your image and viola, texture!!  So here are my freebies all you have to do is right click and save the image to your computer!  If you use it just come back let me know so I can see your art!!

By the way, a HUGE thanks going out to Diana at Custom Blog Designs for giving me the blog of my dreams again!!  She did the first design over a year ago when I won a blog makeover!!  I am proud to call her friend!  Diana, you rock my world with your creativeness!!

Here are the freebies:  Enjoy!!

 

 

Lots of Photo Stuff!

First, if you look at my sidebar on the right of your screen you will see a couple of buttons that could be very useful to you (oh, and me)! The first is Seim Effects! Gavin is a wonderful photographer and he creates wonderful Light Room Presets and Actions for Photoshop! Check out his site and see all the goodies that you could purchase (he even has freebies) to aid in your photo editing!

The other button that could be quite useful is the Borrowlenses.com button! As the name says, you can rent lenses and camera bodies and flashes and all sorts of cool stuff! It is super great because you can try it before you drop a bundle of cash on something you may or may not like! They also sell off their used equipment for a good price so you might be able to get a good deal on something you have had your eye on for a while!

Yes, I am plugging these sights because if you place an order by clicking through on my blog, I earn some cash! Not much cash for either program but it could eventually help me get the Nikon D700 body that I am yearning for! I hope to have saved enough by May 31, 2010 (my Birthday) to purchase my next camera! When shooting weddings, you really do need two bodies in case one decides to fail so I am going to purchase my backup! Well, actually the current camera will become the backup, but I digress!

Anyway, here is another useful tip! Say you don't have a tripod and you find yourself in need of one don't fret cause I have a solution! MAKE ONE! OK, it's not really a tripod but it works and it is highly portable and costs next to nothing to make! All you need is some fabric (any old scrap you have laying around will work) and some rice (uncooked)! Ha! Sew your fabric into a square and fill it with the rice (not too full cause you need some wiggle room I would say about 3/4 full would be fine) and viola' you are ready!

This works because you can use the top or hood of your car or any stable platform to put the rice bag tripod on and then you set your camera on the bag with your lens aimed at what you are shooting! Now you can use your camera remote or self timer! It really is easy to use since the rice bag conforms to your camera body and stabilizes it for low light situations or times when you want to be in a photo (for a change)! It also works great when you put your camera down so there is no weight on the lens! I don't put my camera in a bag unless I am transporting it because I am always grabbing it to take photos!

Here is a photo of mine! It was made from material left over from the Diva's Halloween costume! Don't laugh, it works!

Shooting Christmas Lights

Everyone is wanting to get pretty pictures of all the holiday lights and with the snow coming, I thought I had better share some tips to getting those enchanted photos that we all dream of! Keep in mind these are just starting points and you may need to make some adjustments along the way! The first thing to make your holiday light photos perfect you will need a tripod. It is hard to handhold your camera and get great shots in low light situations! So a tripod, the roof of your car with books under your lens, whatever works for you! I have done both when my tripod was not with me!! Next you want to set your white balance to tungsten! This will give you the color pop that you are looking for! Set your ISO to somewhere between 400-1600! I play with this by starting at 400 and boosting it as needed! Now lets go to your f stop. You are going to want to set this between f4 and f6.7 to get that star effect from the lights you are shooting. Now we move on to shutter speed, you will need this to be between 1/10 and 1/30 sec. Of course, you need to be in manual mode to get your speed and f stop where you want them without your camera choosing one or the other! You can even use your flash for a little fill light if needed. This last tip is important because people usually wait too long for the good shots! So when is the best time to capture amazing Christmas light photos??? Twilight is just right!!

So, go out and play and take lots of photos of your pretty lights! Send me a picture of your work if you like!! I will be sharing some light photos soon because I have been hired by my city to photography our lighting display at the park! Happy shooting!

Take It Off Of Auto Pilot!!

This is a long needed photography tip for all you DSLR users! I have noticed lots of photographs I come across through blog hopping are well, lacking something! Many times I cannot put my finger on it and then other times I can see that the ISO is way to high and the photo looks grainy and that tells me one of two things! 1. You forgot to check your settings before shooting or 2. You are shooting in auto mode, in which the camera chooses the ISO for your conditions and if the lighting is poor it will boost it through the roof!

So my solution is to take it off auto and take creative control of your camera because it is NOT all about the pose, you need to make sure your settings are correct in order for the portrait to turn out and look good! I hear the panic in your voice! You are trembling with fear at the thought of stepping into another dimension! You can work your way up to 100% manual be setting your camera on A (Nikon) for Aperture Priority in which you choose the F stop you will be using f8, f1.4 etc, the camera will then choose the shutter speed. Or, you can set your camera to S for Shutter Priority where you set the shutter speed 1/125, 1/30 etc and the camera chooses the f stop. This is what I like to call co-pilot because you only choose one or the other and the camera does the rest! The camera may not always choose the best either but it is a starting point!

Then there is the band aid (quick and with little pain) method in which you just switch your setting to M for manual and start playing! The letter M really is the most feared by newbie photogs and with good reason but it will make your life so much better when you switch! Today I am going to give you some tips on letting the letter M back into your life! Keep in mind that these are starting points that are no fail BUT, you will need to experiment with your camera and different lighting situations and your lenses!!

OK, here we go! Let's start with the outdoor rule of thumbs! First, 100 ISO is equal to a shutter speed of 1/125 sec.! Set your ISO to 100 and let's go outside. Now if it is sunny set your aperture to f16 and start shooting!

If it is a cloudy day set your speed to 1/125 sec. and set your aperture to f8 to let more light into your lens.

For sunsets, sunrises and low light conditions set your f stop to wide open to let the maximum amount of light in! Remember, the lower the f stop, the more light that is let in. Set your speed to 1/30th sec. and shoot! These types of shots require a tripod to avoid camera shake.

Did you get all that? Now we need to move onto the indoor stuff! Just take notes! Remember we are still M mode and we are now ready to head indoors for that Christmas photo by the fireplace!

Set your aperture as big (the lower the f number the more light that gets in)as it will go (according to the lens you are using). So if I am using my 50mm f1.4 lens then I will set my aperture to f1.4. For your shutter speed you will choose somewhere around 1/60 sec. Keep in mind that it is hard to hand hold the camera much below this! Something else to keep in mind is that you never want to shoot lower than the focal length of your lens. So if you are using a 50mm prime lens than you do not want to shoot lower then 1/50 sec. Most likely you will need an external flash for these shots! A flash that can be bounced (off a wall or ceiling is ideal). Next take a few test shots and if they are not bright enough then you may need to boost your ISO! Start low boosting a little at a time until you get the desired look for your photo. ISO is one of those things that you do not want to overdo because you may get some noise (that grainy look) in your photos which may require a program that helps reduce noise!

So now you know how to take it off of auto pilot! The only thing left to do is grab your camera and go play!! I hope this helps!

A Closet Full of Clothes and Not a Thing to Wear!

We all have this problem at some time or another, right?? Well, it is like 150% worse for me right now!! Why you ask? Uuuuuum, well, er..................we are having our family photo taken on Sunday and I am trying to coordinate my family so we look like we belong together!

Before you ask, NO I am not taking our family photo myself but I will be doing all the editing on them! You see, a friend of mine sent me a message saying that his family of 6 is needing a new family photo since the youngest child is not in one family photo! He is also a photographer so I suggested a joint shoot with both of our families and swap it out as a trade! Good for both of us, right? Right!

I picked an urban location for some great casual family photos that both of us would love! We are all jeans sort of, casual type people so it will be perfect for both families!! I am excited, except for the picking out the clothes thing!

Things not to wear for a family photo:

1. White shirts with jeans. - Too yesterday and way over done!
2. Black shirts with khakis. - Ditto!
3. Anything that is too matchy, matchy. - You will look like you just left work where you all wear the same clothes!
4. No huge logos on t-shirts!

Things to look for in outfits for family photos:
1. Items that coordinate! Say mom is in a brown dress with blue shoes, then make sure everyone has a hint of that same blue somewhere in their out fit.
2. Do Not be afraid of patterns such as stripes or polka dots!
3. If you have little ones, start with their outfit and then build the rest of the family around them because it is usually easier to find a bigger color selection in adult clothing!

So I have picked the Diva's outfit which includes a dress with leggings, boots and a hat to match. Here is what I am building from:
So here is how it will roll! Daddy will wear a white button down shirt with blue stripes (there are blue dots on the dress that are not reading well in this photo) and jeans. I will wear a brown jacket with a light blue shirt under it, jeans and some fun shoes to match! My biggest problem is the moody teen because I want him to look like himself in the photos, meaning I don't want to put him in clothes that he would not normally wear. I know he will be in jeans and either an off white or blue shirt depending on what I can find when I go shopping. By the way, the teen is the only one I have to buy a shirt for! Everything else came from what we already own so you do not have to spend a fortune on clothes for a shoot if you plan accordingly!

I just love brown and blue together so I am excited to see how these turn out!! Not to mention the fact that the Diva was only 4 months old the last time we had family photos done! Stay tuned to see the outcome!

A Word to the Wise

Ok, this is a bit of a rant and a bit of advice for all you camera loving people!! NEVER BUY YOUR VERY FIRST DSLR CAMERA THE DAY BEFORE YOU LEAVE ON VACATION! I feel better! Let me explain:

I know this guy who was going to Disney, it would be his 4 year olds first visit and he wanted to capture all the fun! So he decided to go buy a brand new SLR without ever having touched one in his life. He had been a point and shoot guy to this point! Anyhoo, he buys the camera on Monday and I happen to bump into him at Walmart on Wednesday before he leaves on Friday for the trip. He tells me about his new purchase complete with a second lens, extra batteries, memory cards and carrying case. He also tells me that it is still in the box and he has not had the guts to open it. "Besides" he says "I thought I could just pull it out of the box and shoot!"

I am trying hard not to laugh at this point! "UH, NO!" I say, "You need to attach your lens, charge your batteries and figure out your settings. Not to mention formatting your memory cards."

"Oh, I had no idea!" he says dumbfound by the minimal information I have given him. He points out the camera that he purchased and asked me to show him some pointers so, eventhough it is a Canon and I am a Nikon girl, I look over the camera, find the auto mode and tell him to put it on this setting and treat it like a point and shoot. Informing him that auto does all the work for you and he really would not have to think about it! I also told him to get out his manual and read it cover to cover!

Now, I am not against people bettering their equipment and wanting to learn more BUT what I am against is people who think it is easy just to pick up some high tech camera and expect it to behave like a point and shoot! Did I not say in one of my first Tip Tuesdays to get to know your camera? Yup, I did! OK, I am done with this rant!

Tip Tuesday

Since I am in full photo edit mode today due to lack of doing it yesterday (since I was in family mode) I thought I would take this opportunity to toss a tip tidbit your way! LOL! Today is all about the rule of thirds (a foreign concept to most people)! If you have never heard of this but embrace it in your every day shooting it will make the composition of your photos much more interesting, I promise. The best part is, there is no purchase required! You can do this with any camera!

The rule of thirds: imagine that you are drawing a tic-tac-toe board on your photo (please don't really do this because you will ruin your photo) and then examine it to see if the rule applies. What is the rule, you ask? Simply stated, subjects placed at any of the four intersections of these lines make for a more compelling image as opposed to a subject that is just centered in the middle.

I had to search high and low for a photo to use to demonstrate because I always use the rule of thirds unless I am going for some artsy look! So today little man (that I babysat for) is my model! Please forgive my lines, I don't think I have ever been able to freehand a straight line in my life! Ha!

Notice that my little subject is dead center and does not cross any of the four intersections at all. Not good shooting (I was going for artsy)! LOL! Quick fix is to crop the photo which you can do in a program or in Windows Photo gallery!

So here is little man after cropping the photo in PSE 6. Notice that he crosses three intersections which makes him the main focus of the photo! See I told you it was easy!
And here is the final product thanks to editing! Now I could have made my life so much easier by just shooting it like this in the first place but then I would not have had a photo to use for an example!! LOL!

The one thing that could cause you some problem would be your autofocus because it assumes that your focus will be in the center, which is not always true. If you find your subject is blurry here is the remedy! Aim your camera so that the autofocus frame is positioned over your subject and push the shutter release halfway and keep it there in the half position while you recompose the shot and then push the button the rest of the way down to capture the shot!

Pretty easy, huh? Try it yourself and let me know how it goes for you as you wow your family and friends with your cool photos!

Tip Tuesday

Yeah! I remembered Tip Tuesday! That is really amazing considering and the crap that has been going on lately!

This tip applies more to DSLRs than to point and shoot cameras (sorry). If your camera has a hot shoe for a flash, get a high powered flash like the Nikon SB600 and while you are at it purchase the Gary Fong Cloud. The flash will be raised off the camera and cover better distance than your on board flash and the cloud will soften the photo and keep the flash from overpowering your subject. The beauty of the SB600 is that fact that the head can be adjusted and angled to achieve different lighting effects. You can get more creative without buying a studio lighting setup!

The SB600 will set you back about $200 while the Gary Fong Cloud will be around $50. Some online stores will even offer free shipping with these products (Adorama and B&H). Add these items to your gear bag and you won't regret it!

The photos for today illustrate the bare flash compared to the flash with the cloud attached. The before photo shows a wash out Sadie, overpowered by the naked flash and the second photo shows a softer, more natural look using the cloud. The only thing I did to these photos was add the text, no other modifications were made. Of course, Sadie was not the best test subject because she really did not want to cooperate which is evident by the after shot showing her getting ready to have a major meltdown!

Tip Tuesday #3

Here we go! Are you ready for this shocking revelation?

Don't be afraid to get dirty! Sometimes to get the really great shot, you have to get down and dirty! During a recent lake shoot, I literally laid on the ground in the middle of a grove of trees to capture the blue sky with the bare tree tops. You have to be willing to do whatever it takes to get the shot!

I have ended up dirty and muddy with soaking wet feet but I got the shot I wanted so it was worth it! However, one word of caution, if you are out shooting in a dusty, windy environment and you find yourself needing to change lenses please go inside a building or at least your car because dust is your cameras enemy numero uno! Also if it is raining take care to protect your investment by using a camera cover! Don't have one handy? A clear, plastic shower cap (like you get at a hotel) will work just fine!

OK, so enough about tips and onto the photos for today! I know that I have been obsessed with fire lately but so has Spencer! He has been working on his motorcycle for, well, a good 3 to 4 years because he built it, tore it down, reworked the frame and rebuilt it all in between tours to Iraq, moving home, and working.

So now he is to some of the final stages which include painting the tank and fender which brings us back to fire, true fire! Mike Lavalle at Killer Paint developed a technique called True Fire and I have to say it is amazing. While Spencer was in Iraq the second time, I bought him the how-to DVD and he has worked hard to master it over the last few months.

Last night he finally clear coated the final paint job!! YEAH! It took him three times painting these to get them where he wanted them and I am so happy that he is done, finally!! When he asked me to take pictures, I could not resist sharing them with you! Enjoy and I will post pics of the bike when it is done later this winter or early spring! Trust me when I say, these pictures do not do the paint job justice! Wait until the bike is together and I unveil it in full sunlight!!