way outnumbered

Changing Your Shutter Speed Will Change Your Life!

2011-08-03T21:26:00.002-04:00

Back in the olden days when I knew nothing about photography...like, a few months ago, I used to think that shutter speed was only important when shooting things like sports or at night. But I'm here to tell ya, I was wrong.

Shutter Speed is just as crucial to great exposure as Aperture and ISO.
My very basic definition of Shutter Speed is how long your shutter is open, which determines how much light is let into your photo.
The longer it's open, the more light that comes in, the lighter your photograph.
The shorter it's open, the less light that comes in, the darker your photograph.

The number values with shutter speed are the amounts per second your shutter is open...250th of a second...800th of a second...and so on. When I'm trying to decide if I want to let in a little light or a lot of light I get confused sometimes when I'm thinking in numbers. But I never get confused when I'm thinking of food so I do this little trick...I ask myself
"Do I want a piece of a pie that's cut into 250 pieces or a piece of a pie that's cut into 800 pieces?" Obviously the pieces of a pie cut into 250 pieces are going to be larger than if it's been cut into 800 pieces...get it?
So if I want a lot of light I choose 250...if I want a little light I choose 800...

That's way too much math for me so here's a few photos to show how changing your shutter speed, and nothing else, can dramatically alter your portraits.

The glamourous shooting location for this little lesson is the shed in my backyard!
The sun was way too bright to shoot in so the shed was providing a great spot of open shade.
I shot with my back to the sun so my model could face the light source, which gives great catchlights
in the eyes, but still be evenly lit without harsh shadows.

If you look at the pavers you can see very clearly the line of shade and sun. There wasn't a ton of room but I just needed some close ups so it was perfect.

My model for all of 10 minutes was my Wild Child. Ain't he pretty??

I set my camera to Manual mode. My aperture was set at 2.5 and my ISO was 250. I didn't change those settings for any of these photographs. All I did was change my shutter speed...I started out at 640 and worked my way down to 200 which is the lowest standard shutter speed my Nikon d300s will go to.

These photos are SOOC...not been touched at all.

You should be able to see pretty obviously the difference in the amount of light coming in from 640 shutter speed to 400 shutter speed.

Here's a few more...

I could have achieved the same results in coloring by changing my aperture but I wanted to maintain

a 2.5 aperture so I could blur out my background. So by changing my shutter speed I didn't have to lose any creative aspect. I love that!

So get out and experiment with your Shutter Speeds...ya never know what you might create!

Makin' It Work ~ Shooting In Tight Spaces

2011-07-26T11:07:00.004-04:00

Are you ready for the next fab post in my series about Makin' It Work?
Of course you are!

Head on over to Texas Chicks Blogs and Pics and I'll tell you all about the shooting situation that absolutely gives me nightmares and how I've just had to Make It Work and ended up with some beautiful artwork...like this lovely portrait...

And in case you missed the first posts you can find them here...

Makin' It Work ~ Using 1 Studio Light

Makin' It Work ~ Using Window Light

Enjoy!

Anatomy of....Dreamy Senior Girl

2011-07-18T11:50:00.001-04:00

I've had so much fun this summer getting to photograph lots of High School Seniors!
I like to get all the fun poses with my Seniors but it's great to get a little bit Glam too with the girls!

Here's a portrait from a recent session that I just thought was lovely and it was very easy to edit.

First, I opened up my image in my brand new Lightroom 3!! I've just started working with this program and it's quickly becoming part of my regular workflow. The white balance adjustment is wonderful but so far my absolute favorite tool is the CROP tool! It Rocks! ...you know I love me some good cropping ~

I would never have been able to figure out this program though near as quickly if I hadn't taken Erin's online LR classes...they were incredible! I learned in 2 nights what I'm sure it would have taken me months to figure out. Run quickly and sign up for those classes!

I adjusted the white balance in LR on my original photo...

Then I added a Jessica Drossin texture at about 65% to add some dimension to the background. But I didn't want it on my girl at all so I lassoed around her entire body and chose Filter - Blur - Gaussian Blur to keep the coloring but blur the texture on her skin. The coloring was a little too much still so I erased lightly part of the texture off completely...that's what the gray part is on the layer mask:

Next I wanted to add some contrast so I ran a new *fab* action by Patti Brown...Oil Painting. It's thebomb for portraits! I reduced the opacity of the Oil Painting layer to 25% and erased even more off the eyes so they stayed somewhat sharp...

Finally for just that extra pop I ran the Coffeeshop Vivid 2 action and chose the Soft layer for a little extra brightness...

And here's my final ~ lovliness ~

Honestly every image of Kayla was pure perfection with or without any editing I may have done...she's just such an incredible girl and WOW! what a fantastic model!

You can check out below her cool little video I made that shows more of her lovliness:) Enjoy!

Warning: the music on this one will stay in your head ALL DAY!

Got Lightroom? Here's Some Help!

2011-06-18T16:06:00.000-04:00

So after 2 years of debating and agonizing and fretting I finally got some new editing software, Adobe Lightroom 3.

Actually, it really wasn't that hard of a decision. My oldie but goodie Photoshop Elements 6 is still doing a fabulous job but I was wanting something with more of an organizer. And I wanted a little more control over the basic editing processes like white balance, clarity, and all the other practical stuff. Plus after seeing that a whole slew of photographers I admire use LR3 as their beginning editor it was a no-brainer to go ahead and upgrade from Elements.

I actually got a *fantastic* deal on the upgrade from Amazon.com!
If you have any Adobe products make sure you register them and you will get discount offers all the time from Amazon and Adobe to upgrade!

So a few days after I got the disc I installed all the software, opened it up and was ready to Jump....Right...In!
NOT!!
Within seconds I realized that unlike Photoshop and Elements, which have the same interface, Lightroom and Photoshop look nothing alike. Yikes. Which is exactly why I headed over to Texas Chicks Blogs & Pics and signed up for her Lightroom online classes.

If you're new to Lightroom or just want to utilize every little feature, you need to check out these classes. Erin knows all the ins and outs of Lightroom and Elements and she generously shares awesome tips every week on her blog. What I enjoy most about Erin's teaching style is that she breaks down every step and really gives details. She often includes helpful screen shots in her posts like this one...

I can't wait to actually do a live online class with her! I'm doing both the beginning and advanced classes and they're coming up THIS WEEK so check them out and sign up now!

CLICK HERE to link to all the info about her classes and see what we'll be learning at each one.

They last about 1.5 hours each and they're cheap! Be sure to tell her wayoutnumbered sent you!

...and if you've got any fab Lightroom tips I'd love to hear them....share your wisdom and Wish Me Luck in my new venture ~ We'll see if this old dog can learn new software!

Selective Focus Will Rock Your World

2011-06-02T12:23:00.000-04:00

Did you notice those pretty little eyelashes?
Of course you did!

See these adorable newborn wrinkles on her tiny little hand?

Of course you do!

It's because I used my selective focus option that you can clearly see what I want you to focus on, and everything else is blurred.

Selective Focus has rocked my world, and it'll rock yours too when you start using it. I'm amazed at how many of my friends have these great cameras but have no idea this feature exists.

Here's my very non-technical, easy explainable definition of Selective Focus:
Selective Focus lets you pinpoint the exact spot you want the focus of your photo to be, anywhere in the frame.

Most digital cameras (not point & shoots, just ones with interchangeable lenses) have an area on the back
of the camera that lets you choose where to put the focus of your camera. You can usually choose between Center Focus, Area Focus and Single Point Focus. The default is usually Center Focus and most people never move that dial because they don't know what the other options do. That's ok if you're one of those people, I was too, not too long ago! But after I read my manual {hint hint hint} I realized I had so many more creative options open to me by using the Single Point Focus. Who Knew????

Here's what my Nikon camera looks like when I've selected the Single Focus option:

Now I can move my little red focus indicator around in my viewfinder to the exact place I want my focus to be. I just use the little round dial on the back and with my thumb I move it up or down, side to side. I think Canon's have a joystick? Either way, it's very simple to move and after doing it a few times you won't even have to think about it, it will be second nature.

Take a look at these lovely ladies...they stayed in the same spot and I stayed in the same spot for both of these shots...all I did was move my focal point from one girl to the next.

See how easy that is? I typically compose my shot first and then I'll move my focal point to where I want it.

Although I use Selective Focus for almost all my portraits, it's not a necessity for every photo. When you're doing a large, serious group photo {hahaha} and you're wanting to make sure most of the scene is in focus, I usually use my Center Focus, like for this shot:

But if you're wanting to highlight something fabulous, like your daughter's pretty blue eyes....

...then dust off that camera manual and find out how you can start using Selective Focus to Rock Your World!

Editing Newborn Skin Using Textures

2011-05-30T15:20:00.000-04:00

Photoshop Actions seem to get all the glory when it comes to editing skin and color correction.
But I'm here to show ya today that textures can be just as effective as actions and are so simple to use for so many things other than just the funky stuff.

You may recall that a few weeks ago I did a photo session with newborn Baby Zara. Before I even started shooting I had a vision for *dreamy* *creamy* photos showcasing that super sweet newborn skin.
But if you've ever photographed newborns, you know that typically their skin is blotchy and usually have strong yellow or red undertones. Here's how I edited this newborn skin to achieve a creamy, consistent look to it:

1. I opened my original photo in Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac.

Honestly her skin looks pretty darned good for a newborn but I wanted a much creamier look. I started by overexposing all the images just a tad in-camera which I prefer for making skin look better and hiding flaws.

Next I cropped the photo in just a little tighter. And although I'm singing the praises of textures today, I did use one layer of an action on these images! I run Coffeeshop Baby Powder Room on *almost* every portrait to soften the skin, but you can also use a Gaussian Blur filter to achieve the same results. I ran the Smooth Skin layer at 14% for just the tiniest bit of softening.

Then I decided I want to get rid of that wrinkle in the background so I used the color picker to choose the pink color from the blanket to paint over the wrinkles.

Check out the left corner where I just started "painting" over the wrinkles with the solid color.

Next I selected a soft grungy texture {Favorite Apron from Coffeeshop} with a bit of a purple/pink tone to it and placed it over my photo. I used the Overlay option at 40%.

Just by adding this soft texture it tremendously evened out the skin tones and added that dreamy look I was wanting to convey. But I wasn't quite done.....the skin still had a little too much red in it so I duplicated the layer {after flattening} and went to Adjust Color - Adjust Hue/Saturation then chose the Reds channel and moved the slider to a +9. This took down the red quite a bit and got the skin right where I wanted it.

Here's my final:

And here's another B&A using these same steps:

It's So Easy!
So give your textures a try the next time you're in need of some color correction! You don't always need an arsenal full of actions to get Fabulous images!

And I'd love to hear how you use textures for editing other than the usual stuff....Share Your Wisdom!
Leave Some Awesome Comments!

Art In Motion With Animoto

2011-05-10T13:50:00.000-04:00

You may remember me expressing my love of Animoto before. I love it.
{Thank You Dr. Sheely for telling me about it 2 years ago!}

It's a quick and easy alternative to building your own videos. I enjoy making videos in iMovie, which is fabulous, but I always struggle with adding the music. I don't listen to music a lot and I don't have a library full of selections to add to my videos so that was the defining choice for me to choose Animoto. They have a large library of music to choose from and if you have the Pro account the selection increases quite a bit. No worries about violating copyright and all that legality stuff~

I have been wanting to incorporate video with my photo sessions for a while so I've been experimenting with Animoto again recently. Here's a look at The Story of Zara that I created for my friend Sharon and her sweet baby girl. I've titled my videos Art In Motion....because, that's exactly what it is!

If you're thinking of adding video to your photography business or just want a great program to make videos for fun, Animoto is the perfect place. Check it out! And be sure to share a link with me if you make your own videos...I want to see them!

Behind The Scenes Newborn Baby Zara

2011-04-29T14:26:00.000-04:00

So I had the Ultimate Extreme Pleasure of being with my *bff* last week during the birth of her second child ~ Zara. Isn't that the coolest name!

And even though I was super excited for Sharon, I have to be honest, I was more excited for me that I had a newborn to photograph! I've never done an "official" newborn session before but I've been blog stalking some sites lately and studying posing and props so I've been waiting for this gal for a while so I could try out all my newfound knowledge. Well let me warn you....IT'S HARD!

Yes, babies are bendable and are supposed to sleep thru anything during those first days of life but my experience wasn't all smooth sailing~ No matter how hard I tried she kept curling her fingers and I couldn't get those knees to bend for anything! But in between the feedings and cranky faces she posed like a dream and now I'm positively in love with newborn photography. And with Zara.

Here's some lovliness...just 6 days new~

And for all you Behind the Scenes junkies, here's my humble set-up in my living room...

I feel compelled to tell you that I only used that little stool for a few body part shots while mom was safely holding baby...the rest of the time I used a mega huge ottoman to lay the baby on. It just looks so tiny from this photograph!

And for you hardcore Behind The Scenes junkies I made a video! Yeahh!
Here's a quick peek with me basically showing you the scene above while trying to keep a hungry newborn from screaming in my arms. Ohh these models....quite the Divas!!

Enjoy~

Makin' It Work ~ Using 1 Studio Light

2011-04-27T13:34:00.000-04:00

While Erin over at Texas Chicks Blogs & Pics is away partying with the Royals this week, I've been featured as a guest writer again on her site.

If you're like me and sometimes you find yourself in less-than-ideal shooting situations, you may be able to relate to my Makin' It Work series. In case you missed the first post, Makin' It Work ~ Using Window Light can be read HERE.

Today's post ventures into the fascinating world of studio lighting where I tell all about my first attempt at using a softbox. You'll see exactly how I created this image...

So don't waste another second and head over to Texas Chicks Blogs & Pics for my ramblings on

Makin' It Work ~ With 1 Studio Light

Anatomy Lesson....Veiled Princess

2011-03-30T10:52:00.000-04:00

I mentioned in an earlier post that studio lighting terrifies & intimidates me. That pretty much says it all~
But I've come to realize that if I actually want to create all these dramatic, awesome portrait ideas that I have spinning around in my brain, I'm going to have to learn to be in control of the light.

So a few months ago I bought an inexpensive light set with 2 softboxes and a kicker light. {I love saying "kicker light" it just sounds fun!}
I've been experimenting with them occasionally but decided to do an "official, for real" photo shoot with Princess. I had a specific look in mind for these portraits and my goal was to actually create the images I had in my brain.

I'll be sharing more about my set-up on the Texas Chicks blog soon, but today I wanted to share a quick Anatomy Lesson on one of my favorite edits from the session.

I opened my original image in Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac...

I loved the soft yet intense expression on Princess but I was really back & forth on how to edit and crop it.
The composition just wasn't doing it for me but I couldn't decide what to keep and what to trash~ I liked the black space on the right....I liked the curve and the bokeh of the chair at the top and I liked the mix of the cream/white/black colors. Ultimately, I decided that the focus should be on her and I didn't want the chair distracting from that so I cropped in real close...as usual!

Her skin looked great {6 year old skin is always great!} but the corner of her left eye and the corner of her mouth was too dark so I wanted to lighten those. I used the Clone Tool with the mode set to Lighten at 23%.

*Sidenote ~ I just started using the Pencil Tool and I love it! I totally stink at it but it's so fun! I used it to circle the Mode & Opacity at the top~

Next I softened the skin just a tiny bit with Baby Powder Room then I was ready to decide on the final processing. And guess what....I couldn't decide! So I tried 2 different versions...

For the first one, I really wanted to keep that great mix of color tones so I simply ran the Velvet Truffle action from Coffeeshop and adjusted the Color Fill 2 layer to 25% instead of the default 75% opacity.

That's the wonderful thing about actions....most of them are adjustable so you can really make them fit to your style. Don't be afraid to play with opacities, turning off layers, and combining one action over another. You never know what you'll end up loving~

So here's my final in version #1...

*I just love her*

And here's my final in version #2. This is a vintage treatment that I used on several of the other shots from this session...

I'd love to know which version you prefer!
I'm going to be ordering some large samples for my home and I'm leaning towards a 24x24 of version #1 in a metal print~ Suggestions??

I'll be posting lots more from this session since I learned a ton about studio lighting, but if you just can't wait and want to see more of these shots you can check them out on my Facebook fan page.

Enjoy~

Behind The Scenes Photo Shoot With My Girlfriends!

2011-03-28T13:36:00.001-04:00

So here's the scoop....I invited my girlfriends over last week to be my models so I could practice working with some softbox lighting. Studio lighting terrifies and intimidates me but I know I MUST learn it if I want more control over my portraits. So I've been using everyone I can to practice on before I actually have a real client that expects me to create something marvelous~

Back to my story....Raindog and Queenie come over and we all have different agendas...
Raindog is currently studying to be a professional make-up artist so she was happy to have some models to practice on too. {and I totally stink at eyeliner so I was thrilled not to have to do my own makeup!}
Queenie was in need of some new headshots for her Image Consulting business and is always a willing volunteer when free photos are included.

We spent the morning as all professional, serious models do ~ we played! My house was a mess of make-up, hot rollers, and a tiny dog desperately wanting to be included in the photo shoot. And just for the record, my experience with the hot rollers was not pretty! I ended up with poufy princess hair that Raindog immediately sprayed with concrete so I couldn't change it. Friends do not let friends pose with princess hair but I was outvoted~

Here's how my lighting was set-up...I had 1 softbox aimed at the left side of the models for side lighting and a reflector in front of it to soften the light a little bit more. My room is huge and I had other lighting coming in from all different areas so it was really really hard for me to get the lighting just right.

I was hoping to get a really dramatic, intimate portrait of the 3 of us together {inspired by the awesome Sue Bryce} but after about 53 attempts of me setting the self timer....then running to pose....then running back to check it....then realizing we're way too dorky to model dramatically...then trying again....I gave up!

But, the day wasn't an entire waste. After all, when you spend a day with great friends, laughing loudly and playing with make-up, we ended up with memories that are priceless~ And I learned that lighting 3 people is a skill that I just haven't mastered yet. But it's coming....

Here's a few shots from the day...

And here's an awesome little video that Raindog whipped up from our memorable afternoon:)

WARNING:
This video contains Princess Hair, Backfat and Women Over 40 Dancing.
View at your own risk:

And just for the other record - I AIN'T 40!!! ....yet

Get Connected! Save $$ at Clickin Moms!

2011-03-25T10:26:00.000-04:00

Wanna stay in the loop? Then get connected!

One of the awesome things that I've learned the past year is how valuable it is to connect with other photographers. My cyberspace photog friend Amy invited me to be part of a photographers forum and I can't express how much I've learned by participating in conversations with other photogs all over the country...and the world!

It's comforting to see that other photographers have the same questions, fears and hang-ups that I've dealt with in this crazy adventure of the photography business. Plus I've gotten awesome inspiration for marketing ideas. This online group was my first endeavor into a forum and I've loved it so much that I joined another one today...because who really needs clean laundry and home-cooked meals???

Today I joined Clickin Moms and I can't wait to see what all is going on over there! I saw a discount code posted on The Photographers Wall Display Guide {super awesome product!} and you know I love discounts so I jumped at the chance to save 25% off the membership. I think the code is only good til midnight so join now and then find me on there and say hello!!

Here's the code: FBFAN
and here's the link ~

Enjoy!

Makin' It Work ~ Using Window Light

2011-03-24T14:38:00.000-04:00

Quick, where do you think these shots were taken?

I bet you'll never guess.....

If you want to find out the answer then head on over to Texas Chicks Blogs & Pics where Erin
has been gracious enough to let me be her guest writer for the day~

See ya there!

Sites Worth Stalking ~ All New!

2011-03-14T17:42:00.000-04:00

So I was reviewing my blog last week and realized that time has passed quickly and I haven't updated
my Sites Worth Stalking in a while. Sorry 'bout that!

But here's the good news....everyone on my Sites Worth Stalking page remains solid in their *fabulousness* standing! And even better news, I've added some more absolutely incredible sites
that I firmly believe you all should be stalking each and every day.

For instance....Confessions of an Over 40 Makeup Junkie....the title alone tells ya it's gonna be good, I mean who doesn't love to hear confessions? It has nothing to do with photography and everything to do with FUN! Plus I hear she's got an awesome giveaway coming this week...Rainee Rae is what you call a hard-core shopper so I'm sure she's got something awesome for that....check it out:)

Plus she has pictures on her blog like this...

...that are actually relevant to her content!!

Another good one is Go 4 Pro...quite inspirational and full of ideas and encouragement if you're...how can I say it....."going for pro"!

These are just a few...check them all out and soak in the goodness of blog stalking. And please....please...pretty please...share with me your favorite blogs to stalk! I've got about 13 minutes
of my day where I have absolutely nothing at all to do!!! I need more blogs to stalk!

SITES WORTH STALKING

The Wonderful World of Apertures!

2011-03-01T16:28:00.000-05:00

I was hanging with Princess today outside {finally some decent weather!} when I realized that she would be the perfect model for a quick show-and-tell about Aperture.

The question I get asked by my friends more than anything else is
"How can I get those great blurry backgrounds?"
The key to blurry backgrounds is your Aperture. Your aperture setting controls your background focus more than any other aspect on your camera.

I could seriously spend ~~hours~~ days talking about the different aspects of aperture and how it relates to your focus and lighting, but I'll try narrow it down to baby bites and just show one thing at a time.

Today, I'll show you how changing those little numbers by just the smallest amounts can make a big difference in your images.

Here's the info:
My camera was set on the Aperture mode. I did that just for these shots so I didn't have to change all my settings for each one.
Most dslr's have "modes" on a top dial button. The aperture mode is usually listed as "AV"...

Setting your camera to aperture mode lets YOU choose the aperture and your camera chooses the shutter speed and ISO. This is easiest way to start experimenting with aperture if you're not wanting to shoot in full manual mode.

Apertures or F stops are those numbers listed on the side of your lens. For example, you may see a lens described like this:
50mm F/1.4
70-300 F/4-5.6
24-70 F/2.8

The F numbers list the smallest aperture that the lens will open up to at any given focal length. Here's a very basic explanation:
The smaller the number, the fewer things are in focus, the blurrier the background.
The bigger the number, the more things are in focus, the sharper the background.

You will not find that definition in any camera manual, but it's helped me in sorting out all this camera stuff!

So here's some pics to help explain what the aperture actually does in your image.
I took my first picture after I set my aperture to the smallest number it would go. On my lens {50mm} 1.4 is the smallest. Not all lenses will go this low, some start at 2.8 and others at 3.5 or 4. Check the side of your lens to see what your smallest aperture is. I've labeled the pics as I changed my aperture setting each time and went up in numbers.

Take notice of how the tree branches and the house behind her are almost completely blurred at the 1.4 setting but definitely recognizable by the time I get to 3.5.

Now take a look at the next 3 images, you'll really be able to tell a big difference in the background at these higher apertures. Look at the details in the tree trunk from 4.5 to 9.

Can you tell the difference?

Because I just love making collages {and more because Princess wasn't done modeling} I've made one more set for you to take a look at. Check out the tree in the background and the lines of the fence...

I hope this helps someone but of course the best way to figure it all out is just do it! Get out there and start changing up those dials and see what happens. The more you experiment with it the more it will "click" with ya~

By the way...is there anything cuter than a little girl in piggy tails???

Anatomy Lesson...Sharon in the Snow

2011-02-23T14:59:00.000-05:00

OK, this post is jam packed full of photo goodness ~
Which is translation for {I have gobs of things to share and not enough time to share it all so I'll pack them all into one major post}.

First off I have an Anatomy Lesson for you of one of Sharon's maternity photos. Now I just have to take a moment and spout off my opinion on maternity photo shoots. Basically, the majority of maternity photos are, IN MY OPINION ONLY, cheesy. Do not send me hate mail, it's just an opinion. Yes, the baby bump is glorious and can never be duplicated so I'm all for getting photos while you're pregnant.

Interesting fact: I've been pregnant 36 months out of my life and don't have 1 decent photo of me pregnant. Someone needs fired:)

Anyway, back to my rant, I don't prefer the cheesy photos {you know what I'm referring to} but I do believe it's a fantastic time to get some great photos of the woman. My philosophy is this: I want to capture some fabulous images of the lady....who just happens to be pregnant at the time. I don't think the belly has to be in all of the images because I'm certain that every time that lady looks at those images, she'll know she was pregnant when they were taken. So there's enough of my soapbox for today...on to the photos...

I opened my original image in Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac:

I think Sharon looks like a supermodel here but I want to direct the focus more on her face so I cropped the photo to a horizontal aspect. Then I softened the skin. Now I'm ready to add some textures.

I added 3 textures and erased the effects off of Sharon but left them on the background:

Next I wanted to add a light glow so I ran the Pioneer Woman action Lovely & Ethereal and erased just a bit off of her:

Lastly I ran a light Defog action just to increase the contrast a little and here's my final:

She's 7 months pregnant, hanging out in a blizzard and still looking *fab*....if she wasn't my BFF I wouldn't like her at all~
Here's a few more from her maternity session...

This one was both our favorites....no belly is shown but there's no doubt she'll never forget that she was 7 months pregnant and about to turn 40 when this shot was captured.

So tell me, what's your view on maternity images?

Also, for those of you enjoying the videos....here's the video of me editing the photo of Sharon in the Snow. I LOVE your feedback on these and appreciate so much those of you that have watched them, I hope they're helping! I have to decide in 3 days if I buy the software that captures these videos or let my trial expire....ohh the decisions!!

Just for kicks, I happened to find 1 decent picture of me while I was pregnant. Here I am in all my baby belly glory, about 13 days before baby #4 was born. I have no idea who took this or what I was wearing ~

~Enjoy~

Video Tutorial ~ 40 & Pregnant

2011-02-13T17:02:00.000-05:00

I've made another video tutorial and it's kinda fun!
I talk pretty fast though and I've actually tried to slow it down for the videos but then they'll end up being 3 hours long so that's been a challenge for me. Plus I tend to ramble so I'll just apologize now because I don't think I can stop doing that anytime soon~

This video features a portrait of my Cutie Pie Pregnant BFF Sharon. She's expecting her 2nd baby girl soon and about to turn 40 so we had quite a memorable day celebrating all the great stuff going on in her life right now. I'll be sure to tell you all about it in another post where I'll feature a normal step-by-step edit for those of you who aren't fans of the video.

Also, I've asked a question at the very end of the video about a problem that I've encountered recently with several of my portraits and I'd love to hear your feedback. I think it's weird to have my reflection in my subjects eyes and I'm wondering if any of you ever experience that? I've explained it at the end so you can check it out....Enjoy~

My First Video Tutorial!

2011-02-04T13:17:00.000-05:00

Wanna know what I learned while making my first ever video tutorial?

~ It's harder than you think!

It took me about 9 tries to record this thing! I'm not used to actually explaining what I'm doing and why I'm doing it when I edit so it was really weird for me. But I tried to make sure to tell what tools I use (like the Liquify tool....the Brush tool) and also mention all the actions I was using and where I got them from.

So if you actually make it thru all 11 minutes of my rambling I would love your feedback! Let me know what was good....what I need to improve....and what you'd like to see next. And here's a huge "Thank You" in advance for watching my first ever, super cool, way awesome video tutorial on

Using Actions to Enhance Your Images!!!!

{and if it doesn't work just humor me and tell me it was fabulous}

Shoutout to Jessica Drossin Textures

2011-01-28T17:48:00.001-05:00

In case you haven't heard, I'm a texture junkie.
I apply textures to *almost* every photo I edit, for business & personal. And I love love love to pass along the info for all the great textures I use and to give Shoutouts to all the great women that create them~

You've heard me singing the praises of Patti Brown {I can't live without her Dream Collection}, Florabella, ShadowHouse Creations and now Coffeeshop has created a texture set.

Today I want to tell you about my new love, Jessica Drossin Textures. And as all great love affairs
usually begin, it started with a little Funky Disco.

This texture...

...totally challenged me but I thought it was killer as soon as I saw it~ The color palette is neutral but the actual texture is pretty intense and not one that could be used appropriately on just any ole photo.

But of course I just happened to have an image of my BFF Raindog that I loved the mood of but couldn't figure out the right way to enhance it....I thought it needed a little *somethin somethin*~ Here's the original:

This was taken right at sunset when it was really getting too dark to shoot anymore but I love the coloring and the feel. I decided to apply Funky Disco to Raindog and see what happened....here's the result...

I like ~
It's weird and unusual and kinda eerie....I'm good with that.

Anyway, this was a long way to tell you that you should definitely try out Jessica's Awesome Textures and what's even better is that all her sets are just $25!

*Sidenote* I posted this image on Jessica's Facebook wall and told her that I'm an official stalker of hers now and gushed about how I adore her textures. She responded and said that even though she loved that texture she almost didn't include it in the Pack because she thought it would be too difficult for people to actually use it properly. She was so thankful that I shared this image with her that she gave me her Texture Pack 1 to show her appreciation!! Jessica is not only amazingly talented but generous as well~ That's a nice combo.

*Another Sidenote* Now that I'm rambling I think I need to do a whole other post about all the generosity that I've experienced from other photographers over the past year. It's shocked me over & over how much time and knowledge others have given to me with no purpose other than to just be nice.

*Last Sidenote* I've been experimenting with making Video Tutorials! Basically I would record my screen while I edit and then post the video for the world to see. If I make them, will you watch?

*Very Last Sidenote* Raindog hates this picture of herself. So, being the fantastic BFF that I am, I've posted it on about every forum there is and will probably make a life-size canvas of it for my future studio. I'm just awesome like that:)

Anatomy of....Winter Bride

2011-01-18T21:55:00.000-05:00

This weekend I had the {honor/pleasure/terrifying experience...again!} of photographing a wedding.
I typically don't do weddings because:
A. I think I need different equipment to fully do what I think is necessary at a wedding.
B. I spend so much stinkin' time editing my photos that it would take me months of work to edit all the photos I take at weddings which would mean I would have to charge a ginormous amount of money to make it worth my while which would mean that my target market would probably be very small so maybe I should go ahead and advertise for weddings?
C. I have no desire to deal with bridezillas.

But, I had no need to worry about a bridezilla with my *fab* bride this weekend, Megan. It was barely 30 degrees outside but she went along with my crazy request to get a few outdoor portraits (in her strapless gown!) since the church was so dark inside. I only had about 10 minutes to photograph her and the groom but we were able to get some great portraits in the afternoon light.

Here's one that I just knew was gonna be great as soon as I saw it in the camera. Megan had an awesome vintage fur coat that she put on at the end and I loved the glam look it added~

I don't usually do this but I'll show you one of the final edits first...

Now for the editing part....I opened my original file in Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac:

First I adjusted the Levels just a little to whiten it up a bit. Then I noticed that her eyeliner had come off at the very corner of her right eye. This made her eye look rounder at the end instead of pointier. {hope those technical terms don't confuse you!} Anyway, I wanted to smooth out her eyeliner to the end of her eye so I went to Filter - Distort - Liquify...

While in the Liquify tool I used the "finger" tool and just smoothed out the eyeliner to a point just like I would do with my own finger if I were smudging it on her face. Here's a close up with the eyeliner smudged:

It's those tiny little details that can make or break a photo:)
Next I used the Coffeeshop Baby Powder Room to smooth her skin then I flattened the image.

I decided to use the Coffeeshop Coffee with Cream action to give this image a very creamy look. I ran the action then erased out the bottom part around the coat and lowered the gradient to 67% so it brought back a little more color...

After that I thought it needed a bit more dreaminess so I ran the Orton action....one of my absolute favorites for portraits these days! I lowered the opacity on the Orton layer to bring back some definition...

Beautiful! Here's my final again...

But, as usual, I couldn't let it alone:) I wanted to see if I could add a little more of a high fashion look so I ran the PW Seventies action and lowered the opacity...

Here's my final with the Seventies look to it:

I like that one too!!
I've got plenty more shots to show off from this incredible bride...and her handsome groom wasn't too shabby either~

So tell me, which version do you like best?

Style Showcase 2010

2011-01-03T14:05:00.000-05:00

Ever heard of Facebook?
I'm going to assume that's a "yes".

Well I've launched a new promotion on my Facebook fan page called *Style Showcase 2010* and I want to tell you all about it.
I was wanting to do kind of an end of year review of all my photo sessions this year but wasn't quite sure how to organize it without basically just doing one major album filled with every photo I've taken!!

So I decided to focus on promoting what I believe makes Inspired by christy just a bit different from a world full of other photographers. I chose one image from the majority of my 2010 sessions that best represents my *unique* style to showcase in my Facebook album.

To make it fun for my clients, I've said that the image that receives the most comments will win a free Canvas Gallery Wrap or Metal Print. And to make it fun for voters I'll give one lucky voter a $25 gift card to dinner or Amazon.com. I want everyone to be able to participate and enjoy looking thru my 2010 images. Here's the promos I made up for it....

If you're a photographer with a Facebook page I would recommend doing something like this for your business. I've gotten all positive feedback so far and the clients with the featured images are really getting exciting about the chance to win such a great prize!

Word-of-mouth is by far the way I gain new clients and the majority of them see my images on Facebook before going to my website. So this promotion has been fantastic for getting my images in front of new people that may not have had the opportunity to hear about Inspired by christy any other way but thru their friends.

If you'd like to take a look at my *Style Showcase 2010* just head on over to my Facebook fan page HERE ~
And don't be shy....be sure to leave your comments on all the images you enjoy and you just may be the lucky voter who wins the gift card! Also, have you tried a great promotion for your business that worked well for everyone involved? I'd love to hear about it!

Image Critique by Bambi Cantrell

2010-12-20T21:22:00.000-05:00

Have you heard of Bambi Cantrell?
If you haven't, you should. Her portraits are compelling and so full of emotion.
But don't just take my word for it....she's been named "One of the 10 Best Wedding Photographers in the World" and also was the first woman to receive the "Icon of Imaging" award from Microsoft. She's pretty good~
And if you haven't guessed yet, I'm a fan.

A few weeks ago Bambi offered a rare opportunity for photographers to send her one portrait image to be featured and critiqued. Now you'd think the thought of being critiqued by one of the best photographers in the world would scare the pants off me! But instead I was so excited and emailed her a photo about 60 seconds after I read her blog post announcing the challenge. I barely took any time deciding which photo to send and just emailed the first one that popped into my head. I knew it was a slim chance that my image would even make the cut but ya never know until you try.

This is the image I submitted for the portrait critique......meet Riley ~

Isn't she lovely?
So back to my story.....I was shocked and thrilled when less than 24 hours later I received an email from Bambi herself saying she'd like to use my image!! My elation quickly turned to being mortified because she also told me that I sent the photo in the wrong format and I needed to resend it for it to be usable.
I hate formatting:) hate it:)

So here's the lowdown ~ Bambi has featured my image on her new pro website that she's created along with a few other photogs you may recognize....Kevin Kubota, Tamara Lackey, Jerry Ghionis...the list goes on. The site is PWSPI and you need to check it out.

Each Friday she will critique an image and open the forum for other photogs to voice their opinions as well. She's classy and kind and the spirit of the critique is not to be mean but to encourage where improvement could be found. I was thrilled to hear her opinions and I'd love to start participating in more critique forums to gain new perspectives on my images.

I'd love for you to check out my critique and read what Bambi had to say....and I'd love to hear your opinions too! You can post your comments on the pwspi site or here on my blog...or both!
You can read the post here...
Bambi Cantrell Critique

And just because I love this lovely girl, here's a few more images from this series....

~ Thank You Riley and Thank You Bambi ~

BTW...did I mention I hate formatting:)

Anatomy of....Girl On The Swing

2010-11-24T23:31:00.004-05:00

Today's Anatomy Lesson features my lovely Girl On The Swing.
{not to be confused with Boy On The Swing...totally different stuff}

I just love it when the stars align and everything just fits with a photo~
I was shooting some family pics of my great friends and while I was trying to get the fam together
for the big group shot, Ms. Amber was in her own little world just playing on the swing.
When I looked over and saw her looking so content....so free....so lovely....I walked over and just snapped a few. That's all it took~

Here's my original...

The expression and lighting was perfect but I wasn't thrilled with the hair issue on the back so I cropped in a little closer.

Next I ran Coffeeshop BabyPowderRoom and very lightly softened the skin...it didn't need much.

Then I added a texture from a new site I'm just in love with ~ Jessica Drossin Textures.
Jessica's textures are edgy and dramatic {everything I'm not but love for my photos to be!}.
And they're priced very reasonable which is a huge plus for me so go check them out.

Back to the photo:) I used Blush from Jessica's Texture Pack One and erased out the texture
on her body at 100% then erased around the edge of her body at about 35%...(that's the lighter gray area on the layer mask)

Then I flattened the image. I thought her skin looked a bit drab though so I ran CoffeeshopButterscotch Vintage action and erased the action off everything BUT her skin...

Much better:) I should have been satisfied but it still looked just a tad cold to me so I ran PW Warmer action, erased from all but her body and lowered the opacity to about 30%.

Here's my final~

Simply. Gorgeous.

You can check out the rest of the photos from this session in my Facebook album....if you think she's stunning you should see her sister....and her mom...and her brother....and even her dad!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

My New Love

2010-09-28T15:12:00.000-04:00

If you've kept up with me recently you may remember that I was having some serious camera envy earlier this year~

Well I'm pleased to announce that you will not have to deal with my whining any longer...I was finally able to purchase ~ my new love ~

After hours...and hours...and a few more ~~hours~~ weeks of research....I decided on the Nikon d300s camera.

Isn't it just divine?

If you've ever had to make a very large, important purchase and you knew you just had to get it right then you know how nerve wracking it is to choose the ideal camera when upgrading. Here's why I chose this particular camera:

~ it was a definite upgrade from what I already had in ISO performance and overall quality

~ every review I've read {and there were hundreds!} was positive

~ several pro photographers I've spoken with own this camera and every one absolutely loves it

~ I liked the way it felt in my hands....it's a quirky reason but very important when choosing a camera

~ it was the highest quality I could buy in my price range

But the fun doesn't stop there...after choosing my camera I had to choose a lens and I knew I didn't want a kit lens, I wanted a "pro" grade lens. I decided on the Nikon 50mm 1.4.

I knew from the first click that I want to be buried with this lens. That's how much I love it ~

Here's why I chose this particular lens:

~ I didn't already own a 50mm so I was truly getting something new

~ I wanted the 1.4 aperture for more creative opportunities

~ Every single photographer that owns a 50mm 1.4 says it's at the top of their favorite lenses ever

Now don't be a hater because I have some sweet gear now! I know how that camera envy can sneak up on ya~ Because of this purchase...

~ my kids will not be meeting Mickey Mouse this year....or any other year...ever

~ my kids will not get to ride in a snazzy new car like all their friends have...but instead they get a used minivan that smells like wet soccer cleats

~ leftovers will be on the menu more than ever

~ those funky, furry boots I'm wanting for fall will just remain on my Wish List...along with that epiphanie camera bag and pretty much everything else I'm wanting

But enough about that....let me show why I've proclaimed that if my house were on fire I would save my new camera first, and then hopefully a few of my kids...

...this is the very first photo I snapped about 10 minutes after I finally figured out how to open the box while I was sitting in the front seat of my van:

I realize it's not exactly art gallery worthy but I was lovin' it. About 20 minutes later I took these shots at my session.

{note: I would not recommend buying a brand new camera, not reading the manual, and attempting to photograph 6 people all within 1 hour}

Those are untouched, uncropped, uneverything...can you say bokeh? can you see why I'm in love?

Those shots were perfect as-is but I still had to mess with them just a bit~ I added a touch of butterscotch tint and these were my finals:

f stop 2.2

f stop 1.6

So to sum it all up, I'm very pleased with my purchases and I'm glad I took my time and did a ton of research before I decided what to buy. I really suggest that if you're looking to buy a new camera that you go to a camera store and try out the feel of several different models in your range for a good comparison. Try different lenses too so you can see how fast they focus and what it's actually like to use the zoom ring or work with a prime lens.

I tried the 24-70 2.8 and the 70-200 2.8 so one of those will be my next purchase...but I just can't decide....any thoughts??

Behind The Scenes Part 1

2010-09-24T19:20:00.000-04:00

NO ~ I haven't fallen off the face of the earth.
YES ~ I've been busy.

Something you may not know about me is that I absolutely love anything that shows Behind The Scenes.
Anything that shows how something was made or created, I'm drawn to it.
I watched all 32 hours of The Making of Star Wars on dvd. {not the old ones, the new ones}
It was fascinating and I'd highly recommend it if you have an extra 32 hours with nothing to do~

Which brings me to today's post...kind of...
My favorite behind the scenes is seeing how photographers have set up their lighting, props, and all the other stuff that goes along with getting that perfect shot. Moms with Cameras has a great series on lighting that shows various set ups each week with different photographers. I love peeking into their world and you should check it out if you like that kind of stuff too~

So a few weeks ago when I decided to do the bravest thing any mom can do {a photo shoot with my own punks!} I asked my aunt to take a few shots...of me taking a few shots...! It was fun to see them and I thought I'd share them with you...

Here's what my kiddos looked like most of the time...

Kinda reminds me of those famous Dwarfs...you've heard of Ticked, Sneezy, Neglected and Whiny haven't you?

I eventually threatened enough and got them together for some posing...
This angle...

...gave me this shot...

And speaking of angles...it was really interesting to see what a difference just walking a few steps over

could make in my image. Here's a head-on shot of the crew....

Yeah, they look cute enough but that jungle back there is pretty scary! I walked just a few steps to my right and took the photo from a new angle to get this...

The kids never moved but it looks a little less scary now~
That just reinforced the notion for me to take shots from several angles even if I think the first is good enough.

Here's a few I took of Princess...who has never seen America's Top Model but I do believe she could teach the contestants a thing or two about rockin' the attitude...

Ya think?

I did manage to catch a moment of sweetness and got one that I'm just lovin'~

This shows my fancy stuff...I had my "assistant" holding my new toy, the reflector. It works wonders when you use it right...which I'm still working on!

{disclaimer: I have no idea what Alexis' Mum is doing! Sorry Alexis' Mum, I couldn't resist!}

These are the shots I got from that angle using the reflector to even out the light. Notice how there's no harsh shadows on the faces even though it was waaaay sunny out with no clouds? That's the magic of a reflector!

I hope you've enjoyed my little installment of Behind The Scenes Part 1. And in case you didn't guess, I named it Part 1 because I have more to share later!

Seriously....I've got lots more coming and so much to tell....I've been busy creating some new marketing products....trying new props and I can't wait to share all about my really fun shopping trip to Dodds Camera~

Stay Tuned!

Mission Impossible

2010-08-17T19:48:00.000-04:00

Princess has been the "cover girl" of my photography business for the past year {much to her brothers' dismay} but recently I wanted to update my business cards and some marketing with a new photo. But I really liked the old photo I've been using because it's very striking and displays my dramatic style perfectly. {plus I'm biased and just love showing off my baby girl...!}

So, I attempted to do the impossible for my new marketing and that was to re-create a dramatic, intense photograph of my daughter that I could use in my marketing and evoke a similar look & feel to my previous photo. No biggie!

I actually had a lot of goals in mind when I loaded up the punks for the yearly family photo shoot...I'll share more of those later....so here's what I was able to achieve for this specific goal....

Here's my old photo that's been on my business cards, website splash page, marketing info...

I think it's very eye-catching for marketing purposes and I just like it.

And here's this years shot that I wanted to use on my new marketing pieces...

I opened my original in Photoshop Elements 6 for mac:

The first thing I wanted to do was sharpen those eyes so I ran Pioneer Woman's Sharpen This action and just brushed the eyes with my brush at about 28%....I've read you're supposed to sharpen last but I couldn't wait...I don't claim to be technically correct~

{also, I really hated to do it this time but I cropped the photo too for a better Rule of Thirds composition}

Next I wanted to focus more on the expression and less on the surroundings so I duplicated the layer

and selected Filter - Blur - Gaussian Blur at 9.4 pixels over the entire photo...

Of course I didn't want her whole face all blurred out so I added a Coffeeshop layer mask and erased the blur heavily on her eyes and mouth and lighter on the rest of the face...you can see the little alien face in black on the layer mask that shows the lighter and darker erasing...

Next I added a texture from the Supernatural collection for just a touch of dimension, nothing fancy this time....and I erased almost all of it from her face and just left it on the edges...

Then I ran the Coffeeshop Butterscotch Vintage action to brighten up the skin tone and because I just love it so much. It still didn't have the punch I was looking for though so I ran the Coffeeshop Vivid 2 action and selected the Soft setting but erased some of it lightly off her face...

And here's my final~ Meet the cover girl for Inspired by christy 2010!

So let's take a look at my mission:

~ pretty blonde girl - got it!

~ striking blue eyes - got it!

~ intense dramatic attitude - got it!

I'm satisfied with my attempt for a similar look without copying the same exact pose....

what do you think?

Anatomy of...Pretty Pretty Girl

2010-08-05T09:21:00.000-04:00

Let me just say, when you have to look no further than your own family for the most beautiful, most fun, most striking models, that's a really good thing!

My 'nieces' were in town last week and I couldn't wait to do a photo shoot with them. I tried some new props and they showed up with tons of great accessories...we had plenty of jewelry, fun clothing and even argyle socks~ Can't go wrong with argyle socks!

I've got lots of photos I'll be sharing from their shoot but here's one that I thought you may enjoy seeing my editing process...this one is of Beautiful Emily who is just a natural in front of the camera~

I opened my original in Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac...

I loved her expression here but wanted to change the composition so I cropped the photo but wound up losing space on the left side. My pic looked like this:

So I chose the Clone tool and cloned in some more of the weeds. This background is pretty easy to clone but a more detailed background would have been tough~ My final cloning wasn't perfect but I knew I'd be adding some texture so I thought it was good enough...here's what it looked like:

Next I softened the skin in Baby PowderRoom and did a little "facial treatment" on just one little part of her eyebrow...I chose the Clone tool again and cleaned up her eyebrow so it was a finer line along the edge...just call it a pain-free waxing!

This is what it looked like Before I waxed {cloned}....and you can check out the After on the final pic because I forgot to take a close up shot of it!

It's the fine, little details like that that can make all the difference in your images ~

Next I added a texture from the Supernatural collection...something soft and dreamy...

then added a layer mask and erased most of it off her body...

Next I wanted to increase that dreamy look so I ran the Orton action and reduced the opacity to 82%...

Then, because I just wasn't content with the feel of the photo, I duplicated the layer and ran a Gaussian Blur on the top layer and erased most of it off her face and shoulders...this really intensified the dreamy background...

If you'll notice the black part on the white layer mask you'll see some that's gray and some that's black...this is where I used a lower opacity brush on the edges and a higher opacity on the face. This eases the transition from focus to blurred and makes it look more natural...or at least that was the plan!

Finally I wanted to brighten the photo just a bit so I ran Coffeeshop Vivid 2 and used the Soft layer at 38% and lightly erased the Vignette in the right corner...

Here's my final...

Isn't she lovely ~

More photos coming from this session including her sisters - Twins! - and argyle socks!

Pretty Blue Eyes

2010-07-26T23:53:00.000-04:00

It doesn't get much sweeter than this....a 2 year old baby girl with soft blonde hair and pretty blue eyes.
Yep, I'm one lucky photographer because that's exactly who I had an opportunity to photograph a few weeks ago.

I've mentioned before how I've used the Orton effect on portraits and here's another example of the great dreamy effect it can add to your photo...
I opened my original photo in Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac:

First I cropped in close...{did you expect anything different?!}

Next I softened the skin, did a light skin glow and defined the eyes in Coffeeshop Baby Powder Room:

Then I ran the Orton Effect action and lightly erased on her face and heavily erased on her eyes...you see the little alien face that's been created on the layer mask by doing this...

Finally I ran the Coffeeshop Vivid 2 action and selected the Soft layer at 60%...

Here's my final image....she was perfection to begin with, I just tweaked the photo~

And don't forget...I'd love to see YOUR photos that you create...post to my facebook page and share the love!

Winners! And 25% OFF Supernatural Textures!

2010-07-20T17:02:00.000-04:00

THANK YOU to everyone who entered for this giveaway and left your insightful comments!
I love reading about how others use their textures and how they've transformed our editing capabilities~

Now, on to the winners! These 5 people will receive a set of the Supernatural Collection from Patti Brown:

Kim Hartmann
Charlottes Web
Tara Eckert
Traci
Sarah Cox

If you see your name please email Patti at:
patti@pattibrownphotography.com
I've emailed her your names and she will be expecting to hear from you to confirm your win and send you your download.

It's so hard for me to not be able to give everything to everyone! But Patti has been very generous and offered a 25% OFF DISCOUNT for everyone who wants to purchase her fabulous Supernatural collection! Just use the code "wayoutnumbered" when checking out for your discount. How cool is that...I have my own discount code!

{by the way...using that discount brings this set to under $30....way cheap!}

So get your textures and Get Busy!! And don't forget that I'd love to see your creations with textures or anything else...post to my facebook page and show off your wonderfulness! Just search "Inspired by christy" and Like my page!

And....since I MUST have a photo in a post...here's one more shot of yours truly edited with a texture from the Supernatural collection....Sarah had requested a "color" photo of myself and this is the best I could do! Take a good look because I won't be posting pics of myself again anytime soon~ I prefer to show off my beautiful models!

Win Patti Brown's Supernatural Collection!

2010-07-16T11:03:00.003-04:00

If you've lingered around here for any time at all, you may have noticed that I'm a huge fan of textures~
Yeah, I am.

What you may not have known is that Patti Brown's Dream Collection is the set that began my texture obsession. I had never even heard of textures before but when I saw her collection I immediately knew that those tools would allow me to add the feel to my photos that I wasn't able to portray on my own.

Anyway, Patti has been super busy since that first collection and she's just released her newest texture set which is totally out of this world! It's the Supernatural Collection and you are soooo gonna want it!
Lucky for you, she's giving away 5 sets to wayoutnumbered readers!!!

I really, really recommend that you take a look at Patti's site to see all that can be created with these *fab* textures. She has simple, easy-to-follow video tutorials showing tons of tips for using her textures in different opacities and also great recipes for combining multiple textures ~ which I love to do!

The Supernatural Collection is excellent for not only adding texture to your image but also in changing the coloring/tone of an image, almost like an action. I tend to use them mainly for their texture but visit her site to see inspiring Before & Afters showing all kinds of alterations.

For today's post though I'll show you a very simple edit using just one texture from the Supernatural collection...I'll be using a photo from a model who rarely submits to photo shoots...me:) ...but hubby insisted I be in front of the lens for once~

Here's my original in photoshop elements 6 for mac:

I cropped and added Earthly Being III...you can take a look at all that's going on in this texture here...

I'm really likin' this one....I'm also fond of the Gothic and Otherworldly versions...aren't the names just the coolest? There's also an entire folder of textures with this set already converted to Black & White...very handy...although for some reason I used the color one on my photo and then converted the whole photo to black & white...don't ask me why~

Here's the final...the Earthly Being texture was just what I needed for that background...

Now on to the good stuff....5 sets of the Supernatural Collection are up for grabs...here's the details:

For One Entry:

Leave a comment on this blog answering the question....

"How has the use of textures changed your editing style?"

Do you use them for light manipulation....for heavy texture on backgrounds...to add a different feel to photos such as vintage or urban? I want to know!

For A Second Entry:

Post a link on your facebook page or blog to this giveaway and then leave a comment here telling me you've done so. Be sure to include a link to your page so I can make sure everything is legit~

Only Two Entries per person~

Contest ends Monday, July 19th at midnight Eastern time. {I extended the time since I'll be out of town Sunday night} Winners will be chosen with Random.org and I may let my kiddos pick a few numbers too. 5 Winners will be announced Tuesday afternoon so be sure to check back to see if you're a winner! Good Luck!

For You Drama Lovers

2010-07-13T22:22:00.001-04:00

You probably already know it, but I like a little drama ~
Only when it comes to photography....I prefer my life drama-free!

Here's a great shot of Queenie that I just had to add a little drama to...

I opened my original, which ain't half bad, in Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac:

I softened the skin in Coffeeshop Baby PowderRoom just a little, I wanted to leave it very

natural looking and make sure the skin texture remained...I didn't have a soft look in mind for this photo. Then I cropped in close.

Next I added a texture but erased most of it from her face...

Then I ran Coffeeshop Raspberry Tea action and it looked like this...

...which I *almost* liked but just not enough, it looked a little flat...so I ran Coffeeshop Butterscotch Vintage on the photo and lowered the Contrast Boost layer to 67%...

And ended up with this...

It's gritty and dramatic...just like Queenie!

What do you think.....the first edit (Raspberry Tea) or the final edit?

Anatomy of...Luau Girl

2010-07-08T18:55:00.000-04:00

I recently had the extreme pleasure...and new experience...of shooting a Luau 60th Anniversary party.
It was such a great learning experience for me, I've never photographed a group of over 40 people before!
Luckily, I'm bossy and demanding so I really had no trouble ordering everyone around and telling them where to stand and what to do:) The entire family put up with me so well and I really enjoyed my evening and was so thankful they asked me to be a part of such a momentous occasion.

I also hit another bit of luck when one of my favorite little models from last fall decided to sit still for just a moment for me. I snapped away for just a minute or two and got some great images her family loved.

Here's a very simple edit from one of the shots...
I opened my original pic in Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac:

I really wanted to focus on those beautiful eyes so I sharpened them using PW Sharpen This action...

Next I perfected the facial area just a bit using Coffeeshop Baby Powder Room action...smooth skin, skin glow and eye define...

Then I wanted to soften the outer edges of the picture so I duplicated the layer and used Filter - Blur - Gaussian Blur to blur the entire picture then erased the blur off the eye & nose area to bring the focus back on those areas. I used a heavier opacity brush on the eye area then lowered it around her hairline and mouth for a subtle blurred transition. Being subtle usually doesn't interest me but in this case it was necessary!

Then I added a texture from ShadowHouse Creations, added a layer mask and erased most of it off her face...

Finally I ran the Pioneer Woman Seventies action and lowered the opacity to about 65%...here's my final shot...

She's Absolute Perfection~

I liked the original pic too with her cute little hand in it but I just have this obsession...I Must Crop!

What do you think....do you like the cropped or uncropped version best?

Anatomy of...Queenie

2010-07-05T14:27:00.004-04:00

I just recently had the pleasure of taking some photos of one of my lifelong, bestest girlfriends ever, Queenie.

Queenie embodies the epitome of professionalism...always wearing a suit or business attire and perfectly put together. She didn't even own a pair of jeans until about a year ago! She told me she was in need of some new professional images for her Image Consulting site so I agreed to do her photos...on one condition: that she let me take some "fun" photos of her when the pro ones were finished. She agreed, thinking the whole time that she wasn't going to have to leave her precious suit:)

I finally managed to talk her out of the suit and into a pretty little sundress. She almost had a nervous breakdown walking from the changing room to the woods...even turned around once and said she just couldn't do it, she was craving the safety of her professional clothes! Of course she didn't win that battle and finally...after seeing the finished results...admitted that the sundress was worth it after all~

Here's what Queenie looks like when she wakes up in the morning...

Yes, she's gorgeous and impressive but I was wanting to show something...more ~

Here's a very simple edit that I performed on one of her pics...

I opened my original in photoshop elements 6 for mac:

Next I cropped the photo and softened the skin using Coffeeshop Baby PowderRoom.

After that I wanted to add a little more color to her eyes since I knew I was going to be fading the color in the final version...so I lassoed the eyes and went to Enhance - Adjust Color - Color Variations and increased the green.

Next, as usual, I added some textures then erased them partially, but not entirely, from her face...

Then I ran one of my super favorite actions, Pioneer Woman Seventies and lowered the opacity to 67%...

Then I noticed that her hair was a little flyaway on the right side so I did some cloning and cloned over it ...it looked like this before I cloned it...

...and this afterwards, which I thought looked a little too perfect...

So I added a layer mask and brought back in some of the flyaways for a more natural look...

What do you think...would you have fixed the hair?

Here's my final...

Waaaaay better than a suit!!

Here's a few more from her shoot...she's never had photos like this before~

There were so many fabulous shots from this session....of course I've got a dramatic one that I'll show the edit on soon...stay tuned!

Anatomy of....Black & White Pretty Girl

2010-06-17T23:04:00.000-04:00

In case you haven't noticed, I enjoy cropping.

I'm pretty sure the professionals advise to "get it right in the camera"...but I seem to have fun finding the little hidden gems within photographs...kinda like a treasure hunt!

Here's one of my latest finds...this pretty little girl was running around at a fun Anniversary party I just shot but of course she wouldn't even slow down for a photo op. I ended up getting a profile that barely even shows her eye. I almost trashed it but at the last second I took a closer look...

I opened my original in photoshop elements 6 for mac:

Next I cropped in close on just the face and used Pioneer Woman Sharpen This action to extreme

sharpen her eyelashes, nose & mouth plus the hair around her face and the curl in the back. Here's my screenshot, the parts in white show where I sharpened with a soft brush at 100%.

Then I softened the skin and defined the lashes in Coffeeshop Baby PowderRoom.

Then I ran Pioneer Woman Black & White action. After that I decided to add a texture.

I used a texture from the new Supernatural collection...they're so great! (giveaway coming soon!!)

I erased the texture primarily off her face but kept pretty heavy on the outer edges.

Finally I ran mcp actions Touch of Light/Darkness and lightened the curls by her neck and barely darkened the corner.

Here's my final:

I love this image ~

So the next time you're going thru your photos and thinking of keeping only the "perfect" ones,

take another look. Never know what you'll find!

The Orton Effect for Portraits

2010-06-10T15:57:00.000-04:00

I posted a while ago about how I've been obsessively using the Orton Effect action on my portraits lately.
Typically this action is known for enhancing landscapes but I love the dreamy & hazy effect it has and thought I'd give it a whirl on some faces. Personally, I love it~

Here's another example of how I used it on a portrait recently:

I opened my original image in Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac...

I lightened under her eyes just a bit using the clone tool on Lighten around 20%.

Then I softened the skin using Baby Powder Room action.

Next I cropped the picture to a square focusing on just her portrait.

Then I ran the Orton Action and adjusted the Brightness/Contrast as follows when the pop-up windows came up:

+39 for the first window on Brightness.

-7 for the Brightness on second window. I have no formula for this, it's just how it looked good to me at the time.

Then I erased most of the effect off her face using the built in layer mask....what this does is just soften her hair and the surroundings and give it just a touch of a 'glow'~

I love the great color of her hair here but it still looked too ordinary to me so I ran the Pioneer Woman 70's action and took the opacity to 50%...

Much Better:)

Here's my final...

So don't be afraid to try typical actions in new ways....never know what you'll end up with!

Playground Queen

2010-06-03T11:00:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I realized that the year was almost halfway over and I had barely taken any photographs of my kiddos doing what they do best....being kids~

I've been concentrating so much lately on becoming a more skilled, knowledgeable photographer that I lost sight for a moment of why I crave photography...it allows me to capture the moments of the people I love best.

So one evening when we had some time in between soccer games I let Wild Child & Princess play on the playground at the park. Amazingly enough, they didn't cover their faces in disgust when I pulled out the camera and actually gave me some great expressions while they were having fun.

I thought I'd share an edit from one of my favorites of Princess...

I opened my original in Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac:

The picture is great as-is but I decided to add just a little oomph to it~ I like oomph~

I started by softening the skin just a little with Coffeeshop Baby Powder Room and I also added a slight glow to the skin with the Skin Glow layer and darkened the eyes just a bit...

Next I added a texture from the new Patti Brown Supernatural Textures....I really wanted to play up the orange color...I erased it from most of her skin though and just left it on the tunnel.

Then I wanted to blur out more of the pic and concentrate on her face so I added a Gaussian Blur over the entire pic after duplicating the layer...

Then I erased the blur off mostly her facial area using the Coffeeshop layer mask...

{just a little side note....if I had a better lens, maybe a f2.8 or f1.4 I wouldn't have to fake the blur...but those are still on my wish list! thank goodness I know how to fake it!}

The next steps are where I started going crazy...I tried action after action after action and just couldn't finish it off the way I wanted. I think I finally used a combination of Coffeeshop Butterscotch Vintage, Pioneer Woman Boost and Erin's Defog...possibly a few more but I stopped keeping track after several attempts! Here's what I ended up with...I also cropped in just a bit...

~ I like it ~

Here's a few more from our playground date...I haven't touched these...they're sooc...and I don't think I will edit these. I think I'll just leave them as-is and cherish the moment~

Princess ~ Age 5 ~ Playground Queen

Anatomy of...My Boy

2010-05-25T11:18:00.000-04:00

I was using Mary Sue's camera this weekend at a soccer tournament and I super quick snapped this shot of Wild Child~

He was lookin' so boyish at that moment...sweaty...gritty...dirt smeared on his cheek....everything a boy should be~

We were outdoors but under a shelter so it was pretty dark and I love how the background just completely blacked out. The pop up flash went off on her Canon Rebel xti at 70mm focal length, F stop 5. Since he was so close to me, probably less than 2 feet, the flash just caught him and that's why the background blacked out. (...at least I think that's why!)

Of course I wanted to add a bit more drama so I opened my original in Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac and sharpened just his left eye with Pioneer Woman Sharpen This. Here's my screenshot:

Next I flattened and ran Pioneer Woman Boost action and lowered the Zing layer to 73% opacity:

Finally I ran Coffeeshop Butterscotch Vintage to add the drama. I LOVE this action on skin tones for major impact...I lowered the Contract Boost layer to 69%...

and here's my final with mcp Finish It border added...

The original was great but this just has a little more punch to it....and Heaven knows I need more punch in my life!