Behind The Scenes Newborn Baby Zara

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

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

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~