Megan's Senior Session: Part 2

Graduation is such an exciting time!  That excited feeling of being DONE with high school is just priceless!  I was able to go with Megan early to the ceremony, and we had time to grab a few shots of her in her cap and gown before the ceremony started.  Even if I did have to sit on the floor for two hours to get these shots, it was so worth it!  I hope these few quick shots show how truly happy she was and bring a smile to your face, I know they did to mine.  I am so blessed to have such a beautiful sister, she is the perfect model!  Isn't her hair gorgeous?  I'm pretty sure over 100 people commented on it.... haha!  :)

"Hey Girl" Photo Challenge

I decided to do something different, and I entered "I heart Faces" photo challenge, "Hey Girl."  I've always wanted to something with this picture of my beautiful cousin, and this was the perfect chance.  And oh how I'd love to get my hands on that lens!  Thanks for reading!  :)

Megan's Senior Session: Part 1

I am so excited to share these pictures with you all.  Megan and I make such an amazing team.... she models and I snap!  She's comfortable in front of the camera and in front of me, and I'm comfortable behind the camera.  We have so much fun together.  Megan understands what I want in a pose and perfects it, I can honestly say she's my favorite model.  Of course, it helps that she's incredibly gorgeous and easy to work with.  Thank you Megan, for being the best model I could ask for. :) Keep your eyes out for part 2 with this gorgeous senior!

 My favorite :)

Rapunzel and some Cute Kids

Aren't birthday parties the best?  This party was especially fun.... even if it wasn't for me.  A Tangled Party full of fun = a bounce house, snow cones, Rapunzel coming for a visit, pizza, lots of friends, and a whole lot of fun.  I was having lots of fun taking pictures of all the adorable kids having fun.  Lots of fun for everyone.  ;)  Bounce houses are the best, especially when the party is over and the big kids get to jump in them with the hose.... good times! haha.  As photographers, sometimes we're forced to work with non-favorable conditions, like lighting problems.  Thankfully this was just a birthday party, and not a photoshoot, because the lighting on the porch was not fun to work with.  So, please overlook the horrible lighting as much as possible, and enjoy these absolutely adorable kids. :)

 This is possibly the most adorable kid I have ever seen..... seriously!

 The kids meeting Rapunzel.

 "7 am the usual morning line up..... "

Birthday girl and her beautiful Mom :)

The Power Of Editing

Editing can be a very tricky and personal thing.  Everyone has their own style(s) of editing.  Editing gives you the chance to take your photo to the next level.  When you edit a photo, you are in control.  You decide weather you want to simply clean up the photo, add creative touches, or do a completely creative edit.  I think the type of editing depends largely on the style of photo.  Some photos call for very little editing, while others may have major problems (such as something that needs cloning, patching, exc) and may require an extensive edit.  Here are a few things to keep in mind while editing:

• Clean it up first.  Cleaning up your photo should ALWAYS be the first step.  It's easier to fix problems like white balance and exposure if you shoot in RAW.  If your photo needs retouching, do it before you continue on to artistic editing.  Work first, and then play.  First do your work (cleaning, fixing, and retouching), then "play" with actions, if you wish to continue to that step.
• Don't over-edit.  Everyone has done it before.  I look at my edits all the time and decide I don't like them, because they're "overdone."  So here's a tip: try to only correct problems for starters, unless you have an artistic vision for a particular photo.  If you run an action, or make an adjustment, and you don't love it, DON'T just flatten.  Lower the opacity, mask off certain areas, or remove the effect completely.  I promise you, it will be worth the time.  Following this simple step will make a HUGE improvement on your editing and it will help your end result not look so over-edited.
• Learn your material.  This step is crucial to editing.  Learn your editing program and your actions.  It takes time, but it's worth it.  Before you even edit a photo, you should be able to look at it and know exactly what each action will look like if you choose to apply it.  I know this can be hard when you first get an action set, but here is my advice: before you tackle editing a whole session with actions that you don't "know", take some of your favorite photos (that you have editing before) and familiarize yourself with your material FIRST.
• Be in control and learn to develop your own style.  You have full control of the outcome of your image.  Make sure you achieve exactly what you want for an image.  Editing is an art by itself, learn to develop your own editing styles.
• Practice makes perfect.  Lets face it, to get good at something, it takes a lot of practice.  Editing is no exception to this.  I go back and look at my editing from even just a few months ago, and I can't stand it.  Keep practicing, practicing, and practicing.  You'll get better and better, and you'll learn to perfect your own editing steps.

Here is an example of what editing can do for a photo.  Roll your mouse over the photo to see the "before."  The before photo had some major problems.  The white balance was off, the reds were blown, his face needed retouching, and the image needed sharpening.  When I started out editing, the first thing I did was clean everything up.  In the following order, I corrected white balance, took out some of the redness, retouched his face, softened his skin a bit, and sharpened in certain areas (eyes, teeth, and hair).  Now that my photo is clean, I continued on to the more "artistic" part.  For this part, I ran "Color Lush" from Florabella's Classic Workflow, and placed a texture.  This was my final result:

Fisher: 5 Months

This January (yes, I am blogging something three months late) I got to meet my cousin Fisher for the first time.  He is so adorable, happy, sweet, and fun.  We got to watch him for two days when his family came out to visit, and I took a few pictures of him.  He was the perfect model, he was so good the whole time!  I love these pictures because they show how happy he is.  Aren't his blue eyes just amazing????  And those chubby checks.... don't you just want to squeeze him?  Thank you, Fisher, for being the perfect little model for me.  :)