Can’t Get Enough

I have been playing with Brantley’s pictures from this morning and have a couple more to share.  First an example of what can be done in Photoshop Elements.  The shadows were bad in this one.  A friend suggested moving Brantley a few feet in front of the backdrop.  That’s the best idea but I only had a couple of feet to work with in the space, so here is the fix:

Before:

After:

It’s not a perfect fix.  It softens the hairline.  But it gets rid of the shadow and evens out the background.  I also added an action that adds a little pop and contrast.

This next picture I did not edit the first time through.  I think it’s denial.  She just can’t be this old yet.  I used the same edits on this one as the one above.

Dress-Up

Today Brantley and I are pretending that it is Springtime.  I was set up for  a newborn shoot in my “kitchen studio” but baby decided she didn’t want to have her picture taken today.  It happens.  So, with the pretty baby girl colors all ready to go we decided to put on Brantley’s Easter dress and snap a few.  I was very clever about it being all Brantley’s idea. (wink, wink)  Otherwise she runs the other way when the camera comes out. 

I love actions but I have not applied any to these yet.  I’d love feedback on the color and white balance as they are out of the camera.

So Sweet!

 

Uh-Oh…

This next one’s my favorite but you can see it coming can’t you.

Yep, there’s the look.

And here’s the bribe: 

Three more clicks gets three jellybeans!

And three more clicks is all you get! 

Absolutely DONE!

 

Thanks Brantley!  That was fun.  We haven’t done that in a while.

I know it’s not your favorite, but you are sweet to help me.

Love you, Mom.

The Many Faces of Homework

     

 

And DONE!

P’sOTD

I know some days it will be hard to come up with even one picture so I will rejoice in the days that I cannot narrow it down to just one.  I should preface all following POTD posts by saying that I shoot almost exclusively in aperture priority.  I am comfortable in full manual but I find that aperture priority almost always works for me.

Today Kendall and I spent the afternoon in Warm Springs Georgia.  It is one of our favorite places to spend a beautiful spring-like day.  Our girls were out gallivanting with their very kind grandparents all day so we enjoyed a nice southern lunch at the Bulloch House and then took a stroll down Main Street.  This POTD is an adventure in speed.  Kendall was the first to notice the bees buzzing in the tree overhead.  I loved the new blooms as well. 

f9.0, 1/125, ISO 100 50mm

The focus was on the bee.  In hindsight I would like to have had the branches in front a little more focused as well but I would have lost the ability to freeze the bee’s wings.  Since bees don’t pose for very long at a time it’s hard to think these things through!  Had I known I would be taking bee portraits I would have used my zoom.  Here is a close-up of Mr. Bee.  I’d guess I was 5 feet away.

    

 

I also wanted to capture the charm of Warm Springs so I’m adding this picture of the lace curtains in the window of the Victorian Tea Room.  Very typical of the shops on Main Street.  I love that you can see the other side of the street in the reflection of the window.

  f7.1, 1/50, ISO 100,  50mm

 

And just one more…

f9.0, 1/320, ISO 100, 50mm---vintage action

I have to agree!

POTD

I have two for the first day.  One was fort practice and the other just for fun.  Serious stuff first.

Kendall and I were at Olive Garden for lunch and I took my camera in hoping for a window seat but no luck.  So, I put my 50mm lens to the test in the low light at our table.  The only interesting thing on the table at that point was the bowl of sugar packets.  I love all the pastel colors.  I had the camera on the table at first so I could use a very low shutter speed but my lens would not focus on anything.  It’s a bit old and cranky (and very slow) so I moved it around a bit and tried several more times.  Nothing.  So I picked up the camera and to get as much speed as possible I upped the ISO.  Still not tack sharp anywhere and the depth of field is quite shallow, but the best I could do under the conditions.  I am wary of my higher ISO’s right now but I promise to try them over the next couple of days.  I’d really like to have a greater depth of field so I guess I’ll have to.  Here is what I got:

   

f1.8,  1/20th of a second, ISO 400

Post processing included unsharp mask and levels adjustment.  I’ve been working a lot on getting my white balance right in-camera and I’m pretty pleased with this one.  And the best part?  I got a shoot with the family at the next table.  I should probably carry my camera with me everywhere I go!

Now,  just for fun:

I’m so glad they are not serving their food on the floor.

Well, everyone else is doing it, why shouldn’t I?

I do not want to be left out and I definitely need the practice so I am joining the POTD (picture of the day) club.  Not sure how long it will last but I am willing to enjoy it while it does.  My kids run the other way when I reach for my camera so I am setting a goal to take pictures of people who actually like me, or don’t know me.  (Just kidding about my kids not liking me.  They know where their dinner comes from!)  Really though, I would like to get out into the community more and document the southerners that I love and who raised me.

I’ll start tomorrow……. :)

Self-Explanatory

I’m Waiting for you Spring, Please Hurry.

In the life of a photographer the lull between Christmas and Spring can be brutally boring.  I do not shoot weddings so there’s really not much to do in the downtime.  So, I spend my time looking through old photos and re-editing them.  Here is one I found from our first trip to see Sierra at Solstice.  This vine was growing up the rails of the deck off the back of the lodge. 

It has me pining for blooms of any kind.

Brantley?

I came across this scene in the office today.  Eerily “Wizard of Oz”-ish.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

This year I have only one child in grade school.  I know, crazy right?  That means only one child to prepare Valentine’s for.  I have been that mom before, the one who makes handmade cards for each child to give to each of the 23 children in their classes.  (Makes me tired just thinking about it)  I have also been the mom that buys the boxes of cards after Valentine’s Day for a quarter and saves them for the next year.  This year however I am the mom who makes the cards and slaps her business name on them, making them a clever marketing tool and a tax write-off!  I’m pretty sure this is the real mom in me!

This card is printed on a beautiful pearl textured paper which is shiny and does not photograph well, but I think you get the idea.

VARSITY!!!

That’s right.  After only one season playing jr. varsity lacrosse for Columbus High School Belinda will be joining the VARSITY team this season.  First game is February 27th.  I’ll keep everyone posted as to the schedule.  Congratulations Bella!  We are so proud of all of your hard work.  You rock!

Girl Time

I love Teri and Sue.  My best girlies from high school.  I have Facebook to thank for bringing them back to me during a time in my life that I really needed them.  And even better, they needed me too!  It’s been a rough year for all of us and I think the fact that we have been out of each other’s lives for so long made it easier somehow to open up and be supportive in a way that those who have been with us more recently are not able.  It also helps that we have always been brutally honest with one another.  If you don’t have friends like that, get some!  Last weekend we stayed in a cabin at Callaway Gardens in the rain and just enjoyed being together.  We talked about the hard things but we also laughed and ate and walked and laughed some more.  It’s been almost 20 years since we last had that opportunity and it was just as easy and natural last week as it was then.  Thanks Sue and Teri for being there for me right now.  Sue, I loved your mom so much.  She always let us hang out and watch questionable movies, and fed us, and just loved us.  I know you must miss her terribly but you handle it with such grace.  Teri,  you are such a good mom.  You do not deserve what is happening to you but your faith that God has a plan for you and that you will come through this stronger and better is so inspiring.  I hope I grow up to be like both of you someday.  Here are some photos of our time at Callaway. 

Because it was raining the bird show was inside, and because that red-shouldered hawk can exert 165 pounds of pressure with each claw I did not use a flash.  Sue me!

 

We drove over to the chapel which was beautiful in the mist. 

Sue and I enjoyed taking pictures of the stained glass while Teri very patiently waited.

        

I love this picture of Sue and Teri.  They look the same as they did in school 20 years ago!  I’m very serious about that.  It’s so not fair!

See, here’s proof: