Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Oliver

Did my first Puppy Portrait today for the American Cancer Society project I am doing.  This is Oliver.  He is so cute and cuddly. He looks like a teddy bear. And just as sweet as can be.  It was a lot harder to photograph a dog than I thought though. Any tips for future canine portraits are greatly appreciated.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

A Half A Lifetime Ago

I was going through some old photos on the external hard drive to see if there were any "throw aways" I could apply some new techniques to. Didn't find many but I sure found a lot of memories.  For example...

She was 3 here. Seems like way more than 3 years ago and a  just yesterday all at once. For a little person, she sure has such a big personality.  People are always surprised to meet her in person and see that she is so petite. That personality sure makes her seem a lot bigger. This was taken back when I thought the studio set up was the way to go.  It was sure a lot of work setting things up and cost a lot of money.  Outdoor natural portraits....so much easier. I do still have some studio stuff that I will be setting up again soon for portraits. Can't wait to share them.  

Friday, June 11, 2010

Fountain Of Youth

Rockford this year is hosting a City Market every friday afternoon along Water St. by the river.  It is a city sponsored farmers market/artisan fair.  Today was opening day. The weather was hot and humid. What a perfect day to open. The market is set up a block from my work and I love that I can walk down on a friday after work and pick up fresh produce, or some cheese or bread.   I wandered around today and just bought a few root vegetables as not much is in season yet. Down toward the end of the market and behind the fountains are located. They had them turned on today. How wonderful. I love the little kids running through. Hearing them laugh and scream makes me feel like a kid again. I had my camera and got one shot of a little girl who would run up to the spray and stand for a minute and then run squealing away. She was absolutely the sweetest thing. Well...see for yourself....


Thursday, June 10, 2010

Playing Around

I've been spending a lot time in Photo Shop lately.  Learning new tips and tricks for making photos pop and rescuing photos that might otherwise have been throw aways. Over exposure? Not a problem. I learned that if you make a new layer and paint fill it with a dark gray and then make that layer an overlay or soft light, you can bring out some detail that might otherwise have been lost.  Of course that won't work if your image is to far over exposed.
    The following photo was one that was under exposed though and boosting the contrast washed out the background to much. By adding a white overlay with black grunge edges I was able to lighten her face without losing the detail in the background.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Prom 2010

Some of the bloggers that I follow use story boards to showcase their photography. I really like that concept so I made a story board of my niece's prom photos.  I think I might do one of her graduation photos to and print them out 12x12 and frame them for her.