Dalton @ 3 weeks

Spent some time today with this little cutie.  Hard to believe he's 3 weeks old already. He's such a good baby. When the photos were done, we put his jammies on, swaddled him and he went right to sleep. 

Sun Kissed

Working on my last set of portraits from Project Kick Cancer. I got a little behind due to a certain adorable baby being born. The girls from this session were an absolute delight to spend time with.  The lovely Mrs. R has just graduated from nursing school and took me up on my offer for portraits in exchange for donations.  I've known her husband since he was a little boy. It sure doesn't seem like he's old enough to be married. How time flies.

Little Miss S.

And yes....the S stands for Sassy. She sure looks sweet but let me tell you...the kid has an attitude and I wouldn't have it any other way. She's not shy or reserved. She storms through life, taking in everything she can.  Our time at Klehm Arboretum on Saturday was wonderful. She is very much a hands on learner so to watch her take an interest in nature was amazing. She has a very good eye for birding and she was extremely interested in plants and butterflies. "What kind is this one?" "What does this sign say?" "How can that one be a Hosta too if it doesn't even look like the other ones?"   When I tell people it takes a lot of energy just to be around her, they have no idea what I mean. I hope she always stays that way.
Still trying to get a style going to keep a consistency with the blog. Do you think the portraits display better with or without a frame?

Blessings In Disguise

I know I have raved about Lightroom 3.0. I think for portrait editing it's unbeatable. But it was very limited in what it could do creative wise.  I hated to have to use 2 programs. And let's face it...$300 was a little out of my price range for an editing program. So here's the thing, PhotoShop Elements 8.0 is not that bad.  It has a lot of features that make portrait editing easier and less time consuming, and it allows me to be creative when I want to be.  And for $90 it fit the budget easily. It was and even more pleasant surprise when after 15 minutes of use, I figures out how to install actions that would make portrait editing even less time consuming. I found quite a few actions that look promising at coffeeteaphotography.  After dling a few of them and playing around...I was able to create these in just minutes.


This photo was straight out of the camera....



With the Perfect Photo action....



And with the SunKissed action applied....

Mr. Eyelashes

Why do baby boys always get the most amazing eyelashes? Mr. W here not only has those lashes but the most gorgeous eyes and sweetest most pouty lips ever.  Seriously...how cute is he?

It's always a joy to photograph Little Mr. W.

Playing In The Lightroom

I've been using PSE 2.0 for so long and have been so hesitant to spend the big bucks to buy Lightroom. But I downloaded a free 30 day trial and have to say...I am loving it. Not sure if I will purchase Lightroom or not but I am definitely going to upgrade to something more pro. I love the look it gives photos. PSE 2.0 is pretty limited but it's very easy to use. So..not sure what one I am going to go with...but new software soon.

I shot this photo at high noon because it was an on location shoot hours from my home and was the only available time of day. It was full sun and so colors were washed out...shadows were many. But Lightroom was able to save it. Love the color now.

I did this picture of Baby A a few weeks ago but didn't like the cold tones and sharpness of the original. No matter what I did in PSE 2...I could not get the tone right. I love how it looks now. Hope her Grandma does too.

and one more.....