Fix-It-Friday #165

It's been a long time since I participated in  I Heart Faces Fix-It-Friday.  I love editing :) So I thought I'd give it a whirl. Ok so here is the before image originally taken by Angie Arthur Photography. And here is my edit. 

The recipe: Edited in Photoshop

1. I cloned out the telephone pool in the background.

Then using Paint the Moon's Picture Perfect Action Set

1. Let's Be Clear 30% opacity

2. Instant Reflector at 20% opacity

3. Creamy Skin Brightener. Richen the shadows +70%

4. Soft Burnt Edges 10% opacity

5. Pure Color Snap

6. Quick and Simple Color Pop 55%

7. Razor Sharp for Print at 75%

7. I ran Wisteria at 65%, an action from Oh So Posh Timeless Elegance Collection 

CHAR ON-THE-SHOOT-WORKSHOP

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending a photography workshop. Not just any workshop, a workshop with CHAR PHOTOGRAPHY. She’s an amazing portrait and wedding photographer that I have been following for 3 or 4 years now.  If I can remember I believe I was on facebook one day and I  saw a friend comment on a friends photo of their wedding day that was shot by CHAR. At the time her business was Authentic You. I immediately book marked her blog and went home that night and read just about every post! I admire the way she capture’s images. They are crisp sharp, dreamy and beautifully composed and I was inspired to learn more.  When I read that she was going to host a on-the-shoot workshop I knew I needed to attend. 

The workshop was held on February 23 at her studio in Myerstown, PA. Char started by introducing all of the members of the CHAR team then dove right into equipment, lighting and shooting manual. The morning was full, taking notes, answering questions and making recommendations. After lunch we headed upstairs for a shoot stylized by Grace, the CHAR team stylist who shared with us how she organizes a shoot. Everything from how she incorporates hair, make-up, and fashion to match the client’s personality.  Then we were introduced to Aubrey, the model for the shoot, who is absolutely gorgeous and did a fantastic job. Can you believe she is only fifteen!! Char and Andrea ran through some tips on how to pose and engage Aubrey. Exactly as they would if they were on the shoot.  And then it was our turn to shoot. I am sure Aubrey felt like she was being attacked by the paparazzi but in a good way. The day ended perfectly with Anna covering do’s and don’ts in editing and the importance of getting the images correct in camera and finding your own style. It was an awesome experience.

CHAR and the whole team, I can not thank you enough for taking the time to plan this workshop and sharing your knowledge. The workshop was everything I expected. I look at light differently and cannot wait to utilize what I learned in future shoots. Enjoy looking through some of my favorites from the styled shoot.

WALL DISPLAY SIZE COMPARISON

Ever wonder how that 8x10 is going to look above the sofa or that mantle? If you're a visual person like me, you need to SEE how something is going to look before you actually hang it up on your wall. When you are planning out a wall display SIZE MATTERS!!

From the comparision above, you can barely see the 8x10 and even the 11x14 has very small impact. A print that size would just get overpowered by the expansive wall and the weight of the sofa. On the other hand, the 24x30 or 30x40 images would really make a BIG statement and have a visual impact in the room. If you want a single image on a wall to make a statement, larger is better. Now that doesn't mean you have to rule out the 5x7 and 8x10's. That is where you can get creative in designing a wall grouping for a space, shelf or around one large canvas. It all depends on the space you wish to fill. I hope this comparision of sizes helps when you are trying to decide what size prints for your walls and encourages you to think of your portraits (your memories) as a piece of art. Make a bold statement. Don't let you portraits sit on a disc that might be obsolete in a few years! Cherish them. Let your family stand out in you home :)

Special thanks to Tina Boyde for providing this very useful template

Happy Turkey Day :)

Happy early Thanksgiving to all my friends, encouragers and clients! I am forever thankful for you business and support. Have a wonderful holiday :)

I heart faces Fix-it friday 141

Such a cutie :) I am so in love with his red hair!! For this image I did some level adjusting to reduce some of the redness in his face. For the color image I ran and tweeked two actions by Oh So Posh. I dodged his face a little to brighten and also sharpened. The black and white version was processed using Epitaph, a free action by Dear Chrissy, Poetic Actions. 

Original image taken by Amy Renae

MY EDITS

Check out more fixes at I Heart Faces.com :) 

16/52: Perspective

15/52: movement

Freezing motion has always been a challenge for me so I knew this was going to be good opportunity for me to practice and experiment. I headed out to the dollar store and bought a pinwheel, set my camera to manual, lowered my shutter speed, went as low as I could go with my aperture, held my breath and took a couple clicks. This is the result.

Head on over to My Four Hens Flickr Pool to check out more!

14/52: Home

13/52: Nature

12/52: Sparkle

11/52: Blue

10/52: Personality

9/52 Color

I Heart Faces {Beautiful Black and White}

I've entered this photo in the I Heart Faces B&W Challenge this month.  They have just introduced a monthly challenge and the participants have an opportunity to win some fabulous prizes, including a Tamron lens!  Click on the button below to go to the contest to see all of the beautiful entries:

This photo was submitted to the I Heart Faces photo challenge – www.iheartfaces.com

My Four Hens Project: 8/52 Light

I am happy to have a couple more days to enter for this week's theme, light. Been rather busy, and sick these past couple of days. Today as the sun was going down I grabbed my camera quick and took some shots from my bedroom window sill. I must say I am a sucker for lens flare and like the way this turned out...Also, I think it's pretty ironic how the word dream matches the action "dreamsicle" that I used to process this image from MFH Glimmer action set ;-)

Fix-it Friday

Such a sweet image. I enjoyed editing this one today :) I am horrible at remembering the exact steps, but I will do my best. The first thing I always do is crop the image. Then I used the cloning tool to match the hospital blanket. Then I did a background fade that I usually do with my newborn sessions. If anyone wants the tutorial on that let me know. It's actually a fairly easy technique and well worth the time! After that I adjusted the white balance using curves. I used My Four Hens Photography Glitter from the GLIMMER action set. (all processed in photoshop cs3) Finished up with a little sharpening and voila! 

Here is the original image by Rebeckah from Life with Kaishon

And my edits

Thanks for looking :) For more fixes visit I Heart Faces.com!

7/52: Wildcard (Play)

I snapped a bunch of pics at the local park this weekend of my son and two nieces. They had a blast and I got to the chance to be creative. This is one of my favorites from the day :) It is my niece Ashlyn.

My Four Hens Project 52 Photos for the Year Project flickr pool.

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge | Hearts

Hearts is this weeks theme on I Heart Faces.com. Immediately I thought of the picture I took of the Huber family during a session last fall. I asked the family for a big group hug and just love how it turned out. I didn't see it at first...but if you look closely at the way Michelle and Ethan's hands are crossed over Emma's back and her hair dipping down kind of creates a heart <3

Check out more great heart entries! 

5/52 Simplicity

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

4/52: Imperfection

A major imperfection of mine since high school is that I compare myself to others. I  tend to think that others have more or were more successful than me because they were luckier / smarter / prettier / skinnier / more industrious than I was. I am beginning to realize that my constant worrying and lack of self worth is knocking me down. It is a bad habit that I need to break. I need to quit comparing myself to others, stop worrying about how successful they are and just be me, focus on my strengths, be OK with IMPERFECTIONS, start believing in myself and focus on my goals and dreams.