Detail Work

A friend recently asked me to photograph some jewelry that her mom is trying to sell online.  It was a great chance to get to practice some creative detail work that I had never done before.  I had a lot of fun with it.  I will go back and shoot the pieces against some black velvet, but I wanted a chance to see what creative shots I could get as well!  Here are the results from that session:

Vaughan Family Picture

So over Thanksgiving, we took a family picture for my side of the family.  It was taken with a point and shoot camera and my son was crying a lot during the whole session and it was shot in the middle of the day.  But I used it as a chance to practice more Photoshop.  I've always wanted to know how to do a black and white pic with a pop of red and now I know.  It's surprisingly easy!  :)!  Anyway, here are the shots:

Caleb's 1 year old pictures

So now that I am understanding Photoshop better, I am going back and editing some pictures I took a long time ago.  These are from Caleb's 1 year old photo shoot.  I loved some of the images, but the lighting and the background against his skin just didn't come out right.  These were taken with my point and shoot camera, so I had little control over what I was doing.  I made them a little dark because I wanted him contrasted with the background better and I wanted them to have a more edgy, urban feel.  I think the second one is my favorite. 

Here are a few more just for grins.  I just touched these up a smidgen in iPhoto.

Mikaia's 4 year old photo shoot

I took Mikaia out to Market Street for her 4 year old photo shoot after we got home from the holidays.  Market Street has put up these really cute birch tree statues with red birds.  I really wanted to get pictures of both kids for a Christmas shot this year, but I just didn't have it together enough to get that done.  So I used them for Mikaia's photo shoot instead.

It was pretty cold the morning we went out, so I had to work pretty fast.  (I had her take her coat off while I was shooting and then had her put it right back on in between sessions.  She was such a trooper and didn't complain at all!)  I really wanted to do some shots with a blurry background and was pleased with the ones I got!

I learned a lot more in Photoshop during the editing stage of these pictures too!  Mikaia was pretty pale from the cold and I learned how to add color to her lips and tongue without making her red all over.  I really liked how she turned out once I did that.  I also learned how to darken the background and keep Mikaia nice and light, which helped the pictures where she was standing in front of the store front.  Once I learn how to use all the settings on my camera, I won't have to Photoshop so much.  It is nice to learn and practice all this cool stuff though!

Here are the before and after shots of this session:

 

 

Hello

Many of you know that I am trying to begin a career in photography.  I have been "pestering" my friends and family with emails containing picture after picture of all the cool stuff I am learning.  So I decided to start a blog where people can see what I'm up to on their own whenever they want.  I will probably post things about my family and maybe about my second favorite hobby, cooking, too!

I can't say how often I'll post, but I'll do my best to keep it updated as much as I can! Also, I am still learning this blogging stuff, so my blog is still a bit under construction.  I'll probably change it frequently until I get it how I like it...and then I'll get bored and change it again!  :)!