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: