{imagination}

I decided to lighten things up a bit today with some magical imagination. I processed this with the beautiful little butterfly overlays from Glorious Nature Art by Susan Gary. You can check this wonderful collection out here.

{vintage baby}

Here's our little vintage baby wearing his hat from beberagz shop on etsy.

{the wonder twins} part II

Seriously, these two are the sweetest...

{creme vintage}

I used the chic vintage actions by Nicole Van to process this photo of little bug. He is wearing his new hat from beberagz on Etsy.

i ♥ faces {blurb book contest}

ETA: Thank you so much for choosing this photo for the Blurb Book! I am truly honored this photo will be among so many other beautiful faces in the book :)

This is another huge week at i ♥ faces. They are choosing photos from the entries this week to create a Blurb book...pretty cool huh?? I am entering this photo of little bugaboo into the amateur's category. It is my dream to someday call myself a professional and be paid for doing something I love, but until then I am enjoying cramming myself full of photography knowledge and building my portfolio from mock sessions for friends and family :) I chose this photo because when I look at it, I feel like I am looking a true representation of him and his personality...and the two cutie bottom teeth helped :)

I am submitting this photo into the www.iheartfaces.com Blurb Book photo contest. I am granting I ♥ Faces permission to use my photo in a printed version of a book for commercial use and possibly advertising of a photo book on both the Blurb and I ♥ Faces web sites

Be sure to check out some of the other faces this week at i ♥ faces.

Thanks for stopping by and good luck everyone!

sweet baby Z

This weekend I had the awesome opportunity to photograph sweet baby Z. She's such a beauty, and really made the session easy. She has gorgeous blue green eyes that pick up lovely tones in different lighting. Doesn't she have yummy cheeks??

{country} baby

{clapping}

I could just sit and take pictures of bugs little face all day. I love staying home with him and getting to see his first's of everything. Today he started clapping. He is such a blessing.

bug in {blue}

I've really been enjoying the simple photo collages I see on some photography blogs. I thought about purchasing an action that will accomplish this in photoshop but I decided to try and learn how to do it myself, plus the hubby has put a freeze on my spending this month...darn. This is just a simple one and hopefully I'll figure it out in more detail but I do like it simple and not overloaded. I hope you all don't mind more pictures of little bug. He is really photogenic lately and sometimes my only willing subject..ha.




Left

ISO: 1250
Focal Length: 70mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/250
Manual Raw


Right

ISO: 1250
Focal Length: 48mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/250
Manual Raw

I've been getting alot of questions about my post processing lately. In addition to making adjustments I have been using alot of the eye candy actions by Sheye Rosemeyer, an unbelieveably wonderful photographer, her images amaze me! All the layers are fully adjustable (a must in my book) and the actions allow you total control over your image. I LOVE action recipes but I still like my photos to hold my style and these absolutely are the real deal, they completely rock!

{little} bug

Okay, I can't believe I pulled this one off. Little bug is the lightest sleeper ever! No kidding, a creek in the door wakes him up...imagine what a house with a teen and 3 preschoolers does for his nap time....yep. Anyways, I captured this image just after the actual 'photo shoot' we had. I guess I must have tuckered the little guy out with all of the crazy antics I used trying to get him to look at the camera. I will forever cherish this image, not because I actually captured him sleeping and the sound of my shutter didn't wake him, okay sort of for that reason, but most of all because he is simply precious...

ISO 800
60mm
f/3.2
1/320

p.s. I am going to work on a black and white conversion example to show you all...I feel a bit crazy giving advice but if your all willing to hear it...I'll dish it!

{easter} bug

{natural lighting}

Short Lighting

ISO 1600
27mm
f/2.8
1/400
Mode: Manual RAW

ISO 1600
43mm
f/2.8
1/640
Mode: Manual RAW

Broad Lighting

ISO 800
32 mm
f/2.8
1/200
Mode: Manual RAW

{framing} part II

My new lens arrived yesterday and I did not have a chance to try it out until this evening. It's the 24-70mm f/2.8 :) I snapped this shot of Bug just after bathtime tonight. It was really dark so I had to max my settings with my ISO kickin', my shutter slow and aperture wide open. I got this image with no flash. I was surprised how crisp it was considering my settings :) I post processed in Lightroom 2. The color version looked good but it was screamin' black and white to me.

ISO 1600
40mm
f/2.8
1/50

RAW baby!

Here they are... My first official photos shot completely in Manual RAW. I am amazed at the difference this makes. I've been so excited ever since I loaded them onto my computer. Bug wasn't lovin' me taking his pictures today but had to post this for exposure sake. I played with the curves in each in Lightroom 2, but did not adjust much. I also added a light vignette. I posted my settings under the photos...I'm going to try to do that from now on.

BTW, he's blowing raspberries in the second one:)

ISO 100
50 mm
f/2.5
1/3200
post processed in Lightroom 2

ISO 100
50 mm
f/3.5
1/4000

post processed in Lightroom 2

{boots & baby}

{reflection}

Sometimes it's just perfect...

little {feet}