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I couldn’t pick just one or two images so I put together highlights from Daisy + Kona’s session.
It happened to be about 80 degrees (and climbing) when we were shooting and it was only mid-morning.
80 degrees in May is practically unheard of in Seattle. I had to dig pretty deep in the closet to find some acceptable shorts to wear!
They are such great kids and we had so much fun walking around town, playing in the water, and we even happened to find a gorgeous red wall.
Enjoy!
We have been having some pretty incredible weather in Seattle the last few days. Last week Peanut Head and I decided to get some fresh air in the backyard. We invited my fisheye lens to come along as well. It makes us giggle.
Oh Gracie. You’re such a sweetie, come and give your Mama a kiss.
We are funny looking.
Can you find me?
I can’t ever get enough of the swirls
She can’t get enough of her stogey
Lilacs are in full bloom around here. I love them so much I decided to add a pop of color to my house with a series of prints of them.
Thought I would share them.
Also, a reminder about San Diego in July. Click Here!
Have a relaxing weekend.
This past week, Riley’s Dad was gracious enough to give us an extremely giant bag of leftover treats from the 3 Dog Bakery.
I think he has created a monster.
Gracie LOVES them. Well, maybe that is an understatement, she is OBSESSED with them. I can’t blame her. I have thought about taking a little nibble myself. You have to admit, they look pretty good.
Hey Mom, what do you got?
Temptation.
Faux eyes
Just might be her crowning glory
And she goes in for the kill
Raaaar
Gimme that
A little to the left
Did you know that the 3 Dog Bakery was partially inspired by a Great Dane named Gracie? I had never even heard of the store or the book when we got Gracie.
To get your own yummy treats, check out their site here: www.threedog.com
Gracie wholeheartedly recommends them.
Retouching is a skill that I have refined over the years. There is no easy answer to perfecting your retouching skills in Photoshop. It takes time, practice, dedication, willingness to learn, and did I mention practice?
I generally have a vision of what an image might become from the moment I click the shutter. That vision can not always be realized straight out of the camera. The trick is to recognize the potential where it is needed as well as understand when to leave an image alone. Restraint is a dominating word while I edit.
Trends will come and go in the industry, textures are hot right now, but they just don’t work for the majority of my images. 10 years from now I want my images to remain classic, allowing the subject to speak for itself.
That being said, I believe every image requires a minimal amount of retouching. So I thought today I would show you a bunch of before + after’s, noting what I did to get the image to where I feel it needs to be. I also wanted to post these because it shows that although we may have the same camera, we aren’t going to necessarily end up with the same shot.
Left: RAW File | Right: RAW File + Adjusted Exposure, Blacks, and Contrast
I am happy with the final image from its adjusted RAW format. On the final image, I just applied sharpening.
Left: RAW File | Right: RAW File + Adjusted Exposure, Blacks, and Contrast
For the final image, I took out the lamp post on the right and applied sharpening.
Left: RAW File | Right: RAW File + Adjusted Exposure, Blacks, and Contrast
Final Image, I decided to take out the ball at the bottom because there wasn’t enough of it in the image to make it worth keeping. Sharpened as well.
RAW File
RAW Adjusted File
For the final image, I really wanted a dreamy look. So I decided to take it one step further and applied an action from the Totally Rad Action Mix called Technicolor Dreamworld.
Here is a great example of a shot that I totally underexposed. I just didn’t have any light coming in behind me because my house was there. But the potential was there so I decided to work with it to see what I could do. The floppy lips were just too much to delete!
RAW Adjusted File | Since I am working in CS3, I was able to easily use the Fill slider to add some detail into her nose.
Final Image still really needed some work. I used the Quick Mask Took (my fave) to select her nose, created a duplicate layer, and then brought out the shadows. I added a bit more contrast by using curves. Then I added a slight cross processed tone, because I just like it that way. Sharpened. Ending up with the most smooshable lips ever!
Left: RAW File | Right: RAW File + Adjusted Exposure, Blacks, and Contrast
Final Image I just added a slight amount of contrast and sharpened
Maybe in Black & White? A black & white image is a lot more complicated. Maybe I’ll do a post on that some other day.
How about one of my little nephew?
RAW
RAW Adjusted
Final Image I added a slight pop of contrast and applied a slight skin smoother
Happy Editing!
