Happy Birthday!

Happy 6th Birthday to our Princess! Can't believe it's been 6 years and it's been so long since I've posted here! We've had a busy spring! We did some quick bday shots this morning in studio. Hope to get some outdoors at some point! Our Princess has 5 teeth missing! The comment of her skating teacher last week was... she saw lots of smiles, but not many teeth out on the ice!

More composites and enlargements!

Wow, it's been awhile since I've been on! Even though the weather has no idea it's spring, I guess our schedule has picked up as it does in spring! I'm still waiting to get out of the mid 30's so I can go out shooting.... we've had wonderful, diffuse, overcast light... however not much fun to shoot in 30 degree weather!

So, not much camera action this week. However, I decided it's time to order some prints to start showing some work in studio. (well, at least the walls outside the studio) So, these are the prints I ordered today... I've never ordered enlargements so we'll see how they turn out.... I really wanted to do a 20x20 of our 4 kids, but I couldn't find any photos of each of them that went together to create the square... so that one has to wait! I got a couple 11x14, a 10x20 and a 16x20.... I got them all mounted and sprayed so I don't have to frame them since I can't for the life of me figure out good frames and I really want the focus on the photos, not the frames anyway....

The first one was actually taken by hubby.... I just love it so much (it's our youngest) that I'm going to put it up even though I didn't take it! He said that was okay!

I got contacted by someone from the father/daughter dance I shot to do a sitting. Fun to start to get "strangers" calling me. I'm out of town though for 1/2 the weekend she wants so we'll see if that comes through. I have actually 2 more shoots besides that one scheduled this month! I think that's the most I've ever had in a month. It's always nice when God provides instead of me "forcing" the issue.... if I just take it as it comes I don't have to stress out over whether I should be doing more/less.... what a hobby should be, right... fun and not stressful!

Beautiful and Fun Girls

Okay, I'm finally back on! It's Spring Break here and we've been busy! Happy Birthday, Mom!

Here are a few from my shoot with 2 beautiful girls Tuesday. They were so fun to photograph! No seriousness here, just all smiles and goofiness! And I learned a new way to do white (actually hubby's idea, thanks Dear!!). It worked very slick... much better than masking!!

Oh, and who could guess that "broccoli" would create so many giggles???!!!

My brain hurts!

**very poorly exposed image to start**


**my fix**

I went to the library (by myself!) yesterday so I got to look at "big people books" :-) I have three new books to study (plus a couple more coming in that I ordered). I've been studying a text by Lee Varis called Skin. It is **amazing!!** It took me two nights to figure this technique out, but I think I have it! It's teaching me color correction, based on skin tones using curves. I played with a very poorly exposed image (I'm sure it would have gone faster with a well exposed one!) to see what I could do. I think the result is pretty good! It also gives me another idea of how to get my white background. I just have to figure out if I can make an action or something because it would be quite tedious for a session. Anyway, my brain hurts! It's time to watch "Heroes". Hubby and I are into that show now. We can watch in on Netflix for free! Gotta love free entertainment! We're both hooked! Glad we have a LOT to catch up on as we're practically watching one/night! :-)

More floor and some "paint!"

Yeah!!! Greg said I could have an advance on some money we're getting back from taxes! So, I went out today and got a new white "floor" and some fleece! I'm hoping to use one of them for the shoot tomorrow so I don't have to PS a background! The fleece works awesome!! Love, love, love it! The only issue is it's not very wide. I'm thinking eventually I'll get another 2.5 yards of each color and PS the seam, but for now it's okay to experiment with. The girls are wearing one "formal" Easter outfit tomorrow and then one casual outfit. I thought the white floor would be nice for Easter shots. Here's a quick peek... Kylie loved the eggs! I'm working on a composite, but it doesn't look good to me yet so I'll wait to show it.... Happy Easter!

New Floor!

Okay, not really... but I set up a "fake floor and wall" for the first time. I think it turned out pretty good! I used my white backdrop pulled taught, a baseboard and a roll of laminent (have no idea how to spell that). I was going to try plexiglass, but it's so dang expensive. This set up only cost me $28!

So, I PS'd in a blue background on the boys. I think I'm going to try to gather some sheets. The PSing just takes so much time.... I have a shoot on Friday that I'm going to use this for and I'm considering getting a sheet or two for that so I don't have to PS a whole session.

Anyway... terrible picture. This was taken last night. The boys loved the "new floor" too much and I had a **really** hard time getting any picts, but was desperate to see how the floor looked. So, the lighting is horrible and the pose even worse, but it shows the floor anyway. This is as REAL as life gets! All it needs is K in the background laying on a sofa with what I'm pretty sure is strep (we'll find out today).... then it would be "perfectly real!"

backgrounds

Well, seeing as I have very few options for backgrounds I'm trying to get creative.  Of course, there are two main commodities... time and money.  Being short on money (to buy new backgrounds), I default to time.  I had fun today experimenting with making different backgrounds in PS, however it is VERY time consuming!  I have to figure out how to mask faster! So, here's an example of what I was working on today.  The "grey" background is supposed to be white (yeah, that whole not enough lights problem)... so I replaced it with a shot of my actual gray background adding a color overlay creating a sand color background.  I think it looks okay and gives some options.  Now, proofing a session this way is not an efficient use of time, however it may be okay while I'm PBing as I have more time (believe it or not) than money!

Not the greatest shot, but fun to play with and shows the personality of these two!  Not bad focus for f5.6 either.  (I'm sad K isn't in sharp focus) I was only planning on shooting one kid at a time, but J wanted K in the shot too.  She wasn't too gung ho on that idea, so she was being silly the whole time!

The older two in studio

I'm getting used to blowing the white in PS! I tried to get my sb 600 to fire as a remote flash to use as a background light, but alas... I need the sb800 to do that. Not enough moula for that right now so.... I will not shoot on white very much and when I do I will try to have little background showing! Here are some shots from tonight. Playing with my light again. I did a few shots and didn't like the light and I actually knew what to do to fix it! Wow! So, here's the older two from tonight.... I know Jay's head blends into the black background, but I like it! The only thing I don't really like about the last one is her eye that is down is dark. Not quite sure how I could have avoided that... maybe tilt out a bit more??? One shot had just a bit of light in her eye.... not very much though.

Back to the studio...

I jumped back into the studio today after playing with my flash for a couple of days. I had a willing subject over today so she helped me out! I'm experimenting some more! I think I figured out I like using the two light set up. I have the main behind the diffusion panel and the fill bounced into an umbrella. I tried 2 of hubby's work lights on the backdrop to try and blow the white, but it didn't work (lights weren't bright enough) so I ended up having to PS the white. Not something I want to do all the time, but once in a while it's okay. I am either going to look for brighter work lights or wait and save up for another light for the background. Today I mounted my reflector on my ceiling to try to get a "hair light" for my low key lighting. I think it's an improvement. My little model was perfect today because she has dark hair and I **think** it stands out a bit from the background not making her "one" with the background! I had fun playing today. The light is coming easier to me. It feels good to accomplish something! I know I still have a long way to go, but I feel like I'm at least at the point where I can shoot other people's kids and won't feel completely embarrassed with the outcome! I got another order for additional prints from the dance today! Nice to see those coming in!

More practice

Got a good shot of the littlest one today! They are rare these days! Ive (more trouble with that apostrophe...) not had a ton of time to practice. On this shot I had him facing the patio doors and bounced the flash off the doors behind me. Not too bad I think. Oh, and I have a sitting booked for a couple weeks from now! My first "stranger" one! And, I got an order in the mail for additional prints from one of the Father Daughter clients! Its nice to know someone actually liked it enough to order more!

SB 600!

Yeah! My new speedlight came today! I haven't had too much time to practice, but did manage to get a few shots in this afternoon. I LOVE it! There is an art to mastering it though! I certainly need more practice! However, I will now not refuse to take photos indoors in low light! What a difference this flash makes! I'm learning to drag the shutter to allow more ambient light to affect the background. My settings were ISO 400, ss 40, f4 (or so, can't remember exactly). She was facing a window so the flash was basically used as fill. Something about the color is bothering me though... couldn't get it right....

Just a "Mommy shot" today

Not technically correct in the least, just a "Mommy shot". My models are not cooperating at all as of late. He insisted on laying down! Im (sorry, my apostrophe isnt working for some reason) off to a scrapbook retreat this weekend! Yeah! 5 friends and I are going to a "craft house". Should be lots of fun! Im (you dont know how annoying this apostrophe thing is... whenever I hit it it goes down into the "find" box.... grrrrr....) going to work on an album of both Greg and I when we were little. Ive been wanting to do this for many years and finally can since Greg scanned in all his childhood photos which have been on slides. Anyway... hoping to catch up on all my photog buddies blogs this next week! Its been rather busy around here... have no idea doing what though!

Yeah!!!

My wonderful hubby made my diffusion box/panel this past weekend.  I attached the material on this morning and had some plays with it!  I think I have found a set up I like!  These are horrible shots of the boys as far as expressions go... however I have to take what I can get!  These are SOOC nothing done to them.  I think the box has solved my color cast problem as I'm not seeing any....(except for the Nikon red just a tad).   I'm hoping to start scheduling some PB sessions soon!

More panel work

I bribed everyone with suckers today. I have stooped to the level of bribery, yes.... out of all the shots of all 4 kids I liked this one the best... I also did a b/w conversion as well... kind of like the softness of the conversion, but maybe for younger child??? I think it would be good for newborn picts. Still playing with a good set up for the panel. I'm going to try a new set up hopefully tomorrow....

Still playing with diffusion panel!

And a black and white for fun!

What a couple of weeks! Haven't gotten here much! So, the Father/Daughter shoot went well! I was so blessed to have my admin assistant! Without her it would have been a disaster!!! I will post some images soon. I need to get the photo releases from my assistant... I do have to admit, I enjoy sessions much more. It was challenging to build a raport in a few minutes... especially with the young ones! I rather felt like an assembly line. Good experience though!

So, I'm still playing with my diffusion panel. I think this is the closest I've gotten. It's a bit overexposed so I've turned down the lights a bit since I took these. My meter is invaluable. SO much easier!!! I'm thinking the lighting here is a bit flat. I think I need to move my reflector. Anyway... my children are only up for posing so much... they are really sick of it right now! Maybe I need a manequin child!

All these photos are straight out of camera... nothing done but resizing. I think I'll try and shoot a few more... knock the light down just a shade and try again. I think I got rid of the yellow cast by getting closer exposure.... thinking of painting the walls gray.

Making progress!

Well, I am making progress! Here's the best of what I've worked on today... my scruffy hubby! He's in a drama at church on Sunday and he has to be scruffy... I really like this photo of him! Anyway... I'm nailing exposure which I'm very proud of. I've been working on that for a VERY long time! I wish I had gotten a light meter sooner! So now hubby is going to help me fashion a softbox of sorts to surround my big diffuser to try and get nice clear catch lights. They are fuzzy here, but I think the light looks better than yesterday. What do you think?

Oh, and this is why you get to see hubby and not a kiddo!



And a black and white for good measure... playing with my conversion technique...

Diffusion panel?

Well, I went out and got some Sport Nylon today to fashion a diy diffuser. This is my first try, but I'm not overly happy with it... I used a set up I found suggested somewhere, however, I don't like it. But, it' s a place to start! I used one strobe straight in front of him bounced into an umbrella behind the nylon (the nylon was doubled over and about 2ft by 6 ft) I used an umbrella for fill to the side, but I don't like it because of the 2nd catchlight. I'll do some more playing tomorrow! I'm struggling with how to get enough light to expose moving children correctly, but not getting the lighting too flat.

Saturday is my first paid job! I'm looking forward to it! I won't have a lot of time to post between now and then, so most likely I will update after the dance shoot!

The Pout

Here's some more white work. This is a bit putsy with having to mask and blow out the background. Looking forward to the time when I can buy an additional light and softbox so I can blow the background while shooting. Unless someone has an easier way in PS this is just way too time consuming. Kinda fun to play with an image or two though...

We have an official pouter in the family (besides me that is!) Our littlest man has perfected the expression... caught this one as this expression is usually what I get when I ask him to pose!