New edit of this one

finally no shadows on eyes, better skin, eyes too bright??

last version

new edit- i brought down the eye brightness a little

Redneck Princess

In a few days it will be my niece's birthday.  I had given myself that deadline to finish editing all of her pictures.....oops.  So, today is chock-full of responsibilities and tomorrow will be just as busy as I cram in a swimming lesson and other errands into an already tightly formatted school day.  But, for a bit this afternoon I was able to sneak in some editing for her.  We tried this pose that could have been cool if my camera would have gone to the right aperture and if we weren't racing light, and if I knew what I was doing.  So, it's humbling to show the before shot that didn't work out- but entertaining enough to make it worth it.  As I kept looking at these shots I thought maybe I could salvage the piece of junk shot with a tight crop of the boots. So I tried it, and some other editing techniques I have been learning.

Anyway, as for the title- Jenna has always been known as the family princess- 1st grandchild and spoiled rotten.  For most of her life, I think she really thought she was royal. ;)  Recently, she was in an "argument" with her mom about whether or not she could be a redneck AND a princess! I chimed in on her side- OF COURSE you can! ---barefoot baseball in the front yard wearing a dress, drinking a cold beer out of the bottle with your pinky out, etc. (I didn't really tell her the beer one.) She was glad I was fighting on her side.  So- after editing this one, that conversation came to mind and seemed the perfect title.  I think I might print and frame this into a rustic wood frame that I saw at Hobby Lobby- for her bday gift.  

The before--FAIL

moss

Here's another one from our mountain adventure...

This one is a favorite of mine.  Odd, how I can feel a connection to an image.  This one is meeting me in certain place today, though....as nutty as that might sound to some.

BnW

This is the first one---that I posted a while back.

I started over, cropped it tighter, applied some different layers of lighting techniques, whitened teeth and eyes, and applied some of the skin smoothing technique that I used on the sky pic.  Improvement???? 

watercolor effect, blue sky with clouds,adjusted levels

Goals/hopes

A few photographic goals or maybe hopes is a better word choice......one is that black and white portrait of my niece.  She doesn't like it. :) I know because I emailed it to her and she was silent.  The sky one, however, got an immediate, "looove it!" I printed a 4x6 this week of each of the edited portraits and I have to say, I'm not happy with them.  The trail one is still too dark in the eye area and the color is off.  Gotta work on that.  But, the black and white- seriously, I can see why she doesn't like it.  I want to go back to that original file and do the skin touch ups that I did to the sky portrait.  Then, I want to research some technique on how to get the best results from a black and white- like maybe there are certain colors you want to saturate first before switching it over, or a texture to apply, or? Who knows?  That's one goal.  Secondly, not only do I want to check out that river area as I mentioned, but feeling that beckoning to photograph some inspiring objects-- all these grapes around here, ready for harvest! Anyway, I saw some that, ahh!, would be so pretty with early morning light behind them.  Grapes  tightly clustered against some bright green leaves along a bottom row (or maybe it was bright green grapes against dark leaves- can't rememer) so you could really see the shape of the leaves.  So badly I want to capture those on my camera!   Goals, hopes.. but so very little time or opportunity to advance them.  It's ok.  I'm not complaining.  I have been able to do so much this past year- it has all been wonderful. 

Grain

I like the busy work provided by all this portrait stuff and it will feel good to be good at it one day.  So, it's good.  It's productive. It keeps my mind occupied with learning and purposeful.  Yet, I also am longing for some time to just take pictures that are inspiring to me.  I did a little on my trip with the kiddos to Calaveras but they were harassing me the whole time :) "c'monnnnn Mom!!" So, I grabbed a shot here and there but couldn't take my time.  I want to go back with time to myself.  There's a spot I see going from Waterford on the Oakdale/Waterford Hwy toward Milnes that I wonder if I can access safely.  I can see the river going through and it's wooded.  I want to go down there and try to find some inspiring shots.  I am going to post one that I got on my trip to the big trees.  I can't decide if I like it.  I thought I would love it and was hoping to blow it up and maybe put it on my wall in the dining area---but, I don't know.  It seems to be lacking the awe factor I was hoping for.  

Progress? The editing progression....

Straight Off Of Camera Shot

1st edit- notice hot spots on skin

Final edit- smoothed skin, removed sheen, deepened sky, lightened eyes- fixed red?? I can't tell!

so bummed...

I am so bummed.  I messed up.  I did exactly what I was afraid I would do.  I ordered the wrong lens.  That "awesome zoom portrait lens" is not as awesome as I wanted it to be.  I wanted to be able to get a wide aperature (f2.8) and I wanted some zoom.  The other lens I got last year from my dad goes down to f1.8-- but no zoom.  It's hard to have the camera right up in someone's face.  So--that's why I wanted the other one,got advice from photography friends, talked to the guy repeatedly at Sigma (generic lenses basically.)  As I have been using it, I notice that when I zoom my aperture changes- number goes up which means I am not getting that background blurred out like I want.  It has been nagging in my mind and I have been meaning to try to investigate it- sure there is a scientific reason and my limited mind couldn't recall it.  Finally, last night I googled a question of sorts about it and come to find out: it's the wrong lens.  Mine says the focal length 17-70 and then f 2.8-4. That means the aperture can range from 2.8-4.  It will only be 2.8, though, at its shortest focal length.  That means, if it is zoomed to 70mm, you are NOT going to get a wider aperture than 4!! No wonder my portrait on the dock didn't fuzz out spider webs and dirt, etc.  Grr.  After some searching, I have discovered that knowledgeable people know you don't want to see that range printed on the lens.  The one I should have gotten is: 17-70 2.8(period, no dash 4!!)  I wish Mr. Know-it-All with the British accent had MENTIONED that on the phone! The right lens is about $170 more, but I would have done it and just not have gotten the accessories.  Well, that's a sore subject too, because the lens hood I purchased from amazon for $25 is stupid.  It leaves black corners on the frame of my pics- and I didn't know that until right before my shoot with my niece so I had to take it off and that is why there is a huge green ball of flare on one of my favorite shots!  Now what do I do? :(  My lack of knowledge wasted money.  Same story with my landscaping- 2 basically dead shrubs after I splurged on trying to make things look less neglected.  ho-hum....

Black and white

So there's  lump of something (apple, I think) in the grass.  I tried several different editing techniques without success.  I need to review how to clone an area properly.  It's distracting but I'm too lazy to fix it right now :) 

The Latest:

For my birthday I got a really nice gift!  I asked for a book that the instructor of my Portrait class suggested.  The author gives workshops in So. Cal, and offers this "Workshop Workbook."  Perhaps it is overpriced?? But, she runs a half off special all the time and this time it came with some bonuses that I am excited about.  You have to print it yourself! Ha! That amazes me- I suppose many people just like things digitally nowadays- but, I like pencil and paper.  Hard copy.  It helps me think better.  So, I am waiting to print it- apparently it is getting updated in September- I don't want to wait that long to print, though!  Anyway, as I have glanced through some portions- I am really excited about it.  Some really great, hands-on tools: pose ideas, how to engage clients, portrait packages, how to set up your workflow, even sample worksheets!  There are also specific steps for editing that she gives as tips and other great info like what is most commonly ordered from people.  (this is all for child portrait photography) This gift was combined from my immediate family, my parents, and my sisters.  I am so thankful!

I have also not had time to do any editing the past few days but I have been thinking how fun it would be to take a REAL class at MJC.  I don't even know how to start that- like if it's a big deal to register and how much it would cost for a class like that.  Wouldn't it be great though to have some color theory under your belt?  I love learning to do things and understanding WHY certain things work or should work.  

In the meantime, I watch tutorials on Youtube and I might subscribe to Lynda.com for a month- it's an online storehouse of training in just about everything.  I have watched a few sample videos on youtube and those are far superior to most everything else posted---of course you get all types of people who just want to video themselves- sounds like a stoned 16 year old rambling on and giving you basically no information with, "just, you know, however, you know, you think it looks best, is fine, you know, cuz uh, uh, you know, it's your own thing, ya know?"  ;)

Still working on this one....

Sittin' On The Dock

In this one, I like the light catching on the toe of her boot :)  I am wondering if I should try to remove those spider webs on the dock? Or if it isn't distracting?  Or if it looks better natural?

SOC shots from our daytrip