My Big Boy

He got a hair cut. And he looks so grown up.



It's cold and rainy today. Nothing much to do but hang out inside.

I just love to watch them love each other. My sweet little duo.

The Most Frustrating Part

For me, the most frustrating part of photography is color.


Hands down.





Today I am struggling with issues in RGB and sRGB and color profile conversion.

Nothing is working, which means the photos I share online don't look the same as they look in Photoshop.

If I'm going to spend twenty minutes editing a photo, I want the photo to look exactly like I intended it to look.



God bless you Michelle for helping me and being so patient with me!!! We'll get it figured out.

Blessed

I was thinking this morning, how blessed I am.


I may not have a lot; but I knew a women once who had everything money could buy, and she gave it all up to pursue what I have. Looking back on this recently put things in perspective for me.


On this Mothers' Day, I want to reflect on some of these blessings, in no particular order. How could I choose a "best"?


My Children They came faster than I expected, and take more energy than I ever could have prepared for; but I have learned so much from them already. They are my inspiration and my heart; so beautiful, and perfect just as God created them.

My Girls The girls I love and have watched on and off for over seven years now. They feel like my own babies, and I am so proud of the young women they are turning in to. Sweet, funny, loving, creative. They are great with my kids, too. I am excited to see where their lives take them; although I hope it is never too far away from me. :)

My Husband I said while we were dating that if I could have imagined the perfect man for me, I couldn't have imagined someone as perfect for me as Matt. He is my exact opposite, and a perfect fit. He balances me, and completes me. I can't imagine parenting, or living, without him.

My Mother There's just not a way for me to say how proud I am of my mother. She is thoughtful, loving, creative, brave, and adorable. She is a fairytale grandmother to my littles, and a pillar of my support system as I try to navigate motherhood myself.

My Father The first love of my life. I adore my father. He is a quiet man that loves his family, works hard, and gives his all. He is the best example of a genuinely good person that I have ever had in my life. He is not just smart, but wise--always full of good advice. He has a compassion for humanity that I have not seen many places and often confused me as a child; but now as an adult, I feel it is one of the most beautiful things about him.

My Brother When he was born, I told my mom, "I wanted a sister!" and ran to play with my cousin. But God knew what he was doing when He gave me a brother. Very few people see me as realistically as Kyle, and love me just the same. No one makes me laugh harder, or makes better food, or will eat a bag of Good & Plentys with me while playing Mario hour after hour. And even though I don't like beer, I've heard he makes some of the best.

My Friends When I was a lonely teenager, I used to pray that I would some day have many good friends. Real friends. Friends I could trust. And boy did God come through on that one. My friends are my backbone, they believe in me more than I believe in myself. They love me unconditionally, and don't judge. Some have beautiful children that they let me torture with my camera. Haha!

A Home It might not be a mansion, but it is a place where I feel safe and feel that my children are safe. A dry shelter when it rains, a warm shelter when it snows.

My Camera An SLR is something I dreamed of for so long, I was sure it would never come true. And now I have been able to work up to a camera I love so much it feels like my 3rd child. I do believe it is not the camera that makes the beautiful photos, but I also know I could not make the photos I make without a tool that would allow me to. I am so thankful for these tools, so I can continue to learn and not feel limited by my equipments, as I have so many times in the past.

Finally

After ten years of learning, I am taking the plunge.


I am now officially taking on clients. My site will be live this weekend.


My Site!


I am sharing my opening special with my blog readers. I will also be handing out printed coupons. Let me know if you would like any to share with others. You can click on the coupon to see it larger.





I am an on-location, natural light only photographer. Meaning I do not do studio work, nor do I use a flash or artificial lighting of any kind.

I am also a Children's Photographer, and have chosen to only photograph children ages 1-12. This is where I am comfortable and confident, where I can guarantee my work will be its best.

I will not be able to offer more than two sessions a month at this time, but I am excited to finally share my love with others.

Good Enough

I feel like a lot of people settle.

I also feel like a lot of people don't understand my drive.

I don't want to settle for being good enough, I want to be amazing.


I am hard on myself, but I know amazing photographers that I only dream of living up to one day.


And if I continue to work and strive and look for what is wrong with my photos, and the answers for how to fix it, I will get there.



I want this for me.


I have written before about all that photography is to me. But the drive to get better at it is what keeps me going. I am never more frustrated than when I don't know where to go next; because I know, I have seen what photography can be.


I also know: I am not there yet.

I am okay with that. I am even excited by that, because I will continue learning. And I will continue looking for the beauty around me and then, the beauty in what I captured.


I don't really believe in perfect photography, because sometimes even a photo with a flaw can move me in a way that a perfect photo never could. I never expect my photography to be void of flaws, because life is full of them. I do plan to reach a place where I know exactly how to frame the photo to best convey my intentions to my "audience," and then to be able to look at a photo in Photoshop and know exactly what it needs in order to become the best that it can be.


I am very blessed to have wonderful equipment, but it can only take me so far.


I am finally getting some of my drive back, and some of my vision back, and this excites me.


A friend of mine was helping me with my editing today. Here are some examples of my photos straight from the camera and along the stages of editing. I don't know how much this interests other people, but I like to see the photos "grow."


Photo #1, Ellis at The Fountain

This photo was intentionally taken at an angle I rarely use. But I really wanted the water & her dress in the frame. I also wanted her eyes framed exactly this way.

My main regret with this photo: the edge of her dress was cut off.

But I couldn't throw it away.

The SOOC (Straight out of camera) is very blue. This isn't unheard of for Nikon. Often my SOOCs are blue when I don't use a gray card.




This is my first horrible edit, from last night. I was having a lot of color issues.



I started over tonight. I took a different route.

Finally, I color corrected, removed the orange casts from her face, added color to her dress and the water, cloned out the line in the cement, and burnt the edges. Personally, when I look at this final edit, it has a far bigger impact on me than the SOOC did, while still feeling natural.




Photo #2, Ellis at the Tree House

I'm going to be honest. This image I needed a ton of help with.

I had three different friends help me with this photo, over a course of six days, and just this evening do I feel really happy with it. This was worth it to me not only because I love the photo, but because I learned so many new things I can do with a photo that will add to the overall effect.


The colors were all over the place SOOC. I had to do spot work on this for a long time. I had patches of green, reflecting from the grass; and patches of magenta, especially on her finger tips.




I have an issue with preferring gray and flat images. I am working towards new expectations, and loving more depth in my work. Once I see it, I love it, but it is not where I head naturally.

I loved this first edit.



It was pointed out to me that the photo was very gray, and that I needed to warm it. I spent another 20 minutes on it tonight, learning to deepen the tones in the photo. In the end, I color corrected, fixed the reflected colors, deepened the green, darkened the background, warmed her skin, and burnt the edges.

I love the result.




I guess I'm just trying to jot down my thoughts. I learned a lot with these two photos. Which makes me happy, and makes me think.

I guess photography is like ballet in that the goal is to make it look easy. And also like ballet, after years of practice and training (your eye and your reflexes and your instincts) it becomes easier, even second nature, but I think there will always be frustrations, and weak points.


There will never be a shoot where every photo is beautiful, or even worth editing. But I hope there will be a day when I kick myself a lot less for making the mistakes that ruin a keeper; a day when I look at a photo and can see what it will be, a day I will know exactly where to take it and then make that happen.


But I am still learning. And happy to be so.


ETA: I rarely share my SOOCs. Now I feel a little naked. LOL!