Clean Color Edits

and of course, blogger does a craptastic job of keeping the photo looking good in both scenarios.....it didn't look this bad on my computer.

**edit: I just looked at these at work, they look absolutely HORRIBLE!
The clean color edits looked really nice on my computer at home. These = YUCK!

more clone stamped photos

The clone stamp tool (aka: photoshop frustration)

SOOC:


Edited


Now, I need to figure out how to swap heads for the family photo....

{editing ideas}

so friends, i took some maternity photos this week and was IN LOVE with them.  but am feeling limited by my ps knowledge.  i have ps 7 and some freebie actions.  here are two photos i would take your advice or tips on editing...

photo 1 unedited.

photo 1: with pioneer woman "dim the lights"

 photo 2 unedited.

photo 2: not sure which action...probably pioneer woman "warmer" and a "quick edge burn"

looking back, i wish i had taken my photoflex gigantic reflector to bounce some of that light back onto her...or changed my metering.  it's just too dark of a photo.  in the edited photo number 2 you can see how wonky her arm/hand look from being lightened just a little.

at any rate...give me your thoughts.  

thanks!

a 

one last shot.....

So, how did I do???

I used "Paint the Moon" actions on it, a "remove orange/red" action. It took a while to figure out how to use it correctly....

But, I think it looks much better....I also used Totally Rad Actions "Pro Retouch" on her face and Sparkly Eyes (from PTM)

I have absolutely no idea how to do that without an action.

Inspiration

After looking at Karen's blog today, I'm truly inspired to change up the colors in my bedroom!

I can't get the colors in this collection of fabrics out of my head!

While I would love to have a white comforter, my kids lay in our bed and watch movies and the dirty little dog with muddy paws sleeps on our bed every night.....

Her photos in her living room are so inspiring to me! I can't even stand it! I just love them!

The inside of my house photographs so poorly! I made a snap decision a few years ago, before I (we) were into photography to paint our dining room, that faces north, a dark Moroccan Red on one wall and tan on the others....I'm realizing that we will NEVER get decent photos in there, natural light is limited and red doesn't photograph well.

Our living room, which is small, is the only room in the house that we haven't touched since moving in. It still has the icky walls that are covered with a creamy colored damask wallpaper. Top it off with blue carpet and we've got a living room that was decorated for my 80 year old grandma in 1980. It's awful!

UGH, just typing this makes me desparately want to do something different, but I don't know that I can deal with the mess and the fact that it takes my husband FOREVER to do something or at least make a decision of HOW to do something.

Not to mention, he has to point out everything that is wrong with our old house (that my grandpa built in 1934 and we got a GREAT deal on!)....

Thanks for letting me vent! I'd love to know how your homes photograph? so that when I do get around to have the work done, I have some ideas to work off of!

A Spring Wedding....

Went to a friends wedding the other night. I wasn't going to bring my camera bag, very glad that I did. There was no one there to take photos.
They didn't turn out fabulous, but are better than nothing! ideas for making a collage for them are welcome!

Tommy and Bobbie's Wedding Album

Juli

Flickr Group - Snapshot Girls

Created a Flickr Group so we can maybe start doing some of our own practice/assignments/challenges... come join!

SNAPSHOT GIRLS FLICKR GROUP

I like our blog, but HATE that it doesn't show who posted unless you "sign" your post. UGH

-Sherri

Check out this new camera bag!

they're having an awesome contest, check it out!
I've not seen this camera bag in person, but it looks lovely!

hmmm..

calling all photoshop pros...

(yes, that would be you sherri!!)

a good friend, and photographer, took some family photos for me tonight. she was so kind to just put them all on a disc and send me on my way...so that i could do my own photoshop "magic" to the images. the only problem is that i'm not so well versed in ps.

it was a bit challenging to get the kiddos to cooperate - especially by the end of our session. so this one looks rather crazy...but it's pretty accurate to how our life is all the time! which makes it much more meaningful!

so the problem i'm pondering: how do you smooth out that crease in the backdrop fabric?? my photog friend made a comment that it could be fixed in ps...but i'm not able to pull that bunny out of my hat!

(is this where those kelby podcasts would come in handy juli?)

Camera Bags

I don't know about you, but I sort of have a thing for bags and now it has extended to camera bags. I've tried several different models and have found one that I really like....The Crumpler Six Million Dollar Home. It's a great bag.

But, I have always wanted something that doesn't scream "CAMERA BAG!" when I carry it!

For over a year, I've had my eye on the Jill-E medium black leather camera bag. Love the looks of it, there is room for personal stuff and I wouldn't have to carry my purse when we got somewhere with this one.... It is leather and lovely!

I've never ordered one, because I could never choke down the $240 price tag....well, drool no more!

Thanks to this fabulous new shopping tool called http://www.bing.com/ you get cashback rewards for shopping through their website with your favorite participating retailers. So, today I was looking at the stores that offer the most cashback rewards and saw that eBags gives 20% back to your PayPal account if you use it.....So, it piqued my interest. Low and behold, Jill-E bags are sold at eBags.com and they had a sale of 20% off. So, I ordered one (finally) and paid for it with the money that I made selling all my scrapbooking stamps....$85 off the price of the bag! of course, 40 of that is credited to me later, but still....it is a lot easier to choke down the price of the bag when it is $150 rather than $240!

Photography Podcasts

Have you ever seen these? I hang out over on Jessica Sprague's forum occasionally and someone mentioned that these podcasts were great, but only directed toward Nikon users....since Sherri has gone to the darkside, she has probably seen these before...she also knows everything Scott Kelby.
Anyhow, I thought I would check it out today because I am on an incredibly boring conference call today. Low and behold, it is NOT for all things Nikon, it's for Canon users as well...check it out:
Kelby Photography Podcasts

Beyond Snapshots

Jenny posted this to her blog. Check it out. It looks like they'll have some good information for sharing.....

.xmp files in photoshop

Do you keep these files?
Can I delete the bazillion .xmp files that are on my computer?
How can I stop them from ending up in my folders?

When I used elements, I could stop having them show up in the folder when I edited photos, but I can't seem to stop them in CS4....

Also, can't wait to see everyone favorite Christmas photos! It was a year ago, we were going full throttle in the Photographers' Workshop! and we haven't stopped since then!

Actions!

Let's talk a little bit about Photoshop Actions.....



First and foremost, do you use them?



the answer for me is 100% yes! I LOVE actions!



Secondly, what are your favorite actions to use and how to you use them?



Me? I have Pioneer Woman's FREE action sets and I love them! She's updated them recently, in case you didn't know that. There are a couple of additions to the sets and they actually work with CS4 a little better...

I also have Total Rad Actions - The Original but am thinking that I'd like to have the TRA2 set as well, someday!



Third, do you have favorite recipes for a series of actions that you LOVE and use on a regular basis?



This is where it gets tough for me. I'm "challenged" when it comes to Photoshop CS4, but I find it much easier for me to get around in than Photoshop Elements 6, which I had previously; that "organizer" that was in there....just bugged me and other things did too, but don't get me started....

I need to learn more about CS4 and don't even know where to begin with that endeavor; was actually looking into one of the Photoshop classes on Jessica Spragues website. But, I really need to learn more about curves and masking tools, etc. I guess this is a good place to start.



Last question, besides that outrageously expensive PHAUNT U photoshop class and the Kelby website, is there anywhere else that one can take on-line Photoshop courses? (the Kelby website is great, but I don't think I have time to do more with it than take one or two classes).

New Year's Resolution....Project??

I just read a blog post about starting a photography project for 2010. I thought this might be a fun thing for us to try (or maybe you guys already do something like this??). Perhaps it's a project to enhance your business, or focus on a tough subject, or to learn something new...or anything. We could post our progress (not necessarily the entire project) on this blog and create labels ("2010 Project-Val" or whatever) for keeping the projects organized. I had thought of attempting the 365 Day Challenge, but I think I'll try that one on my blog. The key word is try-haha! It might end up being a 52-Week Challenge instead.

What do you guys think? Are you up for a challenge or project??

Here's the original post (from photofocus.com) for more inspiration:

With 2010 just around the bend, it’s time to start thinking about a New Year’s Resolution. What a perfect time to start a photography project!

I am going to start a project – I will share more about that later – but for now, I want to encourage you to start one, and don’t think you can wait until January 1, 2010 to think about it. Start thinking and planning right now so that you’re ready to go New Year’s day.

But what sort of project you ask?

Here are some idea starters…

1. Projects based on the calendar

You could make a photograph a day, a photograph a week, a photograph on every other Tuesday, etc. These projects force you to adhere to a shooting schedule, which is something many photographers really need.

2. Projects based on the subject

You could decide to photograph objects, shapes, colors, people, places things, etc., all with a common theme.

3. Projects based on working with others

You could find a buddy, or two or 10 or 100. Consider teaming up with another photographer or group of photographers to complete a project as a team. This provides accountability and motivation for those who aren’t self-starters.

4. Projects based on the season

This is very similar to number one on the list but differs in that the project has a large time window, i.e., it’s based on the season. In summer you could decide to shoot nothing but beach balls for instance. You can vary this by shooting the same subject in different seasons.

5. Projects based on charity

Are there underprivileged or disadvantaged families in your area who need portraits? How about shooting for a local non-profit that needs a photographer but has no budget? Charity projects not only give you something to focus your camera on, they make what you do matter.

These are just a few ideas. Don’t get too caught up in the details. Just go for it. Do SOMETHING. The best way to get better at photography is to do more of it. The New Year’s project is the perfect spring board for just that.

Press Printed Cards

I just wanted to give you an update....I'd been talking with Sherri about where she prints photos and cards. She suggested Mpixpro.com
I've used WHCC (white house custom color) and have been happy, but since I'm not an official business, I don't have a tax id# and I'm charged sales tax, etc.
So, I signed up with Mpixpro and gave them a shot.
My cards turned out BEAUTIFUL!
I also ordered some prints and they are BEAUTIFUL!
I'm a convert from WHCC...
Also, I submitted my order at 3:30pm CT on Tuesday and my order was delivered by Fed Ex at 10:30 on Wednesday morning!
In the words of Sherri, they are AWESOMENESS!

Family Photos

Hey ladies,
I just received a link to our family photo gallery...
Let me know what you think...
thanks!

http://oliviawagnerphoto.smugmug.com/

choose "Emily and Louie"

Newborn Photos (part 2)

After my first pass through, this is the favorite so far....
here's my question, what' s the easiest way to get rid of the dark upper left corner without cropping? I know there is a way in Photoshop to copy the blanket, but I don't know how to do that.....
I like this one.

Bridget has a very mottled newborn complexion. I had to use pro-retouch on her whole body to remove the polka dots. This isn't the best shot of her, but I like it. How on earth do I get the black background to be solid black? Like Becky mentioned on the previous post, it's hard to get rid of the wrinkles, but it's impossible to NOT have wrinkles.

and in case you're wondering, it's really hard to shoot twins. I think I would have been ok with one, but 2 seriously is double trouble. They don't sleep at the same time, Bridget definitely has a very feisty personality. Richard is totally laid back and never got worked up or riled. Bridget was squirming and wiggling even when she slept.
They were older than the "ideal" newborn age, but I guess I figured since they were 5 weeks premature and they're 18 days old now, I would be ok. Definitely do this when they are younger than 14 days.
more to come.....


UPDATE: Here's the link to the gallery that I'm uploading them to... I'll add the unedited SOOC shots along with the edited. So far, they are all the edited ones.