Siblings By Birth, Friends Forever!

I was so honored to be asked by the following couple to do a photo shoot for their family. They were a joy to work with, and the boys, simply adorable! Right up to the last few minutes of our session, even the youngest son was still smiling and relaxed. Really, the only time I had a little problem getting the boys' full attention was when a group, of possibly boy scouts, came out of the woods from a fishing expedition. Now you can't blame them for being a little distracted. Surely fishing at that moment would be more exciting than what they were in the midst of. Giggle!!

I got that same adrenaline rush as each time in the past I've done a session for others. It really invigorated me. So much so, that I felt so excited, that I started to feel like I might be talking too fast!

So, here is the session with them. It begins with the parents. I'd love to hear any feedback. It will help me improve!

(My apologies in advance, please note that the slideshow has to run it's own course. When I try to move ahead manually by clicking the left or right arrows, it freezes up. Thanks for your patience.) If you still have problems, try the following link: http://secure.smilebox.com/ecom/openTheBox?sendevent=4d5449324e5463774f44513d0d0a&sb=1

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I had a few ideas I had been playing around with in my mind and the boys graciously indulged me. Two of the three concepts I had, didn't work out the way I thought they would, but, the third, I was especially pleased with the result.

I could tell the family genuinely cherished each other in the way the parents looked at each other, the way that the boys wrestled together, the protectiveness of the older boys watching out for the younger ones. It a was very 'warm and fuzzy' kind of experience for me.

So, a great big thank you to Mr. & Mrs. G and their 6 boys for the opportunity to capture them in the moment!

Leaning on His Everlasting Arms,

Denise

Working on some editing skills...

For awhile now, I've been wanting to learn how others "frame" a picture by darkening the edges. I found a great tutorial here that helped me learn how. It also included however, teaching how to turn it into sepia before adding the framing effect, so I had leave out the sepia step to get the look I wanted. It didn't turn out exactly how I had envisioned it, but in the end, I was happy with the effect.

Original (untouched)

In the first edit, I just corrected the skin tones, cleaned the food off their faces, warmed it up a little and cropped it ever so slightly.

In the next edit, I followed the steps from the tutorial. I changed it a little by playing with the color saturation and tried to age the picture a bit to make it a little more vintage looking.

In the end, I really liked their method compared to others I had tried, but I felt the picture needed a pop, so, after I was done, I layered the 'edited' original underneath and placed the sepia finished one on top, and erased the eye part from the top finished layer to bring out her blue eyes from the colored picture in the bottom layer. I think I like that the best so far. What do you think?

Hope you have as much fun as I did practicing this method. Thanks for stopping by!

Leaning on His Everlasting Arms,

Denise

Just practicing layers!

My Favorite Time Of Year With My Favorite Little Family...Mine!

What better way to spend a beautiful breezy fall Saturday afternoon.

Leaning on His Everlasting Arms,

Denise

Critters, big and small...

Sometimes the best subjects are right in your own front yard. Just a few of the little critters I'd practiced with lately...

Our daughter spotted this caterpillar next to the sidewalk by our front door. This was shot in Macro mode and is unedited. I love the crispness of the picture as well as the contrast of the bright green leaf compared to it's reddish brown colour.


We have a birdhouse under the roof of our porch that was meant for...well, birds. However, it seems to be a hit with anything but the birds.

Here is our regular "boarder" in the birdhouse.


A couple of weeks ago, I caught this squirrel in it.



He didn't stick around for very long, but stayed long enough to give a "nyah-nyah can't catch me" look afterwards...


Around here, we love the lizards because they eat the bugs. The less bugs, the better, I think. So, "Feast on, lovely lizards!"

Here is a 'depth of field' practice shot...


Here is a shot that was taken at night, also in macro mode...


Love the textures and colours up close in this shot. Would you believe, it's no bigger than my pointer finger? Our daughter couldn't understand how the little hole on the side was it's ear and that her own ears were holes too!


I don't know what it is with me and the frogs lately, they just seem to fascinate me! This one was in the same bush as the lizard from the previous shot.


Here are a couple of my favorite shots. The frogs come out mostly at night, stick on the walls and windows with their little suction cupped toes, and feast on the moths and various bugs flying around the house. Let's hope they're helping keep the mosquito population at a minimum.


Here is my latest favorite close up shot. I love the detail, especially in the eyes, it looks like marbling, don't you think?


Well, thanks again for stopping by. I'd love to know which of these is your favorite?

Leaning on His Everlasting Arms,
Denise

I've Been Inspired!

I'm so pleased to have been introduced to the fantastic work of Nadia this past week. I love the whole feel of it! It makes me excited about learning all that I can to produce my best work possible, when doing a photo shoot for my clients.

I was able to purchase one of her texture sets today for my 'toolbox', and couldn't wait to show you how it turned out!

Before, in just plain black and white...



And after, created with one of the textures from her Nadia-Stalgic set #2

It gives the portrait an old-fashioned vintage look to it. I like the graininess of it. This was my first time to practice with it, so, although it's nowhere near as beautiful as Nadia's work, I'm sure going to enjoy practicing.

Well, until the next time I get bitten by the blog bug,

I'm Still Leaning on His Everlasting Arms,

Denise

An afternoon at the beach...

I took the following shots back when our computer wasn't working, and so I never had the chance to post them. So, with their permission, I wanted to share them with you.

This wasn't a photo shoot, but just my observations of them as a family(personally, one of my favorite families) while we spent a couple of hours at the beach.

From new experiences...

...to droopy drawer experiences.


I thought this would make a cute picture of their son about to stand up. I didn't notice until after I uploaded the photo, that he was actually looking at his own reflection. So this shot, which turned out pretty nice, was actually quite by accident, a really cute accident.


Memories from a great time at the beach!


Great time with great friends!

Leaning on His Everlasting Arms,
Denise