31 :: 365

50mm 1.8 lens
Shutter priority
ISO 800  f/2  1/200

PSE8 ::
1. Ran PioneerWoman Soft Faded action
2. Cropped

SOOC

30 :: 365

Self portrait. 9:20am. SOOC.

Sony a55 :: 50mm 1.8 lens
ISO 200  1/15  f/3.2

29 :: 365

Burgers? No, cupcakes. Except I didn't have red food coloring for ketchup. Dang.

28 :: 365

Working on a Pinterest project... frames are dry!

cellphone pic
finished project posted on my other blog here...

27 :: 365

Do-over...

Re-editing a few pictures from the past for a Down syndrome website :)

I've always loved this picture. But my skin was a wreck that day. It was the day before my father's funeral, and the day we sealed Max to us in the Salt Lake temple, as we had just finalized his adoption. So many tears, there were tiny red veins popping out all over my skin. Max had fallen and skinned his upper lip. And my skin was so pink compared to Max's Hispanic olive skin. Tried to tone everything down without loosing too much skin texture.







DSC-HX1 (not DSLR)
Auto Mode
ISO 125  10/5000  f/4

PSE8 ::
1. Used healing brush to fix some of the skin blemishes
2. Ran CoffeeShop Baby PowderRoom action to even skin tone, specifically adding more brown instead of just trying to de-redden
3. Adjusted levels
4. Desaturated colors a bit
5. Added a touch of sepia tone
6. Added 'noise' to my cheek for more texture - may need a little more - still looks kinda flat
I hope to be a skin expert by day 365 - ha!

                  Before:                                                          After:

 

{Click to enlarge and compare}

26 :: 365

Sleep study prep.

50mm 1.8 lens
Manual Mode
ISO 800  1/320  f/1.8

PSE8 ::                                                                                                                                 SOOC
1. Edited blue wall socket out of photo by patching and blurring.
2. Adjusted color for skin tone & desaturated a bit
3. Ran Pioneer Woman Slight Sharpen action

25 :: 365

Sleep study tonight, meant haircut last night.

50mm 1.8 lens
Manual Mode
ISO 800  f/1.8  1/100

PSE8 ::
1. Ran CoffeeShop Baby PowderRoom action
2. Adjusted levels & desaturated colors a little
3. Ran Pioneer Woman Sharpen THIS action on the eyes

24 :: 365

Morning sunrise... mostly testing out new watermarks (tutorial here). Trying to find something that will work with both blogs. I don't have a photography business, so it seems weird to use that term, but to just put the URL is really long...

23 :: 365

Saw this water droplet tutorial here. Had to try it... lots of playing around with settings and lighting. Took just under 300 pictures {love taking 10 frames per second} to get these three faves.
Also trying out a new watermark, thanks to this tutorial. {Got word this week there's been more stealing of blog/facebook pictures of kiddos with Down syndrome - ugh.}
:: To create the "©" symbol, hold the "ALT" key and type "0169" or hold "ALT" + "CTRL" + "C". 

My kitchen counter setup.

Sony a55 :: 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 lens
Manual Mode with remote, flash & tripod
ISO 1600  f/8  1/125

PSE8 ::
1. Ran Pioneer Woman Define and Sharpen action on all
2. Cropped and added watermark

22 :: 365

Cuddling with Dad

Sony a55 :: 50mm 1.8 lens
Manual Mode
ISO 400  1/10  f/1.8

PSE8 ::
1. ran CoffeeShop Baby PowderRoom action to lighten face
2. cropped                                                                                                                                       SOOC

3. reduced noise

21 :: 365

Using my new close-up filters... {ignore my poor dry cuticles}

Sony a55 :: 50mm 1.8 lens with +7 close-up filter
Manual Mode
ISO 800   1/125  f/1.8

PSE8 ::
1. Adjusted saturation
2. Ran Pioneer Woman Define and Sharpen action

Should have used a tripod. The depth of field is so shallow with the filters. I don't think they're intended for moving objects... but able to get so much closer than last week's ladybug picture here.

20 :: 365

Need something to do with all those pictures you take? Turn them into refrigerator magnets :)
My 6 yr old loved playing with these last night. Many are a gift for my niece's birthday - hope she likes them as much as Piper does.
Tiny Polaroid magnet instructions here:
http://www.ambrosiagirl.com/blog/tiny-polaroid-magnets/ - Wish I would have made the Polaroid ones a little bigger. The template on this blog was a bit small for my liking. I'll be making more soon!
Family magnet instructions here:
http://happyhomefairy.com/2011/08/25/family-magnets/

19 :: 365

She fell asleep on the floor waiting for me to put her to bed. My bad.

18 :: 365

My brother's dog, Shika.

Sony a55 :: 50mm 1.8 lens
Manual Mode
ISO 1600  f/1.8  1/100

PSE8 ::
Cropped and adjusted levels.

SOOC

17 :: 365

Sony a55 :: 50mm 1.8 lens
Manual Mode
ISO 1600  f/2.5   1/60

PSE8 ::
1. Ran Pioneer Woman Slight Sharpen action
2. Ran Pioneer Woman BOOST action
3. Desaturated the color a bit

16 :: 365

Hit the aquarium today with the other half of SLC wanting to see the new river otter exhibit.
This Cayman sat still for the camera - the otters did not. I'm actually pleasantly surprised how well this came out considering it was through glass.

SOOC

Sony a55 :: 50mm 1.8 lens
Manual Mode
ISO 1600  1/125  f/2.8

PSE8 ::
1. Ran PSE Color Burn effect
2. Ran Pioneer Woman Sharpen THIS over eye
3. Cropped to delete bottom reflection/distractions

15 :: 365

Happy birthday to me. Hugs from Piper in her pink rain poncho. She even face-painted a flower on my cheek for my birthday. Lucky me :)

14 :: 365

Pre-birthday flowers.
Sony a55 :: 50mm f1.8 lens
AP Mode
1/40  f/2.2  ISO 400

PSE8 ::
1. Ran Pioneer Woman Slight Sharp action
2. Ran Pioneer Woman Edge Burn action

SOOC

13 :: 365

Piper's ladybugs hatched.

Sony a55
50mm f1.8 lens
{asked for a close-up filter for my birthday til I save enough pennies for a macro lens; hope to re-try this shot next week}
Manual Mode
ISO 400  f/1.8  1/30

PSE8 ::
1. Used patch technique to remove arm tattoos (from this video tutorial).
2. Adjusted curves
3. Cropped.

SOOC

12 :: 365

Valentine's Wreath (thanks to Pinterest and $7 worth of supplies at the dollar store)

Sony a55 :: 50mm f1.8 lens
Manual Mode
ISO100  1/25  f/1.8

PSE8 ::
1. adjusted levels a wee bit

11 :: 365

Boy in a bucket. His new favorite TV watching place.
Working on metering and exposure - easier to practice on a contained kiddo.
Sony a55 :: 50mm f1.8 lens
ISO 3200  f/1.8  1/60
Had to crank up the ISO, which equals noise. Not my favorite. Then when I edited skin, it smoothed too much and doesn't match the rest of the picture. Oh well. It's practice, right?

SOOC image

PSE8 ::
1. Reduced noise
2. Ran CoffeeShop Baby Powder action to fix the red chappy cheeks
3. Adjusted color for skin tone
4. Used cloning tool to remove some background distraction

Way over exposed and bad white balance, but I liked this shot better, so I went with B&W for a bad lighting disguise!
ISO 6400  f/4   1/10

SOOC image

PSE8 ::
1. Adjusted white balance
2. Adjusted levels
3. Ran Pioneer Woman B&W Beauty
4. Reduced noise

10 :: 365

Max loves his Signing Time videos!

Original SOOC

Sony a55 :: 50mm f1.8 lens
Manual Mode
ISO 800  f/10  1/250

PSE8:
1. used healing brush and cloning tool too get rid of socket and cord on wall; snot on face
2. used levels and a layer mask to lighten only the face - awesome tutorial HERE; also used a little dodging tool to lighten face a bit more (still working on proper exposure in manual mode!)
3. Ran CoffeeShop Sun Kissed action (free action) for sun flare effect and haze
4. Ran Pioneer Woman BW Beauty (free action)

9 :: 365

Read a couple great articles about exposure and metering and histograms last night. Kiddies moved to much to practice on, so I moved onto the toys. Roar.

Sony a55 :: 50mm f1.8 lens
Manual mode
ISO 100   f2.8   1/50

No edits.

8 :: 365

Yesterday's Snow

Sony a55
18-55mm f3.5-5.6 lens
Manual Mode
ISO 800  f22  1/160

PSE8 ::
1. Adjusted levels
2. Ran Pioneer Woman BW Beauty action

7 :: 365

Max's "squishy face".

Sony a55 :: 1.8 50mm lens
P mode  ISO 250  f2   1/80
PSE8 ::
1. Healing brush on crusty nose and chapped cheeks
2. CoffeeShop Baby PowderRoom action focusing mainly on minimizing red skin (Lacey - I figured it out - email me! OK, so it helps to read the instructions.)
3. Adjusted levels a wee bit and brightened overall photo

Original SOOC - see those poor chapped cheeks and crusty nose boogers - ick.

6 :: 365 part 2

For Heather... another way to use a clipping mask... (this morning's snowfall).

You can use the same picture like in this post, or separate pictures like in the Max/therapy clipping mask...
Tutorial here.

6 :: 365

Playing around with clipping masks.
Photos from Max's early intervention therapy this morning.

5 :: 365

Sony a55 :: 18-55mm f3.5 - 5.6 lens
Action mode  ISO 640  f5  1/60
PSE8 :: adjusted levels a tiny bit and converted to b&w

4 :: 365

Bird's nest above 33rd South - odd place for it?




Sony a55
18-55mm f3.5-5.6 lens
AP mode   ISO 100   f5.6  1/320
PSE8:
played around with levels a bit - great article on levels here!

3 :: 365

Sony a55
50mm f1.8 (LOVE my new lens!)
AP mode  ISO 400   f2    1/80
in PSE8:
1. Cropped for rule of thirds
2. Ran CoffeeShop Perfect Portrait action
3. Dodged & burned the eye with this tutorial
4. Tinted with a touch of sepia

SOOC

2 :: 365

My kiddos, Piper & Max. Horrible exposure & focus; tried all kinds of things to sort of fix it in PSE, but LOVE how they're holding hands.

Original shot SOOC (straight out of the camera).