Just Me . . . The Picture Taker

Family Fun at I Heart Faces

2012-01-16T04:00:00.000-08:00

This week's I Heart Faces photo challenge theme

is family fun!

There are some photographs that stay with me for always

that I just LOVE . . .

This is one of those moments . . .

so lovely . . .

So tender and sweet!

So this week - here's my favorite family fun photo to share!

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

And for Your Listening Pleasure . . .

2012-01-09T20:35:00.001-08:00

I think you will agree with me that this . . .

is

truly amazing!

And . . .

They are

The Piano Guys / St. George UT

Enjoy!

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

Amazing FREE Totally Rad opportunity

2011-10-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

Here is an amazing FREE opportunity to share with you all!

For a limited time you can download
the amazingly awesome
Totally Rad's

Rad Lab
download it and try it for FREE for 30 days.
(specs - Mac or PC, photoshop cs3 or later required or photoshop elements 7 or later)

I LOVE it!
And it has saved me more time than you an imagine
(time enough to finally update this blog and share a new interesting blog post!)

PHotographers praise:

"automatically shows me what every RAD action looks like on my pic . . . makes me want to do a little jig every time I open it up . . .Hola to the peeps over at Totally Rad for making my life a little easier and my pictures a lot better", "when RadLab is opened you see your photo on the left and on the right you see all the "actions" on your photo . . . there is no more guesswork as now you have a thumbnail preview . . . you have the ability to save your preferred combinations", "if you've used their actions or presets you know that Totally Rad is amazing! But RadLab is BEYOND amazing"

I'll share examples from my own editing this week . . . as you can see I'm quite undecided between which of the many custom looks I've created - which is my favorite . . .

I've included my recipe setting below the photos.

(an example of a non recipe photo - now get ready to have some fun!)

(Recipe Sally summer - lights out 46%, cool as a cucumber 57%, Claire-ify 48%, EZ burn 47%, flare-up golden 77%, prettyizer 75%)

(Recipe Kristin - lights on 38%, cool as a cucumber 62%, POS lens 30% then adjust, edge blur 100% then adjust, prettyizer 100%)

(Recipe warm crossed - lights on 31%, warm it up kris 124%, EZ burn 100% and adjust, pross crossessed #1 54%)

(Recipe Kristins summer - warm it up kris 65%, ez burn 77%, edge blur 77%, divine light #2 78%, flare-up faded 55%, prettyizer 95%)

(Recipe Kristins lightplus - oh snap 73%, sugar rush 69%, edge burn 85%, prettyizer 77%, pool party 69%, divine light #2 39%, lights on 26%)

(Recipe Kristins Country - lights on 31%, warm it up kris 124%, ez burn 100%, pross crossessed #1 59%, sx70 19%, charcoal bw 51%)

(Recipe Kelsie - lights on 34%, warm it up kris 50%, sugar rush 30%, claire-ify 75%, ez burn 100%)

(Recipe Emily - lights on 99%, ez burn 64% prettyizer 75%)

(Recipe Cory - lights on 29%, warm it up kris 39%, sugar rush 38%, ez burn 59%, edge blur 100% then adjust, divine light 29%)

Give my recipes a try!

There are many other free recipes out there you can download and importbut for starters try these free recipes from Karine Ardault photography

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

Oh Baby!

2011-09-12T07:09:00.000-07:00

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

I Heart Faces Challenge - White

2011-08-28T21:45:00.000-07:00

My oh my oh my . . .

Been just tooooo busy around here lately - but all good. I've been so blessed.

But I'm so excited to come play today - with the

I Heart Faces

photos challenge for this week

"White"

Isn't she just too adorable . . .

She takes my breath away!

Girls in Pearls

Little girls are made of daisies and butterflies and soft kitty car purrs

and all the precious memories of times that once were.

Little girls are made of angel's wings and giggles and a firefly's glow

and all the happy feelings, deep inside, that we all know.

Little girls are made of cinnamon and bubbles and fancy white pearls

and snowflakes and rainbows and ballerina twirls.

Little girls are made of sunshine and cupcakes and a fresh morning dew,

And these are the reasons, little one, why everyone loves you.

Here's to you - sweet baby Addi

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

Photo Challenge {a touch of whimsy}

2011-06-27T06:17:00.000-07:00

A while back . . .
I did some very special photographyfor a very special baby
he wasn't supposed to be with us for long
but today . . .
he is still an angel amongst us.
So this photo is very magical to meand just perfect for
"A Touch of Whimsy"
over at I Heart Faces today!
Enjoy!

Kristin @ ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

Up Close and Personal

2011-06-25T15:40:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the up close and personal
photography over at
Kim Klassen Cafe
today . . . I just wanted to share this beautiful
photo my new little grandbaby.

Just a minute old when this photo was taken.

Isn't she precious - love that sweet little face.

We're so grateful that she is here . . .

This is my SOOC shot - I love it!
Needs no improvements . . .

But I do so like to play around and be creative . . .

I opened it up at picnik.com and applied a sepia tone

Then applied a little 1960's effect
and backed off the opacity by about 75%

The effect offers a rounded corner effect - I really like it, but it doesn't work if you add texture later
so I removed the rounded corners for the next photo so I could add texture.

I applied a warm texture, nothing too strong or with any harsh lines, just to give it some underlying tones. I switched the mode to multiplicity (hardly EVER use that! But today it was appropriate).
Decreased opacity to about 75% again.

I like it . . . really like the look.

Which one will I choose to print and frame . . . . hmmmm . . . still pondering on that one.

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

Photo Challenge ~ LET'S hear it for the BOYS!

2011-06-19T23:48:00.000-07:00

Over at
Iheartfaces.com
this week . . .

The photo challenge theme is
"Let's Hear it for the Boys"

Anything masculine goes - hurray!

This was a favorite photo of the week and I'm happy to share.
My daughter Kels was on a horseback trip with some friends up in the hills above Alpine, UT and snapped this photo - I couldn't resist adding some processing to the photo in Picnik.com. For the rest of the set visit my flickr page - they are pretty sweet!

**Kotah, you are so classy, take care in Alaska and we'll see you when you get home - be safe! **

Postcard perfect!

Don't you agree?

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

Fix-it Friday from Iheartfaces - With a Twist!

2011-06-17T02:29:00.000-07:00

This is a different kind of
~~fix-it Friday ~~

from
I heart faces for me this week.

It's the middle of the night . . . and . . . I'm working at my REAL job . . .
and do not have access to my laptop or any professional editing software such as
Lightroom or Photoshop.

So I decided to use FLICKR and PICNIK.com

and see what I could come up with using those two services alone.

Actually . . . I really quite LIKE the final result :D

Here is Susan's SOOC image that we begin with . . .
I sooOoo think she and her family are sooOoo adorable!

After opening the photo at picnik.com
I moved the ROTATE slider to the left slightly to give it a little bit of a tilt kick.

Then using the EXPOSURE
advanced feature - I bumped the highlights and brightness to the right.
Under colors -slid the temperature to the right and warmed the photo up quite a bit, also increased the saturation just a little.

Next I sharpened by moving the slider to the right slightly.

Next up:
under the CREATE / EFFECTS tab I added a little Orton-ish processing
and backed it off slightyly.

I added a bright and warm TEXTURE that gave it a warm summery look

Added a little grain with the FILM GRAIN

And finally - under the ADVANCED tab added a very slight s-curve and a slight levels bump to the right.

Last but not least - added a fun FRAME and some TEXT!

Yep!
I REALLY quite like the result
(ahhh . . . I really am a BIG fan of picnik.com aren't I??)

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

2011-05-20T10:26:00.000-07:00

a single photo capturing a simple, special, extraordinary moment
from the week. inspired by soulemama
and The Coffeeshop Blog

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

My oldest daughter . . . .
Who just happens to be expecting our first grandbaby . . .(also a daughter . . .)

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Bloghttp://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/2011/05/this-moment-2.html#comments

For all you Photography friends out there . . .

2011-05-17T12:22:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let you know about a special deal going on at my
FAVORITE
photography forum . . .

It is an amazing forum to improve your photography skills, learn more about the business end of things from seasoned professionals, and share your own work and experience with others.

I really enjoy Rock The Shot because the site is so helpful whether you're just starting out taking photographs of your family members or even if you are an experienced professional - I feel like they offer something for everyone!

They have special free products (tutorials, photoshop actions, templates) for all their members, even if you just do a little test drive to become familiar with the forum. I was hooked almost immediately.

Right now they make it easy to give Rock The Shot a try as they are offering 20% off of ALL membership plans. You need to enter code RTSfan as you check out -- and ENJOY this fun opportunity to improve your skills and learn from a great team.

A Trial membership is just $6.00 for one week ($4.80 with discount)
$18.00 for three months ($14.40 with discount)
$30 for six months ($24 with discount)
One year is $50 ($40 with discount)
and
a Lifetime membership $175 ($140 with discount)

Okay - and now back to our regularly scheduled programming . . . . :D

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

May Flowers

2011-05-16T09:04:00.000-07:00

May Flowers?

We should have enough of them around here . . .
after all those April showers!

You all know I LOVE
picnik.com

Just wanted to share some of the fun things
you can do over there . . .

This is a SOOC shot . . .not to shabby!

After croppingadjusting exposuresoftening focusand adding a few textures from picnik

But I have to say . . .
I DO
think this is my
FAVORITE!

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

Making you smile . . .

2011-05-16T07:29:00.000-07:00

Makin' you
SMILE!

Come on you know I did :)

Couldn't resist sharing this photo on one of my favorite photo hangouts

Darling Anna,

graduating senior - should be super model

We had so much fun! Isn't it obvious?

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

Some Tricky Editing!

2011-05-10T15:01:00.000-07:00

I love photoshop and use it lots for my photography business. I am also learning more and more about lightroom all the time. It is my NEW favorite! Don't know how I lived without it for so long!

That said, I seldom do really hard pro photoshop stuff! I use about the same 10% of photoshop features every day. But I really couldn't resist attempting this edit . . .

This is my first attempt and I'm going to redo it as I'm thinking of a different way that would perhaps increase the quality - but wanted to share this . . .

This was a great shot! But notice #1 guy on the left . . .

He was a 1/10 of a second behind on his jump, compared to his peers in photo 2 below.

See his height in this photo?

It would be a shame to use either photo - so I superimposed one photo on top of the other and edited out the parts I didn't want to use of each photo.

Actually, it was much more complicated than that . . . but that's the basic premise.

And ended up with this photo below with a little more tweaks, texture and grain applied.

(don't look THAT closely!!)

I love the new output - think those guys all look pretty fantastic!

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

Of all shapes and sizes . . .

2011-04-21T08:25:00.000-07:00

Fun things come in all shapes and sizes . . .

The best thing is here's another for
FREE!!!

Yes, you got it, completely FREE online :)
Find it at
Shapecollage.com

Now I'm off to try the Facebook app . . .
(and if you're wondering, this is what's on my FLICKR site this week!)

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

Couldn't sleep . . . keep editing :)

2011-04-21T02:06:00.000-07:00

My daughters cute friend who just recently became engaged . . . couldn't resist doing this cute photo of them I downloaded from Facebook up in a zillion different flavors . . . . well maybe a litte less than a zillion . . . :D

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

Love that Shot ~Spring Fever~

2011-04-18T17:58:00.000-07:00

Oh man!
We got it bad around here . . .
~~ SPRING FEVER ~~

Can't wait for more spring like weather - but the snow is melting quickly now!

For the SNOW PHOTOS you'll have to click my FLICKR link to the right :D

But this is what we did this week!

Been waiting all winter for these gorgeous strawberries to become available . . . sooooo yummy!

More of our Strawberry tips:
How to's
Fruit volcano's

pickledpepperphotography.com

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

I Heart Faces - Challenge

2011-04-16T23:56:00.000-07:00

Finding the Wind!

Looking for the wind I ran across this photo - and most of all it reminded me that
two years ago today . . .
This handsome guy proposed to this darling girl . . .

Congratulations once again - my sweetheart girl <3

and many more at
I Heart Faces

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

Discovery - NEW freebies . . .

2011-04-08T01:03:00.000-07:00

I'm always excited when I discover a new source of
photography inspiration
tutorials
and
freebies!

Captivate
by photographer Tara Station is my
latest discovery

Come back soon and I'll take you through a tutorial using her
freebies
to enhance a photograph and turn it into something really spectactular :D (also - just letting you know . . .I made this discovery and more over at Rock the Shot - come on by!)

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

Pack up . . . were going on a Picnik!

2011-03-31T02:31:00.000-07:00

Have you discovered Picnik yet?

One of my favorite photo editing tools next to Lightroom and Photoshop. The best part about it is the editing can all be completed online. Every once in a while (like frequently!) I want to edit one of my FLICKR photos without downloading, editing, reuploading . . .

Like this one here!

We went from this photo (which I adore already!)

To this one . . . with a completely different look . . .

I started with the photo in FLICKR,
then clicked 'edit in Picnik' under Actions. Once the photo is loaded into Picnik, there is a ton of stuff you can do! But I started with the create tab because I was very happy with the photo and didn't want to make any cropping or exposure edits to the photos.

I first converted the photo to Sepia, selecting the exact tone with the color picking tool. Next I used the soften tool to give it more of an ethereal look. Added a little vingette and decreased the sliders to the adjustments I desired.

Next I added a texture with the texture tool. So many fun ones to choose from. It's great because you get to preview all your choices along the way. Don't like it? Just click cancel or the undo button. It takes right back to where you where before.

With the texture I switched the mode to overlay. It's fun to try them all out!

That is it!

Send the new 'photo' back over to my FLICKR acct as a NEW file so to not replace the original.

Presto - change - o a whole new look.

There are a ton of editing tools you can use for FREE! Or for a little bit (like $4.95 a month, or $24.95) a year you gain access to so many more really fun tools!

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

You Know i LOVE free STUFF!!!

2011-03-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

You KNOW i LOVE

FREE stuff!!!!

And while technically, this isn't exactly free . . .

It's one of the greatest best photography bargains I've run into in a long time.

I joined the Rock the Shotforum about a month ago and have already come to appreciate so much the advice from seasoned photographers who are part of their forum and share both their knowledge of photography and business skills.

If you have a digital camera and want to really put it to good use, you'll want to check this out. At the

VERY LEAST

consider joining for a period of time to really experience all the opportunities their forums have to offer.

There's a couple bargains I want to emphasize!

ALL their MEMBERSHIPS are currently on sale!

If you use the code RTSLaunch when you join, you get 20% off right now on your membership fee

a trial of one week would be $4.80 which doesn't begin to give you time to really enjoy everything. (But it's very inexpensive :)

You might want to be like me and jump in with both feet and spring for the annual membership at the discounted price of $40 - it's a bargain for a professional community.

FREE stuff!! - yes for joining you get FREE stuff - it's so cool!

They currently have available not ONE but TWO "members only" freebie packets available for download. You get get Photoshop actions, Lightroom presets, lovely textures and templates, the list goes on . . .

So see - you really do get something really awesome for FREE!

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

I ♥ Heart Faces ♥ and their Fix it Friday theme

2011-03-11T08:55:00.000-08:00

I ♥ Heart Faces ♥
and their Fix it Friday theme

Here's the SOOC provided by Michelle Johnson
from Love that Shot

Here is my edit - I basically liked the composition, great placement in the photo! Her eyes are right on our rule of thirds marker and make a great focal point.

I opened the SOOC shot in PS4 and ran Coffeeshop's Perfect Portrait 2 (one of my favorite actions), nicked the sharpen box, did just a tiny bit of skin softening, I did brighten her eyes almost imperceptibly and sharpen them just a hair. Applied a vignette and decreased the opacity to 20%

Flattened

Ran TRA Oh Snap decreased opacity to 15%
Ran TRA Contrast (Luma) decreased opacity to 60%
Ran TRA Ying Yang, touched up the wheat and grass to darken just a bit
Flattened

Ran MCP's awesome FREE action Mini Fusion - it's a new favorite!
Opened the layers to nick the pink and yellow tones

Sharpened for web and flattened again.

Such a darling photo!

I wanted to do one vertical crop. Her pose lends itself perfectly to a vertical pose . . .

All I did was crop, kept the eyes as the focal point, and ran TRA Vingnette and Blur, opened the layers to decrease the vingnette to 15%. I like the softening around the edges and think it draws the attention to the lovely face and beautiful eyes.

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

All Free Actions and Tools for Photoshop Edits

2011-03-05T07:27:00.000-08:00

Wow - Long time no see!
It's been ages since I've able to create a post for my almost always "totally free" photoshop tutorials and creative editing site!

But I had time today, so here goes . . .
This comes from one of my favorite sites for
excellent
FREE photography tutorials and information . . .
I ♥ Heart Faces ♥
and their Fix it Friday theme

Believe me I've spent plenty on LOVELY photoshop actions from MCP, Florabella, TRA - but what if you're new, just starting out, cheap, broke or ALL of the above. You can do spectacular photo editing with many tools that are available online for FREE. I'll point you to some of my favorites today.

I saw the photo from Dana Suggs, at I ♥ Heart Faces ♥ that was available to edit today and couldn't pass it up. And I had some free time, so I really went to town.

Here is Dana's shot ready to edit - lots of potential here, her handsome son, with naturally beautiful eyes. (I know that Dana like to keep the eyes natural looking, so I DID NOT touch up the eyes in any of these edits - they ARE just naturally gorgeous :)

While Dana's photo is very close to follow the rule of thirds I wanted a closer crop to really zoom in on that handsome face but preserve as much of the great background as possible. So I used his eyes as my rule of thirds focal point, and began my edit with the free Coffeeshops Perfect Portrait 2.

This free action comes with a great tutorial that will teach you much about layers and how to apply and adjust photoshop actions. Of all my tools, free and expensive, this is still one of my favorites and most used. For this edit, I simply ran the action, nicked the sharpen box, used the skin softening very lightly with a tiny brush to erase a few blemishes and under eye circles. You have to be careful with skin softening to not over do. I prefer a mostly natural look, especially with men. You can end up with a very unnatural and plastic look if you're not careful. I nicked the vignette box, decreased the opacity to taste and that is it! Probably the simplest edit ever!

But this would be really boring if I stopped now . . .

If you hurry on over to Facebook you can currently download this sweet Mini Fusion action from MCP. Just be willing to 'like' their page and spread the word and it's yours, totally FREE. And it is SWEET action!

I ran the action, with this action you need to open up the layers by clicking on their little down arrows, for this edit I simply nicked the box on cool blue sea, I was happy with the rest and PRESTO - done again! Just flatten and save. Great color huh! Love this free mini action. Their is a wealth of info available at the MCP website - you could browse over there all day!

Hmmm . . . what else have I got here . . .

Then I decided to delve into Pioneer Woman Actions, haven't used them for a while, they turned out to be PERFECT for this photo. By the way - there are really COOL updated and new files available where I linked, if you haven't updated your actions from Rita - stop by and do it today!

This is seventies - just decreased the opacity to 60%. Again - love the color!

These two are colorized and sunshine, once again just decreasing the opacity to taste. Nothing fancy, just normal on the layers menu.

For this last edit - which I think might be my favorite, given his denim shirt, the corrugated steel in the background, I wanted a little more dirt in the edit so . . . . I really went to town . . ;)

I used Pioneer Woman's Heartland, decreased opacity to bring back a little color, ran her sepia action cause I love those tones, and decreased the opacity again, I then ran Rita's Warmer action, a little to warm on the face and arms so masked those areas off at 100%.

Then because I wanted to do an edit with some texture to it - I used this FREE texture action from TRA. I actually own all their action packs - but I got started with their FREE action demo packs. All you need to do is fill out their form with your name, email etc and they will send you the link. Watch out, you'll be hooked like me, now I can't live without their fun action sets. You'll receive their DirtBag texture action which I used here, I decreased the opacity to about 30%, masked off the hands and face.

Last but not least ran Pioneer Womans Boost action, and her quick edge burn adjusting the opacity once again - and voila!

AWESOME and all for FREE :)
Gotta love it!

You can find me in many places these days -

www.pickledpepperphotography.com
and Pickled Pepper Photography - The Blog

Personal Blog - Alpine Klein Bunch

and of course here
at

Just me the Picture Taker

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

free free free photography magazine

2011-02-06T21:33:00.000-08:00

You know me - can't help but share
FREE photography stuff!!

You are going to LOVE this!

It's the premier edition of

new magazine - Click

If you are here,you are so going to love it!
Enjoy!

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300 50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

FREE Photoshop Tutorial

2011-01-22T09:50:00.000-08:00

Adjustment Layers and Textures

I was creating a new banner to give this place a new look and having so much fun
doing it I thought I'd share a few thoughts about how to create a similar look with one of your photos.

Can't wait to get this one printed and hanging up on the wall!

This photo was so much fun to work with in the first place, it was taken in Paris this last May
when myself and my two daughters and their BFF cousins spent a week there having a huge
adventure. So of course it brings back lots of fabulous memories.

So here we are on the rooftop of the department store "Galeries Lafayette"
with all of the Paris rooftops spread out before us and the Eiffel Tower in the distance. You'll see from the original
version that the photo could be called quite ordinary. Which is why I wanted to give it a
little boost and create something worthy of our photo gallery at home.

So here's what I did using Photoshop CS4 -

1. First, as always, I added a Levels Adjustment Layer and brought
the two outer sliders in towards the middle just a bit to boost the contrast.

2. Next, I added a Curves Adjustment Layer and created a slight
S-curve to to give the image a little more of a boost.

3. Then I ran a couple free actions available from Pioneer Woman.
First I ran Fresh & Colorful to boost the colors.
Then I ran Slight Lighten a couple of times to add some additional brightness to the image.

4. Next, I added a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer and selected Colorize.
I chose a sepia tone and set the layer to Soft Light blending mode with the Opacity set to
55% where you start to see the color added back in, but you see an overall
soft warm tone to the photo.

5. Now I had some fun with textures! I really wanted to do something to add some
art work to the photo and capture the feeling of being in Paris on a
LOVELY adventure.

I chose two textures from my 2econd skin and from Shadowhouse. (You'll find a huge library of FREE textures listed below). First I applied Old Find 5 set to Multiply blending mode with the Opacity adjust down to 50%. Then I applied Old Post Card and tried the various blending modes with the Opacity adjusted down from 22- 37% I think my favorites are colordodge, overlay and vivid.

6. Finally I sharpened the photo using the High Pass Filter. It's a fabulous underused sharpening tool which I've created my own action for (I see another tutorial coming here . . .) the steps are 1. create a duplicate layer, click on menus - layers, show all, other, high pass, adjust the pixels down to about 1-3 pixels. Change the blending mode to hard (increased sharpening) or soft light (decreased sharpening), you can adjust the opacity slider also down to about 80% to fine tune the amount of sharpening you see. Flatten and save your photo!

As you can see I saved all of them - and it made a lovely banner!

And here they are! 
Here’s a before and after for you:

(here's a rather unattractive SOOC shot)

(lots of improvement - right after
the first texture is added)

(There's soooooo many lovely free textures availablesee my links below for some possibilites)

(look closely and you'll see some subtle blending mode differences)

(you can see them better with my flickr.com slideshow)

This is my favorite - for the overall color tone, skin tones, and preserving the post card look which for me captures the essence of our true adventure in Paris.

Kristin ~picasa~ ~flickr~ Sony all the way! Sony A700 & A300
50mm/f1.7 Tokina 28-70 1.2.8, DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 loving it! Personal Blog, Photo Blog

I ♥ Faces - Self Portraits - Photography Hints & Tips

2010-12-06T05:57:00.000-08:00

~~I ran up the door,
closed the stairs,
said my pajamas and put on my prayers,
turned off the bed
and hopped in the light,
all because you kissed me goodnight~~

It's self portrait week over at
I ♥ Faces
that's always hard for me, but I guess I'll share this one

I love PJ's - think I could live very easily in these :)

If you're just getting into photography,trying to figure out how to work your new DSLRor trying to learn new skills . . .
Check out I ♥ Facesgreat tutorials such as "know your camera"tips for photographing large groupsand other photography tips!

Kristin ~picasa~ ~photobucket~~flickr~ Sony a700 DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 & loving it! (and my new favorite - a 50mm/f1.7 !! - ha! Got it!) Home Blog, Photo Blog

Photography Hints and Tips - Picnik

2010-11-10T04:07:00.000-08:00

Did you just barely get that cool new DSLR camera?

Now you're trying to learn some new fun and funky ways to take wonderful photos?

Perhaps you can't afford Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

There's something online that is fun, funky, unique
and soooo much fun!

Picnik!

It's almost as much fun as the name sounds like.

(here is my SOOC shot - not too bad by itself)
Then I played around and picnik - ized it!
Beginning with the "edit" tabI cropped in close to emphasize that cute expression"exposure" I increased the exposure, contrast and brightness all just a little nudge"color" I increased the temperature and saturation just a hair also
Then jump over to the "create" tabthis is where the FUN really begins . . .
Then just very subtly Isoftenedadded a slight vignettecross-processedand added a tiny bit of burlap under texture
and this is what my final edit looks like

Yup!
Adorable!

Kristin ~picasa~ ~photobucket~~flickr~ Sony a300 just using kit lenses right now: DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 & loving it! (But really want a 50mm/f1.7 !! - ha! Got it!) Home Blog, Photo Blog

Week 35 - Photo Journalism Challenge

2010-08-29T22:47:00.000-07:00

While traveling to Paris, France this summer on an 'girls only' trip of a lifetime, some of my favorite memories were the street market of Rue du Foubourg St. Denis. There was a story around every corner. I've just included my favorite ones below:

There are many stories out there this week at I Heart Faces, enjoy browsing amongst them all.

Kristin ~picasa~ ~photobucket~~flickr~Sony a300just using kit lenses right now: DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 & loving it!(But really want a 50mm/f1.7 !! - ha! Got it!)Home Blog, Photo Blog

Week 25 - Celebrating Teens - i♥faces

2010-06-20T22:10:00.000-07:00

i♥faces

Ah! My favorite topic - I love to celebrate teens!

They are totally my very favorite to photograph! Especially girls, they are usually totally natural in front of a camera. This photo comes from one of my favorite teen sessions this summer. Taken in the wilds of Southern Utah - it was such a fantastic experience.

You'll want to check out Iheartfaces.com for sooooo many more darling
teen photos this week!

Kristin ~picasa~ ~photobucket~~flickr~Sony a300just using kit lenses right now: DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 & loving it!(But really want a 50mm/f1.7 !! - ha! Got it!)Home Blog, Photo Blog

i♥faces - "all about babies" June 14

2010-06-14T14:48:00.000-07:00

This one is

"All About Babies"

CANNOT wait to see these entries . . . they are sure to be adorable!

You can see them all
at
i ♥ faces

Kristin ~picasa~ ~photobucket~~flickr~Sony a300just using kit lenses right now: DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 & loving it!(But really want a 50mm/f1.7 !! - ha! Got it!)Home Blog, Photo Blog

Challenge - Dramatic Black & White

2010-03-30T01:03:00.000-07:00

Over at I Heart Faces . . .

The photo challenge of the week is Dramatic Black & White

Slay me . . .

Isn't he adorable!

Such a little man!

There are so many great entries this week over at I Heart Faces.
Like candy in a candy store . . .

Kristin ~picasa~ ~photobucket~~flickr~
Sony a300
just using kit lenses right now: DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 & loving it!
(But really want a 50mm/f1.7 !! - ha! Got it!)
Home Blog, Photo Blog

I Heart Faces - Fix It Friday - March 26

2010-03-26T05:01:00.000-07:00

When I saw the photo - I knew this one would be fun!

Love the colors and the beautiful eyes!

Below is the original photo.

I immediately did just an auto levels correction in PS CS2 which

corrected a lot of the brightness and exposure levels.

Then I used Coffeeshops Free Perfect Portrait Action to smooth

away the chapped little cheeks and brighten up the eyes a bit, and

make the colors pop.

Used a healing brush to correct the little bruised area between her eyes.

Then I thought it would be fun to add a texture to the photo.

Again one of the free texture packs that is out there. I erased nearly all

texture from the subject.

I've been wanting to learn more about using clipping masks and had

these free frames from Coffeeshop - this one turned out really cute.

And here's my final -

Lots more to see over at I Heart Faces - Fix it Friday!

Kristin ~picasa~ ~photobucket~~flickr~
Sony a300
just using kit lenses right now: DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 & loving it!
(But really want a 50mm/f1.7 !! - ha! Got it!)
Home Blog, Photo Blog

I Heart Faces - Bundled Up

2010-03-14T21:50:00.000-07:00

This week over at i heart faces

The Challenge is "Bundled Up"

A topic very appropriate for here in Utah - as we keep getting more and more snow. We have to bundle up everyday just to stay WARM. But it sure makes for some beautiful photo shoots.

This is Brandon - and I think he bundles up VERY well!

Don't you agree?

Kristin ~picasa~ ~photobucket~~flickr~
Sony a300
just using kit lenses right now: DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 & loving it!
(But really want a 50mm/f1.7 !! - ha! Got it!)
Home Blog, Photo Blog

See lots more great bundled up shots at -

More treat ima ges at i♥faces. You're sure to love it!

Fix it Friday - I Heart Faces

2010-03-12T00:59:00.000-08:00

Wow! If this can be saved . . .
anything can!

It took me a while to get from the first photo to the second photo.

First of all, after opening the photo in Photoshop CS2, I made a levels adjustment moving the center slider quite far to the left. Also, the right slider over to the left just a hair also. It was amazing what that one adjustment opened up in the photo as far as color. It was amazing to see what was hidden underneath!
Next I ran Coffeeshops Free Perfect Portrait, I used the Vivid Color layer to give a little extra boost to her eye and lip color, brightened it a little, increased the eye definition and a little vinyette. I tweaked all the layers opacity just a bit to get the look I wanted, then flattened.
Next I ran another free action DNP Noise Reducer, and included all three layers, green, blue and red for noise reduction. In fact, I ran it twice.
I love free actions and next used MCP's High Definition Sharpening Action to crisp things up a bit. I used the mask and black brushed everything but the eyes to make the eyes stand out more.
Almost to the end: I cropped in closer, didn't want to try to recreate the missing left corner, so found a great crop that approximates the thirds rule.
My goal I'm currently working on is to try to figure out how textures work and use them to add some dimension to photos occasionally. So I thought I'd give it a try here. I'm not very good at keeping track of where I get free textures, so I can't tell you which ones I used. (I'm going to figure out a system for this). But there are lots of free textures out there! Here is a great place to start. I applied two different textures, erasing the first completely from the subject, and on the second kept the opacity at about 75% removal of texture.

Drumroll please . . . ta da da da!

Kristin ~picasa~ ~photobucket~~flickr~
Sony a300, Sony a700
just using kit lenses right now: DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 & loving it!
(But really want a 50mm/f1.7 !! - ha! Got it!
New puppy - Tokina 28-70 f2.8 dreamy)
Home Blog, Photo Blog

I Heart Faces - Fix it Friday

2010-02-26T06:30:00.000-08:00

This makes me long for spring!

So I couldn't help but go with a little bit of a "Springy" Fix it . . .

Before shot . . .

And this is after . . .

I rotated CCW 8% and cropped closer in.

Used Coffeeshop's Perfect Portrait action to smooth skin tones just a bit and brighten the eyes a little.

Then I applied a new adjustment layer for levels and brought the levels up a bit to brighten her face. I unmasked the areas I didn't want overly bright.

Found a cute springy daisy and applied it as a texture and erased from the main subject.

Yep! Makes me feel like Spring!

Kristin ~picasa~ ~photobucket~~flickr~
Sony a300
just using kit lenses right now: DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 & loving it!
(But really want a 50mm/f1.7 !! - ha! Got it!)
Home Blog, Photo Blog

{I Heart Faces} Hands - On Challenge

2010-02-21T22:37:00.000-08:00

This hand is just precious

it's struggled so much this last week

but it's strong, strong hand, strong strong strong . . .

Kristin ~picasa~ ~photobucket~~flickr~
Sony a300
just using kit lenses right now: DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 & loving it!
(But really want a 50mm/f1.7 !! - ha! Got it!)
Home Blog, Photo Blog

All kinds of precious hands this week at I Heart Faces

I Heart Faces - I wanna dance . . .

2010-02-15T15:51:00.000-08:00

Nothing as sweet as father and daughter - their last dance . . .

This is one of my favorite photos ever.

This is a group effort - my sweet daughter in law Cami took the photo on my daughters wedding day. The most touching moment of the day . . . the daddy dance . . .

I just applied a few Pioneer Woman actions to get the look I like best . . .

More amazing pictures available if you stop by.

Kristin ~picasa~ ~photobucket~~flickr~
Sony a300
just using kit lenses right now: DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 & loving it!
(But really want a 50mm/f1.7 !! - ha! Got it!)
Home Blog, Photo Blog

Fix it Friday - I Heart Faces

2010-02-12T08:33:00.000-08:00

(before)

(after)

I used Photoshop CS2
First I adjusted the levels just slightly. Did a color balance adjustment to warm the tones just a bit. I ran the free Coffeeshop Action - perfect portrait and used it to brighten colors, pop the eyes, and do a little dodging on in the right side shadows. But I like a little bit of shadow on the face, so didn't dodge too much.

Next I did a curve adjustment, with a greater curve on the top half and only a minor adjustment on the bottom curve.

Placed it on top of a free texture, also from Coffeeshop, took down the opacity and used Overlay mode.

Next I just cropped in closer.

Kristin ~picasa~ ~photobucket~~flickr~
Sony a300
just using kit lenses right now: DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 & loving it!
(But really want a 50mm/f1.7 !! - ha! Got it!)
Home Blog, Photo Blog

Stop by for lots of fix it Friday tips!

DPS Assignment - Fruits & Vegetables

2010-02-11T18:30:00.000-08:00

Sony dslr - a300
Exposure 1/80
Aperture f5.6
Length 50mm
ISO 800

Kristin ~picasa~ ~photobucket~~flickr~
Sony a300
just using kit lenses right now: DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 & loving it!
(But really want a 50mm/f1.7 !! - ha! Got it!)
Home Blog, Photo Blog

This Kiss . . . This Kiss . . .

2010-02-09T13:31:00.000-08:00

Oooouu Laa Laa!

It's the way you love me
It's a feeling like this--
It's centrifical motion
It's perpetual bliss.
It's that pivotal moment
It's Subliminal
This Kiss, This Kiss
(It's Criminal)
This Kiss, This Kiss

My first experiment with Textures

2010-02-08T11:45:00.000-08:00

Just getting started with texture, it was my goal for January to at least become familiar with the skill and using it to enhance my photographs.

Remembering . . .

2010-02-03T00:56:00.001-08:00

It's been a year . . .

and we're remembering . . .

I Heart Face - We are Family

2010-01-17T21:18:00.000-08:00

This was one of my favorite families to photograph this summer.

The 'little man' was calling all the shots at this one.

When you're as cute as he is - you can get away with anything.

Stop by
I Heart Faces
for more family friendly faces this week.

I ♥ Faces - Pets Only - Photo Challenge

2009-12-14T09:07:00.000-08:00

Best Friends!

With the busy holiday approaching and a wedding coming right up, I haven't had time to contribute as frequently as I would like to, but I couldn't pass up posting
this fun photo that I snapped just this morning. It was so perfect for the

I ♥ Faces

topic of the week!. Enoy all you pet lovers and photographers out there!

I ♥ Faces - EXCITED!

2009-10-12T04:55:00.000-07:00

I ♥ Faces

This is my EXCITED entry for the week. This adorable family was so excited to have this photo taken for their mom for Christmas. They were literally jumping for joy! Pretty cool jumps don't you think. They are some of my most favorite people ever - so I'm so glad to feature them on this EXCITING entry.

More treat images at i♥faces. You're sure to love it!

DPS assignment - BOKEH

2009-10-11T14:38:00.000-07:00

Camera Make: SONY

Camera Model: DSLR-A300

Resolution: 640 x 448

Flash Used: No

Focal Length: 50.0mm (35mm equivalent: 75mm...

Exposure Time: 0.0003 s (1/4000)

Aperture: f/1.7

ISO Equiv.: 400

Whitebalance: Auto

Metering Mode: center weight

Exposure: aperture priority

I ♥ Faces - Contemplative & Pet entries

2009-09-13T22:46:00.000-07:00

Cousins - and good friends.

An amazing bond exists between these two cousins. Almost since birth they've just latched onto each other. They're just lucky . . . lucky to have each other.

Find other amazing photos at -

This is our Cleo - she's the spoiled one who always gets a corner of the bed and greets all visitors at the door. Just one gorgeous girl!

2009-07-06T17:54:00.000-07:00

Camera Sony DSL-A300
Focal length 50mm
Exposure 1/640
Aperture f/4.0
ISO 800
Exposure Aperture Priority
Post Processing with Pioneer Woman Action BW

See more fantastic black & whites at DPS - the assignment forum

assignment of the week!

These are the cutest siblings ever - I love the way they just naturally cuddle right up with each other.

DPS June 10-24, "chair"

2009-06-18T13:02:00.000-07:00

Camera - Sony A300
Focal length - 50mm
f stop - 1.7
Exposure - 1/100
Exposure bias plus.03
Aperture priority
Iso speed - 400
Post processing action - Pioneer Woman Vintage

This ol' chair has been in the family for more years than I have, it's still going strong and is everyones favorite chair. I use it frequently with photography because it has a classic look to it that seems to look great in photographs.

__________________
Kristin ~picasa~ ~photobucket~~flickr~
Sony a300
just using kit lenses right now: DT18-70mm/f3.5-5.6, DT55-200mm/f4-5.6 & loving it!
(But really want a 50mm/f1.7 !! - ha! Got it!)
Home Blog, Photo Blog

2009-06-03T22:08:00.000-07:00

I ♥ Faces

May

DSP "Foliage not flowers" May 27

2009-06-03T21:35:00.000-07:00

Camera SONY - DSLR A300
Exposure 1/320
Aperture f1.7
Focal Length 50mm
ISO 200
Aperture priority
Flash off

This beautiful foliage which is the topic for DPS assignment forum this week comes from the Japanese maple which is in the front entry to our home. Because of it's beautiful maroon color, it's one of our favorite landscaping accents.

i♥faces - Laughter

2009-05-11T02:41:00.000-07:00

We were just starting an engagement photo shoot for Karianne and Greg when we really got them laughing about something. It's easy to tell they are going to be a lot of fun to work with.

This is my entry for for this week.

DPS "in the Evening"

2009-05-04T10:52:00.000-07:00

Evenings are always so busy, but if I do have time I love to curl up in my favorite chair with the laptop or a good book and my favorite quilt.

Camera Sony DSLR-A300
Focal length 28mm
F-number f/4.5
ISO 400
Center weighted metering
Aperture exposure
Exposure comp +0.7 step
Date 5/3/2009 8:09 pm

You can see many other "in the evenings" interpretations at DPS.

i♥faces - hats - week 17

2009-05-04T09:33:00.000-07:00

Entry for week 17 - hats

This is Kelsie, we were taking some fun Senior photos this day with a group of friends. It's one of my favorite pictures ever. She is a big fan of hats and converse shoes. She has a closet full of both. So it's very appropriate that we can see the shoes in the photo.
More treat images at i♥faces. You're sure to love it!

Brand New to Picnik

2009-05-03T23:35:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I've been on Picnik for like 15 minutes now . . . and I'm absolutely loving it! This is my first fun creation. I'm so paying the money for the upgrade. You should see the really exciting collage templates they have available!

"Reflections"

2009-05-01T22:15:00.000-07:00

I didn't get this organized fast enough to post a photo for this week's i♥faces
entitled "Reflections". But I did take this photo as my daughter was busy getting ready for Prom night and a special date. I thought the different reflections were so fun to work with, and the Ree Drummond action "heartland" really added to the effect as well.

I'll be posting some of the actual Prom photos once I get time to put them together.

Favorite Photo of the Week

2009-05-01T17:52:00.000-07:00

I'm helping a good friend put togegther a scrap book for the our local high school men's soccer team. Besides getting to watch a super game where Lone Peak beat Pleasant Grove 1:0, I got to snap this great photo.

This is my favorite photo this week.

i♥faces - self portrait

2009-04-21T16:34:00.000-07:00

This is me - humbling to try to take a self portrait. Some day I'm going to try again. I used one of Ree Drummonds actions "seventies" on this for a little post processing. You can find it here for free.

More treat images at i♥faces. You're sure to love it!

Daddy's Truck

2009-04-17T11:17:00.000-07:00

DPS assignment - Natural Light Portraits, April 8-22
Camera Sony A300
Focal length 75mm
f/stop f/5.6
Shutter 1/125
ISO 100
Aperature Exposure
Date 4/12/2009
Post processing with Adobe Photoshop CS2
Curves - pulled center straight up a hair, bumped the saturation level a little. With portraits I like to experiment with actions from time to time. This one is entitled Lovely & Ethereal from Ree Drummond and is included in a gratis action package here.

i♥faces - Amateur

2009-04-13T08:50:00.000-07:00

This is my entry for Week 14 - Amateurs at i♥faces. The theme is Easter, and while the family was all in one place to celebrate the holiday we decided it was time to update the family picture. Our oldest son and his wife were soon to be moving across the country. Were not a very serious bunch . . . and not an Easter egg in sight in this photo. I enjoy playing around with different photoshop actions from time to time and this photo has been retouched with Define & Sharpen, from PW.

I am definitly an amateur when it comes to photography. It is a great love of mine, but most of my good stuff has been by accident, and I'm just now trying how to figure out to accomplish the same look ON PURPOSE! I take photos of everything, my neighbors families, kids and pets, but have yet to charge for any of my work. But I may have to think about it soon since I spend hours and hours doing post processing.

DPS - Wisdom

2009-04-06T17:51:00.000-07:00

My Friend and I

2009-04-06T17:12:00.000-07:00

Two sisters - the older is away at college and the younger is very grateful
for a spring break reunion.
BTW - photo from the slot canyon just outside of Kanarraville, Utah.

More treat images at i♥faces. You're sure to love it!

Pouting Kids & Pups

2009-03-29T21:41:00.000-07:00

Or is that Pouting Pups and Kids . . . .

The new pup on the block - grandma and grandpa have a new puppy - this is Little Fox.

Feisty little redhead don't you think!

More treat images at i♥faces. You're sure to love it!

Shallow Depth of Field

2009-03-27T21:26:00.000-07:00

Assignment - DPS March 18 - April 1

Camera Sony Alpha A300

Flash used: no

Focal length: 50.0 mm

Exposure time: 1/80

Aperture: f/5.6

ISO equiv: 160

Exposure bias: .70

I Heart Faces - Fix it Friday

2009-03-27T02:32:00.000-07:00

Here are the before and after photos from I Heart Faces - Fix it Friday, March 27.
First of all I did a little touch up on auto levels, and contrast. I bumped the red tones up a notch (I always prefer a little less blue / green tones and a little more red). Used the Healing brush on her cheek, her tooth and chin. Bumped the Saturation up a little. Created a new layer, applied the Gaussian Blur at 3.0. to soften a little. Decreased the opacity to about 35%. Flattened. Created a new adjustment layer for levels. Pulled the middle straight up, decreased the opacity to about 28%. Used the eraser a bit on the white / iris of eyes. Flattened. Rotated CW about 10 degrees and cropped in closer on her face.

DPS - Vivid

2009-03-24T21:27:00.000-07:00

Digital Photography School - Assignment, March 11-25 "Vivid"

Camera Model: Sony Alpha-A300
Date/Time: 2009:03:19 16:28:37
Resolution: 639 x 428
Flash Used: No
Focal Length: 70.0mm
Exposure Time: 0.050 s (1/20)
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO Equiv.: 400
Exposure: aperture priority (semi-auto)

brandon

2009-03-24T02:07:00.000-07:00

my first "I Heart Faces" entry - NO FLASH
i seldom use a flash - but i had to go back and check my EXIF meta data to be sure. i love the blown out background.

Just Me . . . The Picture Taker

Family Fun at I Heart Faces

And for Your Listening Pleasure . . .

Amazing FREE Totally Rad opportunity

Oh Baby!

I Heart Faces Challenge - White

Photo Challenge {a touch of whimsy}

Up Close and Personal

Photo Challenge ~ LET'S hear it for the BOYS!

Fix-it Friday from Iheartfaces - With a Twist!

{{ this moment }}

For all you Photography friends out there . . .

May Flowers

Making you smile . . .

Some Tricky Editing!

Of all shapes and sizes . . .

Couldn't sleep . . . keep editing :)

Love that Shot ~Spring Fever~

I Heart Faces - Challenge

Discovery - NEW freebies . . .

Pack up . . . were going on a Picnik!

You Know i LOVE free STUFF!!!

I ♥ Heart Faces ♥ and their Fix it Friday theme

All Free Actions and Tools for Photoshop Edits

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FREE Photoshop Tutorial

I ♥ Faces - Self Portraits - Photography Hints & Tips

Photography Hints and Tips - Picnik

Week 35 - Photo Journalism Challenge

Week 25 - Celebrating Teens - i♥faces

i♥faces - "all about babies" June 14

~~ Challenge - Dramatic Black & White ~~

I Heart Faces - Fix It Friday - March 26

I Heart Faces - Bundled Up

Fix it Friday - I Heart Faces

I Heart Faces - Fix it Friday

{I Heart Faces} Hands - On Challenge

I Heart Faces - I wanna dance . . .

Fix it Friday - I Heart Faces

DPS Assignment - Fruits & Vegetables

This Kiss . . . This Kiss . . .

My first experiment with Textures

Remembering . . .

I Heart Face - We are Family

I ♥ Faces - Pets Only - Photo Challenge

I ♥ Faces

I ♥ Faces - EXCITED!

DPS assignment - BOKEH

I ♥ Faces - Contemplative & Pet entries

DPS June 10-24, "chair"

DSP "Foliage not flowers" May 27

i♥faces - Laughter

DPS "in the Evening"

i♥faces - hats - week 17

Brand New to Picnik

"Reflections"

~~Favorite Photo of the Week~~

i♥faces - self portrait

Daddy's Truck

i♥faces - Amateur

DPS - Wisdom

My Friend and I

Pouting Kids & Pups

Shallow Depth of Field

I Heart Faces - Fix it Friday

DPS - Vivid

brandon

Challenge - Dramatic Black & White

Favorite Photo of the Week