paper sky photography

Fix It... but not on Friday | Raleigh Newborn Photography

2011-02-20T13:07:00.000-05:00

Wow. Where did the week go????
I was all set to work on this weeks fix-it, but time just ran right over me!

I could not, however, pass up the chance to play with this gorgeous photo by Andrea Riley.

This is a very popular shot. And for all the right reasons. The sight of a Daddy holding his new baby. Giant hands and tiny, new person. So remarkable.

Here is my version. Enjoy.

Fix-it Friday | Raleigh Newborn Photography

2011-01-14T23:59:00.000-05:00

Looks like I'll be making it just under the wire this week, but I really loved this submission taken by contributor Rachel Durik.

Look how sweet this little model is!

For such a lovely portrait, I wanted to keep it simple. And, to tell you the truth. I get tired of playing with actions {{gasp}}!

For this edit I exclusively played with the adjustments tab (you know, the one that looks like a black and white cookie???), moving the sliders and simply tweaking until I was satisfied with the results. I also used the clone stamp just to help smooth and brighten under her eyes without covering her adorable freckles.

A quick black and white conversion as well.

We're talking 5 minutes tops for all of this goodness, people!

Go. Play. Have fun... :)

SMILE | Raleigh Newborn Photography

2011-01-10T15:15:00.000-05:00

Lily and Mama. They melt my heart.

Head over to I Heart Faces to see some other precious smiles. :)

Happy Holidays | Raleigh Photography

2010-12-16T15:07:00.000-05:00

Wishing all of you the happiest, merriest, safest, coziest, snuggliest, and warmest of holidays.

Family Portrait | Holly Springs, NC Photography

2010-12-03T18:52:00.010-05:00

I've been friends with the 'R' family for almost as long as I've been in NC.
They were one of my very first clients and have been such wonderful friends and supporters of my business.

I was all too happy to capture some long overdue family images...

My favorite...

Laura off-handedly mentioned that they didn't have a photo of just the two of them. I caught this one for them. I hope she likes the surprise I will be tucking into her package. ;)

This is a photo that their older daughter requested. I took another hand holding image of the girls a few years ago. She wants to make it a tradition. {sigh} Such a sweet girl.

Thank you 'R' family. It is always truly my privilege.
xo

It's Fix-It Friday again... | Raleigh, NC Photography

2010-12-03T16:58:00.000-05:00

I really had fun with today's fix-it from the very talented Dana Suggs. This photo is of Dana's gorgeous little girl. First, it must be said that I cannot handle the cuteness of this outfit. My own daughter let out an audible gasp when she saw it. Adorable.

Here is Dana's image SOOC...

Since I am feeling under the weather today (yes. again. poor me.), I decided to curl up and play a bit.
I'm not certain that anyone is really all that interested in every.single.step. that I took while editing this, but in case you are, I will list them below each image. Goodness help ya'. ;)

Here are my versions of this lovely image:

1. Full body crop. With the pants. Because they are cute. Nuff said.

Compose

Lightroom 2:

crop
adjust fill light
reduced exposure
upped the blacks
warmed
brightened
upped the vibrance and clarity

Photoshop CS4:
reduced noise
unsharp mask
Totally Rad's Boutwell Magic Glasses @ 40%
Coffeeshop's Powder Room
- eye define @ 60% (on her eyes mouth and around her face and hair)
- white whites @ 15% on her eyes
- bright eyes @ 5% (irises only)
MCP's Touch of Light @ 10% (as needed all over the image)
Burned edges as well as a selective dodge and burn all over the image
Ran M4H's Strawberry Sunset @ 20%
Boosted the saturation a bit (+15, or so)

2. This is the crop I wanted. No cute pants. But this is what I saw in my head when I first looked at the image.

All of the above edits with a different crop.

3. The black and white. Can't decide which is my favorite after converting it.

Same edits as above, but Strawberry Sunset is run at 100%, and I reduced the red saturation by -2.

Phew.

Okay. Just one more. A storyboard.
Don't you think every little girl would love to have one of these in her room? So sweet.

Thanks for sticking around for this lenghty fix-it. I hope you will head over I Heart Faces and give it try yourself.

Have a cozy weekend.

Niagara Falls in B&W | Holly Springs NC Photography

2010-11-29T15:59:00.002-05:00

A departure from my norm (I'm a portrait girl at heart), BUT it's scenic black and white week at I Heart Faces...

I really love the timeless wonder, the truly awe-inspiring power, and even the corniness, that is Niagara Falls.

Head on over and play along.

Sister love | Raleigh Family Photographer

2010-11-15T01:50:00.002-05:00

This particular shot was inspired by a request during my session today.
The older sister asked me for a picture holding her little sister's hand...

Hoping this will make you smile, Big Sis. ;)

Fix-It Friday #77 | Holly Springs NC Photographer

2010-11-05T17:01:00.001-04:00

Today's fix-it is a charming image of Michelle Johnson's gorgeous little girl.

I love these sort of photos --the contrast created by the angle of the window light, highlighting her hair-- and look at those eyelashes! So sweet.

I started in Lightroom, barely tweaking the exposure, temperature and fill light. I also cropped it a bit to bring her face closer to one of the upper third points (note: the rule of thirds is a great way to bring more interesting composition to your photos. see here for more info).

I then scooted on over to Photoshop for a really quick edit. Still loving My Four Hens Strawberry Sunset. Both of the following edits were created using this one action.

Have a beautiful weekend!

Holiday Minis! | Raleigh Newborn Photographer

2010-10-19T11:26:00.002-04:00

they're here! they're here! :)

The studio is coming together | Raleigh Newborn Photographer

2010-10-03T22:18:00.000-04:00

So, the Paper Sky studio is fully functional, but if you know me, you will already know that I won't be able to rest until I get it sufficiently decorated and fully organized.

I've already ordered a canvas and some larger pieces for the walls. Gorgeous babies all around.

I decided on grey for the walls. Not for any real reason (though I joked that white balancing would be a snap!), it's just that I have these really deep cherry wood floors, and there is already a ton of light, so I thought that the grey would balance the warm cast I was getting from the floor. It seems to be working, and the studio has such a cozy feel. Perfect for photographing newborns, in my humble opinion. ;)

I went with Martha Stewart Living's Cement Grey. Sounds, well ... grey, right? Ha.

I have been working at an adequate desk, but I wanted something a little more substantial to fill in the space and to be able to spread out a bit. You know, some elbow room!

I knew it would be a table. Not a desk with drawers. Budget told me I would need to wait a bit.
I hate that guy...

But then, while out for a drive on Saturday, I saw her. She is R.O.U.G.H., but she has nice lines.

Simple. Classic.
And she was extra affordable. Perfect.

And, well, it's fall. I always seem to take on a refinishing project in the fall, so why not?

Yikes. Can you say "holy exterior latex paint, Batman"?

No. The paint isn't black (what a discerning eye you have), it's a dark brown. Yeah. Not great.

And here it is once I took the sander to the corner...
For twenty minutes. Not kidding.

I counted at least five layers of paint. The brown, two different greens, a weird not-quite-grey color and a cream. Underneath she is solid oak (I believe). This is one heavy table.

The sander alone isn't going to cut it this time. Need to use stripper, which I ordinarily try to avoid.

And this is what I think she will look like once I get her finished.

Wish me luck!

~m

Fix-It Friday #73 | Raleigh Child Photographer

2010-10-01T13:23:00.003-04:00

Since I have proven to be a very sporadic blogger (I know, I know - not cool), and since I have had specific requests (yikes, sorry guys!) for some more Fix-It Friday submissions, I will be doing my best to get busy on both of these tasks starting this.very.day.

Cause I love ya.
And cause it's the right thing to do.

And really, these Fix-It's are super fun!

This week's photo belongs to the uber-talented Keli Hoskins. You must check out her precious blog, the title of which makes me giggle. So cute, Keli.

Really. Just so cute! And a really great SOOC (straight out of camera) capture.

I started my edit in Lightroom (which I do with every photo now ... I'm addicted... I'm not proud). Simple tweaks of temperature, exposure, fill-light and vibrance. Here is the result:

Seriously. Do you see why I am so smitten with that program? I love.

Now. Today being the brink-of-fall feeling day that it is, and being that I have a sort of love/hate relationship with those last few days of warm weather, I wanted to capitalize on the perfect summery essence of this capture.

So, off to Photoshop (CS4) we go...

I used CoffeeShop's Powder Room action (again, I probably use this on 99.898989% of all my images) to get the skin nice and creamy and to define her eyes a bit. THEN, I used a new action (aptly named, Sunrise Baby) from the ridiculously gorgeous actions at My Four Hens to give the image some nostalgic summer glow. Having not been a huge action user, these have made me a believer. So lovely.

A bit of dodging, burning and a quick crop to get the emphasis on her sweet face and...

And a b&w conversion that I am really loving right now, also from M4H - "Strawberry Sunset"...

Hope you enjoyed them as much as I do.

Happy Friday!

Birthday Boy | Raleigh Child Photographer

2010-09-16T22:28:00.000-04:00

Today has been such a great day around here. Seriously introspective for me and a day of remembering and looking forward to the future.

You see, today was his 14th birthday. I don't know how or when it happened, but my baby, my first born, turned 14.

Four.teen.

Yikes.

Thinking back today over fourteen years of Lego and sports, late-night talks and egg sandwich breakfasts. So much laughter! It has been such a privilege watching him turn into the man he is becoming.

Then the realization of only 4 more years. Four years and he will be off. On to his adult life.

Double yikes.

You'd better believe we're gonna have an egg sandwich for breakfast tomorrow ...

Happy birthday, Son.

I love you -- to the moon and back. Infinity.
Mom

Fix-It Friday #62... (how did that happen?)

2010-07-16T16:04:00.001-04:00

Apparently, it's Fix-It Friday again! They sneak up on me like no one's business and I have been missing out on the fun, so, this morning, I vowed I would get my fix-it up before dinner.

So here it is... as I am running out the door... to the store... to pick up dinner. :)

This just happens to be I Heart Faces' own Amy Locurto's daughter.

Hmm. I'm not sure how proper that English was. We sure talk good here in the South, don't we, huh?

Forgive me...

I just love this sweet capture. Her sundress and pretty smile and that distressed metal lawn chair. Yum. We had those very chairs growing up. Great memories.

So with all that nostalgia building, I felt like doing something totally wacky. I used some ACTIONS! That's right. Crazy.

I wanted something "summertimey". It's a word.
Okay. I made it up. Nothing new.

I really like the warm summery feel of the finished product. Don't you?

Here is how I got it:

Opened the jpeg in Lightroom to add fill light and played with the tone a bit.
Popped this into Photoshop, cropped, and then applied Totally Rad Actions Boutwell Magic Glasses and Slice Like a Ninja (both sharpening, but in different ways). Finally, I used Pioneer Woman's Heartland action and reduced the opacity to about 25%.

Easy peasy.

Have a warm, wonderful, breezy weekend!

Raleigh, NC Newborn Photographer | Meet Sofia...

2010-07-02T09:37:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I had the most beautiful newborn to my new studio. Everyone, meet Sofia...

I had the privilege of photographing her family last fall. Four generations of women --great grandma all the way down to little Amelia. It was a wonderful day. Soon after, I heard that Amelia was going to be a big sister! I was so very thrilled for this sweet family.

I, of course, hoped that I would be able to capture their new baby's first days as well. So, when mom Angie sent me a note asking me to take Sofia's newborn pictures, I scheduled them for the very same week.

Thank you, Angie, for the privilege of adding to your family's memories. Sofia is so lovely. And I am one blessed photographer.

Holly Springs, NC photographer | Senior Portrait

2010-06-14T15:43:00.003-04:00

It was such a treat to spend a day with the lovely Rachel Durik of Savor Photography. She is a very generous and sweet soul with such a body of knowledge to share. And, share she did, at her great little workshop called the (un)Workshop.

Now I believe I understand why she chose to call it this, it wasn't "work" at all. ;)
We had such a fun day of coffee and gabbing and shooting these of the very beautiful Kaylie...

Could she be any more lovely???

She is taking a year off before college to go abroad and teach...

And then she'll be back to head to school. On a full-ride music scholarship, no less.

FIERCE.

Thank you Kaylie for sharing your adorable self.
And thank you Rachel. It was an amazing day

So.much.fun.

going for it...

2010-06-08T12:27:00.000-04:00

...join me?

21.5.800 project

~m

Fix-it Friday... BABIES!

2010-05-28T13:55:00.000-04:00

Oh.my.word.

I do so love babies. And JaimeLee at Candidly Grateful so graciously shared this photo of her gorgeous twins for today's fix-it.

Can't you just smell their delicious baby goodness? {swoon}
Don't you just want to nibble their soft little baby parts? {sigh}

I digress. My uterus and I apologize...

Jamie Lee writes:"This is a photo of my twins at 6 weeks old. I love the photo because of their interaction and their faces, but I feel like it’s a little drab or flat. It needs some life."

Here you go JamieLee... I hope you like these fix-its... love on those babies a little for me this weekend.

Fix-It Friday #55

2010-05-21T17:35:00.001-04:00

Are you ready for another fix-it?

This cute, sweet, delicious, baby girl, love belongs to Shelle from Mommy Can't Sing. Shelle wrote: "This is a photo of my 16 months old baby girl. I am currently doing a 365 challenge where I take at least one photo per day. This was one of the photos. Unfortunately, before Daylight Savings a lot of time I was scrambling to take a photo before the light was gone. Well, in this photo it was beyond gone! But my baby was sitting there so sweetly that I couldn't resist taking her photo. The color is bad and the background is messy, but just love her face!"

Is this baby not edible?

Ooohhh, Shelle! I am so in awe of your 365 dedication. This is the part where you DO NOT visit my photo journal link to see how utterly awful I am at keeping up with my 365-project-turned-into-"photo journal".

I am very disappointed in me.

However, Shelle gets a fix-it for her diligent efforts and here it is:

Steps for this edit were performed with Photoshop Elements 7 and the actions are all from CoffeeShop Actions...

-Crop
-Unsharp mask
-Adjust sharpness
-Despeckle filter
-Level adjustment
-Powder Room 2 action (skin softening, eye define, white whites)
-Clone tool to remove a few spots on chin
-Hue/Saturation adjustment
-Hot Cocoa action (reduced to 20%)
-Added a texture to destract a bit from the background noise

Hope this one melts your heart, Shelle!

Have a beautiful weekend everyone...

It's Fix-It Friday!

2010-05-14T12:53:00.000-04:00

After a little break, I am jumping back in to these fun challenges from I Heart Faces...

This week's photo is from Christina at 3 Sweet P's.
Adorable, right?

right.

Christina was bothered by the shadows on his face and wanted the attention to be drawn to his gorgeous eyes. I used Photoshop Elements 7 today, to enhance her image.

Steps:
- Unsharp Mask
- Adjust Sharpness
- Cropped
- Removed a couple of blemishes with the clone tool
- Adjusted levels (mostly the blue)
- Ran Coffee Shop's Powder Room action (soft skin and eye define)
- Ran Coffee Shop's Coffee with Cream action (reduced to 60%)

... and voila!

I hope you like it, Christina.

Have a great weekend everyone!

A great giveaway ...

2010-03-05T11:39:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite photographers is giving away a seat to her workshop.

When I say favorite, I mean this is one of the photographers who's work I want to emulate, incorporate into my style and soak up every last drop of knowledge from. She has some of the most honest portraiture and truly technically correct photography around.

I would encourage any photography fan to check out her work here.

Raleigh, NC Newborn Photography | Mother's Day Mini Sessions

2010-03-01T12:22:00.003-05:00

Hey Dads, this would be a perfect gift for the women in your life ... {And moms, it might not hurt to give him a hint this year. ;-)}

Fix-It friday #44

2010-02-19T12:39:00.001-05:00

Another super fun fix-it this week, this time from I Heart Faces contributor Keli Hoskins.This sweet picture of her daughter Emma could be a commercial fashion shot. Just look at that pose!

(A big congratulations to Keli and her family on the new addition they are expecting.)

For my fix, I wanted to create more light and focus on Emma as she works it for her mama's camera ...

And, just in case you are interested, I have remembered to chronicle my steps in the fix ...
(Used Photoshop Elements 7 this week.)

crop
unsharp mask
lightened shadows using "Adjust Color Curves"
increased midtones using "Adjust Color Curves"
reduced the blue cast in levels
increased the saturation a bit
increased the brightness quite a bit
reduced the contrast
ran Coffeshop's "Coffee with Cream" action
reduced the gradient map layer to 25%
used a soft black brush on the darken layer to bring back the background depth
readjusted the saturation on the magenta and blue channels

Thanks, Keli, for letting us play with your photo this week.
Have a great weekend everyone!

Fix-It Friday #42 - Texture ...

2010-01-29T11:05:00.002-05:00

This week's fix-it has me dreaming of that muting silence a snowfall brings. It is one of my very favorite sounds. The goal this week -- give it some texture!

This sweet photo is of I Heart Faces own Angie Arthur's little girl. I am coveting her little snowman ...

I am very new to this whole texture thing and I am finding that for this type of application one can quite easily go overboard. Not usually having any idea what I am doing when I attempt textures, I surprised myself this time by actually seeing what I wanted this to look like when I was finished.

Too much fun. Now you try, and then go check out the other contributors ideas for this week.

Fix - It Friday #41

2010-01-22T16:12:00.007-05:00

This week's fix-it is for a beautiful family who could really use our collective prayers and love.

Jeff Zwart and his sweet family are facing his diagnosis of terminal cancer. Please send them your blessings at the following links: Adrienne's Blog or Jeff's Caring Bridge

I hope they enjoy all of the fix-it submissions in their honor this week and that the images of their family give them strength and happiness.

I know I speak for all of the contributors when I say that each submission comes filled with prayerful love.

Week 3 Photo Challenge ...

2010-01-18T09:48:00.005-05:00

The I Heart Faces crew has given the weekly challenge. This week the category is "We are Family".

For my entry this week I chose to the following photo...

Four generations of beautiful, strong women ranging in age from 18 months to 90 years old.
I feel so privileged to have captured their love for one another.

Dig out your favorite family shot and head over to I Heart Faces. Make sure to check out all of the other amazing submissions.

Now go squeeze someone you love and have a great week.
~m

Holly Springs, NC photographer | For all of you ...

2010-01-01T23:46:00.012-05:00

What a great year ...

A huge hug and the deepest of thanks to each of you for an unforgettable 2009!

Finding my style ...

2009-12-17T17:03:00.023-05:00

As a new photographer, there is nothing more exciting than preparing for a session. I love the whole process -- the initial conversation with a client, learning people's stories, preserving a moment in time for them ... then watching them open their package and seeing the look on their faces when they glimpse their photos for the first time.

... aaah ... love.

But, part of being a new photographer is wiggling your way through some less than comfortable decisions as well. Defining a vision for your work (studio? location?), staying true to yourself (no, I'm so sorry, I just don't do selective color in portraits), getting your brand to a place where it really states who you are (4 logo changes and counting!) --in short, finding your style.

... tough stuff.

Thankfully, there are some truly remarkable companies to help a girl through the process. One such find (a personal favorite) is Design Aglow. They never (ever) fail to offer the most intriguing designs and inspiring ideas. Check out these gorgeous examples, which I hope to start incorporating in the new year :

A photo collage (just think ... a whole session on one canvas!)...

Album templates ... so lovely!

yikes! ... my hormones really can't take these precious announcement cards ...

Thank you Design Aglow for your utter awesomeness ... I'm brimming with ideas!

... see you all in the new year!

Fall Fix-it Friday ...

2009-11-20T13:16:00.006-05:00

My favorite season. And such a great fix-it for this beautiful fall Friday. This week's sumission is by Traci from Ordinary Inspirations. Traci writes: "This photo was taken in Upstate, NY in the Fall of 2008. This is my beautiful 2 year old daughter Riley Elisabeth. She is full of life and loves the outdoors."

Riley is a girl after my own heart ...

She is delicious.

My fix-it goal was pretty simple. Focus in on that cutie pie. Steps were as follows: crop, sharpen, saturate, remove the stem across her neckline, blur and burn the edges of the photo and then dodge some highlights onto her sweet face.

So lovely.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Fix-It Friday #35

2009-11-06T11:21:00.004-05:00

This week's fix-it is from Hotomom who wrote: "This is a picture of my daughter. She and I always practice with my camera, she loves to pose and smile for me. I just think the straight of camera is dull and her cheeks are really rosy. I also really wish her eyes would be more clear."

Here is a photo of her sweet girl ...

This is really a very good SOOC. (Oh how I wish my own were this cooperative for pictures.)

To start, while I love the angle of the shot, I felt it lent more to the image to rotate it. There. Now we can better focus on her precious face. Next a little sharpening, contrast boost, adjust the levels to remove the blue and green casts and then to add a bit of brightening. Sharpened her eyes and made her skin a touch creamier (as mama asked) ...

... just for fun ... a b&w ...

Now you try ... and then post your results over at I Heart Faces ... all the cool kids are doing it!

I Heart Faces ~ Fix-it Friday #32 ...

2009-10-16T20:46:00.001-04:00

This week's adorable submission comes from Christal at A Moose, A Bear & A Ladybug.
Look at how precious she is ...

For this picture, I really just wanted to focus on getting some more balanced light on her face, so I gave it a bit of a crop and then got in there with the healing brush tool and went to work. Here she is now ...

... and in black and white ...

... and for fun, a bit of a color wash ...

Check out I Heart Faces and have a wonderfully warm fall weekend.

"Excited" ... for sure ...

2009-10-12T02:16:00.000-04:00

My entry for this week's I Heart Faces challenge is of this sweet expectant mama ...

I think she says it all ... ;^)

Fix-It Friday #31 ~

2009-10-09T13:38:00.007-04:00

This is such a great image from Kim at My Family's Circus ~ good focus, well composed. I just love that extra sparkle in the eyes that is captured when photographing in open shade.

Admittedly, most weeks I get far too lost in the creative process to remember what all I have done, so this week I remembered to write down each step I took during my fix -- and this week, no actions!

Are you ready:

(In PSE7)

- cropped

- adjusted lighting for shadows/highlights

- remove his chocolate traces (delicious as they were) with the both the clone stamp and healing brush tools

- softened the under-eye shadows and touched up the rest of his face with the healing brush

- adjusted the brightness/contrast

- brightened his teeth a bit by creating a layer and then selecting a white shade already on his teeth with the eyedropper tool and then reduced the opacity to about 15%

- sharpened

- adjusted the levels

- brightened his eyes - here is my method, a combination of tricks I have read:

use the magnetic lasso tool to draw carefully around the eyes
open a layer (Ctrl-J)
run a high-pass filter (they look ghostly and awful at this point)
on your layers menu, select soft light
the eyes are really sharp and bright at this point so reduce the opacity A LOT!
use a very light touch with this method for best results

- softened his skin a touch with the blur tool

- sharpened his lash line on a layer and reduced the opacity to a pleasing point ...

It seems like a lot, but really only took maybe 5 minutes (with playing). For the b&w version, I converted to b&w, chose the "scenic landscape" mode (I know, weird) and then lightened the image a bit and added a vignette with some very light-handed burning ...

Head over to I Heart Faces and see how others are working their own brand of magic ... just click the button below ...

be well,
~m

Humbled

2009-10-09T12:59:00.002-04:00

As a new photographer, it is still really mind-blowing when anyone (let alone other photographers) likes your work. So, when I received an email yesterday from Angie Arthur from I Heart Faces congratulating me on having one of my photos featured on their site, I was pretty humbled.

You can see it here: http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/2009/10/social-network-news-photos.html

... the picture they chose ~ an image of the beautiful HaLee Curtis of HaLee Curtis Photography in Williamsburg, VA ...

Thank you Angie ... you made my day!

Oh so blue...

2009-09-28T03:23:00.005-04:00

This week's challenge at iHeartFaces is to submit an image that captures the color blue.
The eyes on this little one are just as blue as they come . . .

To see more 'blue' submissions, head over to iHeartFaces by clicking the button below.

iHeart Faces ... Fix-it Friday #30

2009-09-25T16:50:00.009-04:00

I love a challenge, and the editing challenges posed by iHeartFaces' Fix-it Fridays go a long way in helping me to develop my editing skills. This in turn helps me to provide even better images for my clients. This week's image, submitted by Catherine from Catherine Halsey Photography, is no exception. Thank you Catherine for sharing this little cutie with us...

Anyone who has dared to get their camera out of automatic mode has at some point been faced with an accidentally underexposed image when they inadvertently neglected to switch settings between lighting conditions.

It happens.

To all of us.

At least once.

For my fix this week, I got a chance to play with texture. I usually park in the "crisp and simple" camp with my images, so I have never really given texture a second thought. This, however, may be proving to be a mistake. There are a lot of moods that can be created by texture and I had some fun looking for examples of what texture can add to a photo ...

Very cool.

I started by adjusting the shadows and highlights (in PSE 7, go to 'Enhance', then 'Adjust Lighting', then 'Shadows/Highlights'... then fire at will). This gave me a better idea of what I was working with. I cropped and rotated until it made me smile. :-) Next, I played with the brightness and contrast. I actually tweaked this after each of the steps until I had something I felt was pretty balanced. I applied CoffeeShop's "Give It Texture" action (a first for me) and used a sort of rusted metal background image I had tucked away as the texture layer.

After smoothing and lightening his skin a bit, here is the result ...

For the b&w, I added a bit of vignetting to keep the eye on him ...

Why not try your own fix and then take a look at the amazing job the contributers at iHeartFaces have submitted. So very inspiring...

Have a GREAT weekend!

Contemplation ...

2009-09-14T11:29:00.011-04:00

This week's challenge over at iHeartfaces is "contemplative". It seems each week I see the challenge and think, "Hmm ... I don't think I have an image that would fit that ...". Then, two days later, I remember an image that would have fit perfectly.

This week, I am more on top of my game it seems. ;-)

Here is my entry for this challenge ...

Isn't she lovely?

______________________

... another category this week is "pets". So, as an afterthought, I thought I'd include a shot I took this week ...

A boy and his dog. Anyone who dares to lay on the floor in my house is fair game for some love from this guy ...

I just know that you have the perfect image to share this week as well ... hop on over, enter, and see the beautiful entries others are sharing.

... be well ...

SOOC Saturday ~ for him ...

2009-09-12T10:03:00.000-04:00

My oldest is turning thirteen this week. He still loves G-d and his family ... still loves robotics and hanging out with his friends and a huge box of Lego. But, now, there are changes ... he likes to wear a fedora ... he only kisses me on the nose ... he sleeps in his boxers instead of bug pajamas ... and then there is this ...

He has been asking for a while, and we thought it was a phase, but he finally convinced us that he really did want to play. So we borrowed a guitar and found a music stand at the Goodwill. And he found that he loves it. And we found that we love that he loves it.

And now he wants to be a rock star ... at least this week. This week that he turns thirteen.

Fix-it Friday #28 ...

2009-09-11T21:47:00.000-04:00

Babies!!! Oh, this little one just makes my uterus ache. Isn't she sweet? Thank you Anna for sharing her with us.

Here is my fix ~ crop, brightness/contrast adjustment, stamp tool to remove her lunch ;-), smoothed her skin a touch, touched up under her eyes and brightened them a bit, burned some midtones into the background and her dress, and then added a tiny vignette.

For this week's black and white, I added a touch more vignetting ... right after I ran CoffeeShop's "Vintage News" with the 'newsprint' turned off ...

Have a wonderful weekend!

So CUTE!

2009-09-09T01:09:00.001-04:00

Head over to iHeartfaces to check out this giveaway for an utterly adorable necklace from The Vintage Pearl!
You can find adorable personalized gems like this ... my personal favorite...

enjoy!

SOOC Saturday ~ A Find ...

2009-09-05T11:13:00.010-04:00

It was the last few moments of play time outside as the sun was starting to set. Time to come in, wash up, settle down for the night. She burst through the door shouting: "Mom, Mom! Quick! Bring your camera!"

Now, anyone with children and who is even a serious hobby photographer knows that (very early on) there is a breaking point after which your children NEVER ask you to grab your camera ... for any reason ... ever.

I've heard it called PCS - photographer's children syndrome.

I grabbed the camera.

She was holding him so delicately~ my sweet little-critter lovin' girl ...

Ahh. He's a beauty! My Ladybug wanted to keep him of course. My daughter's affinity for all things insect is long and
well-documented ...

... but, as the sun quickly slipped below the tree line, he had other plans ...

Maybe another time.

... be well.

Fix-it Friday #27 ...

2009-09-04T11:08:00.010-04:00

All I can say is that this kid is so stinkin' CUTE! Look at him! This week's Fix-it Friday is comes courtesy of Awdrey from Sweet Art by Awdrey (Nice capture Audrey!) ...

I must admit to playing quite a bit with this photo, several versions later I decided on my edits, so I can't say with any real certainty what all I did. I do want to note, that I use PS Elements for editing right now while I am in the throes of the Mac vs. PC war in my head. Elements is like the kid sister to Photoshop, is cheaper, and is more streamlined. And, really, there is far more power in Elements to create stunning edits than most people will ever use (myself included).

Okay, first up is a straight forward edit ~ cropped, cleaned up, levels adjusted, sharpening, stamp tool to remove evidence of a snack from around this mouth and cheek ;-), a little eye defining ...

The next is an action that added a little coolness to the scene. As you may have noticed, I am a huge fan of CoffeeShop actions. Rita is one of those truly generous souls who makes the world a much nicer place (THANK YOU, Rita ~ I love, love, love your actions). For this edit, I ran Rita's Sweet Bakery Glaze (in Blueberry). I don't usually go in for colored actions, but I think this one, run at about 20% opacity, looks really "sweet" ...

The final edit is my b&w version. CS Vintage with the levels all played with, and a bit of extra vignetting (always on my b&w's) ...

I really encourage everyone to try out Rita's actions and also to particpate in iHeartfaces Fix-it Friday's. C'mon, flex your edit muscles!

... have a great weekend ...

Life is precious ...

2009-08-31T16:18:00.003-04:00

... We all know this, but this past few weeks, the idea has been driven home for me in a more concrete and resounding way. One dear friend's wife had (another) miscarriage. Another lost their brother to liver disease. A third called me to pray with her as she faced a diagnosis of MS. Almost unbelievably, I learned in the midst of all of this, that still another sweet friend has lost her son, a soldier, in a war half way around the world.

It stops in your tracks. It makes you grab your children and squeeze them far too tightly as they try to figure out why you have tears in your eyes. It drives you to your knees in prayer for those you love --and even for those you don't know-- as you beg G-d for understanding and mercy and you try to bend your will to His.

And yet somehow we do bend. And life keeps going for those left behind. And we love and are loved. And G-d is still here. Loving us. And we can never fully understand. Our minds are incapable of wrapping themselves around His plans. So we trust. We find comfort in the things around us. Large and small. And we move forward. It's just what we do.

If you are hurting, struggling or wondering ... I am praying today for you.

SOOC ~ Slurping Life

2009-08-29T15:10:00.007-04:00

In light of Melody's post and in light of so much that I have been made aware of in the past few weeks (working on that post ... it's been hard to write), my SOOC shots are of from the comfort of my immediate surroundings. Some things that are precious to me for no other reason that they are a reminder of people I adore and some things they have lovingly made with their own hands.

Part of our art wall ...

... and a sampling from my bulletin board ...

The fridge ...

I am the constant recipient of overwhelming love and care from the people in my life and I am (trying even harder to be more) grateful and (more) thankful for them at every given moment.

I consider myself impossibly blessed.

... take care of each other this weekend.

Fix-it Friday ~ Beauty ...

2009-08-29T09:32:00.006-04:00

No arguments here. This is one stunning young lady.

I love the classic portrait feel of this one. I have something very similar of my daughter taken by the fabulous HaLee Curtis of HaLee Curtis Photography in Williamsburg, VA.

For this edit, I really wanted to focus the attention on this lovely young woman, so a good cropping was in order. I then adjust for skin tone, removing the slightly yellow/orange cast. Add a tiny bit of vignetting to draw the eye to her face and ...

For the black and white version, I used CoffeeShop's "Classic B&W and Bittersweet Vintage" (with the vintage turned WAY down). A touch more vignetting on the b&w version keeps the flat tones of the brick from being distracting ...

... enjoy your weekend!

Slurping Life's SOOC Saturday ... or Sunday ???

2009-08-23T20:29:00.005-04:00

... at least I hope that Sunday still counts. {{grin}}

Here is a photo of my delicious niece from this week. I just love her to bits ...

She truly makes THE best faces ~ uber expressive kid~ loooooveeeeeee her. {{Mwah!}}

Fix-it Friday ~ "No Limits"

2009-08-22T15:10:00.008-04:00

Here is this week's submission, a very handsome young guy (love the freckles and deep blue eyes) from Alesha at "Snapshots of Us." :

I know I have many stolen moment photos like this of my son. Something about being a tween/teen makes these natural, unposed captures so precious.

The photo is a bit underexposed and the composition needs a boost, but the bokeh is so lovely and his expression so serene.

For this image I ran an adjustment layer to correct the brightness (boosted way up) and the contrast (tweaked it down a bit). Next, a duplicate layer, auto sharpen at 33% opacity and then ran the trusty and fabulous Powder Room 2 action from CoffeeShop Actions. I then adjusted for skin tones, added a wee bit of vignetting and dodged in some subtle midtones in the background. My final steps were to hide the photographer's reflection a bit and to add a touch more catch-lighting to his right eye. I think it helped to balance his gaze a bit, which was not at camera yet not away from camera either.

Okay enough rambling ... here are my fixes ~ in color ...

... and since I always like a b&w option ...

... enjoy your weekend.

Slurping Life's SOOC ...

2009-08-15T12:03:00.005-04:00

For the past ten days I have had the privilege of being on a vacation ~ a real vacation, not the kind where everyone else is off from their normal schedule (ie: dad is home and the kids are out of school) but, my day is the same ... cook, clean, laundry, errands ...

No. This time we went AWAY. Together. As a family. It was lovely. I didn't want it to end. {{sniff, sniff}}

Here is a picture I took whilst traversing the Pisgah National Forest near Looking Glass Fall. I do love me some sun flare ...

... enjoy your Saturday ...

Fix-it Friday! (so soon!)

2009-08-14T15:06:00.004-04:00

It's Friday already ~ time flies on vacation ~ and I am trying to dig my way out of a pile of emails, voice mails, mail-mail, and laundry! Paused all of that to work on this weeks' Fix-it Firiday from iHeartfaces.

Look at this sweetie. So perfect even with his little rash. I can empathize, though. My daughter had eczema as a little one. I just love window lit portraits ...

Okay. I really need to write down my steps when I work on these, but truly I just play until I get it the way I want it. I can say that it was edited in Elements and that I used the Coffeeshop actions "Little Perk" (33% opacity) and "Powder Room 2" on them ~ as I do with most every photo I tweak.

... and because I am a such a sucker for babies in b&w ...

Don't you just love this age {{sigh}} ...

SOOC Saturday ~ ala Slurping Life Blog ...

2009-08-08T20:56:00.000-04:00

"Slurping Life" is the home of a fun new venture I plan on taking part in ... SOOC (straight out of camera) is a refreshing way to look at my captures. My "photographic philosophy" (no, I don't know if there is such a thing, because, yes, I just made it up) is to try to capture the stolen moments, all of those great little moments in life that are so fleeting ... so, trying to work with SOOC really lends itself to my artistic vision. blah, blah, blah ...

Here is a series of pictures of Ladybug from Charleston this week. She knew we didn't want her to get into that fountain and yet ... how could we deny her such utter joy???

enjoy.

Lovely pose, yes?

... too good to last ...

... pushing the limit, but look at that water!

... does she look the least upset that I'm pleading with her??? no.

... but this is the stuff that summer is made of ... have at it, girl!

... the Zman, however, is having nothing to do with this ... "What? And risk getting the new fedora wet??? ... never."

Thank you for the challenge, Melody. Very freeing, this. I think it will reinforce my personal outlook ~ and we can all use a bit of that.

Sweet Little Man ~ Fix-it Friday

2009-08-07T14:52:00.000-04:00

Okay kiddos ... it's time for another Fix-it Friday over at iHeartfaces --a site that I think I am developing a small addiction for...

Today's photo really doesn't need any fixing ... just look at this gorgeous little guy:

TOO CUTE! Right??? Well, I hate to mess with perfection, but it's fun to play along, so here is my take on this sweet little man:

Added a little cropping and some lomo-ish vibes. MWAH! He is so edible. enjoy!

I ♥ Faces ~ At The Beach

2009-07-27T04:17:00.000-04:00

This week's I ♥ Faces challenge is all about your favorite beach photo. I think we all have favorite shots of our kids at the beach, and I am no exception. In fact, choosing just one was really hard . I must say, the one that I return to again and again is this one of my daughter. She was growing her first big-girl tooth that summer after a very long fight with that stubborn little baby tooth. I don't think she stopped smiling all summer! If you have ever met my little ladybug, you will recognize this sweet smile. I can't wait to see the other entries... I'm a sucker for beach pics! Enjoy!

Brandy New...

2009-07-19T02:20:00.001-04:00

Well {{deep breath}} here we go...

The first official post on "the Paper Sky BLOG". Ooooh. That word - blog. A touch intimidating. Though I never thought I'd ever keep a blog (I never even kept a diary as a girl), I am finding that once you start collecting images of such incredibly cool and remarkable people, you really do need a place to share all of their beautiful stories. I hope that this will be the beginning of a tremendous relationship for all of us -- you, me and the truly wonderful people whose images will soon grace these pages.

Here's to beginnings!
~m