Spring

 I haven't blogged since September and here it is, the end of Spring and we are making our way into hot Summer.

After a long, cold Winter, the arrival of Spring was glorious.

This is a tiny creature I found on my walk one day:

 And here is my walking partner on that very same day:

 This bush in my yard (not quite sure yet what it is), always has the prettiest blooms in the Spring.

 And I love the bleeding heart plant my mom gave two years ago for Mother's Day.

 It was a long year, but also it seemed to be short.

It was Brad's last year of preschool (graduation pictures to come), and Tyler's first year of preschool.

I cannot believe that three years went by so quickly for Brad being at preschool; next year we start homeschooling him for Kindergarten.

I hope to blog more often. I think about it quite often and would love to make a book for us some day out of my blog.

Happy New Year

Bradley brought the new year in by playing outside.
The weather was beautiful yesterday!
Oh, and see that tricycle?
We got it for free on the side of the road!
Sa-weet!

I can usually get this little guy to smile nicely for the camera when I say, "Don't hit Mommy with your bike!"
Ha.

I've been feeling more comfortable with my camera lately. The above picture is cooler than the one below, but that is because I used "Auto" white balance in Photoshop Elements and that made it warmer.
I liked it and didn't bring the above photo back to make that warmer as well.

I've been using Manual mode on my camera for a long while now....6 months? a year almost?
I was just never satisfied with the results in semi-automatic modes like Aperture Priority or Shutter Speed Priority.
The exposures were off, I even sent my camera in a few times to get it checked out. I'm still convinced the sensor is not that great but it was checked three times.
Now I use Manual and tell my camera what to do- which is what I should have been doing all along anyway.
The camera doesn't make the photographer, the photographer makes the camera.
Or something like that.
And, I have a long way to go.

Most of the images below are unedited, just the second to last one is boosted with color and some light.

Tyler with his Sophie La Girafe.
Mommy loves these chew toys!

We hope everyone has a blessed start to the new year!

Bokeh Love

I love Christmas lights.
The sparkling during an overcast day.
The warm glow in the evening when all other lights are off.
They are the best part of decorating for Christmas and I wish I could keep them up all year long.

I tried something fun a couple weeks ago with my 50mm lens. I cut out a circle with black construction paper and cut a heart in the center and taped it over my lens. Then I took a picture of my tree, out of focus, so the tree lights would become hearts.
I love this look.
Now I am trying to get a good picture of something or some one in front of the tree.
I tried with Tyler the other night and my nativity set.

Hopefully I can get a good one in the next couple of weeks.

White Balance

White balance is something I learned about quickly when I first got my DSLR two years ago. If you take a photograph indoors, without your flash, you will notice it might be a little yellow or warmer in temperature.
Some people photograph in RAW but I just use the highest JPEG and then fix it in Lightroom or PSE.
I make the temperature cooler and I usually have to fix the tint, too.
This photo of my boys and I was yellow before I fixed it in Lightroom.

This is an example of a photo that is too warm.

And this is what it would look like after I fixed it. (It's not the exact same photo, just similar)
I like the temperature in this photo better than the one above. Sometimes it is personal preference. Some one else might like the photo warmer than I have it below. In fact, I think it could be better but this is fine for me.

These two photos have a big difference. Again, they are just similar, not the exact same one.
This one looks so much better than the one below it.

Sometimes setting your camera white balance settings is not enough. I might have switched it from "Auto" to the icon for florescent lights but it was still yellow.

What I really would like to have is a white balance card set! One black, white, and grey, like this one.
Then I can use the custom white balance setting when I think it is going to be a tricky lighting situation for taking photographs. Just point your camera to the card and it will adjust to the lighting in the room so you can get beautiful photos!

There really is a lot to learn with DSLR's and I'm sure I don't have all the facts right with this post, but this is how I have come to deal with white balance so far with my camera.
Here are a couple websites that can help you out more on this subject-
The Pioneer Woman
and
Courtney from Click It Up A Notch

Capturing Beauty

Today I am participating in Traci's "Capturing Beauty Photo Blog Hop."


I love Fall and even though this picture may remind some people of Winter I felt it was more Fall-ish.
In the Fall all the leaves start to turn and drop but the pine needles remain the same.
I find that comforting. :)

This photo is called
"Pine In Evening Light"

The light was gorgeous as the sun was setting the other evening so my boys and I went outside and I snapped a few photos.

Please visit Traci's page to see her photo and others.

Before and After

I love taking photographs of summer flowers. They are so bright and cheerful!

This is the before photo taken with my Canon Rebel T1i and Canon 55-250 f/4-5.6 lens at 200mm.

The after photo was edited in Lightroom.
I edited out the yellow in the bottom left corner because I felt it was distracting. I then boosted contrast, warmth, blacks, vibrancy and some brightness as well.

Check out Monica's blog to see her edit and others!

Before and After

I have had some fun taking pictures of Tyler sleeping peacefully.
Here is the before taken with my Canon Rebel T1i and 50mm 1.8.
He was sleeping on a "Nap Nanny" and I had some blankets underneath him to prop him up and then a nicer white baby blanket draped over top those.

Here is the after edited in Lightroom 3.

Check out Monica's blog to see more edits!

Before and After

Before and After is hosted by Monica at Pixel Perfect Blog. To see her edit and others, click on the button below.

Here is a picture of Brad wearing my uncle's denim jacket and hat. 

I sat down in front of him to quickly get some pictures but I really should have taken my time and worked on composition. 

And apparently, I need to work on focus, too.

I used Pioneer Woman's sharpen and define action in PSE9.

I cloned out the vacuum cord in Lightroom 3 (still need to learn PSE) and added round corners and the watermark.

I've been using PSE9 for some edits lately more than Lightroom because I read an article online (I can't remember where) that when files are edited in Lightroom it actually softens the photo and you loose some data. 

In the article there were two examples of the same photo, one edited in Photoshop and the other in Lightroom. The woman's freckles and lines were blurred out in Lightroom when edited to black and white but were still defined when edited to black and white in Photoshop. The article then stated this was why professionals mainly use Photoshop. She then said that she uses Lightroom for her family photos but Photoshop when editing her client's photos.

I found it interesting and have been doing my own experiments to see if I can see a difference. I think I have seen a slight one when I look closely at the photos. 

Anyway, there is my before and after....kind of boring but I just "fixed" the photo, didn't do anything fun.

I can't wait for Spring and to be able to capture more color outside. :-)

Before and After

Before and After is hosted by Monica at Pixel Perfect Blog. To see her edit and others, click on the button below.

Wintertime is for coloring, drawing and painting.

Here is Bradley using his new watercolors.

Mommy wanted to have fun with them too but there is only one brush- I'll have to get another. :-) 

  

 Here is the after edited in PSE9 with Flora Bella Collection the free Action Mixer. I adjusted it to my liking and then boosted it again in Lightroom. I'm an Elements newbie and haven't quite figured it out yet.

Before and After

Before and After is hosted by Monica at Pixel Perfect Blog.

To see her edit and others, click on the button below.

This is a photo of a rose I took last May. I love photographing flowers- especially beautiful roses.
The pink of this rose is so pretty I almost wonder if it looks better than the edit.

 

Here is the after edited in PSE 9 with a Valentine's letter texture. I adjusted the warmth in Lightroom 3. 

I'm not sure if I like this as well as the original. 

What do you think? 

Clickin Moms

Are there any photographers (hobbyists or professionals) out there that have heard of Clickin Moms?

I have known about this site for almost a year and have been very intrigued by it.

I was looking for a good photography community and had heard great things about it.

I signed up a few months ago for a brief free trial and was absolutely hooked.

I loved the simplicity of the community. 

The professionals that share their knowledge and the community itself is very warm and friendly.

Last week I saw that they were having a discount until January 31st.

I thought about it for a few days and knew that I would get great use out of this community, so I signed up.

I have loved it so far and can't wait to keep learning.

No only do you learn more from other photographers but there are also special perks to being a member- like having access to the For Sale forum.

If I was to ever buy used camera equipment (from a person, not an actual business) I would feel very confident buying from these ladies.

If you want to be a part of this community, I suggest you get over to their site before this great discount expires.

You have until Monday, January 31st. :-)
Use the code : FRIEND 
 

 

Note: the two clickin moms links are affiliate links.

Before and After

All I have to say is-

WOW!
-I got my camera back in record time and am so thankful!

-I haven't participated in Monica's "Before and After" since probably November!

-This new and improved (but been around for a while now) editor in Blogger is really spiffy!

Thank you Lindsay for telling me your secret to getting photos side-by-side easily. :) 

I had been using the old editor and when she told me that she was just dragging them next to each other it clicked in my head that I needed to use the new editor. :)

(I did have these two photos set at medium size and they were side-by-side but then something happened and they wouldn't stay that way. I don't know what happened but I could only get them side-by-side as one being small- oh well, I'll try it again some other post:)

Here is the before (he did not want to pose:) :

Here is the after edited in Lightroom 3. I just made everything pop and brightened it up more. I know, a bit boring but this is my usual style and after months of editing this is what you're going to get. :)

Maybe next week I'll try something fancy. I can't wait to see all the other edits! Don't forget to check out Monica's blog to see the others!

Before and After

Before and After is hosted by Monica at Pixel Perfect Blog.
Click on the button below to see her edit and others.

I took this photo of Brad a few days ago as he was exploring milkweeds.
They are so soft and silky. It was fun watching discover them.

Here is the after edited in Photoshop Elements 9 and Lightroom 3.

His face is still not quite the color I want but I like how it looks over all.
What do you think?

Before and After

This is a photo of Brad from his little mud adventure last week, that I still have to finish blogging about! :)
Here is the before. A little dull and boring.

Here is the after, with some texture, warmth, vibrancy and brightness added.

Taken with Canon Rebel T1i, Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens and edited in Lightroom 3 and PSE9.

Check out Monica's blog to see her edit and the others!

Before and After

Before and After is hosted by Monica at Pixel Perfect Blog.

I took this photo back in August but I felt it needed saving.
I love the photos from this shoot I did with Brad.
It was spontaneous, fun and I got some beautiful smiles out of him.
This is a fun shot, nothing fancy, and he isn't even looking at the camera, but I like the angle.

My ISO was 100 and we were in the shade.

This is after fixing it in Lightroom 3.
I'm so happy with how it turned out!
It's a little unusual but I like the angle. :)

Now go visit Monica's blog to see her edit and others. :-)

Before and After

I promise I will do better in the creative department of editing. :)
I was just playing around in Lightroom and I really liked how this picture came out so I wanted to share.
Here is the before-
just another cat shot.

Here is the after-

I think it looks better side-by-side like I saw it in Lightroom.
I boosted the vibrancy and specific color saturation such as green, yellow and blue. I also added some vignetting.
It would have been even better if he didn't have his one ear out to the side. He did that when my camera was making noise focusing.
Don't forget to stop by Monica's blog and see her edit and others.



I will be busy tomorrow so hopefully I can check out every one's edits tomorrow night!