Congratulations, Sarah!

I used a random number generator to select a winner for the print giveaway and the random force of the internet chose Sarah!

Congrats, Sarah. Email me at (my first name)@yahoo.com to let me know which print you would like. I will have it professionally poster printed and sent on it's merry way to you.

Thank you, to everyone who entered! These little giveaways are such fun! In fact, I will be having another one as soon as I launch my etsy store. So keep checking back!
(I think you'll find the prize to be a real hoot!) ;)

capturing a moment...

Finding a great shot within a not-so-great shot is simpler than you think.
Just keep your eye on the subject or the moment. Whatever happens to be getting in the way of the shot can easily be remedied.

Take this shot for example.

First of all, we have to crop out the half of a half-naked mommy on the right side of the photo. The daddy apparently thought it would be funny to capture mommy in this vulnerable state while pretending to just take a picture of the babies.
we also have all the crap in the background that is quite frankly not ascetically pleasing.

so let's start by cropping the photo.

But due to the angle of the shot, we have to crop it at an angle.

Now, the colors here are neutral and looking a bit blah.

So let's convert it to black and white.

At this point, I put a Sepia photo filter on it. Some shots just look better with a warmer filter.

then I adjusted the exposure a bit, just to give it some final tweaks.

Now, as great as this shot looks, I wanted to frame it in black so it needed a bit of shading around the edges just to add a little depth.
For this, I used the Marque tool to draw just inside the outer edges of the photo.

Now refine your edges. I went with very low contrast to avoid harsh lines and Expanded 35+.
I also turned the featheredness and smoothness up high for a soft-focus look.

You then, Select-Inverse and Edit-Fill with black.

Finally, deselect.

Now for the poster frame.


I created a narrow white canvas first. (20 pixels)

Then I created a larger black canvas. (200 pixels)

I thought this shot would be great with some text so I selected the text tool, chose white and centered it in the black field.

Comparing the two shots, you can see that this whole process is totally worth it in the end.
What looked to be a wasted shot, turned out to be a golden opportunity to capture the sweet moment of my babies sleeping.

A big "thank you" to my hubbie for taking the original picture!

my Nikon jar...

I caught a documentary this weekend that really moved me.
It was about a man whom I had never even knew about.
Call me naive, but I had previously never heard of George Eastman.
The founder and creator of "Kodak".

The hobby that I have been fully immersed in for almost my entire life was made possible by this man.

No, he didn't invent Photography, itself. But he made it possible for every person today to be able to own a camera of their very own.
He took a process that had so many faults and simplified it. He brought the camera to the masses and made it affordable for everyone.

I also learned something I didn't know about the Brownie camera. It was created to draw in children. The angle was that it was so easy to operate that even a child could use it.
The Brownies were, at the time, a cartoon character popular with children of the day. So by using them in their advertising, they were ensuring that every single child in America would demand a Kodak Brownie.
The Brownie cost 25 cents to manufacture and they sold it to the public for just a dollar!

Eastman also pioneered the use of 35 millimeter film. And who can argue, that was a huge step for Hollywood's movie making industry!

It amazes me to think that we can instantly freeze a moment in our lives and keep it safely locked away to later come back to and reflect upon it.
It makes time travel possible and sweeps over us with a feeling of Nostalgia.

How many times have you forgotten a fine detail of your past and after looking at a photo, you suddenly remember something.
Something that previously escaped you and once given visual evidence of it, your heart and your mind are unitedly uplifted.
A memory! One you didn't even realize you had until that moment.

Photographs are capable of so many important things. They chronicle pivotal moments in human history.







Capturing moments like lightning bugs in a jar. A photographer is able to bottle up time in their capsule and later release it to share with the world.

I'm just so thrilled to have a small part in capturing memories in my very own little jar.

Photoshop greatness...

here is a prime example of why I love Photoshop!
I mean, my camera is like an extension of myself and truly never leaves my side but when it comes to taking your photos to the next level, Photoshop is a dream come true!

from adjusting the contrast and color to the shadows and brightness. something as simple as cropping the photo to morphing an object completely out of the picture. Photoshop takes a possible miss and turns it into a hit.

case in point:

I loved the view in this shot and just as I snapped, my daughter walked into the frame.
no problem, crop her out.

but the color in the photo doesn't even come close to the vibrant hues that were surrounding him on that hilltop.
so, let's adjust the levels and the exposure.

now, let's make those clouds really pop by adding a cyan filter.

and to give the entire photo a more unified look, we'll add a frame.

this is only the very basic stuff with Photoshop. there is so much more you can do, it's insane. you're basically only limited by your imagination.
and I find that mine is always soaring high.

a gallery...

it is my intention for this to become a place for you to go to discover the world as seen through my eyes.
I love taking pictures and this my way of sharing my love with you.

please enjoy looking and I would love to hear from you through either comments or email!