Halloween – Lessons Learned

November 2, 2010 By 5 Comments
DSC_0069

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!! It is always fun to see holidays through your children's eyes. I thought I would share some things I learned about photographing and surviving Halloween :O) 1. Halloween was a lot more fun when I was a kid. I had a great time with the girls but man, wasn't it more fun when all you did was tell your mom what you wanted, she made it, and then your dad took you trick or treating. Your only concern was how much candy you were going to get or making sure ...continue reading

Reading a Histogram

November 1, 2010 By 8 Comments
over exposed

Happy November!! Can you believe it is November already!! I know I can't! :O) When I first learned about photography I read some where that a "good" histogram was a bell shape. I started to strive for that but noticed that sometimes I would take a "good" picture but the histogram was not in a bell shape. Hmmm...interesting. I have since found out that there really isn't such a thing as a "good" histogram. However, there are a few things you want to look for on your histogram. When ...continue reading

I Learned…

October 29, 2010 By 1 Comment

I just love this picture! My husband left me this little message last week and I love it :O) Not only because of the message but of what the letters tell you. That we have small children who lose letters which is why he had to substitute some of the letters. Also, it reminds me that our dog, Charlie, eats anything and everything left on the floor. I love how this photo captures our lives right now :O) Isn't that one of the many reasons we love photography!! Capturing real life :O) What ...continue reading

Lightroom Video – Noise Reduction

October 28, 2010 By 3 Comments
After noise reduction

Some of you asked me about the noise reduction in Lightroom in the post about ISO. I don't use it very often since pictures don't look too noisy at the size I use for the web. I made you a little video tutorial of what I do. Like I have said before, this is just how I do it and I'm sure there are different ways of doing it :O) Also, this video is not nearly as long as the other, I think it is only 2 minutes :O) Here is an enlarged version of the before and after. ...continue reading

Photo Wall Display Ideas – Why Didn’t I Think of That? Wednesday

October 27, 2010 By 13 Comments
wall display

Last week we talked about different Photo Labs to use. Did you get your free test prints?? I hope so!! If not, what are you waiting for?? Find a lab you like and get printing!! Photos are not meant to live in your computer :O) Share them!! I recently re-did my own photo wall in my living room. It had been over a year since I had changed out any of my pictures. All of the pictures were before I learned to shoot on manual and most of them were not even my photos. Don't get me wrong, I ...continue reading

Second Shooting a Wedding – Lessons Learned

October 26, 2010 By 18 Comments
second shooting wedding 1

Thank you everyone for your encouraging words about the wedding I had the honor of shooting this weekend with Jana White. I don't know if I have mentioned it before but I don't have dreams of becoming a professional photographer. I just love photography and teaching (hence this blog). When a friend asked me to second shoot for her this summer, I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I was extremely honored she even asked me :O) The wedding was Sunday and I learned several things I thought I ...continue reading

ISO – Grain/Noise

October 25, 2010 By 9 Comments
ISO 100

I hope to focus on each of the three parts of the exposure triangle eventually :O) Let's talk more about ISO. What is ISO? ISO is the sensitivity of the image sensor to light. Remember the example of the worker bees bringing back the light for you :O) So if your ISO is set at 100 you are sending out 100 bees to bring back light. If it is set at 1600 then you are sending out 1600 bees which will get you a lot more light then the 100. When people talk about ISO they talk about the ...continue reading

I learned…

October 22, 2010 By 11 Comments
Picture 28

Congratulations to Shunt! You have won the $50 off discount code!! I will send you an email with the information!! Thank you to everyone who entered and spread the word about my blog!! You know the old saying "You learn something new everyday!" Take pictures of it and share with us!! Some weeks you may learn a photography skill and want critiques. GREAT!! Share and ask for them! If you didn't learn a new photography skill that is great too! Post a picture and tell us what you ...continue reading

Lightroom Workflow Video

October 21, 2010 By 24 Comments
DSC_0153

I was asked in the Ask Me Anything section if I could show you my workflow. I made an extremely long and boring video (17 minutes) for y'all :O) Two things: 1. I meant to say my pictures are saved to my external hard drive, not my hard drive and 2. That crazy loud sound in the background half way through is my AC :O) There are probably better ways to do your editing but this is what I do. So grab a cup of coffee and some popcorn and enjoy!! :O) Click in the 4 arrows next to the word ...continue reading

Photo Labs–Why Didn’t I Think of That? Wednesday

October 20, 2010 By 15 Comments
Sample Prints

This isn't our typical "Why didn't I think of that?" post but I feel it is important to share and it lays the ground work for next week's :O) Now that you are getting some amazing pictures from shooting in manual it is time to get them printed. No, I'm not talking about taking them to Walmart or Riteaid, I mean a REAL photo lab. When I first found out there were "real" photo labs that I could have access to I was super pumped!! Once I clicked on the web site I realized that I had to send ...continue reading