I love before and afters...

I just love it when photographers are bold enough to show their before and after shots; it can be a scary sort of thing to show people your straight out of camera (sooc) images, but it has help me immensely so I thought I do the same.

But, to start I do want to preface this show 'n' tell post with a few comments regarding post processing. If you are a photographer or even just an avid photoshop user then you are familiar enough with actions. That word - actions - for some reason has become this dirty, taboo word in the world of photography. I say... GET OVER IT! Actions are great; use them. It's NOT cheating if you know how to properly use actions to suit your own personal style and vision for the image(s).

Here's my argument... Sure, knowing how to accurately adjust and correct an image in Photoshop doing each step, one-by-one by yourself is great and all photographers should have that sort of knowledge as a resource. However, if an action can complete all those tedious steps for you and does exactly what you want it to do for an image and it gets you from point A to point B at just the click of a button then why wouldn't that be a good thing?! It just seems natural to me to utilize actions as a way to speed up your workflow - it's all about time management and efficiency for me.

Just remember there are always two sides to each coin and by that I mean there is no action in this world that will make up for a bad picture due to lack of camera know how, creative composition or photoshop knowledge. In my humble opinion it all starts with a good, correct exposure and proper white balance; just like in construction if you start with a solid foundation then what you build on top of it will stand strong.

Without further a do, here's a little glimpse into my post processing photo work...



For this photo as soon as Tanya laid on the blanket I knew exactly what my vision was for this photo. So much of creating your own style and knowing what to do with an image comes from having a vision of what you want it to look like... which, believe me only comes from experience, creativity and shooting who ever and what ever as much as possible. In the photo above you can see that the SOOC isn't bad at all, but what I really wanted to create was a dreamy, ethereal image with a bit of a vintage feel. I just love the way it turned out.

Oh yeah, and for any other photographers be sure to check out this Savvy blog, you won't be disappointed!

My celebrity BFF

I was thinking this morning about BFF's and how I love to surround myself with them. It's no lie (and you can confirm this with my hubby) that EVERY thing in my life is my favorite... I have about 25 pairs of my favorite shoes, every song I hear on the radio is my favorite, every thing I eat is my favorite, so it's no surprise that I consider all my friends my favorites. Literally.

So then I wondered, who would be my celebrity BFF. Maybe it was because of the time of day, maybe because I could hear her voice in the other room as I prepared for my lunch date with my newest BFF, but I think if I had to pick my true celebrity besty it would be one, Ms. Kelly Ripa. Some love her, some hate her (namely my mother) but I finding her completely hilarious with my kind of humor and wit. Mu-wha Ms. Ripa... I know we could totally be friends!


[fanpix.net]

Who is your celebrity BFF?

With no help from me...

...this is what I get... gorgeous, stunning, hilarious and completely RAD girls! Thank goodness us mom's did something right!



I call this photo their 'Breakfast Club Pose'... I know that will mean nothing to them (how sad is that) but to me this just looks like the ending shot of some way cool John Hughes (RIP) movie...


Thanks again lil' ladies (and the mama's, too)!

Model headshots

Meet Tanya... she is simply stunning! Just a quick post of a few of my favs from our headshot/portfolio session. She's a military wife and I know her dear husband station in Afghanistan will go completely gaga over these!

You rocked it Tanya!









SUPPORT OUR TROOPS... and their spouses, too!

Just because...

... for no other reason than just because I wanted to post one more of this family session, here you go!

GORGEOUS!

You know the saying...

... 'all because two people fell in love'? Yeah, well that pretty much sums up how I feel about this family... only it's not two people... it's my family and this family. I couldn't imagine what life would be like with out this magnificent family in it... love them dearly! I will say it again and again that it's because of these guys that I can call myself a photographer... THANK YOU!







And who doesn't love a good "dog-pile-on-mom" shot...

Introducing the Fab 4...

These girls rock my world! They are simply adorable and I wish I could keep each one for myself, however only one is truly mine. This is my Sammy girl with her BFF's rockin' this photo shoot like never before! Seriously, the magic word for the day was SASSY!









A big THANK YOU to Connie for whippin' up these fantastic tutu's and hairpieces.

Just checkin' in with...

SOOOOOO COOL... I have watched this little video snippet about 20 times and each time I ball like a baby, but even more I am reminded of how much we all need to slow down and enjoy EVERY thing and EVERY one around us. Stephanie Nielson is such an inspiration... life is too short!

NOT COOL... OK, now this is way off topic especially since I just got you all on a spiritual high from watching that video, but c'mon Phoenix, why is there not a decent Indian restaurant within a 400 mile radius of us! I'm from the bay area originally and good Indian food was so easy to find... Anyone with me on this? Any naan bread lovers out there?? Anyone, anyone, Bueller, Bueller??

100% too cool for school!

Meet the Petersen's... love these guys! They really are some of the coolest, down-to-earth people you will EVER meet. Thanks for hangin' with me... I had a total blast!

Now, I should note with this first photo that I don't typically post those uber silly or goofy faces I make my clients do, but just look at their little girl... I just love this photo... she cracks me up every time I look at it.









Doesn't the above photo of the Mr. and Mrs. say 'I married my best friend'... it's so tender and sweet. Oh, and not only are the Mr. and Mrs. super cool but they are beyond talented and creative; check out the Mrs. stuff HERE and the Mr.'s stuff HERE.

Two more for the road...

...I just couldn't help myself! I'm pretty sure this is my fastest time on record for editing a photo shoot... all the pics were so fun!

It's all about the L O V E...

Meet Jamie & Steve... two adorable, easy going, up for anything my kind of people. These guys just recently celebrated their 10th (yep 10th) anniversary so what better way to remember the occasion than to book a Sweetheart Session with me... you know, the FREE one - remember you don't have to be engaged to get in on the action!! They were so fun to shoot and to hang out with... thanks a million guys... you're gorgeous!! Enjoy the sneak peek!

I just love it when my clients come up with a rockin' location idea... I mean, the laundromat... GENIUS! (I've secretly been dreaming of doing a shoot in a laundromat so I about fell outta my chair when Jamie suggested it!)