Camera RAW editing

Thanks to those Scott Kelby Photoshop Killer Tips and chapter 2 of the Adobe Photoshop CS5 book (that was a mouth full) I am learning Camera RAW editing. I have to say though, that it is quite similar to Adobe Lightroom 3 at which I am quite proficient. Lets just say every photo I take (over 1000/month) passes through my Lightroom 3. 

So the results of this mornings review is a photo from our visit to Victoria in April. The BC Legislative Buildings. And may I take a moment to remind people (even a tour guide I spoke with there) that they are NOT the Parliament buildings. Parliament is in Ottawa (federal)- where Members of Parliament gather. The Legislature (provincial) is where members of the Legislative Assemble meet. 

Okay that's all - just a tidbit from my days as the tour guide of the Manitoba Legislative Buildings. Bet you didn't know that about me. :)

The before photo...

Bright morning sun with harsh shadows.

The post Camera RAW edits photo. 

The Moral of the story is don't delete those poorly exposed photos. 

OR - shoot in RAW, set the right DOF and be in focus. Everything else is negotiable in Photoshop!

PS - I have changed my font....just because I can. :)

Cystic Fibrosis Ride 2011

I spent the morning volunteering at the Cystic Fibrosis Ride 2011 and the rest of the day editing photos and making a slideshow. IOW having fun!

There was a lot of black leather hanging out at the Husky station on Hwy 16 this morning. 

Check out a larger version of the slideshow HERE

Battle at F-Stop Ridge

Can you relate to this?

I am still laughing.

Go BlueJays!

So, what is your favorite baseball team?

Flush Mount Wedding Albums

I have been wanting to publish flush mount wedding albums for my brides and so I have spent countless hours on line searching and checking out companies and just trying to understand this industry. My clients do not want to pay $1500 for an album so uploading photos for someone else to build the album is out of the question. I have not been impressed with most of the designs so I want to design my own based on my brides wedding, her colours and her desires for her special day. The album needs to reflect all the wonderful aspects of her day. So this past two weeks I have been spending every spare moment, when not at the other job, absorbing Scott Kelby's Adobe Photoshop CS5 text book, watching on line videos and generally playing in Photoshop CS5. My butt is sore from sitting at this computer so long. But I am having a blast. Even at 1am. Yikes!

Yesterday I tackled my first album and today I will share a few two page spreads from a 12X12 album I am working on.

I am LOVING this. It is a wonderful meld of my photography skills, all I learned with digital scrapbooking in Adobe Photoshop Elements 6,  years of laying out scrapbooking pages on my desk and my passion to beautifully capture one of the most important days in a woman's life.  And what a wonderful way to take 12 hours of shooting and 40 hours of editing and create a lasting memory of their day.

 

There you go ~ 4 of the 20 layouts I am working on. 

So... what do you think?

#1218 A New Era

Friends of ours had their student rental property torn down in the city this week in preparation for their dream retirement home. There is something about deconstruction and reconstruction that fascinates me. I must have been a carpenter in past lives (jk) Or perhaps it was growin up with a Dad and brothers that were always building stuff. In kindergarten I got kicked out of the wood block building section by my teacher Mrs Smith because I was a girl! I don't remember much of my childhood, but I remember that moment with great clarity. And I remember clearly how I felt about Mrs Smith!!
 Anyways... I digress. When our friends told me at Bible Study on Monday they were tearing down the house at 7am the next morning - well I wasn't going to miss that!

Kindergarteners in North Korea.

WOW! Part of me says they should just go outside and play - but another part says this is amazing and impressive.

Proverbs 20:11

Yes, if a babe can memorize scripture then so can I.
Here is what this 19 month old knows of Proverbs 20:11
"Even a child makes himself known by his actions; whether his conduct is pure and upright".

Hmmm coincidence? Too Funny

If you missed the photos from yesterdays post - here's the slideshow

.... from yesterday's engagement photo shoot.



Kathryn and Duane - a lovely young couple. She is in the medical field and he is in farming. They remind me very much of my engagement shoot with Amanda and Jason. Same professions, same young love. :)

Engagement Session

Young Love....

There are some real perks to being a photographer. :)
This is Kathryn and Duane.
Love getting to know and working with a young couple in love. David and Duane talked farming - inoculants and such....
Kathryn and Duane are getting married in October - which is a perfect time of year to get married.
David and I will celebrate 32 years on October 6th this year. 

Cards

I have been designing my own greeting cards with my photos.
I can put any print on any of the cards.
Or they can be printed onto canvas.

More Eva

... because she is so much fun to photograph and because I didn't get to the chapter on B&W in CS5 as I had hoped. You can only read/study so much at a time. The brain didn't get much of a rest this weekend from my work week. And with that cake I ate on Friday - well......

Plus I was distracted by a wedding portraiture DVD that also arrived Friday. For the photographers out there - Doug Gordons Bride and Groom Glamour Flow Posing. The jury is out on whether it was worth what I paid for it. I will give it all a try with my shoot next weekend and let you know.

So I feel like I have been in class all weekend - I did get the laundry done. And ate too much.

This is Eva on her daddy's lap playing Liars Dice with us last night. 

 Hey Dad - you got three sixes! Way to go!   shhh Eva - stop telling everyone what I got. 

 Hurry up Dad. Let's see what ya got!

 haha - you got em this time Dad!

 I don't know - better start the bidding low. 

Harold: "Four 6's"
Eva: "LIAR!"

And Eva at Mother's Day lunch today

hmmmm I think I will have the chicken sandwich - loaded and a coke!

 Happy Mothers Day Grandma!

I love you Grandpa!

Beacon Hill Park

Last night I picked up Scott Kelbys "the Adobe Photoshop CS5 book for digital photographers"
Scott is known for his long titles.
I have read a few of his books. Lightroom 2 and Digital Photography. I love his style of writing - I stay awake! I also love to read the last paragraph of his acknowledgments page. :)

Anyways, it is a BIG book and will take me about six ~ 12 hr days to get through. So far I have been at it for 5 hrs and the book is worth every penny it cost me because now I can use Adobe Bridge with proficiency. YAhoo! CS5 is no longer a stranger. We have met and are getting to know each other. I tell it my favorite things and it remembers every one of them. :) Unfortunately I don't remember everything it tells me. Also learning to understand Adobe Camera Raw - normally I use Lightroom to process all my Raw photos.

Here are some of the photos I worked on today as I plodded thru Adobe Bridge. No photoshop stuff here - just minor white balance adjustments in Camera Raw.
These are from our trip to Victoria this month following my fathers death. On this day, David and I walked through Beacon Hill park with my Mom and brother and just enjoyed all the nature and new life around us.

A Blue Heron - if you want to see his beady little eyes just click on the photo. Click your back browser to return - it may not open in a separate tab/window.

 

Stay tuned. I will be working on photos of Tanis soon. Hoping to perfect B&W's by Sunday evening.

Happy Mothers Day

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

More Eva

Just can't get enough!

The Dead are Still Alive

“Let us settle it in our minds, that the dead are in one sense still alive. From our eyes they have passed away, and their place knows them no more. But in the eyes of God they live, and will one day come forth from their graves to receive an everlasting sentence. There is no such thing as annihilation. The idea is a miserable delusion. The sun, moon, and stars – the solid mountains, and deep sea, will one day come to nothing. But the weakest babe of the poorest man shall live for evermore, in another world. May we never forget this!”

~ J.C. Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew

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