Editing Newborn Photos :: Inspiration Wednesday

Learning how to take great pictures sure is a journey!  I finally feel like I am understanding all the different aspects of my camera and I am really starting to feel comfortable with shooting in manual mode.  A couple of weeks back I shared with you some of my favorite visual cheat sheets for shooting in manual mode.  Now the second part of a great picture is effective editing.  That is the part where I struggle.  I’m a pro when it comes to using Adobe Illustrator but I’m still learning with Photoshop.  They have quite a few things that are similar but they are basically ENTIRELY different!  Most of the editing that I do right now is in iPhoto and I’m really comfortable there, which is okay for 90% of what I do at this point.  One of my goals I have set for myself is to start booking photo shoots in the upcoming months and in order to give my clients the best photos I can I want to become a pro in Photoshop!  I have a whole board on Pintrest for photography tips and tricks that I have collected (follow me here!) but up until recently they have been just sitting there staring me in the face.  So today I’m getting things done!  I did a newborn shoot for a very close friend of mine whose baby boy I adore!!  I’m seriously late getting his photos edited (partly because he did get to stay with me 5 days a week for quite a few weeks while Momma went back to work for a while) and  I’m learning all sorts of things along the way.  Today I thought I would share with you some of the most helpful tutorials I’ve found so far!

Polished Picture

Jessica Drew Photography

Arden Prucha Photography on iHeartFaces.com

Morgan Kervin Photography

Do you have any go to tutorials that you love?  Share them with us!

Click – The Magazine for The Modern Photograp[her]

I am still super new to photography but I am loving my journey so far.  I tried to take as many pictures as I could when Jake was little but it wasn’t until Emma Grace was born that it really hit me…you can’t get those memories back.  The best thing you can do is capture and savor ever last one of those special moments!  I’ve been reading every book I can get my hands on and reading tons of photography blogs.  One of my favorite book so far has been by Katie Evans “The Key To Taking Pictures Like A Professional Photographer” which I talked about here.  Her newest book “The Key To Natural Posing” just came out and I can’t wait to read it!

A couple of weeks back I got an email from Erin at Texas Chicks Blogs & Pics about a new bimonthly magazine that was created for female photographers who love some eye candy – moms, hobbyist and professionals alike.  I am so excited because this magazine is going to be great!  Check out what Erin has to say about the new publication:

The magazine will be printed on gorgeous matte paper and perfect-bound. (No worries, iPad lovers, it’ll be available digitally and as an app as well!) CLICK will feature profiles of amazing women photographers, insight and advice on new gear and products, real-world education, and loads of inspiring and exciting editorial sure to make you fall in love with photography all over again!

CLICK’s creative team includes Cameron Bishopp, former chief editor for Professional Photographer magazine and Lisa Thé, previously art director for Martha Stewart Weddings & Outside magazines.

So this afternoon I ordered my subscription and can’t wait for the premier issue which will be arriving in several weeks!  Whoho!

In the mean time I’ll keep stopping by my favorite photography blogs for some awesome inspiration!  These girls are so talented and you should stop by to say hello too!

An Afternoon In The Park

Awhile back I was able to watch my nephew for the weekend while his mommy and daddy enjoyed a quiet weekend away.  I took the kids down to the park for the afternoon and I couldn’t resist taking the opportunity to try and get pictures of the three kids together.  Try was the key word!  I got some great pictures of each of them but together…not so much.  Hey at least I tried and we did have a great time!

I tried but Emma Grace didn’t want to be held…

and poor Jake couldn’t understand why not.

The boys cooperated for one very serious photo that I have fallen in LOVE with!

Then they were back to their normal goofy selves!

And of course these boys can’t be together for more than five minutes before someone gets hurt.

I have a great idea…lets throw one more kid into the mix and attempt to get a good photo of the three!

Oh well…at least I tried!  Instead I just let them play…that they are good at!

The one thing I have learned with these crazy kids…three smiling faces in one photo will probably never happen but every silly photo trying to get there brings a big smile to my face.

Photography Books by Katie Evans :: Inspiration Wednesday

I’ve been trying to read more photography books lately and had plenty of time to get in some good quality reading at the beach last week.  My favorite book so far is “The Key To Taking Pictures Like A Professional Photographer” by Katie Evans.  Katie has a fabulous blog where she documents her life through photos as well as helping out newbies like me learn the ropes of photography.  She offers great tips and tricks as well as full on tutorials for shooting and photo editing.  So I took the plunge and bought her book and I have to say it is worth every penny.

She covers everything from exposure, camera settings, lighting, composition and even editing.  I think the hardest part for me starting off was really understanding the relationship between aperture and shutter speed.  Leave it to Katie that she has the BEST diagram to explain the relationship and it finally clicked for me!  She makes photography easy to understand.  Even the hubby had a great time reading it last week.

So I was thrilled to find out today that Katie has started pre-sale of her new e-book that will be released on August 31st.

The book will go into detail about how to interact with each subject/group, where to place and what to say to your subjects as well as how to achieve natural un-posed poses!  Whoohoo!

Now that I have learned so much from her first book I can finally take my photos to the next level.

You can get your own copy of Katie’s 1st book “The Key To Taking Pictures Like A Professional Photographer” and reserve your copy of “The Key To Natural Posing”  here.  Trust me you will love it!

Emma Grace 38 Weeks and Cornhole Board Building Fun!

Emma Grace is 38 Weeks Old!

Follow Emma Grace’s Weekly Photo Project Here!

It has been a crazy week here at the Smith household!  As many of you know not only does hubby work a full time job (we are talking a lot of 12 hour days) but he then comes home every night to his second job…custom cornhole boards from The Cornhole Guy!  I’ll save the story about about how our little hobby has become a lot larger business then we ever imagined for another day.  Needless to say we have been pretty busy this month and my kitchen is full of cornhole boards.  The count is up to 6 sets inside at the moment and another 3 in the workshop being built.  We try to work on them while the kids are sleeping at night or during nap time but this month has been a little different.

Emma Grace has been enjoying playing while I tape off boards in the kitchen.

While Jake enjoys a good book while Mommy takes over the kitchen testing out the projector that we borrowed.  The new joke is that instead of Jake mowing lawns during the summer for extra cash when he gets older we will just let him start painting with us more and he will be known as “The Cornhole Kid.”  Haha get it?  Okay Jeremy and I thought it was hilarious because Jake loves The Karate Kid.  On a regular basis we tell him that “your focus need more focus!”

Between 3 sets for local businesses, 2 sets for the Cinco de Mayo celebration at the resturant, a couple for upcoming College graduation presents and we need to restock the sports shop where we also sell our boards at…I think we will still be busy for a while.  Okay so enough sharing about our week because I have more painting to do!

Happy Friday!