Live from Tormville!

switching gears creatively

Whew.

I finished up with the last of my scrapbooking deadlines this morning afternoon. I have others - but I can take a week off from my desk and, oh....wait....crunk..... Okay, not quite a week, but I can safely take the weekend off.  Now my goal is to get all my photo shoots out the door before Monday.  THAT will feel good.  I don't take on a lot of photo work, my time just doesn't seem to allow it, but I do a few. 

And sometimes I like to play before I start.  For instance, I like how the photo above took to my playing. 

Here's the original....

 

Fun, yes? I think the played with one is so much more arty and exciting, although the car is cool, if you dig cars.

My brother Brian taught me this trick last year for Lightroom.

• put recovery to 100
• put fill light to 100
• put contrast to 100
• put clarity to 100
• put vibrance to 100
• drop saturation as necessary (usually to about 1/4)
• adjust white balance to get rid of blue tint that might be there (it's there for some, but not for others)
• bump up blacks as necessary
• bump up highlights as necessary
• individual saturations may need to be adjusted

I tend to choose random pictures, now and then - this one still being a favorite.  I was tickled when it turned out just as well in print as it does on my computer screen.

Enjoy.  Me?  Back to proofing......

This afternoon - some cards, but this morning - another senior

I have some cards to share this afternoon - but for now ..... last nights shoot.  It might have been the last good fall evening for a shoot.  Today is rainy...and the forecast isn't all that cheery.

 

 

 

I got a call yesterday to pick up miss Wendy from school - fever of 101.  She seemed better last night but we're letting her sleep in this morning and we'll go from there.

Of course, the way Mark is carrying on up there, nobody will be sleeping in.  He woke up in a mood today - wants his dad, wants his clothes off, wants to run away from home.

That running away from home sounds kinda good right now.  I'm in the mood for a good field trip.  hm ... where to go, where to go....... and how far will the van take me

A glimpse of Tuesday

Tuesday was full.

story hour
a morning walk
a phone call and an appointment change
after a glance at the week's weather

a visit from a brother
meatloaf dinner - prepped early
rapid fire instructions to the 14 year old on when to put food in the oven

and a senior photo shoot between 3:30 - 5:20

 

 

 

 

we had the best time
I was a little bummed when we had to switch due to the upcoming weather - but it worked out just fine
I've known Kara since the day she was born - it brings something special into a shoot when I've watched them grow up.  I've decided that they are my favorite.

Called Al at 4:15 to make sure he had put the meatloaf in the oven
He'd forgotten - so it's a good thing I called

Home at 5:30 - dinner was on the table - slammed my spud and meatloaf and brushed my teeth
Rushed the daughter, packed some leftovers, grabbed the Bibles and headed out the door
Got to my dad's at 6:20
Enjoyed a 50 minute visit while listening to Taylor Swift
(Wendy brought her birthday CD and figured grandpa should enjoy it too)
7:30 Bible Class
Breathe
Home again - 9:50
Downloaded pictures
Emailed today's senior
Proofed a Few
posted
told 14 year old to go back to bed, it's not morning - but midnight
followed him up
crawled in
waited 10 minutes
crawled out and got Mark (the 2 year old) and bring him into bed too. the booger.

sleep

Happy Wednesday!

More random

My brother Brian taught me some new tricks today.  Cool, huh?
You really have to click that one and see it bigger to appreciate it. Really. 

Here's the before. (boring)
No need to click this one - it's just as boring larger



Anyway. Other than that - enjoyed a deliciously lazy day.  I was excited for tomorrow, Monday, until I realized it's gonna be one heckuva wonked out week.  Wendy has 1/2 day tomorrow, Pa is taking Tuesday off, Allan has 1/2 day on Wednesday......

hmph. It's all going to totally put a wrench in my (heh) well-oiled routine around here. 

be good!

wedding photos - take III

Okay - this time in draft mode for my sanity.

As I was saying....dinner last night, Garlic Herb Salmon, was so incredibly delicious that I kept saying during dinner (in between bites), "I'm so glad I ordered this"  as I has almost ordered the safe and delicious stand-by, Oriental Chicken Salad, which is good...but nowhere as good as the salmon. 

The salmon was superfanmouthwateringtastic.

The only thing I wanted to do when I got home was sit on the couch, rub my belly and continue proclaiming over the mouth-watering scrumptiousness of my meal to all the poor leftover pizza eaters here at home.

And then I went to bed.  Thus, no photos last night. 

*hit save draft here*

So the first thing I did this morning was begin uploading the photos.  And since it was Monday and I was feeling invincible and perky, I did it without saving as a draft as I went along - a safeguard that I learned long ago protects me when posting longer posts.

And all was lost. And I was crushed.  And I cried real tears. But then I had coffee and now I'm ready to take it on again.

It dawned on me as I was uploading this photo the first time this morning that for someone (me) who doesn't do weddings - I've shot three of these four girls'es weddings.  How did that happen?

This shot was totally inspired by my sister-in-law, Julie. She had done something very similar at a wedding she shot a couple months ago.  It's fun to have a sister-in-law with the same interests, especially one that lives so close so that we can share almost instantly. We recognize that we each have different strengths and we've talked about how fun it would be to shoot a wedding together sometime - it's something we'd like to try. (<------ that was me subtly throwing that out there)

It was a bit windy for cigar lighting.  Is it lit?  Is it lit?

Is that, or is that not, the best smile in the whole wide world.  Seriously.  I think if I were to use it for my computers wallpaper I would never feel sad or dejected ever again.

And now for the final save and submit - with my fingers crossed......

Bride + Groom =

Wedding.

And as I began this post - I realized that I'm hungry, we're off to Applebee's to use Wendy's free meal coupon.....more photos later

(I'm a dreadful tease)

A few of my favorites

The moment she saw her groom - love this.  It makes me feel all fuzzy inside. (Also...remember, you can click on the photos to see them bigger)

When Amanda called to persuade me to take her wedding pictures she told me that she just wanted one superawesome picture of her and her Pauly. So I tried to get that shot first, that way I could relax and everything else would be icing on the cake.  ;)

No matter what I said tho, I couldn't convince her to wait until finer weather to get married.  Our church is a bear to take indoor pictures in...very low natural light and lots of orange/yellow wood going on reflecting all over the place. Dark. And then it had to be cloudy too - I still was able to get a few shots by way of window light. (The bride/groom photo was shot in the same spot)

 

The front of the church however, is very dark - and it's the only really good spot to get the group photos.  This is when I really appreciated shooting in RAW and post processing, I believe it really helped me when it came to the group photos.

The thing that didn't help tho, was having the lights on behind the pulpit. Someone suggested turning them on - that maybe it would help with the poor light, and in theory it sounded like a really good idea.  I'm glad I tried it anyway - now I know that it's not a good idea in reality - the glare on the wall threatened to take over more than a few photos. In our next church...could we pleasepleaseplease not have orange walls?

This is when I'm thankful for my wide angle lens. Remember this family - you'll be seeing them again in a couple weeks but with a different daughter in the white dress. ;)  And I'm kinda hoping outside.

Did I mention how thankful I am for my wide angle lens? Very thankful.  Best investment ever.  Orange walls?  Not thankful for those.  But overall, I'm pleased. I was a nervous wreck before this one.  I'll be better for the next one.

I love this photo - there's just something about it that grabs me. It was just a perchance shot - I had just taken the going up the aisle photos and went up to the balcony to catch the whole church view before the song ended and I clicked this quick while I was walking. Love the little girls absorbing the wedding - and the organist, we love her too. This scene has been played out here so many times in the past 45 years.  (how old our church is)  I'm getting a tad melancholic here...

Just a fun little bit of trivia - they sang song 68 from the hymnal to go up the aisle with and when I got home I realized that it was the 68th day of the year. I love numbers so I thought that was cool.

Also - there are at least 68 other people that would have been at the wedding had it not been taking place at the same time as the Calumet vs Powers State hockey championship game being played just miles away.  Wedding or hockey...wedding or hockey.....

 

Wedding.
These little girls are nieces to the groom.

And this is Dan, the brides youngest brother. He's such a ham - I just love watching him. My favorite Danny moment was watching him once at the Christmas program practice - it was when I learned what a tease he is.  He had to scootch back into his aisle after having gone up to do his piece or song and as he made his way past the five or six girls he jokingly sat in each of their laps as he stepped by, giggling the whole way. Boy, did I laugh. He hasn't changed a bit - while he took his usher job very seriously, there was still a bit of mischief in him saved up for the reception - I've got a cute picture of him sneaking up behind Amanda and hiding under her veil.

And one more of the happy couple - wishing them a marriage filled with happiness, friendship, forgiveness and love.

thank you Amanda, for letting me shoot your wedding. It was fun delightful relaxing an agonizing way to be a special part of your day. I kid. Seriously - thank you.  I learned a lot and it built my confidence, I'm glad you had more faith in me than I did.

Having now done a winter wedding....I'd do it again.
But I still hope spring will be in full bloom by the 29th. Warm. Sunny.....

A girl can hope, right?

be good.   

more field trip photos

(and good golly molly, do I feel the time change this morning.....just sayin')

As I mentioned last evening, my sister-in-law and I went for a two person field trip around our local downtown last evening.  It was SO fun - definitely something to have a partner for.  I've thought many times of doing this myself but never quite get out the door. For some odd reason, it feels really awkward to go around alone like a photography geek but feels decidely more comfortable if there's another photography geek at my side.

I love that I learned this last evening, and I love that I have a photography geek that I adore living so close.  Feel free to honk and call us geeks if you see us, we don't even care. 

Here's more - and since I put so many this time all framed and all, I actually shrunk them before I posted them - I often just go full size cuz I'm lazy.  Lazy, geeky, odd...you name it. 

   

I used the hard light trick on these pictures that the Pioneer Woman so nicely demonstrated a few days ago. (there's something wrong with that sentence but I'm too tired to figure it out)  It was so simple, I was able to do it late last night in my exhausted from the weekend state. FUN! 

Also - my Scott Kelby CS3 book came on Saturday - Wow. The book weighs as much as my 3rd child - it's that full of information.  I'm anxious to browse thru it a bit.

When I wake up.
Tomorrow. 

A happy file

I spent the better portion of the evening going thru pictures
finding photos I'd forgotten about
putting like ones together in files
sorting others into layout subjects
printing, yet others, for assignments
writing notes for layouts to do

and I created a file called the happy file

and I dropped this one in there

happy is good

Notice anything?

this is so a trick question

Stop!!!
My goodness, I'm roaring.  I clearly should never post such a thing right before going on a big grocery shopping trip!  Seriously in stitches here.

Okay..first of all, the correct answer is the watermark.  The lovely Erica Hernandez made it for me from the business card I had her make for me back in '06. I love me some Hernando.

But now let's address some of the other issues at hand.

Kesti said, Wait a minute...your wedding ring is not on your ring finger...YOU'RE PREGNANT!!!!!!! Come one, tell me I'm right!???? (you'd better e-mail me).  Um. No. And I can see, I guess, how that threw you.  I have two diamonds...it's a long story.  My engagement ring is on my middle finger and my wedding ring is exactly where it should be.

Maureen replied,It says torm on the bottom.
You've got no fingers on your gloves.
Ummm......I like Kim's answer better ;)  Yes and yes.  The Torm is the watermark I'm going to try out and there are no fingers on my gloves.  Aren't they the coolest?  Sue brought them for me when she was here last week.  I love them!

Erica teased,did you learn to knit? ;)  Heh. You know..it's tempting.  If it weren't for all my other creative interests thus far, but alas...nows not the time. 

My sister noticed, You've lost weight -- you can fit your engagement ring on your middle finger! If I were a cusser, I'd cuss here.  I've actually gained weight.  I quit eating after 7, I exchanged coffee for green tea, and I'm gaining.  The rings tho managed to stay on my fingers all during my pregnancy for Mark after I got over the allergic part.  It was the first pregnancy that I didn't retain water.  I credit the water I mentioned in the answers post.

Amanda kids, You're being a gangsta?! And there's a monster in the "torm" ?? Those are flowers, my dear. gangsta?? hah.

Jan thinks, You only have 9 fingers? Yep, that's it.  My excuse for not making pies tomorrow.

Ashley, hahahhahaha, says:You got a manicure? hahahahhahahahahahahhaha

The other Jan says, Practicing making butterfly shadow puppets? ;) I'm darn good at it too!

Carmen totally cracked me up with, ummm... you're wearing the black vest? Cuz yes...that is the black vest.

Steph flatters me with, I'm going with engagement ring on the middle finger because you're all skinny now :) Sigh and alas, I'm not. I think God knows I'd be far to vain if I were thin.

Lara noticed the rockin' watermark.  Thank you Lara!

Steph doesn't give me enough credit and screams,OMG! You learned how to use brushes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I learned brushed months ago silly.  I just don't use them much with my glue and scissors.

Whew.
Next time I'll stay closer to home before tossing out such a wide open for speculation question.  LOL