Heather # 4

I had a really hard time deciding what picture to post, because i had so much fun with these fairy shots - so I posted a couple... hope that's ok guys :-)
I turned up the contrast in this photo and increased the brightness to focus on the subject. I added the sparkle in Photoshop.

Heidi #4

O.k., I will admit ... I am not ready for fall/winter. I love spring and summer. So I am rebelling and posting a summer picture. :) My goal in taking this picture was to capture not only the flip flops, but the sand and beach as well. Ahhhh ... I am in my happy place. ;) I focused my camera on my flip flops and I set my apertuer to f/22 to help keep it all in focus. If I had set my aperture at f/7 the sand and water would have been so blurry that you probably wouldn't have been able to tell where I was. The smaller the f/stop the more out of focus your background will be. The higher the f/stop, everything in the background will be clearer. Enjoy! :)

Cyndi #4

Caught this pic of Dan's sweet little hands holding his chick. We were in the car, waiting for my mom who had run into the store and he was just talking about all the different cars in the parking lot. I got some cute ones of his face too :) Next post!

Heather # 3

I went to my daughter's soccer game expecting to capture some action shots, but ended up with some interesting still shots. I'm finding that photography is largely about keeping an open eye and an open mind. Saturation and lighting adjustments in Lightroom.
Soft lens effect and dark vignette in Photoshop.

Heidi #3

I was trying to get a different perspective on trees during the fall. This tree was at our church. I liked that it was still green, yet had the bright oranges and yellows in it. Adjustments in Lightroom.

Cyndi #3

We went to Apple Hill yesterday where, as you can imagine, there were many interesting things to shoot. When I was thinking about it, instead of just thinking of taking pics of the kids, I'd take a couple interesting shots. This little guy was one of them. He was so cute. I many submit a couple more shots from our trip this week. Happy Sunday!!

Heather #2

I caught the look of delight on my daughter's face right after being showered with a pile of leaves. I changed the picture to greyscale, played with the contrast, and warmed it up a bit in Lightroom. I shot this in aperture priority mode/f6 with the flash on.

Heidi #2

I was recently in downtown with my friend Stephanie at a conference. Of course I brought my camera in hopes of capturing something fun. While walking to the car, Stephanie saw this and thought it would make an interesting picture. Not exactly sure what is is, but I agreed with Stephanie and took the picture. :) Minor lighting adjustments in Lightroom.

Cyndi #2

We made carmel apples the other night with my mom. I loved the deep red apples. (I'll be submitting the first pic to the Photo challenge at SM soon.) I wish now that I would have tried some without the flash. And then when I did shoot in the natural (or tungsten lighting) I tried to just hold the camera real still instead of getting the tripod out. Lazy. There wasn't quite enough light to get it super crisp. Live and learn. Obviously shot in aperature mode for both pretty wide open. Don't you love the warts on the carmel apple?? Oh... I'll need to resize smaller before uploading to photobucket too. It's cutting off the whole right side of the pic. Heather, do you remember what size yours were before you uploaded them?

Heather #1

I traveled all over the neighborhood looking for just the right shot for today's post, but came home rather uninspired. As I sat in the comfort of my living room, I started noting all of the beauty that was right in front of me. I took this shot with natural backlight from a window which picked up on the cut glass creating an elegant sparkle. My camera was set to Aperture Priority Mode, f3.5, ISO400. I adjusted the fill light just a tad in Lightroom.

Heidi #1

Well, here it is ... my first posting EVER on a blog!! I am posting a little early since I won't have time tomorrow. :) This Hibiscus is in our backyard. I used a towel to block the sunlight to help make the lighting more even. I also played around in Lightroom with the settings to get the look seen here.

Cyndi #1

Took this pic of one of Spencer's coaches at Friday night's game. He was turning toward me and I just lifted the camera and shot. I'm so surprised it's in focus! I love the close up though and the mysterious background. This is the look of a coach's face when his team is losing 24-0.

I boosted the colors a little in PS and ran an unsharp mask. I usually only run a slight unsharp mask but this one is pretty high... here are the #'s: Amount 20%, Radius 60 pixels, Threshold 0. I really like the difference it made from the original. Kind of gritty.

Can't wait to see your pics!