My "Babies and Toddlers Challenge" Entry

The day of my much anticipated dual photo shoot--with 1 week old Gracie and 3 month old Alice-- didn't start off so great...

 I got few test shots in and then dropped my camera.  Ugh, what an awful noise that makes.  The body survived, but the lens--my beautiful 85mm baby--did not.  It looks as though the filter was the real casualty, but it's so stuck on there I can't tell just yet.

Luckily, I had brought a 105mm macro along for the detail shots, and except for a little lost light I think it worked great. The photo below was the second shot I took--about 5 minutes after the lens casualty. It was definitely a pick-me-up and set the tone for a great day of shooting. Grace was a trooper and looked beautiful in all of her pictures :)

Here's the photo on DPC.
My scores were high throughout the challenge and the comments were very positive.  In the end I took 5th place and earned my highest score yet: 7.0723.  This was my first time working with a RAW file, and I think I'm hooked.  More on that later, and many more of Grace's portraits soon.  =]

Bubble Beards

It's been a while since I posted pics of my boys on here.  They were making bubble beards in the bathtub the other night.  I thought these were super cute and I really liked the editing.  In fact, I liked it so much I created my own action so it'll be quick and easy to re-create.  I've never tried this before, but if you like the effect you can download it by clicking here Mrs. V's Warm B&W Action BUT you must also have downloaded and loaded Pioneer Woman's Action Sets 1&2, because my action uses two of her actions.  Actually you should load the Pioneer Woman actions regardless, because they're the best--hands down my absolute favorite and most helpful action sets--and they're free!  If you try out the Mrs. V action you might need to tweak the following items after it's done playing to get the exact effect you're looking for:

-Adjust constant slider on Chanel Mixer layer.

-Reduce opacity of Curves layer

(One of my steps will stop you and tell you to mask the skin tones on the Lighten Things layer.  If you're not editing a photo of a person you can skip this step.  Just press play to continue.)

Let me know if it doesn't work.  Or, if you have no clue what an action is or how to use one ask me.  I'd be happy to show you.  :)

Venice - Take Two

Went to Venice last weekend to visit my cousin who was feeling homesick, because back in the Midwest, where we're from, everybody was celebrating Oktoberfest.  This time the whole gang came along, so I'm surprised that I managed to get any pictures at all.  The weather was nice and cool and there was even a dance party on the beach, which the boys enjoyed :)  I had wanted to photograph the Art Walls anyway, so I felt pretty lucky when I saw that they were being repainted.  A few of the guys didn't want their faces in the photos, but mostly everybody was focused on their painting and didn't mind me snapping a few pictures.

I liked the message on this wall:    please respect real art.

As in "Don't tag up my art wall, Jerky!"

Here's one from earlier in the day.  Ansel and Emerson liked the mural because it had a shark and an octopus on it!  :)

And one lone HDR for good measure.  This was an address on our way to the boardwalk.

43 Dudley Avenue

While we were there I learned something that I thought was pretty interesting.  The guy I photographed last time I went to Venice is a local celebrity.  His name is Harry Perry, and you can see him in the newest Red Hot Chili Peppers video.  Here is my pic of him.

Finally... Another Brag Post!

One of my goals on this blog was to brag about my students on a regular basis. I was on a roll for a while, but the summer hiatus makes it kind of difficult. Now that we're back in the swing of things, and while we haven't done a whole lot yet, a few students are definitely brag-worthy already.



BEGINNING PHOTO: We recently finished up our history of photography projects, and this year I added the requirement that the projects be creative in addition to factual. There were quite a few really great projects including a delicious camera-shaped brownie (Kodak Brownie camera) and a very clever flipbook video that was worth waiting for. But the project that stands out from the rest is the one created by Jacob V. and Roberto P. from 6th period, who re-wrote and recorded the lyrics to Kanye West and Jay-Z's "Otis" to incorporate the events in photographic history. They actually managed to rhyme the word "collodion" (the substance used to coat early photographic negatives!) This is definitely a project I'll be keeping in my "Can You Believe How Awesome My Students Are?!?" file.



ADVANCED PHOTO: My September Student of the Month is Chelsea S. Right off the bat Chelsea has been impressing me with her style of photography and editing. Since she took beginning photo at anotehr school I'm getting to see her work for the first time this year, and it's really invogorating. The other thing that helped me choose Chelsea for SOTM is her dedication--she's always busy in class and I know she also does a lot of her work at home too, plus she asks questions. Sounds simple, but it's the mark of someone who genuinely wants to learn. I'm excited to get to see lots more of Chelsea's work this year! Plus we got free lunch last Friday including some delicious cheesecake... can't go wrong with that!

Paul & Sara :: Maternity

Paul and Sara are more than my and Dustin's best friends... they're our West Coast family.  They've welcomed us with open arms into their extended family and made it feel like home out here.  Good things come to those who wait, and last winter Paul and Sara showed up on our doorstep with a couple of positive pregnancy tests and a video camera to capture our reaction.  It only took me about five minutes to start thinking to myself, "Oooh, I hope they let me do their maternity portraits!"  They did :)  Fast forward 8 months, and, on a hot and muggy weekend we got to work.  We started out at UCRs Botanic Gardens one morning.  Dustin came along to assist, and Ansel and Emerson came along to cause trouble.  They had fun playing in the dirt while we shot.  :)  I know this first one is a repeat, but I love it!

A day later we met in Downtown Riverside in the beautiful early evening light.  Unfortunately it was dreadfully humid... not the most fun weather especially if you're 8 months pregnant!  Sara was such a trooper, and looked amazing throughout the shoot.  Paul, did great too :)  In fact, he scoped out two locations I had never used before, and the pictures there are probably my two favorites!  Nice work.  Sara's cousin Katie, who is also a photographer, came along too.  I had never shot with a second shooter before, and it was really fun to work together!

Here is one of my favorites.  I love the pics as a trio!  Paul and Sara were so willing to ham it up dancing down this alleyway!

This one was not one of my favorites at first.  I think because it doesn't show her belly as much as I'd like for a maternity pic.  But as I was playing with it in Photoshop it began to grow on me, and now I just love it.

The pictures below were taken by Katie.  It's funny to me to see what I look like when I'm shooting.  You can't see it in these two, but I make weird faces :)

Paul and Sara, thank you so much for trusting me with such important photographs.   And thank you Katie and Dustin for making it a team effort.

 

Now I'm just counting down the days until I get to meet sweet Grace and take her pictures too!

Paul & Sara :: Maternity (sneak peek)

I feel like a bum having not added anything on here in a while, so here's a quick sneak peek at a maternity shoot I did a few weekends ago for my best friends Paul and Sara.  So in love... and so very soon going to be parents!  Lots more to come...   :)

P.S. I'm playing around with creating a watermark and am no expert in the design field, so any critiques or suggestions in that department would be really helpful.  I guess I'd just like to appear a little more professional, but maybe I just look like a poser instead.  :)  I love this font(Made with B on dafont.com,) but I think it might look better up close.

My "Long Exposure VI" Challenge Entry

I had been dying to do some long exposures, specifically capturing star trails, but haven't exactly had time or the ideal conditions.  Riverside, at least where I live, has way too much light.  When Back-To-School-Night rolled around this year (which keeps me at school in Hesperia until late) I realized it was the perfect opportunity to go out shooting.  Lucky for me a couple of photographers (Joey and Ruben) who also happen to be former students of mine agreed to join me on a photo adventure.  Ruben had recently seen this abandoned building out in Apple Valley where light pollution was definitely not going to be a problem.  The final puzzle piece fell into place when DPChallenge announced that the challenge for the week was none other than "Long Exposures."  That was all the motivation we needed.  =]

This building was waaaaayyyy out in the boonies on a rutted out dirt road, and it was insanely dark out there--even a little scary.  But, it was perfect for what we were there for.  It was fun learning from these guys and collaborating.  The exposures were running around 8 minutes to expose and 8 minutes for the camera to process--definitely a test of patience.  We also did a few with flashes and sparklers.  As a mom with two little kids, I don't get out to shoot as much as I used to, so this was incredibly refreshing.  Thanks for showing me the ropes, guys!

Post Challenge: I ended up 31st out of 83 entries.  Ruben kicked my butt finishing 19th--congrats!  Joey, shame on you for not entering.  I liked your perspective; shooting from inside the building looking out an open window.  Or maybe I should be thanking you, because at least I didn't get beat by the both of you!