Fix It Friday ~ Late As Usual!

  

Good Morning All!

It’s been a hectic couple of weeks here in Nashville. Who would have ever thought that I would be making a little mullah with my camera? Granted, it’s not much, but it has been enough for me to buy Photoshop CS5, so I’m a happy camper! :}  If you are a teacher or student, check out Academic Superstore, they have some unbelievable prices, and are really easy to work with!

What a great photo to work on for Fix It Friday! Thanks Angie, for letting your daughter come and play with us this week!

I was just sharing with a friend this weekend, how much I have learned from this jaunt into photo editing through Fix It Friday. It’s amazing the talent that is out there today. Don’t ever cut yourself short if you think you are not good enough. Cause guess what? “YOU ARE”!

 

Original Raw Photo

Well, back to photo editing! I imported the raw image into Lightroom 2.6 and followed my everyday workflow techniques:

1) Import into Lightroom 2.6.

2) Correct White Balance if necessary.

3) Finagle the exposure if needed.

4) Add contrast to bring out the shadows

5) Add a little clarity.

6) Fiddle with the vibrancy.

From this point, I transferred the photo to Photoshop CS5, that’s right baby, it’s living on my computer! I really could not wait. My copy is being shipped right now, so I went ahead and downloaded the 30 day trial to give it a try! It’s definitely the bomb! OK, I just realized I have had too much coffee this morning!

Focusing and getting back to editing. In CS5, I used content aware fill to remove the weight limit sign on the right, and the one of the yellow and black signs on the left. Now I realize, I should have done the same for the one on the right, but oh well! After I played with, I mean worked with CS5, I ran the following actions:

1) Nichole V Essential Color Pop Outdoors

2) Nichole V Selective Skin Smooth

3) Added a couple of texture overlays from Shadow House Creations

a. Scratch The Surface Set - #1 set to overlay @33%

b. Spider Web Board – set to soft light @ 25%

4) Added free frame from Jessica Sprague.

My edit!

And there you go friends! Do you know how much I ♥ Fix It Fridays?

I imagine you do!

Make sure you head over to I ♥ Faces to view the other edits as well! 
While there, look around, you might find something else you like!

Enjoy life, snap some shots, and have fun…
That’s what I’m gonna do!

I have OBD!

It’s official folks, I have OBD!  The official diagnosis is in, I have “Obsessive Blog Disorder”. If you look at the DSM, that’s the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, OBD is defined as:

Compulsions as defined by repetitive behaviors (e.g., hand washing, ordering, checking, reading photo blogs at odd times of the night or early morning) or mental acts (e.g., praying, counting, repeating words silently, drinking coffee while searching for new photo blogs) that the person feels driven to perform in response to an obsession, or according to rules that must be applied rigidly.

I’m just joking, but am I?  Sometimes I feel that need to search and research for information related to what I’m doing.  Heck people, it’s how I’ve learned what I’ve learned!  So, if reading blogs is an obsession,then I’m obsessed.  With that being said, let me share with you some of my new finds/reads for the week.

The following are some that I found while searching I ♥ Faces, or My Life with 3 Boybarians:

Amy Hinkle Photography

Better In Bulk

Diana’s Photos

Eclectic Whatnot (Ruthanne, whom I met at the I ♥ Faces Photo walk in Nashville)

Work of Heart Photography

And then there are other blogs that have offered giveaways, but actually have a lot of good information on them:

Shutter Sisters (Yes, I’m a guy who follows a gals photo blog)

La Pomme Design

Go{4}Pro

Chicktography (Once again, I find myself drawn to female photographers)

4 The Love Of Focus

And then there are ones I’ve found by following Scott Kelby or various Twitter Feeds:

Ken Kaminsky Travel Photography (Wonderful HDR travel photos)

Stephanie Cross Photography (Moose Peterson’s assistant, and Dave Cross’s daughter)

Brad Moore Visuals (Scott Kelby’s technical director)

And one last blog that is not directly related to photography:

The Frugal Girls (Wonderful savings, and the occasional money deal for cheap prints)

 

And of course, since this is a photography blog, here’s a snap from a recent outing!  Whatever you do in life, stay ahead of the pack!

Enjoy life, snap some shots, and have fun…
That’s what I’m gonna do!

Sweet Shot Tuesday

I’ve been working on some shots I took for a new friend lately.  And  I’ve got to tell ya, I LOVED IT!!!!!  That’s right, I yelled it from my keyboard!  I LOVED IT !!!!!!  I said it again, it was fun, and the kids were great! 

Anyway, here is this weeks entry for Sweet Shot Tuesday over at  My Life with 3 Boybarians. 

Last week I entered a shot of her brother, Jax.  This week, here is my favorite of Maelea.  My wife said she’s not smiling, well, that’s the look I was going for!  So, enjoy!

 

Enjoy life, snap some shots, and have fun…
That’s what I’m gonna do!

I Heart Faces ~ Smiles

I can’t believe where the time has gone!  I’m not talking about the lack of blog post, but the last 12 years. 

My son turns 12 next month, and it’s hard to believe that he’s not that cute little boy who hid lizards in his pockets. Or stuffed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches under his pillows (you never know when you’ll wake up hungry in the middle of the night).  Or was so excited just to see his Papa!  Where oh where did the time go?

Here’s my shot for I ♥ Faces  Smile Challenge this week.  Now this photo was taken several years ago before I got my big boy camera, but it’s still my favorite!

 

Head on over to I ♥ Faces, and check out the other entries in this weeks challenge!

Enjoy life, snap some shots, and have fun…
That’s what I’m gonna do!

Sweet Shot Tuesday ~ Jax

 

Jax: “Mr. Scott, why are you taking so many pics of me?”

Mr. Scott:  Well Jax, it’s because you are “One Sweet Shot!”

 

Thanks Darcy, for giving me just one more opportunity to share!

OK guys, head on over to Life with 3 Boybarians and check out all of the other entries in

“Sweet Shot Tuesday”!

 

I Heart Faces ~ Collage

Well we all know that I have several loves in my life.  First and foremost, I ♥ my God!  Then I ♥ my wife and son.  Next I ♥ what I’m doing in life.  Then finally, I ♥ Faces !  Not only faces in general, but Amy and Angie over at I ♥ Faces ! OK, enough of the ♥ fest!


This weeks challenge is collages.  Normally if you enter more than one pic, you are disqualified.  I learnt that one the hard way.  But this week is different.  I’ve already seen some interesting collages.  Mine is kind of boring compared to some of the ones I’ve seen, but I like.  More importantly, Jax’s mom loves it!


So, may I introduce you to Jax, a one of a kind, all around hard knock boy who loves life…and his car!




Enjoy life, snap some shots, and have fun…

That’s what I’m gonna do!

Jax and Maelea ~ Rock Stars!

Good Morning All!  Where did the weekend go?  If anyone finds it, please tell it to slow down!  Had a pretty productive weekend over here at Bald Is Beautiful.  Been so busy, I’ve not had time to write.  I guess that’s a good thing when you love what you are doing.

This weekend included a nice little session with a 2 year old and his big sister who is 10!  Let’s just say these kids are “Rock Stars”.  Both of them are so durn cute, I think I sprung my index finger snapping shots of them.  So, without further ado, my I present Jax and Maelea!

  

 

   

 

Enjoy life, snap some shots, and have fun…

That’s what I’m gonna do!