IHF: People's Choice

Oh my, I haven't done an entry for I Heart Faces in quite awhile!  I suppose now is as good a time as ever to jump back in!  This week is People's Choice... and I think this little cutie is the perfect image!

I Heart Faces: Yellow

I love how soft & sweet & sad she looks.  I'm not sure why I like the sad look, but it's pretty darn cute!

Check out the other entries here!

Fix It Friday!

Ahh... I've missed FIF on the main blogsite of I Heart Faces, and they did a special this week and it's back! :)  This makes my heart happy.

Here's the original provided by IHF:

And here's my edit in Lightroom!  First I ran one of my own actions. I didn't like that the eyes were still so dark and didn't have any catchlights, so, I used the fill light feature to brighten up the face until catchlights were there.  Much better.  Then I smoothed out the skin under the eyes and lowered the saturation in places on the face where the red lollipop was reflecting too much.

Here's what the basic tab in LR looked like with the final product.

I love what a few simple edits can do for an image.  The lollipop is what stands out in the first image, but in the edited version, the eyes begin to really draw you in and you forget there's even a lollipop in the picture!

Check out the other entries over at I Heart Faces!

I Heart Faces: Motherhood

During my sessions I usually snap a couple of shots before the family is ready, just to make sure that the lighting & exposure is perfect.  This was one of those shots, and when I came across it through the culling phase (where I decide which pictures are worth editing), this one had me nearly in tears I was laughing so hard!  The little boy desperately wanted to take superhero pictures, and we promised that after the 15 minute mini-session, I would take a super-hero picture.  I guess he just couldn't wait!

To me, moments like this are motherhood-- where your children aren't perfect because well... they're not perfect in real life!

Check out the other entries over at I Heart Faces!

IHF: Soft & Sweet

Soft & Sweet Week!  Check out the other entries here!

IHF: Pets

What can I say, my dog is very loyal... he poses for me!  Of course, judging by the look on his face, he didn't enjoy it too much, but it's the thought that counts, right?  Check out the other entries over here!

I Heart Faces: Wind

When I saw this week's theme of 'wind,' I knew exactly which folder to look in on my computer. During a family session awhile back, the wind was crazy!  This was an outtake, but I love how you can see how hard the wind was blowing by their faces, her hair, and the dirt & leaves blowing on the ground!

Check out the other entries over at I Heart Faces!

I Heart Faces: Shadows

This week at I Heart Faces the theme is 'Shadows'!  This was in the moments after a session where the father & son enjoyed a moment of conversation.  I love how blissfully unaware they were of a camera being there.

Check out the other entries over at I Heart Faces!

I Heart Faces: Best Face from March

Happy First Birthday to one of my adorable clients!  Do me a favor & click on this link & vote for me (voting doesn't start until later this week)!  I'm #11 (occasionally this changes, so I'll either be #11 or earlier).

Check out the other entries over at I Heart Faces!

I Heart Faces: Slice of Life

I'm going to extend my giveaway for one more day, so if you're interested, check it out here!

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I'm pretty sure it's a faux pas to post the same picture 2 days in a row, but I'm doing it anyway!  This weekend I'm visiting my family that lives 8 hours away and my niece just turned one.  This is her and her dad (my brother) playing at the park.

This slice of life: It's her first experience with mulch, and it's sticking to every piece of her clothing and she is loving it!  Her daddy said, "Sorry, Rylie, I didn't realize I dressed you in velcro today!"

Check out the other entries over at I Heart Faces!

I Heart Faces: Sun Flare

Sun flare is one of my very favorite things, and it's also this week's theme at I Heart Faces!
This is a picture from just this weekend!

Check out the other entries here!

I Heart Faces: People's Choice!

The challenge this week over at I Heart Faces is to put our best face forward from February!  This little girl was definitely at the top of my list because her facial expressions are so darn cute!  It was a tough choice between this photo and one of her kissing her brother, but I finally chose this one for the expression on her face!  She really just has that much personality!

Check out the other entries over at I Heart Faces!

I Heart Faces: Anything But a Face

They tricked me!  All these face pictures I take and now?  No face week!  lol  But I pulled this one out of the archives because there's something about it that everyone seems to love.  I'm not sure if I like it or not-- you be the judge!  And tell me why you do or don't like it.  :)

Check out the other entries here!

Fix-It Friday with I Heart Faces!

 Such and awesome image to work with this week!  I loved to composition of it, so I didn't want to mess with cropping and such. 




Here's the original:

Here was my first basic edit.  I love the bright colors-- they make me so ready for summer!

But I felt the image was a little dark for my liking, and rather than just upping the brightness, I played around with the colors a little to bring out her face more:

And my favorite edit, b&w!

Check out the other entries over at I Heart Faces!

I Heart Faces: Cell Phone Week!

Cell Phone week over at I Heart Faces! This is honestly a nightmare for me because it's totally out of my element.  Sure, I take cell phone pics all the time, but nothing of substance.

But then I remembered a pic I took last week while giving blood.  At our church, it was 'Love Week' where we got out & showed love to our community through volunteer work.

WARNING: If you're squeemish about giving blood, don't scroll down!  It's nothing too gross, but if you're really squeemish... just don't look.

Go check out the others over at I Heart Faces!

Fix-It Friday with I Heart Faces!

This week's photo was such an easy edit!  I didn't want to do too much to it, but I love the hair on the little one and wanted to bring out that as well as add some color to the mix.

Original:

My edit in Lightroom (using only the Summer Glow preset!):

Check out the others over at I Heart Faces!

DIY Heart Fun

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I originally took this photo for 'hearts' week over at I Heart Faces.  However, I had completely finished editing the image when I realized that it was supposed to have a face in it (I Heart Faces... duh).  So I saved it for today, and decided to do a little DIY for y'all.

This is a really simple image to set up.  So simple, that you probably already see exactly how to do it.  But just in case, here's the skinny:

Find a book (or in my case, a photo album) with wide pages.  They can be thicker than the average book, but you don't want anything too thick that will be hard to bend.

Then find two pages about in the middle and fold the edges in towards the spine to create the heart effect.  Make sure everything is nice and tidy, and then fix the book to where your heart is standing up.

I love to get on the same level as subjects because of the perspective it brings.  Here, I had the book laying on the floor and I was on the floor as well.

Once I was done I popped the image into Lightroom and added the 'Roses Dreamly' present and then altered the tint to more of a pink color.  After all, it is a heart!

Now go, spend Valentine's day with those you love!

Fix-It Friday with I Heart Faces

I haven't done a Fix-It Friday in awhile-- mainly because Friday & Saturday is my weekend now, and I don't like waking up for it!

Here's the original:

I adore the shot... who wouldn't?  Such a cute little girl in the cutest outfit with the cutest pose!  But in editing, it's a really dark shot.  Balancing the red hat, red hair, dark background and dark shirt can be difficult.

Here are my two favorite edits from Lightroom:

Check out the others over at I Heart Faces!

I Heart Faces: Best Face of January

I've used this image a lot lately, but I just love this little guy's expression!

Check out the other entries here!

Fix-It Friday with I Heart Faces

It's here again!  Fix-It Friday with I Heart Faces!  And this week we have the dreaded shadow across the face!  The easiest way to get rid of this is to pay close attention during the photo session.  Fall and winter are the most difficult times because leaves begin falling off of the trees and spots are created everywhere!  But this is such a cute little one, how can we resist in trying to fix it?

Here's the original:

Here's my first 'fix.'  I'm on a black & white kick lately, so it was my natural choice.  I love the color in the background, but this made all that fade away and put the focus on that cute little one's face!  I wasn't able to get the shadow completely off the face and hat, but almost!

And here's my second edit.  I was all excited about it until I looked to the right side... what is that lantern doing there?  It's ruining our picture!

Poof!  There we go!

Check out the other entries over at I Heart Faces!