Fix-it Friday

Here's my edit of a photo submitted by another photographer.

Before:

After:

After cropping the photo, I first increased the contrast.  I then increased the red and green and decreased the blue in all of the photo except for the little girl.  Then I brightened up the little girl and the shaded areas a bit.  And lastly, I added a bit of a border to give it a little contrast.  Let me know what you think!

I ♥ faces - "Autumn Beauty"

I haven't submitted a photo in a few weeks but when I saw that it was time for "Autumn Beauty" I immediately wanted to enter this photo from Halloween.  I am so blessed to have this little "beauty" for my little girl!
To see more please go to i ♥ faces.

i ♥ faces - "Pink Week"

This weeks theme is Pink Week in honor of October Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  The photo I chose while not related to breast cancer, does remind me how delicate
life really is and I pray that neither of my daughters are ever touched by this dreadful disease.

This is a photo of my daughter when she was just a week old.  There's just something about those tiny little toes!!

i ♥ faces - "Excited!"

For this weeks challenge I chose a picture that I took this summmer during our annual lake week (25 years and counting!) with a few of my husband's high school classmates and their families. The photo is of my daughter Elli and Amanda, the daughter of close friends.

Elli has practically idolized Amanda since she was born and we laugh because she's almost a mini-me.  She looks so much like Amanda did when she was little!  Elli was especially excited to be a part of Amanda's wedding earlier this spring and insisted that I use this photo this week.  How could I resist that face!?!

This is not my photo but a shot from I ♥ Faces on Constructive Feedback Friday that I played with a bit.

i ♥ faces - Constructive Feedback Friday

Here's my original SOOC. I feel that the bright colors could looks so beautiful with her dress and hair but it's not working here.  Also her face is obviously too dark.  I could really use some help with this one!

Shot with Canon 40D  Tamron Lens 18-250mm f/10.0 1/250 sec ISO 400

Focal Length 39 mm Exp +2

Here is my edited version, or rather where I gave up trying to edit.  It just seemed to go from bad to worse and I quit when I seemed to be washing out all the bright colors. 

I honestly can't say everything I tried with this edit as I tried a little of everything.  The program I'm working with is Photoshop Elements 4.0.  (If I can get alot of you to say that it's a completely outdated program and not worth the time maybe I can get my husband to buy me the complete Photoshop, hint hint!!  :-D)  Needless to say, I tried using a screen layer to bring out her face at one point.  I know I did a slight color burn layer at one point.  And I played with the levels alot!!!  That's about all I can remember!!  Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!  Thanks so much for looking!!  Everyone needs to check out i ♥ faces.

i ♥ Faces Challenge - Blue Theme

For this week I'm using a photo that I shot at a music festival this summer that takes a different twist on the theme.

The shirt is the most obvious blue in the photo but I think the expression on his face can cause you to imagine the music pulling on your heart strings a bit.  The twist in this photo is that the musician is a professional "blue"grass fiddle player.  For those of you not familiar, bluegrass is a very heartfelt form of American folk music that uses concepts present in blues and jazz to give it a different flavor.  This shot is SOOC with a very cooperative sun providing my lighting.  While I have some other fun shots at the pool that I considering using, none epitomized the "Blue" theme nearly as well as this one.  To check out more takes on the "Blue" theme head over to i ♥ Faces.

i ♥ Faces Challenge - Completely Candid

Recently, my daughter was the flower girl in a wedding of a friend of ours.  While we were at the salon getting her "up-do" I snapped this picture of the bride doing her make-up.  I love the way she's looking so closely to make sure she looks perfect for her big day!

Be sure to go check out all the other great candid shots at i ♥ faces.

First Day of School

This year my oldest daughter Elli started the 2nd grade and once she got dressed in the new cool first day of school Hannah Montana outfit, we had to carry out two of our family traditions.  First, the annual photo shoot including a sign with a big 2 so that when I get old and can't remember things anymore (wait, I think it's already happening!) we'll know what grade she was starting. 

After the photo shoot was over, the family walked with Elli to school and wished her an awesome first day. 

i Heart Faces Challenge - Pets

This is my Pet themed photo.
While this eagle is obviously not a pet of mine, my daughters are always in awe of him at the local zoo!

i Heart Faces Photo Challenge - Contemplative

This is my entry for the Contemplative Photo Theme:

This was taken of my two year old during our walk home from taking her 7 year old sister to her first day of school. She had spotted the playground and really didn't want to go home with us. Here she stopped and was contemplating whether to follow us home or make a run for the slide! This is my first blog and my first photo challenge at i ♥ Faces (http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/2008/12/about.html) so I'm hoping I'm doing this all right! Thanks for looking!