Fix-it-Friday

Every Friday over at I Heart Faces they put up an image that needs some editing and allow readers to download the image and try their hand at editing it. I never get to participate because I'm always at work but today is our firm outing and it doesn't start until noon, so I get to have fun with my first Fix-it-Friday! Yay!

Here is the original image by Michelle Johnson. It's seriously gorgeous to begin with, so not much in terms of clean up to be done. Just a nice clean edit.

I brought it straight into Photoshop Elements and adjusted the levels. Then a hue/saturation adjustment to take care of some of the redness/magenta in her face. A few touch up adjustments using the spot healing tool. Then a brightness/contrast layer to make things pop. I used Coffeeshop EyeBright to brighten up those beautiful blue eyes and whiten up the whites a bit. It felt a little cool still to me so I applied PW's Sunshine action at a low opacity, and finally a soft light vignette. And voila!

For a quick alternative play, I ran PW's Seventies action and adjusted the opacity to around 30%.

Finally, a black and white version.

Can't decide which way I like it better. What do you think?

Thanks to Michelle Johnson and I Heart Faces for letting me play!

We Are Family!

Last weekend, we attended my husband's family reunion in Minnesota. Now, when you picture a family reunion, you probably picture a few hours at a potluck picnic on a Saturday. But if you were talking about THIS reunion, you'd be way wrong. This reunion only happens once every five years, so when it happens, it's big. W'e're talking three days of non-stop fun and almost 200 people.

Part of the fun this year was a silent auction to raise money for the fund that helps family members who financially might not be able to attend. I wracked my brain for something to contribute to the silent auction....I don't sew. I don't craft. I can bake okay but not from a lake cabin kitchen. I don't grow plants or veggies to share. I don't....oh wait, I do do something! I take pictures! Duh! So I auctioned off a photo session to take place that weekend.

Sandy was determined to win the session. Her husband, son, daughter, daughter-in-law, and two grandkids were all there that weekend and Sandy wanted that session. And she had a plan. Like a hawk, Sandy swooped in at the last minute and out-bid the high bidder. And I'm so glad she did! Not only did I get to know family members that I didn't really know before, those two grandkids of hers are really, really cute. (Dominic, I didn't mean that. You are handsome and cool. Totally not cute at all. But Peyton. She is really, really, really cute.)

Sandy, your family is beautiful. Thanks for bidding on me!

Piper

Don't you just love those boots?

Come on in! The water's fine!

Shhhh! It's a surprise!

On Sunday, I met up with Riley and her mom to get some pictures for Riley's dad. Only thing is, dad doesn't know! His birthday is this weekend and Riley and her mom are going to surprise him with the pictures as a gift. How cool is that?

Almost-Seven-Year-Old Riley was full of spunk and so much fun. I'm pretty sure she's got a future as a photographer too since she spent a lot of the time telling me how she thought she should pose. That umbrella shot is all her, by the way.

Riley, I had a great time meeting you and your mom. I hope your dad loves his pictures!

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog and the new home of Kathryn Shores Photography! I am so excited to announce that I am finally taking the plunge and turning my passion for photography into a part-time business. I am thrilled to be starting this new chapter in my "life book," particularly because I believe it will give me even more opportunities to shoot and capture lots of new faces and families!

I am still building my portfolio and still learning so much about photography. Hopefully, I'll continue learning for many years to come! In the mean time, I'm hoping I can capture all of the beauty and fun and life that each of my clients has to offer. This blog will serve as my temporary website until I get the official site built, so take a look around and find out all there is to know about Kathryn Shores Photography!

Is there any better way to welcome you to my new blog than by welcoming Baby Michael into the world? Yeah, I didn't think so. Isn't he precious?