I {Heart} Faces-FIF|Redmond, WA Photographer
Posted on January 15, 2011
I decided to try my hand at “Fix It Friday” for I Heart Faces, so here are my “fixes.” This is a lovely photo to begin with, so it’s easy to make it shine. What a fabulous face, I {heart} her freckles SO much! I hope she loves them too and always remembers how beautiful she is as she grows up! 
Originial-SOOC shot from IHF
Edit #1: I used LR3 to edit. I have a B&W preset I made for myself a while ago that I applied first. Then, brushed the eyes with (again) an “eye enhance” brush I made up, I then decided to use it on her entire face, since I wanted to make sure you could still see those fabulous freckles-it does a little bit of clarity, and a tiny bit of lightening too. Sharpened for web, cropped square and that’s it!
Edit #2: Again, I used my own preset I call, “soft & warm fade,” then brushed her eyes and a little underneath her eyes (since it brought out a touch of darkness there), her lips and added a very tiny vignette.
Voila!! Then again, when you have a stellar photo to work with from the beginning, it’s not too hard to make it look great. 
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Project 52-Favorite Things|Redmond, WA Photographer
Posted on January 14, 2011
Yes, flowers are one of my favorite things. I love them all. I do not discriminate. I even like dead flowers. Sometimes even fake flowers. Heh.
I love to get them as a surprise, buy them for myself or just look at them on a walk. On a side note, I’ve always loved the smell of a flower shop too, though it’s not really “flowery” just decidedly unique. Maybe I like it because I can identify with that.
I’ve decided this year I’m going to make a point to have fresh flowers in my house as often as possible. Even if it’s only dandelions from my backyard.
Have a fabulous weekend everyone!
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Smile! Happy Birthday I {Heart} Faces!!|Redmond, WA Portrait Photographer
Posted on January 11, 2011
If you are interested in photography and would like a great place to find tutorials, inspiration and lots of other like-minded peeps, you should definitely check out:
It’s a great community, full of wonderful people and fabulous photographs to peruse. Happy 2nd Birthday to them!!
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Being Creative|Redmond, WA Portrait & Fine Art Photographer
Posted on January 11, 2011
What does being creative mean to you? Probably not the same thing it means to me, or anyone else for that matter. And, that’s exactly the point of being creative. I used to think I wasn’t creative at all. Really, it wasn’t until I started taking pictures, a lot of picutres, that it struck me: I AM creative. I just had to figure out what I was good at and had the desire to learn.
There have been times I’ve struggled with the desire to be creative vs. my creative abilities. But, recently I’ve begun to realize that we all “create” differently. And, that’s the way it should be. We all have different things floating around in our mysterious brains. Ideas, projects, thoughts, worries, hopes and fears, which all contribute to the way we see the world and create within it.
I used to wish I could paint. Truthfully, I still kind of do. I admire the patience and skill it takes to create a beautiful and thought provoking painting and it’s probably one of the biggest reasons Matt and I have spent countless hours in museums across the world. I have several blank canvases in my office (contributing to the mess in there), along with a few different kinds of paints, brushes and even an easel. But, I just can’t focus enough to find my creativeness in that realm, at least not yet.
Anyhoo, the point of this post is just to say that we aren’t all Martha Stewart and we all have different skills, abilities and creative tendencies, but to not let them hold us back from a passion or a desire to be good at something. I whole-heartedly believe that there are those who are inherently good at some things, but I also believe that if you desire to be good at something and put the work in to improve yourself, that anyone can become proficient with pen and ink, brush and paint, camera and film, paper and glue or digital image and Photoshop.
Perhaps one day I’ll show my photographs alongside my paintings…or not. It all depends on my desire to pursue that goal, I guess. For now I am satisfied with my creative photographic side and plan to keep working on improving, rather than moving on to a new creative pursuit.
What will you create today…this week, month or year? I’d love to see what your creative and/or hard-working, practiced side produces!
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Think Inside the Box
Posted on January 9, 2011
I get a lot of questions about how I improved my photography skills so quickly and a lot of the time I’ve answered, “Oh, I don’t know,” or “I’ve spent a LOT of time on everything related to photography in the past year.” Well, duh. Of course I have, but I’m betting those who have asked me that question were looking for something a little more concrete and helpful. Heh.
So, for all you peeps who want a little more insight into my crazy ways of photography and life, I’ll tell you the top things I think have given me a little edge.
- Doing a 365 project-one photo (or more) a day for a year. Seriously, committing to practice every.single.day. works pretty well in helping you learn what is and isn’t working with your photos.
- Bringing my camera EVERYWHERE
with me, and I do mean EVERYWHERE. Having a great case or bag, or at least some padding in your carrier of choice for your camera is helpful, just so you don’t whack it into stuff and end up with a broken one you can’t use. - Getting off the “auto/green box” setting and onto the manual setting and shooting in RAW format. Then learning how the combination of ISO, aperture and shutter speed all work together. As well as learning about all the functions my camera had to offer that I wasn’t taking advantage of previously. I read the “Dummies” book for my camera along with the manual that came with it, with my camera in-hand so I could actually see what the books were referring to at the same time. And, shooting in RAW really gives you an edge when playing with editing after the shooting has ended.
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Thinking inside the box. And, for me, this is a really big one and when I started seeing the world differently on many levels, even those not related to photography. I’ve always thought of myself as a perceptive, attention-to-details kind of girl, but I feel that “seeing the photos” all around me, in my everyday life, has really upped my game in this department. Now I see photos everywhere, in even the most mundane of situations-at the grocery store, “Hey don’t those stacks of egg cartons make an interesting pattern…” at the park-”Look at the way those shadows are falling on the fence..” and even on the grayest of Northwest days, “Cool! Wouldn’t the texture, and the darks and lights of those rain clouds look cool in black and white…” I can’t help myself these days and I get really upset if I ever do happen to be without my camera and I miss “the perfect shot.”
As I stated above, I did do a lot of other things that helped me grow with my skills in the past year, but the 4 above items are really at the core of my learning and are fairly accessible to anyone with a camera (since even a lot of inexpensive point and shoot cameras will let you take control of some of the settings these days). As always, if you have any questions, let me know! Happy shooting!
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A Little Sunshine|Redmond Fine Art Photographer
Posted on November 25, 2010
Just a bit of sunshine to warm you up on this chilly Thanksgiving Eve…
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
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Happy 3rd Birthday Baby…
Posted on November 11, 2010
I love you more now than the day you were born…I can only imagine how much my love will grow as you continue grow. You have captured my heart forever sweet boy.
Happy happy birthday little one.
Love, Mama.
I’m No Good at Journals
Posted on November 7, 2010
About 6 weeks ago Sam and I hung out at Seahurst Park, over in Burien. It was a surprisingly warm and sunny day, a perfect day for the beach. We threw rocks in the water, dug in the sand with sticks, chased birds, crawled over logs and just generally had a good time.
I love hanging out with the boy when we are both enjoying ourselves, especially when we get to be outside and want to remember these days always. Soon enough he will be spending his days at school, and I’ll have my time “to myself” again. And, oddly I’m a bit sad about that. I guess maybe it’s because it wasn’t until recently I realized how much I really do like hanging out with this awesome little kid I’ve got. I guess I can finally say, “so far, this is the age I like best.” It’s not that I don’t think babies are cute and cuddly and wonderful, but I just didn’t have a lot of fun during that stage-with a baby who NEVER slept, would NEVER let me put him down and kind of seemed generally angry that he was a baby and couldn’t just get on with moving through the world at his own pace.
So, to document these fun days and remind myself of the of the good memories and feelings, I take photos. Lots of them. It’s a good thing though, because they will most likely be the only way the stories of our days are remembered, since I’m no good at journals. I’ve always wanted to be, but I just can’t seem to follow through with it. I don’t think I can even count up how many started journals I have laying around with a few pages scrawled out and the rest, just a blank book. I’ve always felt bad about that, until I started taking pictures…
I think I’ve finally found my own way to journal my days and document the important things I want to remember, without writing down a word. The story is in the photographs I take every.single.day. Even the mundane, silly and gross moments are now documented by me and my trigger happy finger.
But, I have a feeling, just like this unusually warm and sunny day the boy and I spent together, that might be easily forgotten 20 years from now, that those mundane, daily life photos are just the ones that will bring back the best and most vivid memories. Even if my journals are empty.
This little face is what I want to remember most though-and lucky for me, a journal would never do it justice.
A Few Thoughts On Beauty And Giving Yourself Some Slack
Posted on September 6, 2010
I feel the need to say something about this, since as of late, I have heard more than one of my dear friends and family members belittle themselves. And, I am NOT, you hear me, NOT going to put up with this any more! I was speaking to some lovely ladies at my art show last week and felt that I could not articulate my thoughts very well then-perhaps it was the wine…? Heh.
Of course, I am the first one to admit that loving yourself, every inch, bump of cellulite and blemish is hard. So very hard. BUT, I am on a mission to do just that. After reading this beautiful blog post: is there a perfect time?, I was struck by the devastating truth that I was guilty of being “that person.” You know, the one that says mean things like, “Ug! Look at how fat she is!” And, “Gross! Look at her yucky face!” Ya, me, I am admitting it, I have said these things and after reading that post I began to realize an inconvenient truth: I am a REALLY mean person.
Now, those of you that know me (hopefully!), know that I would NEVER even imagine saying these things about another person. I most likely would never even think such rude thoughts about anyone. But, about myself? Heck yes! I began to see my own hypocrisy and how wrong I’ve been, being such a horrible person. To myself. Why in the world would I ever think that saying these things about myself was ok when I wouldn’t DREAM of thinking or saying something like that to another human being?!! RUDE!!
I also began to think about how saying these things inside my head, or outside, would affect my parents. I mean, I’m sure that all of you who are parents agree that your child(ren) are the most precious and stunningly beautiful creatures you’ve ever laid your eyes on and it would hurt you to hear them say they thought they were ugly or horrible to look at. I know it would break my heart to ever hear Sam, my sweet baby, the one I would (and sometimes still do) stay up at night staring at the loveliness of, say hurtful things about himself. I decided I need to show my parents a little love and respect as well, since I do not want to be hurtful to them either.
And, so, I have begun to challenge myself to be kind, not only to strangers, clients, my friends and my family, but also to myself. When I find myself talking down and rudely to the face and body I see in the mirror, I challenge myself to find at least one thing I can appreciate, if not love for that day. Because, guess what? I have come to realize that if I cannot even be kind to myself, I probably cannot truly and authentically be kind to anyone else. And I certainly cannot tell anyone else to stop it, if I am swirling around in my own contradiction. And I would never, ever want to make anyone else feel the way that I’ve made my very own self feel.
I leave all of you beautiful, special and self love-worthy people with the same challenge. The next time you hear that rude voice starting in, give it the SMACKDOWN! No one deserves to be spoken to that way…
Art Show Shenanigans {Seattle & Eastside Portrait and Fine Art Photographer}
Posted on September 1, 2010
I, along with my good friends, Sean Balko of Film Works Studio and Maureen Maroney of Bad Habits Good Photos, hosted an art show last Saturday night. It was a first for both Maureen and I and second for Sean. And, it was a blast!!
We each had a few struggles along the way to getting this whole things set up, but kept saying those things were happening so that the art show itself would be perfect. I think we were pretty much right.
I had a wonderful time seeing friends and family and meeting new people all night. Being able to show my photography at such a cool venue, The Ballard Big House, was totally icing on the cake!
A big ol’ thank you goes out to both Sean and Maureen for inviting me to be a part of this with them. I could not have asked for better partners in crime and had the BEST time sharing this with you two! Thank you also to my awesome friends and family for supporting me in my endeavors as a photographer. I am eternally grateful to have such wonderful people in my life. Mwuah!!
Whether you were able to attend or not, please enjoy some highlights from the evening!
Art is fun for kids and adults!
Who doesn’t love a SWING at an art show?!!
