Everyday Moments Blog Circle - Light

I am honored to be among a talented group of ladies who participate in a collaborative photo project  which concentrates on focusing on our everyday moments. This month's theme is light. 

After our big snow storm yesterday, I peeked out the window at sunset to see the most spectacular, vibrant sunset. It was absolutely stunning. I grabbed my camera and ran out to the front porch, knowing I had only minutes to capture it. Unfortunately, the view from my front porch includes my neighbor's home along with their 4 cars. I really didn't want to include that in my composition, so I got low and focused on the bushes to hide the distractions. 

I hope you will continue around the circle by visiting my talented friend Sarah.

Friday Photo Journal - 1/31/13

We got a good dumping of snow this week. 10" or so, which is big for here.  So the kids have been playing outside quite a bit and enjoying it while they can. It will be 60 degrees by Sunday, so it won't last long. It has been fun, but I much prefer the parade of flip flops, beach towels and bathing suits in the summer to the soggy wet winter mess of hats, gloves, scarves, coats, socks, boots, etc. Oh the laundry! Good thing it only happens sometimes ;)

What have you been up to?

An InLinkz Link-up

Thank you so much for stopping in! Have a fun weekend! :)

Little Things and Quiet Moments

I love it when I catch them unaware.

Linking up with Kim for:

WW - Before and After Photos

It's been a while since I have shared a before and after, so I thought it would be fun to do so today- since I always mention that I'm up to my eyeballs in editing :) Here is an example of my process.

I import my RAW files directly to my external hard drive through Lightroom. I then select my favorites - usually 25-30 for a one hour session- and do a clean edit in Lightroom, adjusting white balance, cropping if necessary, and giving the image a gentle pop with the tone curve panel. I also reduce clarity a touch to smooth skin on portraits. I will sometimes remove small distractions, but usually do most of my cloning in Photoshop.

I then export to PS CC for the final edit, which is determined by the mood of the image and, frankly, just my instincts on what it needs. For this image, I warmed it up and painted some color on the foliage. I added a slight vignette and also cleaned up the green on the wood, which I found distracting. Then I sharpened and that's it. Of course, for some images, I do additional artistic editing if I feel moved to do so - but, I try to keep it simple and batch process to save as much time as possible.

These are screen captures of the process: 

It has taken me many, many hours to develop my editing skills and I still have a long way to go. But, I am getting more efficient and learning new things all the time and I love that the creative possibilities are endless. Lightroom is a huge time saver and I love the ease of organization. PS was very daunting at first, but I am getting more and more comfortable with it.

What's you favorite way to edit your images?

Friday Photo Journal - Photo Linky

Hey there! I hope you have had a great week. The big news here this week was the weather. We had a snow storm mid-week. We didn't get a big dumping, but it was enough for the kiddos to play in and it was pretty. I loved watching the kids make snow angels and sled around the yard. Sadly, there aren't many hills here near the beach, but they got creative and built a ramp off the deck. Where there's a will, there's a way!

What have you been up to?

An InLinkz Link-up

Thank you so much for stopping in! Have a fun weekend! :)

Little Things Thursday - Snow Day!

Snow days are pretty rare around these parts. So, when it does snow, the whole place shuts down. Seriously. There was no milk in the grocery store the day before the "big storm." We ended up getting 2-3 inches of snow. The kids were thrilled! They built a ramp off the back deck to sled down. It sure was fun to watch! Now, I'm ready for spring though.  :)

Linking up with Kim for: