christmas + my birthday in ONE

big news.
today, in class, we learned about editing in Camera Raw.
it's incredible. I'M SO EXCITED [cue the 1982 Pointer Sister hit].
& I just can't fight it I'm about to loose control and I think I like it
you should be too. because you get to see the images I edit with this fancy part of photoshop.

happy wednesday!

Digital Imaging flexible edits

This is the deal with flexible edits: "It's like you're adjusting from the original image. And since you're making changes to the settings for the adjustment layer, not to the image itself, you're still not harming a single pixel in the original photo. In fact, you can go back and make as many changes as you want to an adjustment layer and never have to worry about damaging your original image..As long as you're using adjustment layer for your editing, you can keep changing your mind over and over again even after you close the PSD file. You can reopen the PSD file a year from now and still make changes to your image. And remember, this method does not just apply to Color Balance adjustment, you can use it when adjusting the Curves, Levels, Hue and Saturation etc..Therefore, if you decided to edit your image anytime soon, use adjustment layers..and you'll realized how much flexibility you can get when doing the adjustment. " For more information, go here

I used adjustment layers to edit the following photos:

1. Eggs: My Kitchen Rexburg, ID - January 20, 2010 - f/5.6, 1/125, ISO100 - Nikon D3000
2. Rear Duck View: Nature Park Rexburg, ID - January 23, 2010 - f/32, 1/250, ISO100 - Nikon D3000

In the egg photo, I added a curves adjustment layer and darkened the entire photo. I chose the Multiply Blending mode and then masked out the effect on both the egg shells and eggs in the bowl. This provided good contrast and great color. This photo has also been cropped. I don't know why- but I really love this photo!

I wanted to get an interesting angle of the ducks at the nature park. I decided to take a photo of my car window. I converted the image to a smart object and tried several different filters. I decided I liked the cutout filter the best. Next, I used the free mask to clear the effect on the ducks. This photo has also been cropped.

Before

After

Digital Imaging: flora & fauna aka plants & animals

The great thing about homework is that it gives me steady material to update my blog with! The bad thing is that I'm not able to share all of the fabulous photos I shoot simply because I don't have enough time!

1. Tree: Nature Park Rexburg, ID - January 23, 2011 - f/3.5, 1/160, ISO 200 - Nikon D3000 [Color Adjustments]
2. Squirrel: Nature Park Rexburg, ID - January 23, 2011 - f/5.7, 1/250, ISO100 - Nikon D3000
[Color Adjustments]
3. Ducks: Nature Park Rexburg, ID - January 23, 2011 - f/4.9, 1/320, ISO 100 - Nikon D3000
[Color Adjustments]

I had a crazy adventure at the nature park. The ducks definitely came right at me. I was seriously considering how many people would laugh at an obituary titled 'death by geese.' The funny thing about this shoot was that the little curious squirrel perches on top of the wooden stake at observed the quacking gaggle of geese the entire time. The images all have minor color adjustments that are actions I created a while ago. I like the duck photo because the line goes from one corner of the photo all the way across to the opposite corner. I think it's pretty good flow. Hope you enjoy them!

my blog. my rules. no consequences.

Hey guys...
I know that this is technically supposed to be a "photo" blog. But I figured that it's my blog so I can make up my own ruled. And even if I end up breaking them- they're my ruled. So who exactly is going to punish me for breaking them? Certainly not me. I'm not really a big fan of punishments.
Now that I've got that off my chest...I felt the sudden urge to just design something totally random tonight/this morning. I figure 2AM while watching How to Train Your Dragon is as good as time as any!
This is just a little something that I've had on my mind recently and I thought how much I'd love to share it all with you.

Hope your Sunday is filled with lots of smiles!

Digital Imaging: Color Study in Blue

I had a difficult time getting this assignment completed! The weather this weekend was difficult to shoot in because it was very foggy. I'm sure if I knew more about photography I could have found some way for this to work to my advantage- but I'm not quite there yet. I made minor color adjustments on all four photos. I also added a curves adjustment on the blueberry photo.


1. Water Tower: Rexburg, ID Jan 17, 2011 - Aperture Priority - f/5.6 1/1000 ISO200 - Nikon D3000
2. Temple: Rexburg, ID Jan 17, 2011 - Aperture Priority - f/22 1/1600 ISO200 - Nikon D3000
3. Playground: Rexburg, ID Jan 17, 2011 - Aperture Priority - f/3.5 1/20 ISO200 - Nikon D3000-
4. Blueberries: Rexburg, ID Jan 17, 2011 - f/3.5 1/5 ISO 200 - Nikon D3000

Digital Imaging: Blending & Type Effects

So I may randomly post some homework assignments from a Digital Imaging class that I'm taking. I'm sure that you'll love them!

1. Tree: Rexburg, ID Jan 17, 2011 - f/7.1 1/200 ISO100 - Nikon D3000
2. Temple: Rexburg, ID Jan 17, 2011 - f/22 1/1250 ISO 200 - Nikon D3000


Minor adjustments were made to the temple photo to boost the colors. I cropped the tree photo to the thickest part of the branches. I then used four layers of trees, going different directions to create the texture. I blended the trees by changing the layers to overlay and decreasing the opacity. I used the same effect on the text. The font is "Hesperides Demo - Regular." The text was still pretty difficult to read so I ended up decreasing the opacities of all of the other layers. To finish, I flattened the image.

I'm on a boat

a couple of shots I snapped while cruising the lake.
seriously wishing it was summer.

Ready, Set, Action

don't you just love summer?
I spent today inside hiding from the terrible snowy tundra that is Rexburg. Keeping me company were these shots from a boating trip last summer.
My bishopric took just a few of us because there was a ward service project and we were the only ones to show up. Funny enough, the service project itself was incredibley fun [pulling tares from a wheat field] in a gorgeous environment [sunny evening in ririe]. If only I had my camera then!

Anyway, back on task...
These are freeze action shots, but they also demonstrate a technique called spot metering. It was very sunny this day and all I has was a little point-and-shoot. Every photo was blown out. The first half of these shots I wanted to create a shadow effect so I actually metered the photo on the sun. The second half of the shots were metered on the horizon line and the have very vibrant colors. None of these photos are edited.

More information about spot metering...[skip this if you just want to see the photos]! Exposure, by definition, is the determination of the amount of light to reach the film in order to produce a correct image. In other words, to have a correctly exposed image we have to have the exact amount of light entering the camera in order to register the correct image on film. Remember that light is the most important element of any photograph. Without it we have nothing. With too much of it you have an overexposed and washed-out image. With too little of it you have a dark and underexposed image. In neither case can we have an image that would truly represent the subject." [http://spotmetering.com/spwhy.htm]

The first and last shots are my favorite.

Emily's Grad Pics

These are from my first and only experience shooting in a studio. It was definitely an interesting experience. My roommate Emily graduated from BYU-I in the spring as an El Ed major and I volunteered to take these shots. None of them are edited with the exception of the first photo. The volleyball/shoes combo is explains Emily perfectly! I cutout the photo and added a black background. Enjoy!

a few more landscapes

These were from the random side of the road shack shoot with Emilee. They've all been enhanced with iPhoto. That's pretty much all I have to say!

my darling baby sister

Here are the last of the Sophia's photos from her shoot at the blueberry farm in New Hampshire. These pictures were taken just five months ago but she's already grown up so much since than! Ain't she the darling-est?