Then..and Now

I have been pondering this question ever since the new year....where I have come from, and where am I going?

I look back to my pictures a year ago, and how my pictures have progressed over the past year. I have become more comfortable with my camera, in my own skin, in the studio, and using natural light. I joined a few forums, took some online classes, and have read as much as I can get my hands on (without going broke;-)

I reflect on all the families that have allowed me to enter into their lives to capture their moments, and have helped me inmprove my craft. I know it is silly, but even after getting discs to clients, I still keep pictures on my external hard drive for myself to look back and enjoy (call me a digital hoarder). I even keep a few raw files in the event I purchase new preset actions for photoshop and want to try them out on old photos.

Everytime I get behind that camera, I think of my beautiful girl, Rosalynn. If not for her passing, I would never be doing this. The inspiration to live life to the fullest and not to take life for granted has molded me over the last year. An d one thing I think of as I am pushing that shutter button and then processing in Photo shop is "I hope this makes her proud of me."

So here is just a glimpse of how my craft has progressed over the past year:

NOW! By NO means am I saying that ANY of these before pictures are bad, personally I LOVE all of them, BUT all of these were in my portfolio building stages, and these are all friends of mine and their families who allowed me to try out my craft on them. AND, by no means am I saying I have perfected anything. I HOPE to do nothing but continue to grow, and learn this year. All I am saying is that through learning and trial and error of this past year, I have improved...at least in my own opinion.

My VERY first newborn shoot. Cute, but with a little more knowlegdge of photo shop could have been SOOO much better (i may play with this one a little bit:-)

Again...the first shoot. This coloring technique is a favorite of some...but i have learned that with babies, it is better to stay AWAY from the sephias and orange tinting, b/c then it just makes them look jaundiced (and the goal is if they ARE jaundiced is to take the yellow OUT!)

The most recent newborn shoot. I had added a few cute hats, soft fabrics, learned some tricks to keep babies asleep, learned how to pose them, and learned how to soften and clear up baby skin. OH...and the previous pictures were with using flash while this is using natural light from the parent's sliding glass door!

this IS a self portrait, but one that I LOVE. I love the original color one alittle better, but in talking about photoshop actions to change a photo, yellow is out, and B&W is in:-)

This was actually a VERY succesful shoot, and one that I was vey pleased w/ the results...but once again, it WAS my very first one...and I have come a long way:-)

You probaby see nothing glaringly wrong with this one either...but small things get to me...like the small line on the high key (white back drop) that is paint. I didn'tknow how to photoshop that at the time. and the pose is nice, but I have found others i like better:-)

This was my most recent shoot (not even completely done being edited yet!) and the use of natural light, the pose, and the thoughtful look on her face are just sooo much more refined in my opinion.

Over the past year, I have really improved my photoshopping skills...and this photo is a great example!!!

This picture is an example of how I have started introducing personal objects into photos. This guitar is a symbol of her mother who passed a year and a half ago. THe emotion I get when looking at this photo is also what I hope she feels (even if NO ONE else understands or "gets" it)

My wish for this next year is that I can perfect the outdoor lighting. Wether it be with reflectors, or just better positioning of my subjects. The sun can be a tricky thing. I also want to continue to improve my photoshopping skills. I have just scratched the surface of what all this program can do! Of course I would like to upgrade/add new equipment to my bag of tricks, but that is the last thing on my list, because there is still ALOT I can improve on with my current gear. Above all, I want to continue and improve upon getting the best photos I can to the people that come into my life for that brief hour and a half. Making the photos beautiful and PERSONAL.

I want to make my daughter proud as she smiles down on me from heaven. She is my inspiration behind all of this!