Absolutely the Cutest Most Precious Pirate in the World!

Maybe my  opinion is biast... but I have the cutest little princess pirate ever! Can you tell she didn't really want to take a picture? This is her pout face... how can you resist! No wonder she is spoiled rotten. No wonder her Grandpa can't resist her charm. Flash those pretty blues and she can have whatever she wants!

How did I process you ask?
It was in the evening so my ISO was 1000 so I first reduced the noise, softened her skin, I then boosted the colors at a 19% opacity with PW action. I darkened the outside and web resharpened.

Visit http://www.lovethatshot.com/ to participate in this weeks theme and also for a chance for a $100 gift card to Florabella!!

Wait! Don't stop here... Join me! I always love to hear from my friends!

    

Newborn Sessions just might be my favorite!

I think every photographer specializes in something or prefers one type of session over another... and I think I have found my favorite type of sessions... NEWBORNS!! I get excited when a new mommy calls me to take pictures of their newest addition. Like the twins coming up soon! Oh I just can't wait.

It may be the smell of a baby, or the baby faces and noises they make... or maybe even simply the fact that you can't take a bad photo of something so precious and sweet... but it's also that feeling I get when I walk away from a newborn session. I am all giddy and happy. I got my baby fix... and my husband is thrilled cause he knows that I won't bother him with having "Just one more!" LOL!

Here is my newest baby I got to photograph. He is just too perfect for words and was so snuggly and sweet.

Also I have a secret that I must share... It's a secret I want to keep to myself cause then I have a better chance of winning... but I can't be selfish... my mom taught be better then that!!! You must visit http://lovethatshot.com/ this next week. They are having a fabulous, FABULOUS giveaway to all those who link up their photos. We are also having surprise guest judges (YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS OUT CAUSE IF YOU ARE A PHOTOGRAPHER I GUARANTEE YOU KNOW THEM Hint... Angie and Amy!!) and the winner will receive a $100.00 gift card to Florabella Actions! JOIN JOIN! It's no party without friends... so share, join and create. I can't wait to see you there!

*BONUS* And if you are a client and enter in the fun, send me your link and I will mail you a gift card for $20.00 off your next session!! How fabulous is that! I encourage you to learn, to love, and to share you photos know matter how fab and not so fab you think they are. Make sure you tell them I sent you :D

Wait! Don't stop here... Join me! I always love to hear from my friends!

    

Flowers from McCall - Love That Shot

As a part of the Love That Shot Design Team I took these photos during a recent trip to McCall. To learn more about these workshops open to any photographer at any skill level please visit http://www.lovethatshot.com/ ... and don't forget to tell them I referred you! You will be amazed at how easy it is to move your camera out of "auto" mode and how thinking outside the box can get you unique "wall" worthy photos!

and also just for fun let's play a fun game of where's Stefani Marie Photography's husband in this slideshow? He exists I promise! :D I am not making it up... I really am married! He is just always working and never in any photos I take. LOL!

Why is it important to do things right from the beginning?

Because later after a wedding shoot and you have over 700 images to sort through... you don't want to have to fix every image later! LOL!

I have been asked a lot lately how to control the Depth of Field in your photos and how to create a nice "Bokeh" (blurry) background. A lot has to do with aperature and also the type of lens you are using. Here is an image taken yesterday during a wedding ceremony. This image was left untouched by photoshop... straight out of the camera.
I used my Nikon D80   ~   Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 lens   ~   ISO set to 800   ~    focus was on the diamonds

Here is the image after I did a noise reduction in photoshop and then sharpened only the rings. I then did a soft focus on the image. Not a big difference.

Now here I used some textures that I got from http://www.lovethatshot.com/. I used the Verona texture and then erased the texture from around the rings so that focus is primarily on the rings.

Very simple edit and took me less then 5 minutes to complete.

Love That Shot - Blossom Workshop ~ Exercise One

As a photographer you know that it is a never ending journey of knowledge. Technology, lenses, cameras, software...etc. It is always changing and you are always learning new things. I am stepping outside my creative box this week and taking a "Blossom Workshop" at http://www.lovethatshot.com./ I have always loved looking at photos of flowers but never have I really taken the time to photograph them myself. I wish I had planned this exercise a little better but I was limited on time. After a long day of work yesterday I headed out of my house to get some pictures of some flowers (it was 8:45 at night) and the sun was fading fast. I had only about 15 minutes of shooting time available before I was out of light.

The idea of this workshop is to step out of "AUTO" mode in your camera and to start using your camera to it's fullest potential. You will be amazed at how simple it is once you learn how to do it. I am a hands on person and this workshop is great cause they give you step by step instructions on how to set your camera and include visuals too for those (like me) who need to see something to know what to do. But the great thing about this workshop is that it doesn't just apply to "Flowers" you can take this knowledge with you when photographing your kids or animals.

Here was my first exercise
Practice taking photos with these settings. (These were settings given to you in the workshop... visit them at www.lovethatshot.com to find out more!)  Then experiment with your aperture. Try a variety of aperture settings. Take note of what the camera decides to set for the shutter speed and ISO. Observing this is the first step to understanding how shooting in Manual mode works.

Here are my photos taken and I left them SOOC (Straight out of the camera) so you can see my settings. Keep in mind that since these were taken at night my settings may be different then someone shooting in the early morning or later afternoon. Later I will try some different textures that are available for free at http://www.lovethatshot.com/

Also the flowers were starting to wilt.... so when photographing flowers try to find some that are in full bloom. Since I was limited on time I had to settle with wilted flowers. I am going to retry this weekend to find some better looking flowers to photograph.

CAMERA- Nikon D90     Lens: Nikkor 50mm f1.8     Photos taken in Aperature Priority Mode

ISO 400    f/2.8

Notice in this photo my depth of field was off on the front of the blooms (be careful with that when shooting with the 50mm lens. It is an easy thing to do.)

ISO 400    f/1.8 (Probably should have shot in f2.8 here instead)

This flower was all alone.... It was just crying to be photographed

ISO 400   f/1.8

And just so you can see how important it is to use your aperature on your camera this is the difference on depth of field

ISO 400    f/5

Same photo only I changed my aperature 1 stop (notice the background starts to blur (or what photographers call bokeh)

ISO 400   f/4

Again same photo only I changed the aperature (notice the depth of field is even more shallow)(Also please note I change my ISO up to 640 because by this poing the sun was almost set... under normal situations I would have left it) ISO controls how much light your camera allows in... the highter the ISO the more "noise" your photos will have. I always try to shoot between ISO 100-400 if possible.

ISO 640 f/2.8

And finally using my 50mm to it's lowest aperature (notice the bokeh in the background)

ISO 640 f/1.8

I think for this photo the 2.8 is my favorite. With larger flowers the DOF was better at 2.8 range.

Want to learn how to achieve a great bokeh? Visit http://www.lovethatshot.com/ to learn how. It is a great workshop!

Also this is linked up to in the Photo Fridays!

Love That Shot- Workshop # 1 - AND 100 POST CELEBRATION!

Does Photoshop ever make you feel overwhelmed? Do you wish you had more time to learn how to edit your photos better? Then head on over to "Love That Shot" and join them for some really great workshops they offer to members.

I remember the first time I opened up photoshop. I spent hours researching online how to use photoshop. It can be frustrating, overwhelming, exhausting and sometimes irritating! The founders of love that shot have put together workshops for newbies and professional photographers to help make photoshopping a breeze. I just did my first workshop today and I turned this image that I took while camping up in Cascade this weekend into this...

SOOC (Straight out of the Camera)                     ~                    Love That Shot Workshop

The first image is bright and colorful. But the second image gives you the Vintage Effect. Want to learn how I did this? Then visit "Love That Shot" and click on their workshops. it is called "How to Get a Rosy Vintage Effect with Adjustment Layers – Photoshop Elements". I followed the workshop exactly as it stated but you can adjust yours to your liking. I also used Photoshop CS2 and not elements but both are similar programs.

ENJOY!!

Creative Team 2010 for Love that Shot

I am so excited to be a part of the "Love that Shot" Creative Team. (Which reminds me that they want me to write a bio about myself... like yesterday..... I am already a failure!)

I love the idea of participating in their workshops that they offer to amateur and professional photographers. As a photographer I am constantly learning new things. I see the world differently now from a photographers eye. For example... when I buy clothes for my daughters wardrobe one of the first things I think about is "Will it look cute in a photo?"

I am ashamed to admit that, but yes, that truly is how I think. I am extremely passionate about what I do. God has blessed me so much in my photography journey and He is the only one I can thank for all knowledge that I have been given. I cannot wait to see the talent and to learn something new this year from the Love that Shot Team. I cannot wait to work with other photographers who share the same passion that I do... and most of all to just keep an open mind and to see all the creative ways people can inspire you.