Monotones ~Albany Family Session~

I met with this family briefly on Thanksgiving morning....we had hoped for some good weather since we were meeting at a gorgeous home with a great yard. But we got rained out, so we we opted to try some indoor shots. Now as I have plainly said before, indoor shots are not my forte. So I think thats why I like so many of these shots in a monotone better than their color versions. Some of it might just be my taste, I feel like the monotone makes the backgrounds disappear a bit and the subjects stand out more....but I also love a golden monotone and this home had just the right neutral decor to make those work great on these images.

~Adorable~ Albany Oregon Photographer

Deciding on Tones and Colors

When I am editing pictures I always have a hard time deciding which tones I like the best. I love the soft looks of black and whites or sepia tones images, but I really love the boldness that you get with a full color. And if you have read my blog much you know I am a sucker for a faded "70's" look too. So here are three choices that I am playing with. There are different things that I like about each of them...but I am curious what your opinions are! Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Sweet Miss E

Just had to post a few more of this sweet girl since I know her family is checking for pictures!

Fix It Friday Week 13 @ I ♥ Faces

Fix it Friday again...yay!

This week we are fixing the following picture....the first thing I noticed was the bright background and underexposed subject. I thought of using PW's action to "dim the lights" and it worked beautifully. My edits are below...I tried not to do a bunch this week, but as I have said before, once I get started, I just don't want to stop! :)

ORIGINAL

Cropped, dimmed the lights and then lightened the girl, then ran "Lovely and Ethereal"

Rotated, cropped, dimmed the background, lightened the girl and ran 70's Action

Rotated, cropped, dimmed the lights and then lightened the girl, then ran "Lovely and Ethereal"

Same as above, but converted to black and white.

Same as above, but layered the black and white over the color, then used a layer mask to remove the b&w from the tulips.

Color Enhancing

Just playing with some fun color options in Photoshop....for the black and white one I layered it over a colored version and then "erased" the black and white from the areas that I wanted to remain red. I am not sure which version I like the most...

"Urban Acid" (I call it faded jeans)

Natural Color Black and White w/Color Enhancement

Heather's Senior Pictures

On Saturday afternoon I met with Heather. She had some great red heels (I have always wanted a pair!) that made for some fun shots! I have a few more to post later today. I'll call Heather "Little Miss Attitude" because she could pull out the wildest looks at the drop of a hat. They were great! We had a fun time wandering around downtown and got some really good shots too.

A few more of Brandi

Thanks Brandi for making my job so easy! :) Your pictures are turning out beautifully. I don't think you blinked ONE time! (though it does make it harder to pick which ones are the best! No easy outs!) So here are a few more. I should have your CD ready by tomorrow!

My 8 Year Old

We celebrated a birthday in the family yesterday...isn't she growing up! We decided to cut her hair for her birthday! I think it looks so cute! She was very excited to take some birthday pictures. We didn't have the best weather for it, but we still gave it a try!