{Random Things}

[THANK YOU]
A big thank you to my repeat and new clients that have booked for this Holiday Season! I am just about booked for sessions on the weekend dates. I do still have a few left (and more weekdays), so contact me soon if you're wanting to get in on the Custom Holiday Card Wagon. Choo-choo! LOL! Sorry, had to do it.

UPDATED: I am booked for the weekend sessions now. I have a few weekday sessions left if you're still wanting to get an appointment!

[CHANGES]
2009 is going to be a big year for JC-Originals Photography! I have several goals I have set for myself and really want to take my passion to photograph all of you to the next level. Be on the watch for a more detailed post in December or early January!

[WANTED]
I've been on the lookout for some new props. I've been searching Craigslist, but just not coming across what I would really like to have. I want an old, vintage velvet (possibly high back) chair. Here are some ideas of what I'm looking for... These pictures are courtesy of Ebay or Craigslist listings. But most are P/U only and too far to pick up!

This one is my absolute favorite! But it is in Michigan... Wah!

These next two would be my next picks, but I prefer the green color... But really any color would do.


My last pick, but still better than what I have, which is nada, zilch, nothing. So if you have something like this that you're wanting to get rid of or if you are a garage/estate sale goer and see one... Call me! Please!

I think that's it for now! Stay tuned in the coming weeks for several sneak peeks...

Mr. S's Bigger Sneak Peek!

I finally got around to picking more of my favorites. Honestly, there were so many I was having a hard time.










Thanks again guys! I truly enjoyed this session.

As requested...

Be sure to scroll down to the 'After the Rain' post to see the before shots as requested by a reader.

It's kind of fun to see where a picture starts to compared to how you see it on here, so I thought I'd share!

Maddie has a secret...

She got to be my helper today!

And for the most part, she was a great helper... She was definitely able to get Mr. S to smile!


I've been photographing Mr. S since he was 1. It's definitely been fun to see him grow and capture all these memories for his family.

Thank you Mr. S and mommy! We had fun today... And this is really a sneak of a sneak... I'm so tired, I'm going to turn in and I'll be back in a day or so with a bigger sneak peek!

Be sure to scroll down for another post I did earlier tonight.

After the storm...

Updated per request to show before and after editing.

The other night we had an amazing view out the front of our house. It had briefly rained (if I remember correctly). The sun was lighting up the treeline, but it also was creating a huge rainbow. I don't think I've ever seen one this wide, actually...


Updating with a before picture (this is basically how the camera captured the scene in JPG mode). I shoot in JPG + Raw, so I have both forms... So basically all I did to the one above was adjust the temp., increase the blacks, boost the clarity all in ACR. Then I brought it to CS3, ran a USM (sharpen), watermarked it, border, and resize for web. So not a whole lot of editing.



And then when I turned around to walk back to the house, I saw this amazing skyline from the back of the house. Simply gorgeous, huh?


Updated with SOOC (straight out of camera version).


These are the reasons I love living in the 'country'! You just don't get these views everywhere.

So as you can see, by editing, the main thing was that by increasing the blacks, I was able to show deeper colors and more depth.

How to eat an Oreo...

As told by a 3 year old...

First, you get your cookie ready to dunk. (notice big sister laughing her head off)


Once dunked, insert sopping cookie into mouth. (Can you see the milk dripping from her fingers and hands? We don't play around over here!)


Be sure to chew thoroughly.


Ahh, yeah... Cookie mouth and cookie teeth. Success! (if you look hard enough you can see the orange mustache from the Sunkist she had earlier that day)


Clean-up time... See the messy fingers?


Proceed to remove cookies from fingers.


Okay, if that doesn't work, get napkin to remove remaining cookies.


Continue with next cookie until parents proclaim that's enough for tonight.


Oh and this is a daddy and girls thing because mommy does NOT drink milk. So it's something they get to share together!

Now, leave me some love... Pretty please! My comment box is feeling mighty neglected lately.

If some of these pics have a weird haze on her hands, etc. It's because I was practicing some things I had read about using speedlights. I wanted to test just how low you could go on your shutter speed and it still freeze the frame. Obviously 1/15th of sec. is still too slow in some.

It'll be here before you know it...

Do you have your Holiday Session booked? October is flying by faster than I can believe! I just wanted to remind everyone that Custom Holiday Cards are one of my favorite things to create, so be sure to book your session soon. Don't send an ordinary card like everyone else... Send something unique that showcases your family, something that friends and family will want to keep on their fridge even after the holidays!

Something like this... Two-sided postcard style.



I have many styles and designs to choose from, so get with me today...

Thirsty?

I ran across this image today while searching for some family pics and thought I'd share... I didn't take this picture, a friend did... Originally he sent me a smaller file (easier to email) and I did a little editing to it... ETA: Well, after posting this last night he sent me a larger file, but I haven't edited it yet. I'll re-post the new pic once I get it edited. In the meantime you can still see the smaller file one.

I love little Haidyn's expression here... It's so her. And let me tell you, if you ever want to know what she has eaten that day or drank, just look at her mouth... She is always wearing it!



Maybe I should send it in to Welch's and let them use it for advertising... Well, not really, since I didn't take it... But you know what I mean.

Oh and something I learned recently... Since I started using RAW, I am loving it... Well, I never knew it, but with CS3 and ACR, even if you took the picture in JPEG mode, you can open it in ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) and tweak the exposure (as if it was a RAW image) and then open it in CS3 and finish the editing there. Not too shabby! Now, I don't think you have all the flexibility as you do in RAW, but you can still fix things if need be. So with that said... I did a little tweaking to this image too and it made my editing so much easier!

One more thing... I went ahead and edited the larger file and I'm just not liking the results. I think because I originally did it on the smaller file, the results were more dramatic... Almost like a painting. I'll keep working on it and be back later if I can get it to work right!

Okay, this ended being longer than expected for one little pic, but oh well... We've had the sickies at our house and I'm feeling a little cooped up. Guess I just needed to 'talk' more than anything!

Big Peek for a Big Group!

And I have to say that this group was the easiest and shortest session I've ever done! Thanks guys... You made my job really easy. I enjoyed every minute of it!

Here you go... (Trust me, there's lots more--these are just the ones that popped out to me at first glance)!


Just a fun one! I'm sure they don't realize I caught this... Such a fun family!


Grandma with her grandbabies and great-grandbabies!


Thanks again for making this such a fun session! I'll let you know when the proofs are online.

Pumpkin Playdate

So the kiddos and I went to town today to meet some friends for a Pumpkin Playdate. I hate to admit in all my years of being a parent, I've taken my kids to the Pumpkin Patch once and that was when Maddie was 2.5 and I was pregnant with Haidyn. So, not much of a tradition around here... I guess it's kind of hard when it's supposed to be fall with 85+ degree temperatures outside. BUT... Today we did it... Went to the patch and we had fun! Granted it was warmer than it should be for fall clothes, but we made the best of it.

Here is a little bit of our hour of Pumpkin Playdating...

Playing in The Maze.


My bunch... Obviously, 2/3 of my group still have PKS--Photographer's Kid Syndrome!


The Entire Bunch--a difficult task to accomplish while subjects are wearing fall clothes in summer heat. Oh and sun is still severely bright. But still fun!


Little Man was digging all the pumpkins... The poor workers probably had to spend a while just putting them back where they belong after he kept dragging them off.


My beautiful girl!


Two of this dude... He was liking my camera (for once)! He's a busy bee, so I know mom has a hard time getting shots of him.



My little princess! Notice anything new? Yep, she got her ears pierced! She wanted them like big sissy's so we went this past weekend.


This is little dude's big sister. Doesn't she have the cutest little puppy dog eyes?


And her other younger brother (the middle child). So similar to my middle child (in so many ways)!


Just a snap--middle child was bringing Caleb all these pumpkins. It was cute because he kept motioning for him to bring more to him.


Our outing almost went off without any mishaps until Little Man decided to walk and trip on the skids. So he's got a nice gash in his forehead along his hairline. We pretty much ended our time there after that and came to the house for more playdate fun and dinner. One more mishap of Haidyn falling and skinning her chin... Nothing like facial boo-boos the day before a family photoshoot! We might have to post-pone that... Oh and yes, I'm playing with my display borders... Trying to figure out what I like best!

Meet the "L" Family!

The "L" Family was quite lovely actually! I 'knew' Miss "L" through a friend, but had never met the misters of the family. I had a lot of fun and they were great with the several scenery changes we did. They even let me practice a little 'Urban' shooting with them.

I won't keep you waiting any longer now... Here are some of my favorites from our session. There are so many to choose from, I had a hard time narrowing them down!

An urban shot!

One of the many family shots! Love the textures in the barn in this one. How cool would this one look in a canvas? Hmm... I might just have to test it out and show a sample later!


The misters!

Mrs. "L" and her not so little mister. I love the interaction in this shot. I processed this one with my vintage wash. I think it added to the mood of the moment.


Mister "L"... He (forgive me if I get this wrong) just turned 10 or is about to turn 10!


One more of the family!


Thank you again "L" family! You all were such great models. Oh and we can't forget Sweet Little Miss "L". She was so sweet and just went with the flow. I know she's looking off in this last image, but it's still one of my favorites.

I'll be in touch when your proofs are ready!