I Heart Faces Week 35 - Photojournalism

A few weeks ago, one of the girls in this picture contacted me about photographing her with her 5 best friends. She was moving to New York, and wanted a photoshoot in Atlanta with her best buddies before she left. This picture was taken just 5 days before she left on the 17th Street bridge overlooking Atlanta. I love the expressions on their faces, and how they are all interacting with each other, even without necessarily looking at each other!

Katie and Chad Tie the Knot!

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of tagging along as an understudy on a wedding photography shoot to gain more experience! This wedding was so special because there were so many items that had sentimental value. The wedding dress was worn by the bride's mother on her wedding day. The flower arrangements were all put together by the bride and her bridesmaids. I just fell in love with this whole family! Here is a sneak peek of some of my favorite pictures.

Anna

Anna and I first met about 16 years ago, before she could even walk, on the day that her family moved into the house next door to mine. I was just a teenager myself, and remember thinking upon first seeing Anna that she was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen! Over the years, I went from being her neighbor to her babysitter before going off to college. Eventually, both of our families moved, but we happened to find each other on Facebook! She has grown from a beautiful baby to a beautiful young woman, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to take her pictures! Here are a few sneak peek pictures from her photoshoot . . . Be on the lookout for her face on upcoming senior picture specials!

Pet Portrait Contest

Thank you so much for taking the time to vote for your favorite pet (who just happen to be all dogs)! Voting will be open for the next week, and the pet with the most votes by midnight on Saturday, August 21st will be the winner! The winning pet will be announced on Sunday, August 22nd, and will receive a free photoshoot. Please vote by leaving a comment below with the name of the pet you are voting for. A HUGE thank you to all who entered their pets. All of your pets are precious, and are already winners! Good luck!

JASPER

"On Christmas Eve of 2008, my then boyfriend (now husband)Jeff, told me he had a special gift for me. I had been wanting a dog for quite some time, and my eyes filled with tears when I saw that the special gift turned out to be the most precious puppy. As I picked the puppy up to cuddle him and give him lots of kisses, I noticed something attached to his collar. . . the most beautiful ring I had ever seen. I looked up at Jeff, and he was down on one knee!! Of course, I said yes, and the three of us are now one big happy family!"

DOTTIE

"My family adopted Dottie from the humane society one year ago. She has been the love of our lives ever since. She has learned the sound of the school bus, and waits patiently by the door for my 2 kids to get off the bus. My favorite scene in our house is when I check on the kids at night before going to bed, and seeing Dottie snuggled in bed with them (she takes turns sleeping in their beds at night). Dottie is not just a dog, but a member of our family!"

SAMSON

"It was love at first sight! When I met Samson for the first time, I knew. I knew he was THE one. I knew he was going to be my companion for the rest of his life. I’m not sure if HE knew at that time, but over the last 8 years, he has LET me love him, rub him, console him, and I think he loves me now, too. My Samson follows me everywhere. I’m the only one who can scold him without trying to bite my finger off. I’m the only one who can bathe him without trying to bite my finger off….yeah, I think he loves me now, too.

And to think, he was a supposed to be a birthday present for my husband."

DALE

"Dale is not just a dog, but my best buddy, and my constant companion. He loves me unconditionally, and always finds new ways to show me! I have always had dogs growing up, but Dale is special. He is MY first dog, the first dog that I have all to myself, and I can't imagine my life without him!"

COOPER

“My sunshine doesn’t come from the skies; it comes from the love in my dog’s eyes.” My sweet Cooper reminds me everyday that pure and unconditional love exists. He may not be a K9 hero dog like Lassie or Rin TinTin, but he rescues me in little ways all the time. There is no better feeling than to know that no matter what I do, my little buddy will go on loving me. Big things really do come in small packages….Cooper may be small, but he has a big heart of gold. I hope everyone votes for Coop so I can have beautiful pictures that I will treasure forever."

DAISY

"Daisy . . . a beautiful flower given as a token of frienship, to show love, or just to brighten someone's day. This definition is exactly why we chose to name our sweet dog Daisy. After rescuing her from a grim life at a kennel, she has spent the rest of hers showing us just how much she loves us. You can't help but smile every time you look at her. She brightens our day just by being around her. I can speak for my entire family when I say she is our best friend. We love you Daisy!"

Photoshop Tutorial #1 - Sharpening Eyes

First of all, please let me explain that I am not a photoshop expert! I probably know about 25% if even that of what photoshop has to offer. One year ago, I saw pictures that people had taken, and was completely envious of how amazing their pictures looked compared to mine. I was determined to learn photoshop, no matter how long it took. Well, it took a lot of research, asking questions, and playing with it myself. I have enough knowledge of it now to where I can at least make my pictures look the way I would like them to. There is still so much to learn, and I am constantly exploring new uses of photoshop. I hope that this tutorial will be helpful for you as you begin your photoshop journey!

I like to sharpen eyes using two different methods:

Method 1:
Find your "dodge" tool on the lefthand side of your screen. It looks like a lollipop!

Click on the dodge tool. After doing so, go up to the top of your screen, and select a brush size. The brush should have a soft edge, and should be small enough to fit inside of your subject's iris (the colored part of the eye).

Next, find the box just to the right that says "range". Adjust your range to say "midtones" and your "exposure" to about 25%.

Now, you are ready to begin editing! Run the dodge tool over the white portion of each eye, as well as the iris of each eye. Be careful not to run over the pupil, or the black ring around the iris. We will adjust this in our next step.
Next, click on the "dodge" tool once more, and instead, select the "burn tool", which looks like a hand.

Adjust your brush size if necessary, but keep your range and exposure the same. Run the burn tool over the pupil of the eye, as well as the dark ring around the outside edge of the iris. The eyes of your subject should now look sharpened!
Method 2:
Now, I like to do one more step to sharpen eyes. This step will really make the eyes pop. Go to the top of your screen and select "Layer" and then "Duplicate Layer."

Next, go back up to the top of your screen and select "Filter", "Sharpen", and "Unsharp Mask".

It sounds crazy, but Unsharp Mask will actually sharpen your image. A box like the following will appear on your screen. I usually leave the Radius at 1 and the Threshold at 0. The Amount that you sharpen is really up to you. The greater the percent, the sharper it will be, but be careful not to oversharpen.

After sharpening, you will notice that your entire picture was sharpened. This is ok, but we are just going to sharpen the eyes for now because we want them to really stand out. So, how is that done?
Find the box on the lower right hand corner of your screen that has the list of layers.

Hold down the "alt" key and the key at the bottom of this box that has a circle inside of a square. Hold down these two keys at the same time. When you do, a black square should appear next to "background copy." The sharpening will also disappear from your picture.

Now, click on the paintbrush on the lefthand side of your screen, and make sure it is set to paint in white.

Now, you are going to use your paintbrush to paint over the eyes. I try to stay within the eye, being careful not to sharpen the outside of the eye too. When painting, make sure you use a soft brush that can fit inside of the eye, Mode set to Normal, and Opacity/Flow both set at 100%.
Before:

After:

I Heart Faces Challenge - Surprise!

I love this week's challenge, and can't wait to see everyone's surprised faces! Here is my take on it . . . this picture is a few years old, but I love that the mom is mimicking the expression on this little's girl's face.

To see more surprised faces, head on over to I Heart Faces!

I Heart Faces - Surprise!

To see more surprises, head on over to