Tip: De-fogging

Tuesdays have now become my official tip-sharing day on my photoblog! You know... "T", for tip and Tuesday. Clever, I'd say. :) I thought of trying to give it a cute name, but the only thing that came to mind at this hour was "Tipsy Tuesday", and that isn't going to do! So, I guess I'll settle for just "tip". Yeah, I know...unique and so exciting. :D

Well, onto the tip of the week, DE-FOGGING!

Unless you own an expensive lens, this is a very important tip to learn and will add some punch to your photos from the get go. From what I've learned, most digital cameras give off a "haze" in photos. Removing this haze is called de-fogging. By de-fogging, you will increase the contrast in larger parts of the picture (not sharpening the details), in effect giving it a more clean, vibrant look.

De-fogging is the first thing I do to my photos after I've downloaded the originals to my computer. Here's what you do. It will only take a minute!

In Photoshop, go to Filters -> Sharpen -> Unsharpen Mask and enter these numbers:

• Amount: 20
• Radius: 60
• Threshold: 0

Click OK and you're done. Yep, that's it. Easy as pie!

Below are a couple of examples. The top photos are the originals. The second photos are de-fogged. You will notice that the de-fogged photos are more defined and not as flat. You may need to view them in full-size and next to each other to better see the difference. Believe me, it's quite noticeable. :) HTH!

Family Camp 2008

We attended our church's annual Family Camp in Prescott, AZ over the weekend. Fun, fun! It was held at Friendly Pines Camp and as usual, it was a great time. Below are some photos I took from the weekend. I took close to 400 photos! Legacy & Heritage families, I plan to eventually put all my photos in an online (password protected) gallery. I'll keep you posted once it's up.

85% of my shots during this trip were taken with my telephoto lens (55mm-200mm). I am soooo loving this lens! I just love the bokeh it gives! The first 2 shots below are actually taken with my 18mm-55mm lens to get a wide angle shot. :)

The main "Legacy campsite" :)

Our cabin (the one on the right - bottom level)

Getting ready for tug-of-war (families against families)

Our guest speakers - Pastor & Mrs. Ovid Need
(What a precious Titus 2 couple!)

How cute -- sack races!

My favorite shot of the whole trip!
Pastor Young's baby boy - isn't he so adorable??

Photography Students: Week 2

This week's assignment was all about "Composition" - a visual process of organizing the elements and individual details of a scene into a balanced and pleasing arrangement. There is no right and wrong way to compose an image. It is quite subjective. However, there are some composition rules to help give photographers some guidelines. The article I shared with the kids explained 7 composition rules:

1. Rule of Thirds
2. Simplicity
3. Leading Lines
4. Natural Frames
5. Contrasts
6. Point of View
7. Rhythm
   

As you view their photos, see if you can identify the rule they chose! They all did a fantastic job with this assignment. I'm excited to showcase their work! In no particular order....

by Hannah

by Jesse

by Jordan

by Hollen

by Taran

by Rachelle

by Olivia

by Natalie

by Hope

Photoshop - to edit or not to edit...

....that is the question!

So, what do many photographers think about using a photo editing software to edit their pictures?? Opinions run from being a "purist" (getting it right in camera from the start and no need to post edit) to believing that photography is an art form; and using a tool such as Photoshop is okay by them to enhance their artistic creativities and style.

I am one of those photographers who fall into both camps. To me, a good photographer must know how to get the fundamentals of photography right. No amount of post editing can fix an image if you do not have a good picture to start with! But, I also believe that Photoshop does have its place and can definitely take your photography/artistic skills up a level.

As a beginner photographer, I am continuing my focus on the the basics. Although, I must confess....I do utilize Photoshop often. :D In the end, it's all a matter of personal preference. Had I not been already using Photoshop for years (web designing) prior to getting into photography, I don't think I would be utilizing Photoshop into my photos as much as I do already (it has a high learning curve). :)

Above are before/after photos to showcase how post editing can take up your photos a notch. Isn't this young maiden such a beauty??? She is the eldest daughter to one of our dear friends at church. This was taken at a House Warming-Birthday-Adoption celebration at our other dear friends' home several weeks ago. It was a totally fun time!!

Slip & Slidin' Away....

Yes, these were taken TODAY. Yes, it is STILL warm. Yes, that is a another photo of our son. :D My son and I spent a wonderful afternoon at the home of our dear friends, the W's. I just had to take pictures to showoff our warm weather (in the high 90's). Although, I am soooo ready for it to cool down! At least the mornings are starting to get cooler. Yay!

The kids spent almost 2 hours slippin' and slidin', while us two moms did what we do best...talk and laugh. :) Totally fun! Oh the beauty of Christian fellowship....

Glistening Beauty

Isn't she just adorable?? This cutie pie is the granddaughter to a dear friend of mine. I took this shot during our homeschool group's P.E. class last Friday. As you can tell by her glistening face, the weather here in AZ is still quite warm. Btw, as a side note...men sweat, but us ladies, we "glisten". LOL!

Photography Students: Week 1

I was asked to teach a beginner photography and Photoshop class to our homeschool group's yearbook staff (12yo+) this year. I am so excited and honored at this opportunity, especially since I'm such a newbie myself! The photography class began last week, with the photoshop class starting in November. Both are 6-week long classes.

As part of the assignments, I will be showcasing some of the kids' work here on my photoblog. Every Wednesday for the next 12 weeks or so, you will see a lot of their work here. So fun! :D

The assignment for Week 1 was to photography something or someone you love. Until we begin the photoshop class, most of the shots will be SOOC (straight out of camera). A majority of the cameras used are p&s digital cameras. The kids did a great job for their first assignment! I was originally going to showcase only 3 photos per week, but they all did so great for their first week that I HAD to showcase all of their photos this first time. LOL!

by Natalie

by Olivia

by Jordan

by Hollen

by Hope

by Jesse

by Taran

by Hannah

Feel free to comment on their work, as you feel led. I'm sure they would enjoy reading your comments and feedback on their work. :D

Assignment: Morning

"My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD;

in the morning will I direct [my prayer]
unto thee, and will look up."

(Psalm 5:3)

This week's DPS assignment is "Morning" - anything that deals with the early part of the day, sunrises, work commutes, breakfast, etc.

The above photo is my submission. The photos below were extra shots I took as I was taking photos for the assignment. Although, I must confess, these photos were staged for the assignment since everyone was up and dressed by the time I was ready to take pictures. LOL.

In The Yard, Hard At Work

::::singing::::

"Clean up, clean up....Everybody do your share.
Clean up, clean up....Everybody everywhere!"

Today was yard duty for my two men. Thought I would take some photos of them hard at work in the hot Arizona sun. What champs! :)

Showing Work: Gallery Print

There are a wide variety of ways to show your work, be it clients, friends, family, etc. One fun way is creating gallery prints of some of your favorite photos. As you would imagine, this can be done using Photoshop and is very easy to do.

Creating a gallery print involves changing the canvas size and using the marquee tool around the image and changing the stroke width using a white or light grey color. The final touch is to add your logo or text to name your gallery print. Voila!

The above photo is another photos taken during the LaRose Tea Party. It is a shot of the table we sat at. So cute! Click photo to view larger size.

The Castle Lamplight

Hello, hello! I've been MIA for a little while, I know. It's been quite a busy time for me lately and I've been trying to stay focused on my priorities, especially here at home. As a SAHM, it's so easy to get distracted. And photography is a hobby I most easily get distracted with!

I've also been posting more on my personal blog, which I've neglected. I think I need to combine my blogs or something. Well, not to worry (not that I think anyone would actually worry about lil' ole me and my photo blog! LOL)... I'm back. :D

I've not had any motivation lately to take any new photos, so I am posting another photo from my archives. This was taken during the LaRose Tea Party I attended last month at The Castle. I'll hopefully have more (new) photos soon!

Pima Air & Space Museum

Today, we went on a last minute trip to the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson in honor of Labor Day. We had a great time and were surprised at how large this museum was, especially the amount of aircraft they carried. I took over 160 pictures! As you can imagine, I had a difficult time choosing what photos to post.

How cool is this -- we were on the actual
Air Force One that operated during the
Kennedy & Johnson's administration (1961-1965)

Just taking a reflection photo of myself on the stairway
heading up into Air Force One

My two men had a great time together!