Christmas

Today, I had the amazing privilege of photographing my handsome man and his beautiful sister. Bloody hell, posing adult siblings is the hardest job I have ever had...but I think we got some keepers!

We also did our fun couple photos. Thank goodness we have so many photographers around, our professional photos are always free!

Restoration

Because it is "off" season for weddings and senior portraits, I have been spending lots of time working on retouching old photos. Here is just a sneak peek of what I have been working on...

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

I have been extremely busy and completely fell behind on Christmas sessions this year. Today, I had my first official Christmas shoot and had a complete blast doing it! I can't believe how much time has flown by since I first had a session with Mandi! The weather has been beautiful, but freezing, here in the Pacific Northwest, and believe it or not, these were shot at ten in the morning...can you say perfect natural lighting?! We also shot these in a park where they were doing a holly berry restoration project, making it the perfect holiday backdrop!

Candid Moments

It has been a crazy week and I haven't had much time to sit, let alone get any editing done! Here are just two of my favorites from this week...

Never Skimp on a Photographer

As part of my "services" I offer retouching of your own photos. Typically, I retouch old faded family photos. However, it doesn't have to be old to need retouching. Recently, a bride in Arizona contacted me after a wonderful family friend offered to take their wedding photos. While free photos may seem like a great way to save money on a tight budget, I highly recommend hiring a professional. Or at least a photography student. Or someone who has a solid portfolio that you trust. Because there is nothing worse than blurry and awkward photos to remember your wedding day. Luckily, with a little time and tlc, I was able to make their photos look like they came straight out of a magazine!

Behind the Scenes

My wonderful baby sister has been assisting me quite a bit this year. And because I am always behind the camera, she took a few of me while we were waiting for my senior to do a quick wardrobe change! I have to say, she is one of my favorite assistants...it may be because we are related, but she literally knows what I am thinking without me having to even speak. Plus, she knows how to demonstrate perfect poses and hair flips! This year has been such an amazing year for my work and I am so blessed to have the love and support of all of my family and friends. Thank you everyone who is helping support my dreams!

Oh. You're a "Professional."

While shooting my mom's wedding last weekend, I had to deal with a so called "professional" interrupting my session. My first point is, if you are a professional, you would know how inconsiderate it is to critique someone's work mid shoot. And second, even if I wasn't mid session...mind your own business. I would never dream of walking up to anyone...stranger or not...and telling them that they are doing something wrong. How rude is that?! So after about an hour of my blood boiling, I finally was able to relax and let it go. And when I got home and uploaded what I had shot, I couldn't help but feel a bit "Hah! In your face!" when I uploaded my back lit photos (which he told me wouldn't turn out!) I guess the point that I am trying to make is to mind your own business. All of our styles are unique and different. If I would have followed his advice and placed the beautiful couple in the light he told me to, I never would have captured these amazing images.

Photoshop 101

As a self taught photoshopper, I don't claim to be an expert. Most of what I know has come from years of practice and trial and error. And since I get asked so much "how do you do that?!" I thought I would throw together a quick Photoshop guide.

Emily's 7 Photoshop Portrait Rules...

1. Less is more. The best advice I got from art school is to crop out what you don't need. The less objects in a photo, the better. Obviously there are times when you need more to tell a story, but for portraits, the less clutter and distraction you have the better. You want the viewer to be pulled into the subject, not trying to figure out what is going on in the background. Don't be afraid to get up close and personal! 

2. Eyes are the gateway to the soul, so sharpen them! If your subjects eyes are out of focus, the photo almost always seems off or poorly taken. To make a portrait look professional, focus in on the eyes. And sharpen them! Just be sure not to over do it...

3. Photoshop should be used like makeup. It is all about balance. Too much and you look like you are joining the circus, and not enough looks lazy. Photoshopping out blemishes is completely fine. Do you really want to see that pimple on your face in 10 years? My rule of thumb, if I could cover it with makeup, I can cover it in Photoshop. While there is a blemish tool, I tend to clone stamp to remove unwanted items. 

4. Soften skin. There are many ways to do this. My favorite function is to create a copy of my portrait, blur it up, and then use layer masking to only keep the softened parts of the skin. There are a ton of guides on the internet to learn how to do this.

5. Filters are the most amazing tool ever! Filters can make a rainy day look like a beautiful and sunny afternoon. I tend to shoot cool, so warming filters have become my best friend! 

6. Play with your levels to make things pop! By adjusting your levels, you can make a photo go from average to campaign ready! 

7. Remember you and your subjects are human. You are not walking, talking, perfect barbies. Don't pretend to be. There is nothing wrong with retouching...but just remember that you are beautiful without it! 

Miss Siel

It's almost that time of year again...time for a new group of kids becoming seniors making me feel old! Only this year, I feel especially old when my baby cousin is the one about to head off to college. Luckily, Miss Siel was here visiting for my mom's wedding and we were able to squeeze her senior session in. We wanted to keep it pretty casual, because she is a t-shirt and jeans sort of girl. My biggest pet peeve is pretending to be something you are not in your senior photos. They are supposed to be about who you are and who you have become...not a perfect barbie. I feel, and I hope she does too, that these captured her spirit perfectly! I can't wait to see where life is going to take her! 

Audrey Inspired

I can't believe my mama is finally gettin' hitched! While I am shooting my mom and (almost) step dad's wedding in 8.5 hours, I thought it would be fun to post her bridal photos as well. My mama is anything but normal, so when we were planning this shoot we knew we wanted to do something unique and creative. And what better idea than to pull inspiration from the movie she was named after! Yes, my mom was named after Breakfast at Tiffany's...it was my grandparents' first date! How precious is that?! And believe it or not, this was shot in 10 minutes in freezing cold weather! Obviously lots of photos from the wedding will be coming soon!