Photo Editing... What a difference it can make!

So, I love to take pictures... Maybe it stems from being an only child and my mother taking 15 bazillion of me growing up, and whether I like it or not, I'm turning into my mother {gasp}!  In elementary school, I was in PACE (the gifted program) and we had a "photography project" that we had to do.  My best friend, Jamie, and I spent hours taking pictures (with film) with my moms old Pentax manual SLR.  My Mom actually took the picture that we used for the project and looking back on it, WOW... my hair was BUSTED! (That's beside the point, but I giggle every time I think about that picture.)  Anyway, we got to develop our pictures in a dark room and I remember the smells and how much I loved it... Fast forward to college, I took Photography 101 as an elective, but haven't really done anything else to learn much past that one class.  I think I've just always had a pretty good eye, or so I'd like to believe.  So those are my credentials when it comes to photography... I'm surprised even my friends let me photograph them!

Taking photography a step further, even though I'm not a skilled photographer, I'm self-taught in Adobe Photoshop (and teaching myself Adobe Illustrator now) and I feel like I am very proficient in Photoshop.  I always tell people that I may not be able to take great pictures, but I can edit them to be fabulous.  DO NOT ever be fooled... a great photographer ALWAYS edits their pictures.  You will never receive straight out of the camera images from a professional... the only time you should be okay with straight out of the camera images is visiting Santa & the Easter bunny where they print your picture on the spot... but there ya' go... you get what you pay for :)


Anywho, here are a few shots from a recent photoshoot that I did of one of my best friends and her family. I'll show you what the pictures looked like AFTER editing and then before... Editing is EVERYTHING.... Enjoy!

Here is sweet Miss Jordyn... Believe me, this child never takes a bad photograph! BEAUTIFUL!

And this is what that after picture looked like straight out of the camera...

 Here are J's attractive {and fashionable!} parents!  I heart Jennifer's boots!!

And here is that same picture before...

And another... {I love the coloring in the wood in this one!}

And the before... blurry huh?

I loved this one b/c of the lighting flares... They are hard to capture and add something really special to a picture!

and before...

and my FAVORITE of them... 

I loved this picture straight out of the camera... but I KNEW it had really good potential to make a BIG impact... and it did.. but it also helps having beautiful people to photograph!

Thanks JG for allowing me to be the one to photograph your beautiful family.. and for capturing the sweetest picture EVER of me and my child... I am FOREVER grateful!

This picture was a quick snapshot that she took of my child and I... he was along for the photoshoot because he and Miss Jordyn are gonna get married one day...  :)

I happen to think this is the sweetest picture EVER with the sweetest quote I've ever read... I breathe for this child. {side note...ignore the MemoriesToo copyright... that's another side of me, I promise. You can check my personal fb here and my Memories Too fan page here ...}

My first attempt at illustration

So after contemplating this blog for a while now and many sleepless nights about it, I tackled the process of designing the header yesterday.  While I love to design things, an illustrator, I am not.  I can find my way around Adobe Illustrator but photoshop is my forte.  So, be that as it may, I figured I'd find what I wanted on Istockphoto.com.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find exactly what I wanted.  

So, I decided to design my own!!!  I bought an illustration of a girl that I liked. Cute, but not me or what I had in mind.... 

I actually woke up this morning at 3:45am and could not go back to sleep thinking about her! (Let's call her Brooke... she looks like a brooke to me.)  So, Brooke was on my mind and at 5, I finally got up to start working on her... only to realize I was out of milk, which meant no coffee!  I put on some clothes and headed to the nearest convenient store and I'm glad I put on some real clothes and not just pj's b/c the world is bustling in my town at 5:15 in the morning!  

After a few hours of working, I have my header how I envisioned!!  Complete with pennant banner AND tissue paper balls!!!  

Now if I can just figure out the rest of this blogging stuff, I'll be doing good :)

Happy Hump Day!!

Doodle Design Party

A dear friends' daughter was about to turn 7 and we wanted to make it super cute and fun but didn't want a standard theme that could be bought at any party store...  Her daughter loves Justin Bieber (like most every other girl between the ages of 3 and 50) and wanted her theme to be JB, but wanting something a little different, we came up with a "Doodle" theme.  She was turning 7 and loved bright colors, drawing and peace signs.  Doodle's is what was born.

{Cupcake wrappers! My first attempt at making them!}

And luckily, they made the cupcakes turn out really cute even though my friend and I had baked them the night before and completely destroyed them! HA! We had a nice giggle session and we said we'd do it again because it was such good therapy for us!!

  Loved this pennant banner!

I used rainbow sheer ribbon and added extra ribbon at the corners of the pennants.

{ Bookmarks!!!! }

Her Mom had this idea and it fit perfectly with her because the child LOVES to read!

And I love how we displayed them too! The blue ribbons look so cute!

I knew I'd find a use for that tall candle thingy that I've never used before! 

{ Happy Birthday, Jordyn!}