8 Days 'til Halloween - Dig Deep

Have a little fun with perspective with your Halloween photos. Make people look bigger by shooting low and wide. The lower you go, the larger they will appear. If you shoot super wide (the smallest mm number on your lens) you can exaggerate their height even more. This is one spot where point and shoot cameras can have a great advantage over dSLRs!

So, dig deep for your Halloween shot and show us your results!

ISO 4000, f/4.0, ss 1/40

I used Matt K's Ultimate Fighter preset in Lightroom because I'm in love with Lightroom and Matt K!

Show us what you dig up!

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Don't forget to link me up to your photo or leave a comment and you'll go in a drawing on November 1st for a spot in Your Life: Captured Through The Lens, my most popular photography class. That means you can get up to 13 chances to win!

Your Life: Captured Through The Lens is a 6 week online, interactive photography course. We start class in aperture priority mode (the A or AV on your dial) and work our way to manual mode. Each class includes a composition method as well as technical shooting information.  You'll receive 6 pdf lessons and access to 6 videos in addition to two live online chats. See what Tracy Muilenberg, Debbie West, and Amy LeJeune have to say about class.

11 Days 'til Halloween

Lightroom can help you make any photo spooky in three easy steps!

Grab a well exposed photo.

So let's Halloween this up now!

1. In the Develop Mode/Basics panel, slide Blacks to the right to make it slightly darker. It gives your photo that spooky edge.
2. Now add Matt K's Nostalgic Preset. (what? You don't have that?! It is my go to spooky preset! A Halloween must)
3. You can fiddle with your Blacks again to get it just right or go with what you've got!

It works with people as well!

Enjoy creating some frightening photos! I'd love to know if you have a favorite spooky preset too.

One More Way To Photograph Active Kids

Adding on more technique to yesterday's 5 Ways To Photograph Active Children.

Dress them up and ask them to make a pirate face!

50mm | ISO 1000 | f/2.2 | ss 1/200

processed in Lightroom with Matt K's Edgy Look Preset

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for those of you concerned, know that Ian chose this costume willingly.
No bribery or coercion was used.  Really. None. :)

Reflecting The Story Behind The Photo

39mm | ISO320 | f/4.0 | ss 1/250

Sometimes I love how the story and the photo fit together so perfectly. You can read the inspiration on the DesignerDigitals blog and find the credits in my DesignerDigitals Gallery.

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My photo was edited in Lightroom. I adjust the Temperature, Exposure, and Black Clipping just a tad and then added the Creative-Direct Positive Preset to add a little punch to the color. It's been a go to preset for me lately. I like to keep it simple.

What Photo Sums Up January?

50mm | ISO 200 | f/2.0 | ss 1/80 | 20mm extension tube

I'm ending the month with brussel sprouts. Yes, brussel sprouts and macro photography have been my January obsession. A fitting closure to this month's photos of the day. We dropped by the farmer's market this morning at 730AM, vendors still setting up, light beautifully filtering in, not crowded at all. The perfect time to snap some photos, grab some more brussel sprouts and head home in time for yoga.

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The side light really made this photo for me. The extension tube light me isolate the subject and lose the detail of the other brussel sprouts. A little fiddling in Lightroom and the Creative-Direct Positive preset completed it for me.

Do you have a photo that sums up your January? What colors are in it? What story does it tell you? Link us up if you'd like!

Fix It Friday #42

You know me, loving a challenge! I gave I Heart Faces' Fix It Friday a try this morning.

Here's my take.

My steps:

• Import into Lightroom
• Added Matt K's Nostalgic Preset 
• Adjust blacks a tiny bit
• Adjust vibrance
• Add a little brightness
• Import into Photoshop
• Added Lynn Greiveson's Photo Texture
• Saved

You can see the original photo and more edits at I Heart Faces.

Rainy Days Are Not Camera Friendly

40mm | ISO 800 | f/4.0 | ss1/125

Yes, rain and most cameras don't mix. I take mine out anyway. I protect it. I keep it under my rain coat. I shoot under protected places. Because, this girl has to shoot! While this isn't the most original image, it is my image.

On our way to the farmer's market this morning. We got there so early, the vendors were still setting up. No crowds. No pushing. Ian could peer at the squid in the fish market as long as he wanted. I enjoyed it completely. And THAT is what I'll remember when I see this photo.

I will admit to thinking, I wish Shea would stop using the windshield wipers so the water would be even.

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I auto focused on the rain drops, and then switched my lens to manual focus before shooting.

Processed in Lightroom using the Creative-Aged Preset and adding a slight vignette

Shutter Sisters Treasure Hunt

Shutter Sisters is a daily stop for me. I love the inspiration and the supportive community. Today Sarah posted about finding treasures in your old photos. Explore them. Play. See them with a different eye. Process them in a new way. A rainy day grey makes this a perfect challenge for me today.

I dug through old photos. I have a lot. Seriously.  I've been shooting digital since 2003. It was a lot of looking!

I found this image. I was at their wedding as a friend, and of course I took my camera. I've always loved this image. Not for its quality or anything technically wonderful, it lacks in many of "those" ways,  but for the moment it captures.  Just after they had exchanged vows on the beach of Kauai. The better description would be, in the beach, as the tide moved in as their ceremony proceeded. I love their expressions. I love that they are holding hands, and making their way, together, through the sand and waves. You can't see all of that. But I know it.

I opened it in Lightroom. Adjusted the white balance, blacks, contrast and clarity just a bit. I cropped it to eliminate a stray head. Used a Wow Vignette and Creative-Direct Positive Vignette presets. Adjusted saturation and vibrance just a tad. And here you have it. Not perfect. But real.

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And the original image. Shot in jpg, which limits how much I can play. I've learned some since they took their vows!

What treasures do you have buried on your hard drives?