Beauty Before and After

I'm seriously obsessing with photos I took of Christina a few weeks ago!  She and my niece Brianna were awesome models for my photography practice session!  Had to share this one with y'all!  I wanted to share the SOOC (straight out of camera) version verses my Extreme Black and White Edit.  Thanks for stopping by!

BEFORE SOOC photo

If you look closely at Christina's eyes in the photo above you can see the reflection of my reflect disk that I had leaning against my legs.  I didn't mean to use it in this shot but made the mistake of not moving it away and so you can see the little circles of light that the disk produced. When I edited the photo below into a black and white they were distracting so I edited them out.  That was all the touch ups I did on her besides turning it into a black and white and adding a little swirl to it.  Love how it turned out!

AFTER Extreme Edit Photo

Prom...Was it really that long ago!

**Edited on 5.22.13 with additional photos*

It was!  My prom was back in 1986 and I can barely remember how long we were there and if we danced!?  I recently found out that the guy who I went to prom with passed away in 1997, so sad!
Here is a snapshot of a page from my Senior Scrapbook of us before our prom.
Oy! Look at my mullet and glasses. LOL

Why am I even thinking back to my prom you may ask?  Well, my friends son, Hunter asked me to take some photos for them before their prom.  I agreed and boy I had no idea what I was getting myself into!  It was crazy HOT, Hectic and so many other kids and parents at the same location we were at.  I got a few shots that I'm ok with but if I had it to do all over again.  I would have found a private location that was not visited by anyone else and cooler!  Ha!  The lovely girls were melting.  They were gorgeous!!  And the guys so handsome!  Here are a few shots from that evening, the photo resolution looks a bit off but you get the idea.  Thanks for looking!

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Creative Team Tuesday - Custom Graduation Party Invite

Hello there!  Today I wanted to share with you an idea that I am playing around with for a party I hope to host in honor of my niece Brianna who is graduating this year.   I simply used Photoshop Elements and some Rhonna Designs.  Creating these three pieces truly was so easy!  And I simply created the invite to a size called out at one of my favorite print shops.  I will then print out the labels at home on full sheet sticker paper and the Thank You cards on matte card stock.  Or you could easily send those off to a print house too.  As long as you know what size to create the artwork, it is easy to upload to many sites.

  If you are in the process of planning a party and want to design them and need help please let me know.  I can post a few screen shots and or answer questions.  You can find my email address on the right side bar of my blog.

The items I used to create these are found by clicking on the following links:

Quatrefoil Tool Kit for pattern paper and Shape for Photo Frame

Insta Banner Kit for Ribbon on invite

Insta Chalk Kit for flourish

What I love about using these kits is that I can then create other custom pieces for the party!  I will share more ideas next week on how we can continue planning a custom designed party!  When you have digital art the possibilities are endless!  You basically always have a supply of party goods at your fingers *wink

*I replaced our address with a pretend one*

Still here?  Are you wondering how I got my niece's photo in that shaped frame?  Well, that frame is a png from the Quatrefoil Kit that I linked at the top of the post.  When creating the invite you end up with multiple layers.  The first is the background layer, then for me it was the square on the left that holds the text, then another couple of layers were for text, then the layer that held the cute banner, etc.  So, I decided that I wanted her photo in this shape to tie in with the background paper.  I simply added the shape to the file being sure the png layer was on the upper most layer.  Then I clicked on that layer over on the left side of my PSE layers window so that when I dragged my photo in that photo layer was over the shape png layer.  Then I chose "Layer" at the top of my tool bar, then chose create clipping mask.  Then the photo is magically popped into that shape!  I then simply move the photo around and resize as needed.  Easy peasy!!   And for an added pop I added another layer for that same shape and just made it a tad bigger and filled it in with a color.  Working with layers is fun and easier than most realize.  Really it is!

I found an old blog post Rhonna shared back in 2009 that shows using layers.  It is found HERE

See ya next week!

Everything is bigger in Texas

Is what many people say and this ring is proof of that! Ha!  I was asked if I could take some senior photos of a graduating Texas Aggie up in College Station.  It's only about 45 mins from my home so I was happy to do so!  More practice!    This ring is outside the George Bush Library and a popular spot for photographs.  I am still working on finding the best pixel size to share photos so the resolution on these isn't the best but hopefully you get the jist.

And I also wanted to share a couple of photos I took of my niece and her sister.  I know, you are wondering why I am not calling her my niece right?!  Well, I suppose I could, she is the daughter of my nieces step-mother.  Confusing? Giggle.  Any who, I asked them to spend a little time with me one day after work to take a few photos and they were totally in!  Such beautiful girls!  I only shoot in natural light so we had to meet up soon after work and the day was a little overcast but overall I think the photos look pretty good.  I like to use a reflective disc when possible.

The photo above is my niece Brianna. Love that girl!  She is her mama's mini me and I like to think she looks a little like me too. 

And this is Christina, she loves the camera!  I did a very light edit on their photos, no touch ups.  They are that gorgeous naturally!  A few of my friends have said that Christina resembles Madonna from her early years.

Thanks for stopping in!  For those of you wondering if I have given up my crafting, I have not just a little obsessed with photography at the moment.  giggle