Baby D - 8 days overdue!

Has anyone ever been this beautiful?

Countdown Post #??? - Giving up

Needless to say, I've completely lost interest in this daily-post-to-keep-me-occupied business. I've discovered I actually have PLENTY to do, on top of which, many kind souls have taken pity on me and I've had many offers of social stimulation. Honestly - I didn't set out to gain sympathy!! When I got up this morning, I thought to myself, "I should really do a post about losing interest in posting". But, just then, I looked out my window and saw the delicate frosting of snow on bare branches that was irresistible! As I was shooting the branches, I realized that something was missing - I realized that it was the ring I have been living separate and apart from for far too long now (its not only feet that swell in pregnancy...) that I hope to be reunited with before the end of February...

Here are some of the "cool" photos for you to look at:

Countdown Post #6 - Newborn Gallery

Today's project was to finally get another portrait gallery up and running on the website. Check out our Newborns gallery (which we will hopefully be updating in the coming weeks!) http://www.studiodwlp.com/

Countdown Post #5 - Image processing

Firstly, I'd like to state that this post contains NO NEW PHOTOS, so if you came looking for an anecdotal mocumentary on my recent Tums addiction, or an editorial on the new garbage bins we've been given to guinea-pig, you'll have to wait for another day... Today's post is a series of "before and after editing" versions of a few photos from the last three years. I admit, its a little unsettling to post the befores - I feel very exposed!!!!

Post-processing is a topic I get asked a lot of questions about, by both my clients and photo students. While clients have a more personal interest in my answers, photo students usually want to know more specifics about editing software. I would like to make very clear at the outset: I do not claim to be a Post-processing Master, this is just me sharing what I've learned.

NB: All of the technical comments below are in reference to RAW files and NOT JPEG files. If you want to know more about shooting in RAW, I cheerfully encourage you to Google it :)

It's important to understand that ALL digital photos need some sort of editing. This is what we call "optimization". This does NOT mean an overhaul in Photoshop, simply that sometimes some tweaking can take your images from GOOD-photo status to FANTASTIC-photo status. ALL of the images we provide to our clients have been optimized. EVERY SINGLE ONE, ONE AT A TIME. The amount of processing we do to each photo depends on the image itself. Some photos just need more attention than others.

The fun thing about post-processing is that you've always got options - you can make the same photo look totally different, depending on your preference. Below is a photo from an engagement session we did, the top file is the untouched version, the second is a optimized colour version and the last one, obviously, a black & white version.

For all you photo-students: I know that a lot of people seem to have an understanding that editing software is neccessary, but they're not totally sure why. I'm not going to get into any software endorsements, so rather than talk about which programs are better than others, I'm going to mention some of the most basic things that need correcting

In the following three shots, basic optimization was all that was needed; things like contrast, brightness, levels/curves etc.

When editing portraits/headshots, you often need to be able to do skin correction, softening etc. as well as basic optimization.

Sometimes a photo in black & white is just better - it just is!

A huge issue in post-processing is correcting white-balance. In the photos below, you can see how very cool photos have been given a much more warm/cozy appearance.

Sometimes pesky backgrounds that you either missed or couldn't do anything about spoil a photo. Check out how the photo changes when you get rid of whatever was in the way...
Othertimes, you're in the right place at the right time and you quickly snap a shot. Unfortunately, (we've all done this) you COMPLETELY forget about changing your shooting settings and an important little thing called "correct exposure" goes out the window. I don't encourage you to relax your views on exposure, HOWEVER, sometimes a photo is worth salvaging. When you do this, the photo is nowhere near what it would have been if you'd gotten it right in the first place, but like I said, sometimes its worth it.

Photographers like to play with the colour in their photos to add drama or funkiness (or edginess, or romance, or whatever). It can be tricky though and is easy to go over the top. Proceed with caution when playing with white balance, split toning and overlays.

Happy Editing!

Countdown Post #4 - My mother the hard-core gamer

I ALMOST didn't get this one posted in time again! It's not that I didn't shoot the project though, I was just too busy to post.

You see, I was doing this...
Something I've been meaning to do for a long time is reshoot an assignment I did when I was studying analog photography. It was a series of environmental portraits I took of my mom playing the piano in her living room, a very meaningful project to me. I love the film shots I got, but I have no way to scan them myself, so I figured I would just do it again with digital.

For anyone who's ever tried to redo something they did pretty well in the first place - I'm sure they'll agree that its TOTALLY DEMORALIZING!! I didn't get very far, and I wasn't shoooting very thoughtfully, because it just didn't sit right this time. The first time around it was a very profound experience for me (this is the artist talking...) and I found that while I was shooting I was really exploring who my mother was. This time, it didn't seem as real...





A little while into the shoot, I discovered why. That was then, this is NOW (Again, a profound experience :P) I noticed that where once sat a Scrabble board that always had a game on-the-go (either between my parents or between my mom and herself), there was a new source of entertainment from an entirely different generation. Instead of Scrabble with a pair of my mom's reading spectacles (there can be no other name for them) sitting on top, here lay a brand new set of Wii remotes (which by the way, isn't even considered a WORD in the game of Scrabble yet). I thought it was hilarious. Below is a shot exactly the same as one I took in the last series, only this time remote replaces board.


I'm sure you'd all be very impressed to know that my mom bowls a 290 game (300 is a perfect score, for those of you less experienced bowlers, and is done by getting 10 strikes in a row), and plays at the PRO level. Go Mom!



Say hello to "maggie", my mom's Mii...

Countdown Post #3 - Continued

Here are the photos that should have been from yesterday!!

First of all, thanks to Lisa for the food idea (check out her website http://www.recipegala.com) I have been meaning to take some baking pictures for a while now, but it just never becomes a priority. Thanks for the inspiration Lisa!

Thanks to my mom for making icing, helping decorating and keeping me company through the prep stage.

And I now LOVE PINK AND GREEN TOGETHER!

So, yesterday's project was SUGAR COOKIES! I had the whole shoot conceptualized, I had the ingredients I needed and everything was coming together...until I rolled out my first ball of dough and realized I, in fact, did NOT have a regular-sized heart-shaped cookie cutter... I had a TEENY one. It was either butterflies, Christmas trees, or Gingerbread men. So I improvised...

Here's a shot from Phase 1:

(I wouldn't have posted this shot, but it was the only one from the actual day it was supposed to be shot on, so here it is)

And here are the shots from this morning:

Countdown Post #3 - Stay tuned

HAPPY DUE-DATE TO US! HAPPY DUE-DATE TO US! HAPPY DUE-DATE, NOW THE BABY'S LATE, HAPPY DUE-DATE TO US!

So...today's post was a bit of an undertaking... I spent the morning hanging out with my friend Angelina for the last time before she moved to Michigan (she left at noon and no, the pictures are not of us hugging our last and wiping our teary eyes) and then after I got home, I embarked upon Phase 1 of today's photo project - prep!...Which took so long that by the time I was done the prep, I had two back-to-back client meetings. Needless to say, it's now almost 10:30 and Phase 2 of today's project isn't going to get done until tomorrow morning. Two posts tomorrow folks :)

Countdown Post #2 - Tying up loose ends

Today's project was more like pregnancy housekeeping - we'd been meaning to get some shots of the two of us before the baby comes, but just hadn't gotten around to it. Finally today, we got down to business. It is NOT easy to pose when you're this pregnant and it is NOT any easier to self-pose. After a lot of discomfort, running back and forth to the camera, a quick trip to Photo Central for the wireless remote (which you can see in a lot of the photos...we need practise), two bathroom breaks and (Craig adds) a lot of heavy lifting...we have produced a small collection that we're going to have to be happy with...it's just TOO HARD!!!

Below are a few of the shots we got that don't involve blinking, hair covering Candace's face, hair covering Craig's face, strange faces and the two of us laughing hysterically.









Below are a few of the outtakes - just for fun :)





See you tomorrow...I'm sure :(

http://www.studiodwlp.com

Countdown Post #1 - Swelling feet is NOT a myth!

Thanks to everyone who has sent me their photo-project suggestions - they've been great! Keep 'em coming!

Today's post is a series of photos based on the subject of IRONY. Quick disclaimer: To those of you (ladies) who would like to start a family in the future, maybe you should sit this one out...

Second disclaimer: Had I done this a month ago, I probably would be weeping right now, but as this is the OFFICIAL COUNTDOWN and it's ALMOST OVER, I've never laughed harder at myself than when I was setting the self-timer for the last shot...

To Begin,

THESE are the SHOES:

that I bought about a month and a half ago, at 3 a.m., online, because I had a coupon. You see, I have special-needs feet, and Naturalizer shoes seem to always help, and Naturalizer had sent me a birthday-month coupon for $15 off any purchase, and I couldn't sleep that night, so I went on the Naturalizer website and found these shoes that were already on sale, and with my birthday-month coupon I would get them even CHEAPER....

The next day it happened. My feet had been slightly swollen for a couple of weeks, enough that most shoes were fitting rather snuggly. But this was something else...this was simply not human... my feet and ankles were easily twice the size they had been and I could no longer wear ANY socks OR shoes comfortably. I have now been sockless for a month and a half, and have been wearing the same pair of boots EVERY DAY!! How ironic, when I have just bought a new pair of shoes...

I cringe as I anticipate you scrolling down...

THESE are the FEET:

that I now call my own. Granted, you've probably never noticed my feet before, therefore you may detect no change, but BELIEVE me, these are DOUBLE the size. Let me put things in perspective...

THESE are the feet IN the shoes:

And if that's not clear enough, let me demonstrate with another pair...

(WARNING: THE IMAGES BELOW ARE NOT FOR THE FAINTHEARTED!)

Have a great day :)

We're Getting Closer!!

So it's now Monday evening and the startling realization is setting in that WE'RE DUE IN THREE DAYS!!!!! (Which we are perfectly aware will probably end up being two weeks) BUT STILL!!!!! THREE DAYS!!!! it's all very surreal and exciting and frantic and BORING. Who knew that the novelty of having all the time in the world could end up wearing off! I've played more scrabble and Wii bowling (which isn't easy when you're nine months pregnant...) and gone on more useless shopping trips in the last six weeks than i probably will in the next year (Many Thanks, btw, to my FABULOUS Distraction Team, Mom and Dad - who are incredibly patient and amazingly willing to chat on the phone about nothing!!)

So, I've decided that from now until the baby comes, I'm going to find something interesting every day to shoot and blog it, just to keep myself occupied. Unfortunately, I feel as though I've shot everything in my house multiple times over, so if anyone has any creative suggestions, BY ALL MEANS... leave a comment at the bottom or email me with them and we'll see what gets posted!