RAW

I finally did it! I shot in RAW and edited RAW! If you are a serious photographer, you are shooting in RAW. RAW files are much larger (about 4x the size of a jpeg) and are basically designed to make your editing better. Ted and I couldn't figure out for the longest time why my photoshop refused to open RAW files. After a lot of research and a lot of asked questions on the photography message boards that I visit, we found out that my camera is too new for the old Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) plug-in in my version of Photoshop (CS3). So we downloaded the latest version of ACR from the Adobe website and it STILL wouldn't work in CS3. I THEN found out, that I would need a DNG converter to allow those files to open in CS3, but they would open just fine in CS4. Ted had gotten me CS4 a while back, but I didn't want to use it just yet because I like the familiar. CS3 is my comfy place. Anyway, I finally broke down and had Ted install the CS4 on my computer and I switched my in-camera settings to RAW & Jpeg (which takes the same photo simultaneously in both formats) (JUST IN CASE RAW didn't want to work again). I opened the first RAW file and IT WORKED!! Woohoo! Success! I then proceeded to follow a beautifully written RAW tutorial online with my two RAW photos that I opened in ACR and I was so pleased with the results! I am only just beginning, but I KNOW I am going to LOVE RAW!


So now for the story behind the photos. We have been on a mission to find Eliot some slippers. The first ones we bought him were just adorable! They were "paws" with 4 claws coming out of each slipper, but they were too big and fell right off his feet whenever he would try to walk. A few days later, I headed to Target where they had a cute blue pair, the ONLY pair. I knew they would be on the small side, but figured that they would last until Christmas and then we could ask someone to buy Eliot a new pair at that point in a bigger size (the paws probably won't fit for another 5-6 months maybe). After two days of wearing the blue slippers, I realized that, in fact, they really were too small. Today, we tried Walmart (no luck) and finally Marshalls where they had lots of options for girls slippers, but only one option for boys. They were an adorable pair of Stride Right dinosaur slippers. I thought that they might be a little big, but decided to put them on Eliot's feet right there in the store to see. I put them on and then told him to go for a walk. I put him down and then walked away (a few aisles away). They didn't fall off! They seemed to fit just fine! Score!

Just then, a lady probably in her 60's saw Eliot walking in his new slippers and she said "OH, aren't you just the cutest thing I have ever seen?!" She then looked to Ted and I and continued "...and I have 7 grandkids and he is still the cutest I have ever seen!" So there you have it, Eliot actually IS the cutest ;)

Trying to Get out of My Editing Funk!

I took some photos of Eliot today while at my folk's house (and at the park down the street). I knew that I needed to get some decent ones to bring into photoshop (PS) and practice some of my editing. I've been feeling lately that a lot of my editing has become "stale." I constantly am comparing my photos and my edits to other photographers and sometimes feel a little disappointed. I have even posted some of my edited photos on photography message boards asking for constructive criticism (how else am I gonna learn?!) and the things on which these professionals pick up are amazing! I would never even think twice about some of the minor imperfections of a photo that just seem to scream out to the seasoned and trained eye. It's all part of the learning process. After this week, though, I do feel one step closer to "getting it!" I've tried a few new things with these edits today and am super excited to FINALLY be able to REALLY identify (and half of the time even remove) color casts!

I also want to say that these photos look way lighter on the web than they do in my PS. I am guessing that the way that they look in PS is in fact the way that they actually look, but will not know that for certain until I get some prints done.

In other news, my website has been purchased and I will be building it in the coming weeks!
Yay!

Eliot's New Poncho

There is a website,Etsy.com, where you can buy all things handmade/homemade. I LOVE this website! I got my diaper bag custom made for me on that website, I bought my niece some adorable things off that site, and most recently, I bought Eliot a fleece poncho from that site. The best thing about this poncho is that it fastens in back so that he can wear it over his car seat, allowing the buckles to be fastened under the poncho and closer to his body, which is ultimately safer. Here are a few photos of Eliot's new poncho taken with my 50mm 1.8:

Apple Picking & a Photo Shoot

This past weekend, Ted, Eliot and I went up to Parlee Farms in Tyngsboro to pick apples with my sister in-law, brother in-law and my two nieces. It was a perfect day! The weather was beautiful and everyone had a nice time. Eliot really had the time of his life! From the tractor hay ride, to eating the apples in the orchard, to running around with his cousins, and petting the animals at the petting zoo, it was a day not soon to be topped!

My sister in-law also wanted me to take some family photos of them and I am actually pretty happy with my results! Here are a few favorites from the day:

Frustrated!

I feel badly that I have not posted anything exciting in a while. I have done a couple of shoots for friends lately, but have sort of been discouraged with my results. I am having an extremely hard time with the auto focus points (AFP) on my camera (especially with my new lens)! I'm not fast enough to manually select the AFP so I rely on the automated AFPs feature, but the problem with that is, that when I go to view my photos on the computer, I notice that the point of focus (POF) is more often than not in the WRONG spot (for example, the focus will fall on an article of clothing rather than in the eyes as it should be). So what happens, is that I have to discard more photos than I keep.

This is Trina, my friend Marcey's 3 year old little girl.

Since I have been at this now since May (almost 5 months), I am starting to become a lot more critical of myself. I feel like this is something I should have mastered (or semi-mastered) by now... and I might, if I EVER took the darn thing off of AUTO AFP! I just don't have the patience! At five months into this, it's not cute to have photos out of focus!

Anyway, I know the best way to conquer this is to practice, practice, practice. Kids are probably the worst things to practice on too since they don't stay still! I guess I'll have to find something maybe slightly boring to practice on in the very near future.

Anyway, here's a couple of Eliot from yesterday...