Beauty in back light

Well I am switching gears, FINALLY,  and stepping out of a learned habit...that is, to not shoot directly into the light, but instead use shade or face your subject away from the light.  WHAT WAS I THINKING?   the most beautiful photographs are always back lit, especially in ambient light settings.  


So last week, as the warm sun started to set, I dragged my equipment out to a nearby field and again using candy to bribe my favorite subject, I was honestly astonished at the results when I down loaded the photos.  Processing these photos was a breeze, only because I got the exposure correct for a change:))  But the fun part was using blending modes to soften, deepen surrounding colors.  I used a bit of sharpening to polish off the images but otherwise was quite happy with the results.  Now I can't wait to do more.  Warm afternoon light is so beautiful, especially this time of year when Spring is just around the corner.


More photographs to come.  I decided since I learned so much from many online free tutorials, I wanted to give back and share what works for me.  So in my next post, bring your pencil and pad and take some notes on the most simplest way to process a photo in five minutes or less (and yes that's a record for me).  


Happy Spring!

Welcome Home Shelby

Yes I have been absent for a while, but for good reason!  We traveled to adopt our second daughter from China this past October and although she and big sister have been keeping me busy, they sure have given me the opportunity to get some fabulous photographs.  Okay, I know I'm biased, however considering the fact Miss Kira does not like her photograph being taken and little babe does, it's almost like "monkey see, monkey do"; they each follow one another and I'm so enjoying this ride.

 Taken in Lanzhou, PRC  Wu Ke Xiu became our forever daughter!  

Captured in NJ "Forever Sisters"

I am so in love with these girls!  Each of them now tug at my heart, with unique personalities and giggles that warm you up on the coldest days.  

Now after being home with Shelby for 3 months we are getting ready for her big surgery in Baltimore the end of this month.  It's great to see that she loves American food and has gained weight, so here's hoping she heals just as quick.  

Thanks for peeking in.  For information regarding Bladder Exstrophy (pre-op care, etc) please do not hesitate to inquire.

Thanks to everyone!

Thank you to those who have participated in making this fundraiser a success.  We raised a bit over $300.00 which is more than I expected.  To those who donated items, a huge thank you because obviously this couldn't have happened without the sweet items that were generously offered to me.  To those who bid and won, another huge thank you to all involved.  Just know there will always be a special place in our hearts for the kindness of others.

Pretty Cards made by Me!

Photo #1 Textured Tulip using Chasing Dreams Textures

Photo #2 Purple and Orange ya happy set

Photo #3 Pastel roses on scalloped edging (courtesy of Coffee Shop's Free Downloads)

Photo #4 Same as first photo slightly muted with linen texture

These are perhaps my all time favorite textured flowers I have photographed.  The pastel roses were hidden in another hard drive and I'm so happy I found them.

I have been wanting to make something with them and not just hang them on the wall. So my sweet friend Colleen, from Chasing Dreams Photography gave me this idea.

Why not make cards out of them, so that's exactly what I did and I hope you like them.

The winner will have their choice of one of the four watermarked photos you see.   They will be printed without the watermark of course into a double sided open 5x7 card

THE SET COMES 25 CARDS WITH ENVELOPES

STARTING BID $18.00

AUCTION WILL CLOSE JULY 9TH @ 6PM EST

THANK YOU.

My Pretty Chapeau

I must say I'm a bit partial to this piece because I got such a great smile from my daughter as she modeled it for me.  It's probably one of my favorite pieces I've made but I thought I would auction it off since it is ready to go!

It's made of designer fabrics, tuille, ribbon and one beautiful  hand rolled dupioni fushia pink rosette with a dark teal silk hand made leaf hand sewn to it.  The hair band is wrapped in fushia ribbon to make it more comfortable when worn. 

It's so sweet I had to add a beautiful rhinestone heart because I just HEART it and hope you do too:))

STARTING BID $18.00

AUCTION CLOSES 6/27

Please stop by my new shop MY PRETTY CHAPEAU TO SEE MORE PIECES

CLOSED!

Fundraiser for Baby Wu

Photography Prop's and Fun Auction For Baby Wu's Surgery

After weeks of worrying and trying to figure out what to do so that we will have the monies to pay for the expenses associated with our daughter's major surgery this fall, I decided to start with a simple and fun little auction for photographers, using props and accessories as fun items to auction off.


It's been rather therapeutic and fun as I reached out to many friends, etsy sellers and even strangers who were willing to donate items, graciously to help with our daughter's surgery expenses.


So let the bidding begin! Don't forget to leave contact information in your post.


I will list the each item, the seller's link to their store and you will have two weeks to come back or help spread the word.


Let me first say that I am totally grateful for the support of those who donated to this auction and those who've listened to my concerns.  Remember every dollar counts and will go towards the $10,000 out of pocket expenses not associated with her adoption.  The 2 or 3 part surgery will be at John's Hopkin's Medical Center, in Baltimore, MD which is about 2 hours from our home.  Her hospitalization will require a 12 hour procedure to replace her bladder back inside her tiny body, repair her female parts and stabilize and fix her pelvis (which means grafting, internal and external fixation).  It's more than I can take in right now, considering she's just a baby, but I have the utmost faith in a fabulous muli-disciplinary team that will give our child a normal life, and that is what I am going to focus on. 

Second, if anyone would like more information on Bladder Exstrophy please contact the Association for the Bladder Exstrophy Community where there is a wealth of information for patients and families.

Also visit The Division of Pediatric Urology at John's Hopkin's Medical Center 

Please feel free to contact me with questions on Exstrophy as I hope to become an advocate for children with this defect.
Thank you all for coming by to help. 

The Organic Bloom

FOR THOSE OF YOU UNFAMILIAR WITH THIS NEXT COMPANY, LET ME INTRODUCE THE ORGANIC BLOOM.

I love their frames and have enjoyed watching their business grow this year.  A few months ago their frames were showcased on Extreme Makeover, Home Edition and their ideas and creativity keep on inspiring photographers and the public who like me would love to own every style of these gorgeous frames!

*Their frames are only sold through photographers so this is a treat that they donated one 8x10 FRAME AND COLOR OF CHOICE TO THE WINNER OF THIS AUCTION!

THEY ARE A GENEROUS COMPANY RUN BY A SPECIAL COUPLE, JASON AND ANDREA SOOTER. I FEEL HONORED THAT THEY CHOSE TO HELP WITH OUR FUNDRAISER.

8X10 FRAMES USUALLY RETAIL AROUND $75.00

THE WINNER WILL HAVE THEIR CHOICE FROM 16 STYLES, 3 CONFIGURATIONS AND PROBABLY 36 COLORS TO CHOOSE FROM.

Permission to use photo courtesy of The Organic Bloom

Starting bid $30.00

Auction will end 6/27 @ 6PM EST

Please don't forget to leave your contact information after posting.


CLOSED

Much to Blog about

Well this blog has certainly been ignored, especially since I have been using Facebook to network with.  However, when it's quiet and I have a moment to write I always find joy in blogging about what I love, photography!

It's been a long and busy winter and we are all excited Spring has arrived.  This past winter I added a brand new Nikon D700 to my camera bag  and actually gave my 85mm DX to a dear friend who could use it.  I am mostly concentrating my time on family and busy with paperwork and more paperwork needed to ready our dossier for our new adoption from China.

Currently I am planning to do some free tutorials on photoshop, maybe teach a few basic concepts on photography via the internet and then sell some fabulous photo props I am designing.  Here's a small sample of what I have in mind.

MY SENIOR REP!

Well meet Miss M. my High School Senior Rep for ****** High School, NJ. She's is also a budding model and continues to pursue her pageant titles. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to photograph such a special young lady.

THIS IS MY FAVORITE SHOT OF THE DAY. HER PROFILE IS STRIKING. I think the joke between her Mom and I is that I want her to wear makeup for another upcoming shoot and I believe Miss M. prefers the natural look. Hey I remember those days:)) Less is best especially when you have her personality!

It has certainly been fun working with you Miss M.  Good luck in your pageants!

FOR THE LOVE OF TEXTURES

I admit that I have become a photographer that absolutely loves using textures to enhance my portraits. My absolute favorites sets come from these amazing women: Shana Rae of Florabella Photography, Colleen of Chasing Dreams Photography and Jessica, from Jessica Drossin Photography. I must say I haven't a clue how they do it, but I know it takes lots of time and talent to sit down and create "art" that will look unique and give photographs that wow factor that in some cases often represents a painted canvas.

With some creative vision and persistence, using textures can actually help salvage certain photographs. For example in this portrait of my beautiful model Macy, I purposely over processed and over-exposed the RAW file in photoshop. Of course there were several steps I took in the before photo to get it that way, but for the purpose of this tutorial I am going to stick to why I did it.

I changed the colors in the backround using some selective coloring, curves to give it a warmer glow. Now Macy's skin is flawless and her color on the pale side so I could have used just a warm filter that would have done the trick, but for me it just didn't have enough depth nor the right hue I wanted for this image. By adding Chasing Dream's "Sun" Texture in an overlay blending mode I was able to create a nice warm hue and even cast a natural shadow effect on her arms. It also warmed up the entire photo and made it more eye appealing to me.

I don't like to erase or mask out the textures on the face and hands so I usually grab my lasso tool and select the areas around her, go to Select>Modify>Feather (setting the feather radius between 10-20) and then with the marching ants still visible, select Filters>Blur>Gaussian Blur (I like the radius set at 98) hit okay and this removes the marching ants.

The result is a lovely portrait that maintains the color of the texture without the textured effects, in other words if the brushes are a netted look, grunge or other design element it won't be apparent in the final image.

Not bad huh? Plus in this particular image I really didn't need to do any skin tone adjustments as this texture worked perfectly!!!

Please feel free to try this and just have fun.

Welcome Baby R

I must say that photographing newborns can be the easiest or most difficult sessions to work (depending of course on babies schedule) but this little guy and his lovely parents were just naturals in front of the camera and after several hours, these fav's proved that a little  feeding and patience got the job done! 

Sweet Baby

This sweetie is all about the smiles! We met when she was a bit over 10 days old...and

and so tiny!  These sessions are precious and I so enjoy watching the proud parents (as tired as they are) just hovering over their newborn.  Even the pets in this house were impressed with this lovie.

A Sweet Bat Mitvah

I must say that this session was so much fun and a two part shoot for me.  I was fortunate enough to have been asked to photograph the Bat Mitvah Party at home after the service and as it turned out it was a gorgeous hot summer day and needless to say everyone was eager to done their swim suits and jump into the nearby pool.  So working quickly I gathered the family, friends and the girls for a fun session and began clicking away!  The proofs were on my Simply Candid Photography Website and I was thrilled that they loved them all.  These are just a few of my favorites. 

 Congratulations!

The Next Miss South Jersey Teen Winner

Gorgeous with a heart of gold! That's just one way to describe this very special teen whom I happened to have the distinct pleasure of photographing a few weeks ago. She's a natural beauty, a normal teenager and simply adores her parents and friends.

She placed third in the Miss South Jersey Teen pageant (I think she should have won, I mean just look at this face) and runner up to most photogenic, YES, I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!

She also recently found out that she loves the world of Pageants...so keep your eyes and ears open because she just may be the Next Miss NJ or Miss America!

Presenting Miss M.

Welcome to my new Photography Blog!

Welcome to Simply Candid's Photography blog. I know it's way overdue (by a year or so), but thankfully my little business has been quite busy leaving me little time to write. However I've had so many recent inspirational shoots that I thought I would finally set aside a few hours to pursue my blog and share some of my work with my clients and friends:))

First let me say my daughter has truly been the main reason I pursued photography. She has not been very fond of the camera lately, but every now and then she'll "work it" for the camera and allow me to capture some very darling shots. Perhaps the challenge of capturing her darling expressions and the hours of trying to entertain her for "that amazing photo" has made me a more proficient child photographer. I guess we shall see about that!

Second, I am very grateful to all those that have continued to support and encourage my passion of photography over this past year. A big hug to my husband Dani, who continues to endure my endless weekend hours laboring in photoshop with post processing.

And then there are the countless photographers that continue to inspire me to exceed my own expectations.

Well, on to some sneek peeks of my recent photo sessions.