Frog Blog

Lookee at what I found out at the barn last week!  Isn't he cute?!  He was tucked in next to a drain pipe on one of the walk-outs.  He was so little and green heehee!  Sorry, I just love frogs!!  I've been hearing them croak their love songs for the past few weeks, so it was nice see one:)

Sneak Peek!

I had the privilege of shooting Paula and Carlos' wedding just over a week ago!  The ceremony was held down by the ocean and it was just perfect:)  The bride was gorgeous and the groom was handsome as can be!  I'm so happy for them!

But, due to being sick at the moment, I'm a tad behind in the editing so this sneak peek will have to suffice until I get the final tweaks done.  Enjoy!

Olly Pics

I was over at my friends' house this past weekend and couldn't resist taking some shots of their baby boy, Oliver.  I didn't have my camera with me so I borrowed their D80 (same as my old camera) and started snapping away.  Olly is a total ham in front of the camera and was smiling and posing away like crazy!  He's so cute and his eyes are AMAZING!!

You can see the first shoot I did with him here: http://emilymacdonaldphotography.blogspot.com/2011/05/meet-oliver.html

These three are the shots I like best.  Isn't he handsome?

This last shot I thought I would use as an example of the type of editing I do.  I used Photoshop CS3.  (I really want CS5!!)  Here is the original image:

In my first round of editing I brightened the image, added some contrast, bumped up the saturation a tad (it's a bit cool in the original), removed some bumps on his face and then did some dodging and burning on his eyes to make them pop.  See below:

For the last round of editing I worked on evening out his skin.  I went over his skin in more detail with the spot healing brush to make sure I didn't miss any imperfections.  Next I created a new layer, painted over the areas I wanted to smooth out (under his eyes and on his chin) with a sample of his correct skin colour, then lowered the opacity so that it was very subtle.  Some people like to do this technique over the entire face, but find it looks a little too "Photoshopped".  I like a more natural looking photo, so I will usually only do it in areas where it's really needed or, in most cases, not at all.  See below for final edit:

I can go into more details on the techniques I use if enough people are interested, just let me know:)

And, don't forget to become a follower!!

Head Shots

I had the privilege of taking some photos of my Aunt last week.  She wanted some portraits done to use as promo shots for her Quintet: http://windrift.weebly.com/index.html  Her house is gorgeous so we had no problem finding suitable backdrops and, since Sandy used to be a photographer herself, she was a pleasure to shoot as she knew exactly what she wanted. It was a great shoot, here are a few of my favs:)

Saanich Fair Horse Show

I was able to make it out to part of the Arab Show at the Saanich Fair this past Sunday.  It was lots of fun to watch, but I felt bad for the participants (riders and horses) because it was so hot out.  They all did great though!  Here are some of my favourite shots:

I also got to watch vaulting for the first time!  It looked like so much fun, but I'm sure if I tried it I'd be on my face in the dirt within a minute - those kids have talent!

Autocross Pics

I finally got through editing all the Autocross shots - whew!  I think I have pictures of almost everyone who was out that day, so if you are interested in prints let me know and I'll email you some samples to pick from :)

Also, please leave some feedback as this was my first time shooting an event like this!

Here are some of my favs:

(My hubby [below] in his car yay!)

VMSC Race

I went to my first Autocross event at Western Speedway yesterday.  My hubby races his car at their events all the time and has been bugging me to go and, even though cars aren't really my "thing", I must admit I had fun!  I shot many many frames (I'm not giving the exact number because there were hundreds and it's a bit embarrassing), so it's going to take me a while to go through them all...but here's a sneak peek to tide you over :)

Birthday Girl

Today is my daughter's 3rd Birthday, so I thought I'd put up a photo in celebration:)  Happy B-Day Isabelle, we love you!!

Birds of Prey!

I made it out to the Raptor Centre this past weekend!  *Insert happy dance here*  I love it there, so many beautiful birds!  Every time I go they have more, they even had two Kookaburras there!  The shots I got, however, I was less than impressed with.  (No fault of the camera, it was all operator error.)  I got quite a few good Eagle images, but the Hawks and Owls were hit and miss.  I guess I still need more quality time with my new camera.

Here are the Bald Eagle shots.  He had a feather stuck to his beak which I found distracting, so I edited it out of most of the pictures.  But, I did leave a few "au natural" for those that might prefer that :)

Peregrine Falcon:

Spectacled Owl (isn't he the cutest thang?):

Turkey Vulture:

I also tried taking a video for the first time too.  (I keep forgetting my camera does that!)  I came across this Hawk having a bath, so I thought that deserved to be seen in video.  Note to self: use a tripod when shooting vid and leave excitable toddler at home haha!

Guess Who...

got a new camera?  That's right, I did!!  I got the Nikon D7000 and I LOVE it!!  A nice step up from the D80 that's for sure.  I haven't had the chance to take it through its paces yet, but what stands out so far is how sharp the images look at a high ISO.  I can't get over it!  With my old camera I was hesitant to shoot above 400, but with the D7000 I've shot over 1000 indoors and been happy with the results.

Here's an example of ISO 1600:

It's been easy to switch between bodies.  The majority of the buttons are in the same places and the menu is very user friendly.  There are a ton more settings on this camera though, and it will probably take me a while to get everything how I'd like it.  I'm itching to get out to the Raptor Centre so hopefully I will get out there this weekend and give the D700 a good test run.
 
In the mean time, here are some images from my Mom's garden :)  I only did very minor adjustments on them, they are pretty much as shot.  Have I mentioned how much I love this camera?!

(This image was cropped only.)

(Only cropped, no other edits.)

(Contrast bumped up slightly.)

Oh, and I have to share a shot of my sweetie-pie!