A moment worth remembering…

Last weekend, the kids and I took a quick trip home to Ohio so that I could do a few portrait sessions.  As we were packing up the car, getting ready to head home to Indiana, I turned around and saw this.  We have 2 dogs that Gabe and Claire love to pieces.  However, seeing Claire look into this smaller puppy’s eyes and giggle was one of the sweetest things I have ever seen.  And, even though I think she was squeezing the poor little puppy’s face, I could tell that the little guy was enjoying her company as much as she was enjoying his.  I am so glad that I didn’t rush this moment to get back to our busy lives at home.  It was so worth watching and remembering…

Also, I received this question from Jennifer (who happens to live in Ohio–I have known her family for yearslast week:

Melody- scanning your blog…..have an editing question. Your blog pics are so bright, but the skintones are so “normal”, almost washed out. (which looks great and I love)  How do you do it?  Brighten everything and brush it out on the skin? Curves? levels? (Can you tell I’m diving in??? Am training on Apple’s Aperture…..) Also- you have perfected the perfect level of sharpness. So you sharpen the whole picture or only parts?
Thanks, Jennifer

Honestly, I do the majority of my editing in Adobe Lightroom.  It is amazing what it has done for my editing time and the overall feel I get from the pictures.  I do brighten the image (if necessary) and add a bit of contrast.  As far as the toning goes, I base it on the feeling I get from the picture.  I can look at a picture these days and visualize how I hope it will look when it is finished.  The more you edit, the more you understand what I mean by that comment.  As for the sharpness, I use a sharpening action for web images.  Otherwise, I only do a basic sharpening for ordering client orders.  I hope this helps…I’m not as familiar with Aperture, but know that there are some similarities between the two.  My ultimate goal is to keep the photos looking as natural as possible with a few extra touches here and there.

Please write in any questions you might have and I will answer them as I am able.  I hope to have a small workshop for all of you moms out there in the near future. ;)  I will keep you posted.  Have a wonderful week!