Orchids and Portraits

I photographed these orchids the same day I photographed the mums in the previous post. I was having a blast with the lighting! I have decided my room has the best light in our house. It has the least reflection off (orange and red!) roofs next door, and provides the whitest light. I also had fun photographing my sister in the same room a few days ago... and got some nice results!

 

It is so fun to discover great places to take photos....I've always had a hard time with indoor lighting, and it was great to find a place with good light! 

HDR Effect?

Do you remember my post about HDR?

Well, since then, I've doing more researching and reading about HDR.

And I've found out how to simulate the HDR look in Lightroom.

I took some photos of beautiful sunsets while on a trip last week,

and I decided to try something.

 You see this photo? The sky is a lovely color. but the waves are so dark...what if I lightened the photo so that the waves are exposed properly...?

Ta da! But look at the poor sky. Washed out. :( So much for that.

But then I remembered something. Lightroom has this awesome tool called "adjustment brush".

You can set exposure, clarity, sharpness, saturation, etc, and then "paint" it on the photo wherever you want it. 

So:

I took the adjustment brush and lowered the exposure just a tad. 

Then I painted over the top quarter of the photo, where the sky is. 

See? It is darker. The photo is way more balanced, and it has an HDRish look to it!

Isn't that awesome!?

Naturally, I went crazy with it, and had a ball editing these next photos. :D

Those stars made my day :)

Okay, now you go try! It isn't hard. If you don't have Lightroom, don't despair. Look around a bit, and you might find other options. I've heard good things about GIMP, a free photo editing program. 

I'd love to see your edits! 

(Feel free to leave a comment with a link. :))

Michael's Birthday: the Cake

Golden Sky

 I've been enjoying editing these photos the past day or two. They had a really "golden" look to them, and I had fun playing with some overexposure... Let me know what you think. :)

Have a lovely week!

7 Things I've Been Loving Lately

 The title says it all...here are seven things I've been loving lately:

1. The New Year.

I love the anticipation, the new starts, the goals, all the things to look forward to... :) (and a new planner!)

2. The Word.

Speaking of new starts and goals, I've decided to read through the whole Bible this year.
Something I've never done... about time to do it!

I'm afraid a bout of cold and fever put me behind a week or so, but I'm working hard to catch up!

3. Air-conditioning.

For those days when your sick sibling needs a little cool air, or when you are really tired of having sweat dripping down your back. :P

4. Burt's Bees Soap.

I got a little sample tube from a friend, and loved it so much I asked for more for my birthday. 

This soap is amazing. 'Nuff said.

5. Portable Tripods.

Who knew they came so small!? I got it for Christmas, and it fits in my camera case! :D

6. Lava Lamps.

Call me weird, but there's nothing like a lava lamp for a happy glow in a dark room. Makes me smile :)

7. Cat Yawns.

One of the funniest things I've seen.
She obligingly yawned for the camera yesterday, and my whole family got a kick out of the photos I got.

Is there anything that you've been loving lately?

Park Lights

 Earlier this week my family and I went out for dinner and then to a park to walk around and look at Christmas lights. My camera doesn't shoot well in low light situations, so I had to take photos on a slower shutter speed. 

As a result,  many of my photos were blurry from an unsteady hand ;)

But I got some that were good, and it'll give you a little of an idea of what Christmas is like here!

I can't get over how wintry this photo looks.... but seriously, it was like 80 degrees outside. These are the only pine trees I've seen in this city!

Nothin' like a plastic Santa parachuting out of a tree to get you in the Christmas mood! ;P

Well, merry Christmas to all! 

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6