IHF Photo Challenge: Autumn Splendor
We did some fall photos a couple weeks ago with Mattea. It was honestly kind of a disaster. Things started off well and I got a couple great shots but it was cold, and she wasn’t happy. Tantrums ensued and we called it quits.
The photo below happened before the meltdown, obviously 
This was when she was loving the fallen leaves at the arboretum.
Check out the I Heart Faces website for this week’s entries.
IHF: Best Face of January 2011
This is hands down my favourite photo from January. A great example of that catchy phrase ‘kodak moment’. Luckily my 50D was hanging out at the table. I always thought it was really adorable to watch those home videos of the parents creeping up on their babies who had fallen asleep while eating or playing in the exersaucer. Because my child has the endurance level of the energizer bunny, I never would have predicted she’d completely conk out at lunch. One minute she’s happily chowing down. The next she’s asleep. I was feeding her lasagna, looked away to grab another bite of my noodles and turned back to find that. It’s all her – no posing, no bribing and no direction from me (honestly if I could get her to sleep on command we’d have a better daytime nap routine where she went down for exactly 3 hours so Mommy could get some work done).
Good luck to everyone, and happy voting!
IHF Photo Challenge – Innocent Wonder
When saw this theme at I Heart Faces, I knew we had the perfect image. Little M celebrated her 1st Birthday on January 2nd. She was surrounded not only by gifts, but all the people who love and care about her. At this age anything new gets them enthused, and often all it takes is the wrapping paper or box. Her expression in response to opening up her new headband embodies everything of innocent wonder.
Good luck to everyone who entered this week. I can’t wait to check out the other entries!
IHF – Fix It Friday #83
The Original {by Angie Arthur Photography}:
This week’s challenge is such a fun image, with huge potential for rich, colour pops. First, I did two curves adjustment layers. One to bring out the colour and contrast in the background (the leaves and trees). The second to lighten him up. For both of these adjustments I did masks over the areas I didn’t want to be affected. Next I adjusted saturation on the red, green and yellow channels, and masked over him (otherwise he looks a little oompa loompa for my taste . I threw on a burnt edges action I have and did a little unsharp mask. Finally, I used my handy web resize & sharpen action and lowered the opacity to avoid the crispy effect.
Here is my edit {Michelle of Bodh Photography}
Simple curves adjustments made a HUGE difference for this image. Give it a try yourself 
IHF – Fix It Friday #82
ORIGINAL
First I opened up the file in Photoshop CS5 and did a little under eye fixing with the patch tool. Next I did an overall brighten with curves. Added a little vibrance for her lips and eyes. I did a teeny bit of dodging to the whites and catchlights in her eyes, as well as a little bit of burning around the darker parts (less is more!). I used Paint The Moon’s free action, PTM Wonder Quickie, and played around with the different layers. Lastly, I used MCP’s free action, MCP Crystal Clear Resize & Sharpening, and did a mid-opactity mask over the skin on her face. Done and done in under 5 minutes. To be honest, it was a great photo to begin with which reinforces the mantra of getting it right in camera first.
Here is my fix:
Edit by Michelle of Bodh Photography
I’d also like to point out that all the actions I used were FREE. I’ve amassed dozens of actions over the past year (both freebies and paid) and the irony of it is, it’s only the free actions I use on a consistent basis for fun and within my business. That says something
Thanks for checking out my edit, and I hope you’ll give it a go yourself!
IHF photo challenge: Smile
I’m excited to enter an I Heart Faces weekly photo challenge for the first time. My image was taken back in the summer when my Little M had woken up from a nap. Why did I pick this photo when I have so many with smiles in them? Because it’s one of the rare photos of her giving me a great, BIG smile. Not a grin. Not a smirk. But a genuine smile that gives me the warm & fuzzies every time I look at it. I seriously love that smile, and the baby doing it even more.
** In my excitement of staying up really late to get first dibbs on an entry, I totally picked the wrong file to use as my entry avatar! Ahhh! So to those of you who clicked on the image of me, only to come here to find a photo of my deliciously cute daughter, I apologize That’s what I get for keeping my files in the same folder while falling asleep at the computer, hehe.
Since finding the I Heart Faces online forum I have benefited incredibly from the wealth of knowledge shared by other photographers and have enjoyed meeting new people who love what they do as much as me. I’m hooked, and look forward to getting my entries in each week!