Two years ago I I started my photography business by giving my friends who were laid off with me the gift of a new headshot for LinkedIn. I want to thank all the people who have helped me through these last two years, and challenge myself at the same time. In fact, I also want to thank all the people who have been encouraging, or even somewhat interested in my quest to make LinkedIn a more beautiful place.
The way I'll be showing my appreciation is by offering a complimentary headshot in conjunction with a challenge to myself. I have a big goal to create 200 headshots of 200 different people in 40 days starting on March 1. I had a little bit of hibernation over the winter, and now I need a little bit of a momentum change, and a good old fashion BHAG (big hairy audacious goal) should be just the thing to kick off my spring season.
Here are the details about the challenge:
- The goal is to create 200 headshots of 200 people in 40 days.
- Headshot sessions will take place at Studio o2o 5 days a week during the 40 days.
- One headshots of my choice with light editing will be complimentary for each person who participates in the challenge
- All headshots will be available for web sized download from a common gallery with all the images from the challenge.
- Anyone who would like to choose their own images can pay $40 for the gallery set up, which can be applied to the purchase of any additional fully retouched images ($65 each).
- Scheduled times will be posted as Facebook events.
Please participate and let me know if you have any questions
]]>Just after the new year began, I spent some time with my family and got my nieces to show me some expressions, and here are my favorites.
Really it is just a collection of eye rolling followed by a more sentimental black and white photo.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the pictures in the comment section below.
To keep up on more pictures like these, follow me on Instagram
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For my first picture I'l be a little "punny" and say that it 'tis the season to be of good CHEER! Haha.
I've been trying to do an annual picture of my husband and myself, and here is the one for this year:
I also do Christmas card photos for my brother's family
Finally, here are a couple of our tree
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the pictures in the comment section below.
To keep up on more pictures like these, follow me on Instagram
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One of the things that made me return to Utah, and call it home is the nature, specifically the mountains. They are spectacular, and they make me feel tucked in to this little valley, all safe and secure, and planted on solid ground.
This is near the Jordan River where there is a lovely path where I go running, I love how it looks at sunrise.
Speaking of sunrise, I love it so much that I've tried to get clients to do sunrise photo shoots, and finally I got someone to agree! This photo probably isn't the best portrait to show his personality, but I love the crazy sun-flare, and sparkles coming off the lake right in the moment that the sun was coming over the mountains. (Note: in the session there were plenty of pictures that did show his personality, and his face)
Churches are ubiquitous in Utah, and this one is very near my house, and adds some local detail to my sunrise obsessed post this month.
After taking the picture of the church I turned away from the sunrise, and even the west side of the sky was amazing, plus I captured these birds in flight.
This is just a tiny snapshot of the beautiful place where I live.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the pictures in the comment section below.
To keep up on more pictures like these, follow me on Instagram
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This first photo is a bit of a rare thing for me. I actually had something like this in mind when I set out with my camera. Often, I take my camera exploring, and hope to stumble upon inspiration, but in this case I took my camera to downtown Salt Lake City knowing how gorgeous the light can be in the evening. I thought that capturing a street scene would be great for black and white.
This photo was more of a discovery. As we walked past this gun shop I thought that the mural on the front was kind of creepy, so I turned around to see if there was a picture there, and I was kind of blown away by the contrasting images painted on these two buildings.
After dinner we met with some friends, and Bryan here said he wanted a new profile picture for LinkedIn. I explained that a dark club was not the place, but he insisted, so I had my husband hold my iPhone with the flashlight on to light Bryan's face. While it is certainly not studio quality, I'm happy with how it turned out.
My nephew had his Eagle Scout court of honor this month, and I took a few pictures. This is his younger brother (also my nephew) led the opening flag ceremony. I like how seriously he is taking it, and how small he looks at the same time.
This is the Eagle Scout nephew. He gave a very touching speech about how much his Grandmother had encouraged and supported him through his scouting journey, and he presented her with a special award followed by this hug. I love the emotion, and from a photography technical standpoint hugs can be very tricky because you have to be at just the right angle at just the right time to get both faces in the shot. On this day I'm very glad I got lucky.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the pictures in the comment section below.
To keep up on more pictures like these, follow me on Instagram
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"I am smart'
"I like to have fun"
"I like to play"
"I love my family"
"I am happy"
"I am strong"
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the pictures in the comment section below.
To keep up on more pictures like these, follow me on Instagram
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I'd love to hear your thoughts on the pictures in the comment section below.
To keep up on more pictures like these, follow me on Instagram
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This sunrise is only slightly enhanced after the photo was taken, pretty much this was what I saw while driving to an early morning meeting.
This is Emily, and she attend a recent Handshakes and Headshots event at my studio, and not only is her clothing vibrant, so is her personality.
This is what I saw from my car one evening after leaving the studio. since I had my camera with me I pulled over and captured the scene.
This is what happens when I babysit, and all the older kids are in school. I decide to entertain myself with a little photo shoot, and capture the love between a boy and his blanket.
This is the beauty of a blossoming tree, it only lasts for 2 weeks, so I'm lucky that I caught it.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the pictures in the comment section below.
To keep up on more pictures like these, follow me on Instagram
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I'm always drawn to sunrises, and this was a beautiful view from the room.
The window was reflective, and I liked how the water spots looked, so I took a picture of myself looking at the sunrise.
I liked the light coming through the window, and the line of the drapes. My husband said I could take his picture if he could continue doing his work.
Eventually he let me get a headshot using the lovely window light.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the pictures in the comment section below.
To keep up on more pictures like these, follow me on Instagram
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This first photo was taken in 2011 soon after I had upgraded my camera to a pretty basic DSLR. I had some fun with my nieces and nephews on this beautiful summer day. Although it is not technically the best photo, I love the movement, bright colors and the joy.
This next photo was taken with my iPhone while out running withe a friend of mine. The sunrise was beautiful, and with a low angle at the top of a hill a relatively low jump appeared to be a giant leap.
The final three photos were taken in the past year in my studio. I really do love having a plain white background to really focus on the jump itself. Of course then I can also have some fun with the editing as well.
If you want to take great jumping photos, try taking them at a slightly lower angle than you normally would, and the the jumper try to incorporate their arms to add movement, and make sure to keep their eyes on the camera so that you see a smile in the photo.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the pictures in the comment section below.
To keep up on more pictures like these, follow me on Instagram
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As it turns out all my favorites seem to be the details. I guess looking at the small things in a room are more interesting to me than looking at the whole room.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the pictures in the comment section below.
To keep up on more pictures like these, follow me on Instagram
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A traditional analogy of a turning point in life is coming to an intersection and making a decision, but I think that life is more like a highway. (If you are a like me then you just turned that from a simile to a metaphor, and now you have a song in your head and it will be stuck with you all night long.) Back to the broader metaphor of life's turning point being like a highway. I think that you start heading in a direction that seems good, and just start cruising along, then there are seemingly inconsequential decisions that you make along the way, like changing lanes that can push you into a position of getting off on an exit. Now, life has taken a turn that you didn't expect and you have to make a decision to try to get back on that highway, or choose a different direction.
I learned growing up that I had no control over what other people did, I could only choose what I did, and how I reacted to what other people did. I think it is the same in life, you can choose your road, but it is up to you to decide what to do when it curves, or you get pushed off that road.
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When you think about a fading memory, your mind probably goes to a time when life was better, when the sun was brighter and nostalgia blah, blah, blah. What I want to talk about is something more immediate, impactful, and something that can make a difference on your bottom line.
If you rely on networking as part of your business strategy, you should be aware of the findings laid out in this article How Many People Can You Remember? the short version is that most people can maintain stable relationships with, and easily recall names and faces of around 150 people, and beyond that people can remember more with additional prompts. If you attend a networking event and walk away with 50 business cards, having exchanged yours with 50 people then you can bet that with every minute that passes you are becoming a fading memory.
Let's say in this scenario that some of these people liked meeting you and want to follow up and continue to connect with you online. If they search for you on LinkedIn, which of the following profile pictures would be the most likely to be an effective prompt for them to remember you?
This is something that is easily overlooked when you are filling out all the resume information in your LinkedIn profile, but the reality is that people will search for you, and will use the photo you provide to verify that the name on the screen matches the person that they want to connect with, and how you show up could be the difference between maintaining that connection or becoming a fading memory.
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Are pens and paper a thing of the past? I know that everything is moving to digital, but that is something that has been happening most of my life. As I sit at my desk, I still see papers with pen scribbles, (both words and drawings) and think that there is something more to it than just capturing thoughts. There is something tactile about putting a pen to paper that is very nice, especially with the right pen. I have a pen that I love because the ink flows out smoothly and spreads out on the paper if I hold it still. I thought about it recently when I had to use an old ball point pen, the kind where you have to scribble a bit in the corner of the page to get the ink to start, and then it skips, and scratches...ick. I think people who want to only use computers probably own pens like that.
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I think that I feel particularly grateful for having him in my life because we met when I was already into my 30's and I had a pretty great life already. I just didn't know how much better it would get.
I was kind of amused today when I looked at my Facebook and in the on this day section I had posted that I was getting optimistic about this new year today in 2009, and then just a few months later I met my husband. It has been so great having him to talk to, laugh with and share my life.
I'm also so glad that he is repeatedly willing to be my model when I want to try something new with my photography.
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The theme for the day is "your favorite place" and my favorite place is more of a time and a place. I love being around water at sunrise. I love sunrises, they make me happy, and I love the reflection on the water. I sometimes get disappointed when the sun is all the way up, because then it is just going to be hours of regular daytime.
I've considered offering free or extremely discounted photo sessions to people who would join me in the early morning hours just because I would find such joy in creating those images.
Until someone takes me up on early morning portraits I'll take nature pictures like this one at the lake by my house.
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The theme for the day is "Who are you?" and now, due to my CSI obsession, inside my head I'm hearing "who, who, who, who....I really wanna know..." and now I'm thinking that the word who has a really odd spelling... This is exactly how my writing was when I was in Jr. High and had to do journal writing at the beginning of class, just a stream of nonsense that I try to explain.
So, who I am is pretty varied, like anyone I have the roles that I play, wife, sister, friend etc. I could also define myself as my current job - photographer, but it is always tough to sum up a lifetime with little labels. I guess when I think about it I'm a traveler, through space and time, discovering new things each day.
Here is a picture that I took in my photo studio while experimenting with lights.
*as a note, I apparently didn't publish this last night, and left it as a draft. No worries, I'm counting it anyway, because part of who I am is forgiving.
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The past couple of years we haven't put up a tree because we have traveled over the holidays, but this year we spent at home so we got the tree out. I don't put up a lot of ornaments, just a whole bunch of fun Christmas lights like this light up snowman.
When nothing will make kids smile, try letting them sit wrapped up in giant Christmas ribbons. It certainly worked here.
This was a fun little brother big brother picture where they both had big ideas about what might be in the boxes.
I can't remember what I said to these kids to get this expression, but I certainly had some fun captioning it.
The holidays mean an increase in being home and cooking. I captured this image of my mother-in-law cooking with a new lens I got for Christmas.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the pictures in the comment section below.
To keep up on more pictures like these, follow me on Instagram
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This first picture is from a day that my husband took off work and was my model in downtown Salt Lake City. We spent the morning taking outdoor professional headshots in an urban environment.
I was taking some Christmas photos and this was one of the light test shots that I really liked. There is something very serene about someone reading a book.
This is the actual Christmas picture. I think I can actually see some sugarplums there.
Speaking of mornings and Christmas, I think Christmas morning is the best morning of the year, and so many of my Christmas card themes are implying the magic of Christmas morning. This is my husband and I in the studio using a remote to take our own picture. This may be the closest we get to sending out a card, so Happy Holidays to you. :)
I had another morning in the studio waiting on a client, so I took this picture of myself with a hat and scarf that I knitted myself. The whole thing was very DIY.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the pictures in the comment section below.
To keep up on more pictures like these, follow me on Instagram
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This Saturday I'm offering a chance to get pictures for your holiday cards, quickly, conveniently and for a great price. Click here to reserve your spot today.
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Here are a few of my favorite close up pictures for this month along with more of a story on each than I usually have.
I was asked to take some pictures of my nephew for a project where he was fishing, and then following up with the whole process of preparing the fish to be eaten. My sweet niece pictured here, was watching the fish being cleaned, and I think the look on her face is the look of someone thinking really hard about becoming a vegetarian.
Every month I have lunch with my chapter of The National Association of Professional Women and this month I brought my camera to get some photos of the group. This is our chapter president, and I loved the way the light looked, and how engaged she was in the conversation.
I had the opportunity to do a senior portrait session where I captured these two close ups that show contrasting emotions. As much as I love smiles in my portraits, there is something beautiful about sadness as well.
Speaking of smiles, I left my absolute favorite close up for last. How could you not be charmed by those cute dimples, and freckles?
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the pictures in the comment section below.
To keep up on more pictures like these, follow me on Instagram
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I actually started taking selfies, long before they were a trend. When I got my first SLR camera in college (note the lack of a D at the beginning because it was pre-digital) I utilized the timer to take out of focus, poorly exposed self portraits, then I got a Polaroid and was able to get instant feedback on my out of focus self portraits. Now that I have an iPhone I have collection of distorted selfies with myself and my husband at various tourist attractions. Last week we took these selfies to a whole new level. Now, to be clear, I don't think it is groundbreaking at all, the technology was simply my DSLR on a tripod, operated with a remote.
I had the lights set up in the studio, and ended up with some extra time. I started by taking my own headshot:
The process was pretty tedious, because I had a precarious tower of things from the studio set up so that I could set the focus before using the remote. Then I would get into place, take 5-6 photos while trying to think happy, smiling thoughts and use all my posing knowledge to make myself look ok. Then I would go back to the camera, assess the results, make adjustments, reset the tower, set the focus and try again. It took over an hour, and over 100 tries to get a picture I liked. To be fair, I did pull out the fan and have some fun getting silly with wind, but the point is that it was pretty inefficient. If I had actually hired a professional, I could have had the same results in 10 minutes.
After I got my headshot, my husband came by and I decided we could get a new picture of ourselves. This way I could skip the tower of stuff to set the focus because my husband could stand in. The results are included here for humor and as a cautionary tale.
There are so many things that could have been easily adjusted to make a decent picture if somebody had been looking through the camera lens and making adjustments, like making sure we were both in the frame, keeping weird creepy hands under control, putting an end to general cheesiness and shenanigans...
When you need to make a choice, choose wisely between professional and DIY.
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See the full gallery here http://www.kathymphoto.com/9-2015russia
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- This first photo is pretty close to what came out of the camera, with some minor adjustments to exposure and cropping for a LinkedIn Profile picture. After your session you will get a gallery with a bunch of pictures in this state to choose from.
- After I get your selection I start by removing and reducing the distractions. As you can see from this photo, most things are the same, the photo just looks a smoothed out.
- Once everything looks good with the face, I'll go to work on making some additional tweaks o the color, exposure, sharpness, clarity and anything else needed to make the final photo look great. This is when I would send you the link to your finished gallery where you can download your images, order prints, and share online.
- Occasionally, I'll get inspired to take it another step by turning the whole thing into a work of art resembling a completely different medium and style such as this pointillism masterpiece. Requests from clients can also illicit this type of inspiration.
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The networking and headshot events are now going to be a regular thing.
Here is the info you need to get a new profile picture in July:
Event details
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
5:30 pm-8:00 pm
Studio o2o - Room C
584 E 12300 South, Suite 10
Draper, Utah
Cost $40 in advance or $50 day of event.
To purchase in advance - go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/july-networking-and-headshot-event-tickets-17709416341
Here is how the event will work - On Thursday evening - arrive the studio, have a snack, meet some people, spend 15-20 minutes with me getting pictures taken, chat some more, then leave when you want. Friday I will send you a link to a gallery with 10-20 great options for your headshot that will include a variety of expressions and poses. Within the next week you will let me know which 3 photos you would like to use for your final headshot and I will retouch and return a final edit for those images. The retouched finished images will include blemish removal, wrinkle softening and stylized finishing touches to suit the mood of the picture.
If you have any questions you can contact me by email at [email protected] or text or call 801-540-4967
See you Tuesday!
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This bee was gracious enough to be slow moving so that I could capture this shot.
Roses are sometimes a little cliche, but the depth of field on the macro lens really helped bring a different perspective.
It amazes me how amazing even a single drop of water can be when you take a little extra time to look.
So, how long do you think that I stood trying to get a great shot of this ant before I realized that he had a bunch of buddies trying to climb up my leg? The answer - probably too long.
I've always found the symmetry and delicacy of spider webs to be intriguing, and the early morning light and sparkle from the light coming off the lake made this one work well in this picture.
To keep up on more pictures like these, follow me on Instagram
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Check the last blog post for all the info about why you need a new profile picture, I hosted an event last week and there were many people who wanted to attend, but weren't able to make it so here is a second chance.
Here is all the info you need:
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
5:30 pm-8:30 pm
Studio o2o - Room C
584 E 12300 South, Suite 10
Draper, Utah
Cost $40 in advance or $50 day of event.
To purchase in advance - go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/networking-and-headshot-event-tickets-17492182589
Here is how the event will work - On Thursday evening - arrive the studio, have a snack, meet some people, spend 15-20 minutes with me getting pictures taken, chat some more, then leave when you want. Friday I will send you a link to a gallery with 10-20 great options for your headshot that will include a variety of expressions and poses. Within the next week you will let me know which 3 photos you would like to use for your final headshot and I will retouch and return a final edit for those images. The retouched finished images will include blemish removal, wrinkle softening and stylized finishing touches to suit the mood of the picture.
If you have any questions you can contact me by email at [email protected] or text or call 801-540-4967
See you Tuesday!
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You need a great headshot for your LinkedIn/Facebook/Instagram/Twitter/Blog/Website/other online place that needs to show your face, but it seems like such a hassle to schedule an hour long photo shoot for one picture... I've been in that situation as well, and I have a solution. Come join me for an evening of networking and headshots. At this event you will join friends that you may or may not have met yet, chat, have some laughs and leave with a professional headshot for your profile pictures.
Event details
Thursday, June 18, 2015
5:30 pm-8:30 pm
Studio o2o - Room C
584 E 12300 South, Suite 10
Draper, Utah
Cost $40 in advance or $50 day of event.
Here is how the event will work - On Thursday evening - arrive the studio, have a snack, meet some people, spend 15-20 minutes with me getting pictures taken, chat some more, then leave when you want. Friday I will send you a link to a gallery with 10-20 great options for your headshot that will include a variety of expressions and poses. Within the next week you will let me know which 3 photos you would like to use for your final headshot and I will retouch and return a final edit for those images. The retouched finished images will include blemish removal, wrinkle softening and stylized finishing touches to suit the mood of the picture.
If you have any questions you can contact me by email at [email protected] or text or call 801-540-4967
See you Thursday!
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The first, and I think most obvious choice for pictures about spring are photos of flowers. Since flowers rank easily in my top 10 photo subjects the hardest part was deciding which ones made the cut to be included in this post.
The second, and not so obvious choice for this spring post, are these adorable girls who are in the springtime of life. Since school is out for them, they had time to come spend some time in the studio with me and try out some different backgrounds and lighting set ups. We had a lot of fun, and the choice of which pictures to include was just as tough as with the flowers.
To keep up on more pictures like these, follow me on Instagram
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After the hair was ready to go, there was a quick run through of the routine for the show in the parking lot, and I got a preview of the costume in action. I was a little jealous because that cape was amazing in the wind and the clouds were incredible.
After the run though, we took some time to get some shots that highlighted the hairstyle.
The next step for the day was the final dress rehearsal in full costume at the theater. Here Corynn and Celestine put the finishing touches on Jessica amidst the chaos of all the other students getting ready as well.
Finally, Jessica appeared on stage in full hair, costume and make-up glory.
Model: Jessica Fullerton
Makeup Artist: Heather Bruce-Billie
Hair Stylists: Corynn Nelson and Celestine McFall
Although I was mainly there to take photos for Corynn, here are few other images from the show.
Hair Stylists: Students at Taylor Andrews Academy of Hair Design,
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This first picture is just a reference point of what I was taking pictures of. There are many things about these pillars that made them so intriguing;
- The tiles were all reflective, but they also had different colors and antique looks to them.
- Since the surface was curved you could see different directions by looking straight on.
- When you looked at the reflection of one pillar through the other pillar it doubled the effect.
Here are my favorite pictures that came from exploring these two pillars:
I can't wait to explore another theme next month.
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I know that for everyone who has been hit with way to much snow this doesn't seem like a problem, but I do kind of miss seeing snow accumulate outside my house. I live in Utah because I like seasons, and I feel like we missed out a little this year.
The mountains at least got a little snow, but it is far away. Really this could be a springtime mountain, but it is a February mountain.
At least it got cool enough for some winter fashion.
With winter being missing outside I had a little fun with a couple musical carousel pictures inside. The first was in color...
The second was black and white.
This is what I found outside...in Utah...in February.
I'm looking forward to the theme next month, maybe I'll be able to stay more on topic.
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"First Love"
I've heard some people say that they love taking engagement photos because they like to capture the romance and the love. I agree that there is beauty in that, but I feel so grateful to have been able to capture this moment of true love. They have been married for 61 years and they still flirt and tease each other as though they are teenagers.
]]>Don't you just love those quiet sweet picture of children where they look like absolute angels?
The question is, does it let their personality show through?
I was recently laid off from my job in corporate America after 12 years of employment. During my time there I built up a fair number of connections on LinkedIn, and I didn't pay much attention to the profile pictures until I started studying photography. I started looking more closely at many of the pictures and considering the potential impact of the profile picture. I started to see how my friends who were dynamic and engaging in person had profile pictures that did not let their awesome show through. I also must admit that my profile picture was not good and did not represent me very well at all.
After all this thought about profile pictures I created a list of things to consider with the profile picture. If you want your awesome to show through keep in mind these rules:
1. Your profile picture should look like you.
This should go without saying since the picture represents you, but old pictures, blurry pictures or dark pictures can cause the image not to look like you. I think of it this way- if someone who contacted me through LInkedIn wanted to meet in a crowded coffee shop, would they be able to identify me based on my profile picture? If the answer is no, then it is time to adjust.
2. Your profile picture should be a picture of you alone
A potential employer will only be interviewing and hiring one person, so keep it simple and only show them one person. Along those lines I also have to mention that cropping the other person in the picture out does not meet these guidelines. There is something engaging about a person making a connection with the camera without connecting with someone else in the picture.
3. Your profile picture needs to have a decent level of photographic quality
This goes back a little to being recognizable. The image quality should be high enough to keep the image from looking pixelated. The lighting should be flattering. The cropping should have balance and hopefully some artistry.
4. Your profile picture should reflect your personal brand
I don't particularly love the buzz word of "personal brand" but it does encompass quite a few things such as your personality, values, skills, connections and the overall concept of "this is why you should hire me for this job." 10 years ago if you were interviewing for a job your first personal impression was when you walked in the door of the interview office, dressed up and ready to smile and connect with the interviewer. Today it is highly likely that your first personal impression is your profile picture. Make sure that the picture you post is the image that makes that first impression really show the best of who you are.
5. Your profile picture should visually fit your industry
When a potential employer is reviewing profile pictures, one of the things they are asking is "will this person fit in our business?" so make sure that what you wear and how you present yourself reflects the kind of place you want to spend your working hours. You can still use the rule of thumb for interviews, which is to dress a level up from what the position would require you to wear, but putting on a suit in your profile when you really want to work in a place where you live in t-shirts and jeans may not help you find your best job match.
I hope this helps you show your best self and make great first impressions.
]]>With the new blog starting this year, I also decided to have a little fun by participating in a Photo Blog Challenge with a new theme each month. This month the theme is games. That left quite a bit open, so here is what I came up with.
This foosball guy seems so happy and excited to play. I think that if he were real this would be his Facebook profile picture.
I did some editing on this action shot of foosball.
I saw the empty basketball court and it made me think of games that are not played when it is cold outside.
Some friends and I played King of Tokyo. I was the panda and this is my view of the game.
Care to guess how many times I had to pick up the pick up sticks to get this shot?
It was definitely not perfect. It was one of the first days that I was experimenting with my new speedlight/softbox set up and I had kept going after all the natural light had faded so the right side of the face was totally dark and there wasn't much that could be recovered by editing in Lightroom. The thing is that I still loved the expression, they eyes, the braid, and the tilt of the head so I still tried to add some luminance to get rid of the graininess in the dark areas as well as adjust the crop. This is what I ended up with:
This was better, but now it seemed too fake, so maybe black and white:
Hmm, maybe a little too forlorn, maybe another Lightroom edit:
This was ok, so I let it go for a few months after all it was just an experiment. Then I discovered Snap Art. software that allows you to transform photographs to works of art and it came to mind again.
I tried a few edits that I just discarded, then I started playing with overlays in Photoshop and remembered that my original concept with this series of photos was to include some Russian sage in the image, as seen here in another unsuccessful attempt:
I took a section of the flowers and adjusted the color and blur to come up with this:
Which I put on top of the last edit of the picture in the black area:
After that I put it back into Snap Art and the addition of the flower overlay gave it more texture and interest. I also intentionally left one half of the face smooth and porcelain like while using larger brush strokes to blend the dark side into the background and added some warm tones back into the picture.
I shared the picture in the Aliens Skin Snap Art group on Facebook and they featured it on their blog.
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Happy National Hugging Day! I hope you find someone to hug today.
]]>Last year I started to develop my photography skills by completing a photography course at Fotofly Academy where I learned how to be a portrait photographer, a lot of my fellow graduates are already starting their own business, but I feel like I want to explore more about what type of photographer I want to be. This blog will chronicle some of that journey.
I'm a little fascinated with how multi-dimensional people are, and how different situations can show different sides of a person and still be true. One place where this can play out is in social media. I had a photo session with my husband where we took pictures and one became his Facebook profile picture and one became his LinkedIn profile picture with very different looks. I thought that I would try this with myself. My husband took the pictures, but the set up, concept and edits are mine, so I guess these qualify as self portraits.
This first picture became my Facebook picture it is very soft, vulnerable, slightly sad and I used Snap Art to give it an oil paint look.
This picture is for my LinkedIn profile and is more straight forward, crisp and shows confidence and competence.
Which one is more me? I think it depends on the day, or moment, or how you define it.
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