This is my entry photo to I heart faces photography contest this week.



The category is "We are family". I love how the girls are just being kids and this is what families really look like. I think it's precious. If you want to view more entries for this contest just click on the icon above!

Make Over Before Pictures

I'm pretty excited about this post, and even more excited about the next one. These are some pictures of some girl friends from work. We got together and decided to do some rockin' awesome makeup (by Megan) and fun clothes. We had a blast as Megan painted us up and applied lashes...however before you can appreciate the final result I will give you the before pictures. I will post the fancy ones after I'm done editing them...ahhh the suspense. I'm working on my skills at photoshop with these and it's taking longer, but the results should be worth it! If you just can't wait then you can check out a few at Megan's blog for a preview of what's to come! These were taken at Megan's parents house which is amazingly beautiful.



















These before pictures are completely unedited and we only have on foundation and powder. These girls are going to kill me for this post, even though they look fabulous without makeup. Just wait until I'm done with the other pictures...we will knock your socks off!

Make Up by Megan!

This post is in honor of my dear friend Megan Butler. I've work with Megan at UK hospital since she started back in May. We quickly became friends since we both have such a creative side and passion for art. Despite the fact that our primary passions are towards different types of art, we love to chat it up at 3am about new ideas and provide some much needed encouragement about our work.

Anyway, Megan has recently decided that she would love to make some money with her talent as a makeup artist. She was asked to participate as a model and makeup artist in a photo shoot by Laura Daniels, who shoots the senior pictures for Walden Photography (who also happen to be Megan's parents). Here is the link to her brand new blog and a few of the photos from the shoot, with more to come.

We are going to have some fabulous photos to add to our portfolio (and blogs) soon since we are planning on doing a joint photo shoot this Saturday with some friends! It's going to be fabulous!!

Learning to Use Photoshop

I bought photoshop elements 8 a few months ago because it was on sale for $75 at Best Buy. When I got home, I downloaded it onto my computer. But became frustrated and overwhelmed as I tried to use it. So I just set it aside in my mind, telling myself I would take a class and someday learn all about it.

Well, my girls at work were trying to get me to sign up for classes at BCTCS for the spring semester. One of the perks of being a UK employee is that we can take classes for free! However, I put it off and never registered for the classes...bummer.

One of my new years resolutions is to "master photoshop". Well, at least to have a working knowledge of how it works. So the other day I started small and decided to work on designing business cards for My Day Job Photography. It took me 5-6 hours but I did eventually come up with a design that I was satisfied with. And I learned a ton about the workings of the program in the process! Believe it or not, I had a blast working with the program once I actually got started! Here are my new business cards front and back...

Front



Back


I've also worked on a prayer card for my parents who are international mission board missionaries in Panama. They were home for Christmas and were wanting some new prayer cards to hand out to churches. Here's what I came up with for them...



I must say that I have enjoyed learning to use this program and I am looking forward to working on more creative projects this year. I feel like I have a good start on my new years resolution!

Christmas Pictures

My cousin Lauren and her family came down to Lexington from Illinois for Christmas. Lauren wanted a few pictures of her adorable girls to put on a Christmas card. Danielle the oldest was unsure and reluctant at first, but soon warmed up. The twins, Lily and Ally, were fun and loved playing with the ornaments off my tree. Here are a few of the best ones...and a few of my favorite outtakes...

Alia

So recently I discovered that my cat is a model. No, I'm not kidding. The other day she was laying on my newly made bed with eyes that said, "Shoot me!" She was a great model, she even knew how to find the light and gave me some great angles.

Ok, so I admit that I have become a little bored since it's so cold and I am unable to take as many pictures of human subjects here lately. However, Alia is still a pretty good model, but I'll let you be the judge...



















I really do see some Top Model potential here...but mostly it's probably just boredom.

Rachael and Lenny Christmas Photos

Racheal and Lenny were wanting to get some photos taken for their Christmas cards. The only problem here lately is the cold dreary weather. Fortunately they came up with an alternative, which was taking pictures where they attend church at Christ the King Cathedral in Lexington, KY. We were hoping to get some outside as well, however the weather did not cooperate and not 5mins after we headed outside the rain came down to accompany the gusts of wind that we were already experiencing. Despite all this I believe we managed to get a few good shots indoors and we are going to reschedule hoping for better weather!

This is my first shoot where I used primarily artificial light. My new flash was great, but I still have a lot to learn about the art of artificial lighting. Here are a few of my favorites...