Photo Tip Friday~ Perfect Color

I very recently got an email from a friend of mine asking me a few questions... one struck me as something important to talk about on Photo Tip Friday.

She wrote, "When I upload my photos to the computer, they always look darker than they do in the viewfinder on the computer. I am having to lighten ALL of the pictures, do you know why that is?"


I wrote back that there could be LOTS of reasons!

a) it is possible that your camera is over exposing a bit. Even though it looks right in the 2 inch viewfinder, once it gets transferred and you view it at 100% it'll be darker. My Nikon D70 used to overexpose... but my D80 doesn't.

b) do you calibrate your monitor? This corrects your colors and your darkness and lightness. I use a Huey Calibrater.

Get your Pantone Huey Here

Before I got the Huey I was a happy little photographer nerd who just color popped away. That is, till I shared Lucas' birth announcement with another photographer friend and she let me know that he looked like an Oompa Loompa.

Say what? His colors looked perfect to me! He was nice and pink. She told me to calibrate, which led me to buying my Huey.. and lo and behold, Lucas was an Oompa Loompa!

before

after

Now if you aren't calibrated you might not see much difference, but I hope you can see enough to distinguish it is important to make sure your colors are right and good before you go proofing them.

New Kit, New Pics....

Summer is coming to a close, and Fall is upon us. I am introducing to you Mid Summers Night....

Mid Summer's Night kit was inspired by the deep wine colors of a late summer's eve, or early fall evening. The colors in this kit suit both male and female pages, and is packed with tons of unique elements.

Included in Mid Summer's Night are 8 gorgeous papers, 3 frames, 3 butterfly stickers, 4 file tabs, 2 butterfly gems, 2 quilled flowers, 2 folded journal tags, 2 sequins, 2 swirl stitches, and 1 glittered edge overlay.

Get it HERE in TDC Boutique! 20% OFF introductory price today only!

Here are some layouts made by my Creative Team using the kit~

Also available is my Splat Brush pack for Commercial Use!

What a messy brush pack! Use these as brushes to layer paint like splats on your page, or use them in overlay mode to simulate water splats on your layout. Either way it adds a fun effect.

Included in Splat are 10 splat brushes in .png form. Not all are shown in the preview.

This item is for commercial use for Professional Digital Art resale or for Scrap-For-Hire. Get it HERE in TDC Boutique!

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Now, for your viewing pleasure... LOL! Here is that male senior shoot I had about a week and a half ago. Didn't these turn out So great?!?!? Brian was a champ. I think it helped that I've known him for about 5 years... he was very relaxed and easy going.

I've since learned after I took the railroad tracks pictures that some states view it as trespassing and illegal to be on or near tracks. They could fine you! Thankfully PA doesn't have any laws about this, so my shoot was OK. However, MD and DC do have laws about it, so no more track shoots for me.

If you are curious about your state, check THIS OUT.

Thanks for looking, thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

Halloween....

Yep, the title says it all! I am planning ahead, LOL! Old Navy put out the CUTEST costumes, and I went ahead and ordered costumes for the boys.

Seth has already been practicing his "Arrrgg!" because he is going to be a Pirate! How adorable is this? And for only $24! (Pottery Barn has one for $100! Holy!)



Lucas is going to be a sweet dragon..... I'm really hoping he is sitting up by Halloween, b/c how cute will the pictures be?

I've even got Nate into the spirit a little bit. I've talked him into dressing up with me (all of us!) this year. I think I want us to go as Dorothy and the Scarecrow. (we can use the costumes again next year and dress the boys as Lion and Tin Man. HOW CUTE!)

Packing is going well! yesterday we got most of the attic done (could I HAVE any more books?) and we packed up everything in the kitchen that we won't need for the next 2 weeks. Two weeks from today we load up the truck!

I just spent an hour changing the address of our magazine subscriptions.

And yet I still had time to create this..... The day Lucas came home, Seth was all smiles in his Big Bro Tee!

Credits: Andrea Burns color pop Photo Action and All That Glitters vol.2, Gina Cabrera Summertime Fun BG paper and alpha, ScrapArtist Dude papers, Michelle Coleman Frame and acrylic heart, Emily Merritt Word Topper, and Kellie Mize Epoxy Alpha.

So Much....

So much to talk about! I haven't really even had a chance to sit down and write anything out! I have a feeling that the next few weeks are going to be insane.

First... house hunting. Well, we saw about 15 places in a 24 hour time period. They started blending together at one point. We became just overwhelmed with our options and choices. See.... the church itself is trying to sell its Parsonage. So we have decided to just move into that temporarily, just to get to know the area and take our time. We can't afford what the parsonage is going for, so that's not an option. But now we have peace of mind that our stuff has an address to get dropped off, LOL!

Second~ My birthday was Thursday. I'm a ripe 26... err... plus 2, LOL! Thursday was "OK." It was kind of a normal day, what with Nate having to work, and me finishing up some designs. You know you really like your job when you can work on your birthday and not mind!

I got a really pretty cushion cut garnet ring and 2 books I've had on my list forever. The Art of People Photography by Bambi Cantrell and Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. Bambi's photography book is just stunning! I haven't had a chance to sit and read in depth, but her work inside is stunning and inspiring. I already have an idea for a new Burns' family portrait at the beach in a few weeks.

Third~ we started packing on Saturday. All of my walls are bare. My living and dining room are 80% packed. We literally have 2 weeks from Tuesday till we move. Deep breath Andrea, it will get done. I really abhor packing, this is torture to me. My mother in law is coming over tomorrow to help pack. I'm giving her the kitchen.

Believe it or not... but since people have heard that we've moved, my photography business has boomed! I've had 2 shoots in the past 4 days, and 2 more scheduled this week. I really rocked a male senior shoot... he looks like a rock star!

And that's about it! Here is a new layout from me.... Yummy.

Credits: Andrea Burns B&W photo action and Sticker Alpha, ScrapArtist Dude papers and painted stars, Lisa Whitney's Chalked Full of Fun's dotted border and swirl, Sausan Designs' Lil Jake's twine, Chere Kaye's Sequin Posie, Shabby Princess French Countryside alpha, Vera Lim Messy Glitters. Font, Susie's Hand.

Journaling reads: So delicious and delectable, I just want to inhale you.

Thanks for looking, and thanks for stopping by! :c)

Photo Tip Friday~ Dodging the Eyes

One of my most used tricks for portraiture is to dodge the eyes a little bit. Doing this really makes the eyes pop, even though this is a very subtle trick.

Start off in Photoshop with your photo already "popped" or color corrected. This trick I'm sharing today is usually one of my very last steps.

Select your dodge tool and use a Soft Round brush. Set the Dodge Tool to Midtones and about 15% exposure. Lightly stroke the bottom half of the eye, just a couple strokes. Make your strokes in a crescent moon shape. Be careful~ not too much! While you are at it, stroke the white parts of the eyes too.




Next, select your Burn Tool. Same thing, Soft Brush, Midtones, 15% exposure. Then burn the top half of the eye and iris of the eye. If you are working on a girl's photo, don't be afraid to burn the eyelash line too. I do this!


And here you go! Before and Afters with a blue eyed boy and a darker eyed boy, so you can see the subtle-yet-full of impact eye popping tip this is.

Enjoy! If you use this tip, feel free to leave a comment linking me to your photo! I'd love to see some of these tips in use!

:c)

It's My Birthday!

It my Birthday, but YOU save!

In lieu of my 28th birthday on 8.23 you can save 28% off your entire purchase from 8.22 till 8.24.

Andrea's TDC Shop

Enjoy!

:c)

Winners....

And the winner is.....

And the three runners up are

Forever and a Day by Rachel

Midnight Garden by Chelle Belle

Twilight Hush by Angyla & BusyIzzie

All five of you will be receiving the full kit for free! Please email me at andreaburnsct@hotmail.com. Tori, think of a couple elements you would like made for the kit!

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Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for my sister Alicia. She and her husband were able to make it home to the states just fine. But now they have a bit of a stomach bug, and are staying close to home, LOL!

I will be away for the next couple days. We are heading back to Rockville and doing 2 solid days of house/ town house hunting. I am so EXCITED! I love looking at houses, so this is going to be a lot of fun for me! I am hoping we can find something with a nice yard or very close-by park for the boys.

Name This Kit Contest

Help me name this new kit! The most original and fitting name wins the kit and a $10 Gift Certificate to my shop at The Digi Chick. I will keep this contest open for the next couple of days; it will end Sunday afternoon at 12 pm EST.

You can enter as many times as you like. The winner will also get to request a couple of elements to be made for the finished kit. Three Runners up will be selected and they will receive the finished kit for free.

Have fun and good luck!

:c)

Photo Tip Friday~ Get Closer

When you browse through your favorite layouts and magazines... have you noticed that the close-up photos are the ones that are the most intriguing and the most eye-catching?

Fill the entire frame with Grandpa's weathered face, your niece's chubby baby rolls, or your little boy's dirty hands (as below) to capture every gorgeous detail.

By getting closer you are focusing on your subject, and drawing all of your attention to the details. It's OK to crop the top of the head a bit! The only thing that I personally don't like cropped are hands and feet (in whole body photos).

Other tips are to squat down and get on their eye level. Or stand over them and shoot down... this helps emphasize their smallness and focuses on their face (as below).

Another very important detail, is that with my camera I tend to shoot with an open Aperture (also known as F-Stop). This helps keeps some details crisp and clean, and then it blurs everything else. Notice in the first and third of these pictures there are crisp details (the hands, and then Seth's face) and the rest is "bokeh."

Bokeh is an Asian term for watercolor effect.... all of this is also known as a short depth of field. (You would not want any bokeh for a landscape shot... you would want a deep depth of field.)

Now, my camera does this, it is a DSLR. If you have a point and shoot, I recommend getting our your manual to check to see if you can change the Aperture or F-Stop. The lower the number, the better.

If you can't change it, don't despair, LOL! In photoshop you could easily use the Blur sponge tool and carefully lightly blur areas that you want out of focus.

The best rule of thumb when you are focusing on a face and taking a short depth of field photo, is to focus on the eyes. You always want the eyes crisp and sharp.

New On This Thursday.....

Have ya'll heard about the earthquake that happened in Lima, Peru last night? I hadn't told you all this... but my middle sister Alicia is there right now! My parents just called to say that she was able to call them and tell them that she and her husband are fine, and are trying to get a flight out.

My dad was a missionary when I was a little girl, and we lived near Pucallpa, Peru for the first 5 years of my life. We moved back to the states when I started Kindergarten. Well, my sister Alicia was born there. She and her husband were just there for 10 days on a short term missions trip through their church. When we lived there 23 years ago, my dad built a little brick house. Apparently Alicia and her husband were able to follow my dad's rough map, and find the house! Isn't that cool!?!

Anyhoo, today was the day their team was scheduled to come home, but now we aren't sure what this earthquake means, if they'll be delayed or not.

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Thank you for all of your words of encouragement yesterday. I really appreciate it. Ya'll are very right. We will make new memories in our new home. And its not like we'll never come back here. It is on the way when we want to come visit Nate's family.

Last night was a little sad. At the end of Nate's lesson he told the kids that were there, and there was an awkward silence. One kid asked where we were going, and another asked why. We just said we were following the Lord's Will, and we had to go where He led us.

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There is some neat new stuff at The Digi Chick this week! And imagine... I have a couple things... LOL! ;)

This is the second volume to All That Glitters, expanded and improved! This pack is the perfect pack to add some sparkle and interest to your pages. use a little, use a lot, either way these are perfect!

Included in All That Glitters are 13 glitter splats and 8 glitter strokes. Not all are shown in the preview.

Get All That Glitters HERE

What a messy brush pack! Use these as brushes to layer paint like splats on your page, or use them in overlay mode to simulate water splats on your layout. Either way it adds a fun effect.

Included in Splat are 10 splat brushes in .png form. Not all are shown in the preview.

Get Splat Here

Guess What??? It's Homeroom Time!

That's right - the TDC designers have come up with a kit that just will knock your socks off or at least inspire you to create some really rockin' school layouts! This HUGE kit is on sale for a limited time - so make sure you go to the store and check it out now!

• 75 different elements from ribbons to paper clips to metal hardware and more! There are so many elements that not all of them would fit on the preview!**
• a set of 8 different school wordart elements
• 2 brushes
• a special exclusive font designed by Darcy Baldwin called "Chalk It Up"
• 48 different fun papers for you to create thousands of layouts with! **(note: the letters A, B & C are elements, not a full alpha)

Get Homeroom HERE

Here is my layout I created using the kit. You don't have to solely use it for school pages!

Other credits: Beads and beaded stars from my Wild Rumpus kit. Darcy Baldwin's Crimped Alpha, and Jacque Larson's Fun Frames.

How cool is that wrapped ribbon?!?! Emily Merritt just put out a whole element pack of them in addition to the few in the Homeroom kit. Check them out!

Our Big News....

A couple of you might have noticed that Nate and I have been going back and forth to Maryland a few times recently.

Well... our big news is that we are moving. Moving four hundred miles from where we are now.

Nate put out his resume in February, up and down the East Coast. The very beginning of May a church in Rockville, MD called us and wanted to set up a phone interview. That went great. So then they wanted a face-to-face interview. They were having the face-to-face with a few other couples as well. They told us from there they would decide on one couple and bring them out for a trial weekend.

That was us, and we went to the Candidation (trial weekend) a week and a half ago. Rockville is a suburb outside of Washington DC.

The whole weekend was SO wonderful. This new church is unreal. It it ethnically diverse, situated in such a culturally diverse place (DC!!) the congregation is young and are go-getters.... we are pumped!

We have a tentative moving date of Sept 12. That gives us slightly over 4 weeks to wrap up stuff here, pack house, and move to a new state. Last night Nate officially told our church, and tonight we sadly tell our Students too.

As excited and pumped that we are going.... I'm still kinda sad about leaving. It's bittersweet. I'm about to leave the house that I brought my babies home to, and saw my Seth learn to crawl, walk, and talk in, KWIM?

So that is that. We head back over on Monday and Tuesday to look at houses and town homes. We really hope we can find something!

I am a bundle of nerves, anticipation, and anxiety!

Playtime...

Layout numero dos this week.....

When We Play

Journaling reads: When we play.... we laugh. When we play... we love.

Credits: Stinkertoots kit, Jumbo Buttons, Glitter Star Explosion, Vintage Photo Frames, and Color and B&W Photo Action, all by me at The Digi Chick. Pinned Ribbon by Natalie Braxton, Susie's Hand Font.

I'm trying to think of something to write about... but today I have nothing. I'm too consumed by our big news, and I can't share that till tomorrow.

Five Months Young....

Take a look at the young man at my house who turned a whopping 5 months young yesterday. He's sitting tall, isn't he?

OK, I'll be honest, LOL! He flopped right on over after this photo. Isn't he looking older? And doesn't he look older than all of his 5 months? Lets compare..... below is his 1 month picture with Pooh......

Four months really makes a difference, huh? I can hardly believe that in a month's time he'll be celebrating his half birthday!

Yesterday was also another big day for Lucas. We gave him his first haircut. I'm not sure it even counts as a haircut though....

Before

After

Hardly anything was taken off. It was just the really random long pieces that we trimmed. What really makes it look different is that we trimmed back the luscious locks he had going over each ear. They were long! I think he looks a lot older, and now we can let it grow. Isn't he cute?

Remember when I was complaining about all of my mojo being gone? This past weekend I was able to scrap 3, that's right, count 'em, THREE layouts. I'll spread them out over the next 3 days, but here is the first one. I wanted this to be like a Welcome Home card from Seth to Lucas....

Those pictures really tug on my heart!

Journaling reads: Welcome home little brother. I will take care of you, love you and I will read to you.

For credits (and comments) please LOOK HERE. Thanks! :c)

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I have some news. Huge news. GINORMOUS news. Life-changing news.

I'll share it later this week though.

;)

Photo Tip Friday~ Strike A Pose

The position of your subject also makes an impression. A casual, comfortable seated pose is popular with kids. Ask your subject to try different poses: hands in and out of pockets, silly and serious faces, or have them try standing and then sitting. You may need to try a variety of poses before you can capture the right shot; just keep it fun!


In the above picture I counted to 3 and the girls jumped as high as they could. We took this picture 4 or 5 times to get it just right. Sometimes you also have to direct the pose... I wanted their arms higher and their faces more expressive, and this final shot got it all just right.



In this above picture of Seth, I had been taking snapshots all morning, and he was being pretty serious the whole time. All of a sudden I asked him what "his mommy face" was and this is the reaction I got.

The below pictures illustrate changing the poses. This little girl was pretty laid back, albeit serious as well. I liked the standing pictures, but she was still a tad stiff, so I asked her to sit.

She clearly looks more relaxed, and loosened up to let me capture the above.

You might also notice the different angles used on the above 2 pictures. A slight tilt or looking down (or up) on a subject can also mightily change the pose.

It's All Worth Just That Moment....

Motherhood can be very frustrating. Especially right now in my life. A very busy toddler boy, and an almost-5-month-old who loves to cuddle. All the time.

But, we have been so crazy this past month... Seth literally has been away from his father 3 out of the last 5 weeks. Not good. There are discipline issues and acting out issue we are trying to resolve.

So in all the craziness, and all the frustration.... it was well worth it, for Seth to climb in my lap willingly at breakfast, and just sit content and stroke my jaw. For a little boy who idolizes his father, this moment just filled my heart, as they are far and few in between these days.

And speaking of moments that make motherhood worth it.....

There is nothing better, I repeat NOTHING BETTER, then going to get Lucas up from his bed in the morning. His whole body just fills with joy, and he laughs out loud and giggles with joy at seeing me. He starts to kick into the air, and when I pick him up he bites at my shoulder to show me his love.

I look forward to that part of the day, everyday.

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I haven't shown any pictures for a while, so here you go....



It looks so nice to be able to play... and then snooze....

LOL! In this picture Lucas has rolled out and away from his little play gym and underneath his crib. He was calling for help when I found him like that!

And in this picture.... it makes me a bit sad that I see a whole lot more "little boy" than baby.

What moments make your motherhood so well worth it?