Childhood smells of perfume and brownies. ~ David Leavitt

I had the privilege of photographing a lovely three-year-old.  To me this stage of life needs the motto, "Three and Free!"

As a natural light, on-location photographer, I prefer letting children of this age explore, and take the lead.  This way, they express themselves and their feelings honestly. 

This child was lively and fun, and it was thrilling to follow her around with my camera and see where she would go.

"At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet." ~ Plato

Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life! ~Albert Einstein

Children love to play dress-up. When girls mature past wanting to dress-up as a Princess, it's fun to introduce them to multi-cultural ideas.  China Town offers a wonderful learning opportunity and for finding colorful dresses and parasols.  

 After a fun day of exploration, and new dining delicacies, we returned home and played games and had a photo shoot.  Next we created some memorable cards with beautiful digital framing,  and the girls sent notes to family members telling them about their adventures.

It was an awesome day, and a chance to build happy childhood memories to last for a lifetime.

When you have a baby, love is automatic. ~ Marie Osmond

Here is a sneak peek of Baby P and her mom.  She is six-months old.

Fix it Friday - Challenge #81

Today's I HEART FACES "Fix it Friday" photo challenge uses a photo by Michelle Johnson.  You can find her photosite here.

http://lovethatshot.com/

THE ORIGINAL:

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTIONS!

Let's be honest, there are so many photoshop actions out there, that you can create numerous variations with photos today. Here are a few of my favorite actions, and I used them on this beautiful photo.

#1 Heartland Action - by Pioneer Woman (because this photo had a timeless feel)
http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/2008/12/pioneer-woman-action-set-2-yahoo-yippety/

#2  Florabella Action - BW Champagne Haze
http://florabellacollection.blogspot.com/

#3 Florabella Action - Allure  (I love how this one popped the colors)
http://florabellacollection.blogspot.com/
PLUS, I added a Sunflare Warm Overlay from Patti Brown's Light Play (upper right hand corner)
http://www.pattibrownblog.com/light-play-is-here/

#4 Paint the Moon - Illuminate Action
http://paintthemoon.net/blog/
PLUS, I added on of patti Brown's flares, from her Lite Flare Overlays
http://www.pattibrownblog.com/lite-flare-finally/

#5 Mandy Chiappini's Black and White Pop action from her Fairytale Action set
http://pandmchiappini.blogspot.com/
PLUS, I rotated the photo 25% CCW and cropped it as an 8x10.

I can't wait to see your edits.  Happy Friday, and Happy Holidays!!!

Pet Faces Contest at "I Heart Faces"

I Heart Faces normally showcases human faces, but this weeks contest is about pet faces.

Meet Bella Grazia

G is for girly..., originally uploaded by Abby Lanes.

She is a Bichon Frise puppy who realizes the competition is stiff, with so many adorable pets out there, but her paws are crossed for good contest karma.

Good luck to us all!!!

P.S. A little over two weeks ago, she was homeless, hungry, filthy, and covered in one pound of matted rasta hair.  Please spay and neuter your pets, and remember there are rescues and shelters packed with homeless animals.

Photo Editing Fun / Fix it Friday #80

I Heart Faces has weekly editing challenges.  This is a fun way to learn some new editing techniques, and see what various editing tools can do.  This week's original photo is by Jessica Page, for the "I Heart Faces" Fix it Friday challenge.
Link to Jessica Page site

If you want to play along, and edit this too, or just read the tutorials,  here is the link.

Link to I Heart Faces - Photo Editing Fun / Fix it Friday #80

THESE ARE THE STEPS I USED TODAY:
Software Used:  Adobe Photoshop CS
Step 1 - Actions Used - Paint the Moon - wonder quickie
Paint the Moon blog

Step 2 - Dodge tool on teeth, eyes, and under eyes to lighten.  I used the healing brush on the older girls scar between her eyes, and I cloned the younger girls teeth to fill the gap.  I burned the background and the hot spots on the girls faces to recover some of the lost detail from the bright sun.

Step 3 - MCP action - fake blue sky (in the Bag of Tricks Action Set)
Link to MCP Actions - Bag of Tricks

Step 4 - Rotate 15% CCW and crop in a square.  To keep the fingers I had to clone the older girls jacket and shirt to fill the frame.

Voila. That is my edit.  I look forward to seeing yours too.  Happy Fix it Friday!

“The love of a family is life's greatest blessing”

     This time of year, people are trying to get their holiday photos prepped to mail to family and friends.  Each family has their own unique goals and ideas about what they want to capture.  I encourage light filled locations, and a stunning outdoor backdrop.  However, this family knew that their pets were important to them, and they wouldn't travel well.

They also love being at home, so they chose to shoot on their balcony.

Everyone was relaxed and comfy and the photos conveyed sweet, loving connections.

Add caption

     After all, family and friends is what the holiday season is all about anyway.

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P.S. There are so many avenues for creating family holiday cards in our digital age.  You can chose custom printers, TinyPrints.com, Cocodot.com, Minted.com, and this particular template came from Shutterfly.com

“There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again.” ~ Elizabeth Lawrence

Photography is all about light, and the light at this ocean front location, quite literally, gave me cold chills.  

I arrived early to our pre-planned location, Plan A,  and the giant eucalyptus trees were blocking the evening light.  Thank goodness for texting, I sent this family a quick,  "911, we're changing locations!" text.  Plan B was in full swing.

I headed away from the trees, and toward the Pacific Ocean, and spotted this warm, sunset light.  A quick call, and we were shooting within 5 minutes.  As a bonus, this garden setting provided us with the perfect prop, a sweet dandelion.

These children were so relaxed and even playful.  We had a mellow photoshoot, and we were all pleased with our quick thinking and location change, and the photos. ;)

“There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million.” ~ Walt Sreightiff

     It's such a pleasure to work with children.  These sweet siblings were on their way to soccer practice after their photoshoot.

They were poised and ready to model, which resulted in relaxed, happy portraits.

They both had bright, blue eyes, which popped with the setting we chose.

We shot, we scored... and they scurried away to soccer! ;)