The Fun of Summer

They didn’t seem to mind jumping off the jetty repeatedly for me although it wasn’t the warmest day. Thanks.

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Composition: Drawing the eye using light

I have been studying. A main point that stood out to me as obvious but sometimes overlooked is that the lightest area in a photo is where your attention is drawn. By squinting your eyes you can see those areas more obviously. In a portrait the main focus is most often the face and eyes. This portrait was snapped outside in the garden and it is busy. Busy colour, busy environment. In this instance I felt the environment framed the subject well, but distracted slightly from the face so I decided to make it black and white. I converted it to black and white in Photoshop then identified the colours that needed to be altered slightly to enhance the face region while retaining as much detail as possible and minimise the background. When I felt I found a balance I liked I used a high pass filter with a layer mask to sharpen the outer edges of the face to emphasise them from the background and that was that.

Here is the result. As always with my photography it is a work in progress. I would love to know your thoughts. Particularly any ideas for improvement. My own critique included less contrast to reveal more detail in the face next time. I find it difficult to work that out. Monitors seem to make them varying brightnesses etc. Ah, well, back to the drawing board.

A Cheeky Glance

A cheeky look. Is she mad? Am I in trouble? Will you come and get me?

The Whisper of the Breeze

Captivated by the caress of a curtain sheath on a warm breeze.

Relaxing by the Pool

A warm summer’s day spent with family.

Waikerie Christmas Pagent

I took some photos of the local Christmas pagent and forgot to upload most of them. For anyone who was interested, let’s relive Christmas.

A New Year, A New Look and Another Self Portrait

I am on holiday so with family helping to look after my kids I have more time to post..you may have noticed?! Daily. Twice daily. I love this image.

It’s a shameless selfie. An interesting one in my opinion. If you look closely you can actually see a scene from my husband’s life. My father and son are also present. You see what he sees.

I find it difficult to take a straight self portrait. I have however enjoyed discovering myself hiding in all sorts of places.

I looked deep into my husband’s eyes and found not only myself, but our life.

A Few From The Pool

The summer break for my family is spent by the pool. It can get to the mid forties with dry, harsh sun. We can either be found in the pool or directly under an air conditioning vent!

I decided to use my macro lens to take a few shots. Unfortunately it is a prime lens and so focusing proved a challenge. Changing the manual settings for each shot when the circumstances vary so much is hard (at least to me). How do you cope with the challenge of altering the settings so often, so quickly?

I love the shape in the last shot. Such a shame we chose to swim in harsh shadow causing light!

Weekly Photo Challenge: community

Most of these people won’t even acknowledge each other, yet we live side by side.

Perhaps they will think to look into the eyes of those around them occasionally and smile.

Meeting Miss A

Not long ago I photographed my first maternity session for friends of mine. Not long after (about a week) Miss A was born. I had the opportunity to meet her today and photograph her and her family on the outside.

Here are a few of the first photos.

I’m looking forward to getting to have a look at the rest!