More photoshop

What exactly do I do? It all depends on the photo.

This one:

Again, adjusted the RAW image for exposure and color balance, ran my quickie actions (it's a slight sharpen, a curves adjustment, and a levels adjustment...oh and Noiseware/Portraiture to help smooth out the grain if there is any).

I take this image, and I "pick it apart" in my head. I do not like how bright the grass is. Not much I could do about that since I took it in full sun, which left Katie slightly underexposed in the SOOC shot. This image I adjusted exposure down slightly and brightened it. I do not care for how light the pink dress has become either. I also do not like that red dot in the background! LOL



So, what did I do exactly? I took out the curves and the levels, then I ran an action that is called V-Pop, which has a slight orange tint to it along with the curves pop (why I took out the basic curves and levels). I then adjust the opacity of it, use layer masks to mask out the grass (don't like it popped as it turned it too bright again). After running that, I ran another action that pushes up the "blues" in the photos and saturates them...at least that is what I think it does. After running that I again adjust opacity and use layer masks to mask the portions I do not want adjusted. Finally, I run a vignette action that I bought and love. It's fully adjustable on the shadows, midtones, and highlights...typically I only adjust the midtones, and then after it is done I use a layer mask. Surprise. When running the vignette, you have to REALLY watch out for "halo effect" around the subject. When I'm in a hurry, I often don't care. If I'm printing it, then I really pay attention to it.

OH, prior to running the V-Pop action I played with the eyes...sharpening the edges and brightening the irises.

This image, I did not like the full frame crop that I had in camera, and adjusted for a creative crop (many times I do not do this step for putting on the web). I like this crop, it's a 1::2 ratio.

Notice, the adjustments I made are MINOR ones. Each step is done on it's own layer, and the background image is rarely changed (it gets the basic defog, noiseware/portraiture, and sometimes further sharpening...but only in rare cases). As for that pesky red dot? I removed it on the background image. I used the patch tool and corrected it. Patch tool is great for the portions of an image where you do not have a lot of texture (or that texture is blurred). Not so great on things like hair, clothing, grass that is in focus...

On my way to bed...

I noticed the lights were still on upstairs. So I went up to turn them off. Since I was up there I might as well check to see if I had any new emails. Since I was checking emails I might as well check to see if any of the blogs I read had updated in the last few hours. A few had, so I had some fun reading. A friend saw I was online, we chatted for a few. We ogled boutique clothing on ebay, which meant I found something I wanted for Katie. So, I emailed the link to another friend to ask her opinion. Since I was emailing her, I thought I would check to see who was online on my forums. Which meant that I might as well check to see if anything had happened in the world of China adoption. Or adoption in general. Then, I thought I would check on another blog.

At which point I noticed the time...at least an hour has passed.

I turned out the lights and was on my way to bed...

Katie cried. Samuel coughed. Backs rubbed. Water gotten. 30 more minutes have passed.

I'm going to bed!

Dreaming of Disney

A friend online is planning her trip, we got to talking, and now I'm dreaming of Disney. Thrill rides, food, characters, hot humid weather, monorail rides, and way too expensive park food. Ah....the stuff of dreams.

Photos from our last trip:








You know, the kids always seem to behave better, we seem to laugh more, play more, and enjoy each other more while at Disney. At least that is what I remember...until I see the photos of the tantrums.

and for those that know about this ride...further proof we're not competitive or anything...

Dh's score:

My score:


I think we need a rematch! LOL Those scores are the result of having ridden this ride about a total of 40 times now. Or are we closer to 100 times than I realize?

A few portraits to share...

my cousin's had me take a few portraits of their kids when we were together recently, and wanted to show them a few.



oh look...another one of Katie! LOL

Thankful Thursday

Because we are commanded to be thankful in all things...

I'm thankful for our snotty nosed household, making this the 7th week of "pestilence" in our home. We have had days of being healthy, but I believe we've yet to go a full 7 days. I believe this is some sort of record. Yes I do. 3 are "down" with 2 to go...will they succumb? Will we make it to 8 weeks?

It's a mild cold, caught from cousins over Easter I'm sure. I'll take the cold since I loved seeing everyone.

Of course, with spring arriving and everything "pollinating" it could easily be allergies.

Wow....what memories

Samuel is roughly the same age as Katie in these photos, and JM is roughly Samuel's age now...wow.







I'm looking for older ones of JM...I know I have a few scanned in of him from early on, but it's tough...oh wait I have ONE from when he was 12 months. However, it's not wanting to upload at the moment.

New skill!

Do you notice what is not in the background? What is not up? What is causing me much stress? A few heart stopping moments?





The gate! Katie can navigate stairs now. Our lives will never be the same.

Photoshop Magic

This is the difference between my batch post-processing and my normal post-processing!

Batch: Not bad, pretty much straight out of the camera with slight adjustments to the RAW image, then sharpened slightly, colors popped, and that's it.


This one has my normal post-processing to ready for printing.


I do the normal stuff, then I vingette the image (darken the outer edges). I ran an action that sort of makes the color vivid. It's one of my favorites...on certain images. Sometimes it doesn't look really good, others it looks great.

I'll show you others at a later date!

for now though, direct your thoughts to "Loving Lia" blog to the right. She's being seen by the neurosurgeon on Wednesday. I'm hoping that her parents get lots of answers.

Just a few from Great Grandma's house

These are NOT post-processed/edited how I plan on finishing them, but I had a few requests to see Katie in her Easter dress. :) Okay, ONE of the dresses!

A little bit of Easter in our life...

Just a little bit of Easter fun from our family...

First up, Friday night. We got to Grandma's house late, about 9pm, and she had it all set up to actually dye Easter eggs. I was going to just go with the plastic eggs, but traditions held strong!

Katie was amazed at the magically changing color eggs.




But I think she liked "marking" them up more, but only with the pink marker. I tried to give her the yellow one, but she handed it back. I tried the blue and she shook her head.



John Mark (needing another fingernail trim) showing off his GREEN egg. Notice his carton in the background? It's, well, a little monochromatic don't you think?!


close up of his "egg carton" Gosh I love that kid! He's just so much fun, and he definitely knows what he likes!



Katie and her cousin "Dee-uhhhhn" while we finished up the big kids eggs. Dylan (or oh my gosh is it Dillon? I'm having a "mom-nesia" moment and can not remember...I think it's Dylan though) told Katie to share that tea set! It was quite the non-verbal discussion between the two of them.




Grandma bought all her grandkids an Easter surprise! Samuel happily showed us the chocolate bunny and candy filled eggs. Mitchell (Dylan's older brother and yes I know how to spell his name) could not wait to eat that candy. Supposedly they did not, but I'm thinking those 3 bigger boys conspired to eat some of it that night. Spending the night with your cousins is the best thing I believe. Especially at holidays. I'm so excited that my boys get to experience that fun.



Saturday we got up and went to visit MY grandmother, the kids' Great Grandmother. Those photos...well, I didn't take them with the point and shoot, so they'll have to be uploaded later. Suffice it to say, lots of people, great fun, so happy to see everyone...Katie was overwhelmed.

Sunday! :) We sadly have no photos from earlier than the egg hunt. We didn't put the kids in Easter clothes either...it was COLD!

Katie never did get the full hang of "egg hunting" as she would look at the eggs and point. She thought it was great fun when the neighbor's dog grabbed the pink real egg and took off with it.


One of our best hidden eggs! That yellow blended perfectly with the yellow of the forsythia bush!


Look at Samuel finding eggs! He finally was able to compete with JM this year in finding eggs. In fact, he saw (with a tiny bit of help of me picking him up to LOOK for the yellow egg) one hard to find egg, grabbed another when JM went to get it (ooh that was close), and managed to find other "hard to find" eggs this year. :)


A snapshot during the egg hunt...Samuel running off, and while it may look like JM and Mitchell posed...I promise, they were not. Probably not even aware I was taking the photo!


The big kids are looking for the $5 prize egg...skillfully hidden in an adult's pocket. The game of "hot or cold" was quite interesting with a egg that moved.

BTW - that's me (far left), my Mom (back to us...boy is she going to kill me for that), and my sister (right)

and then, one TIRED little girl who slept over half of the way home today.

Thankful Thursday!

I've been wanting to participate for so long! While I'm thankful for all of my kids, and for their health. Today, I'm thankful for that SMILE from Katie. That smile she gives us now, almost constantly. I'm thankful for her playfulness. I'm thankful that she's a little imp sometimes and loves to play hide and seek and peek-a-boo.