My New Blog Look... and Kristen!

This is exciting!  And this is NEW...

Still can't get over that I won a blog make-over from Edit Me Challenge... how crazy is that?!

(If you want to take a look at my winning entry from that week, just click right here.) 

And this is Stephanie (and Jonah)... creator of my blog make-over!  *Applause, please!

If you would ever want her services, she comes highly recommended by me :>)

You can find her at Behind the Camera and Dreaming and at Gray Mornings Photography.
She has some wonderful photos and an Etsy Shop... so take a look!

OK!  And now on to Kristen...

Kristen gets an award for patience with me!  I am trying to learn my camera (and have a long way to go), so I have joined Project MCP.  Each month they post photo challenges and themes to get us using our cameras.   Having four boys - four not-so-willing-to-be-posed boys - makes a photo challenge quite a photo challenge!  Gratefully, there now are wonderful girls who are often around and who love helping me out with our "photo shoots".  Occasionally, they get the guys to agree to help out.  And the girls always go beyond just the theme to let me try out all the cool stuff I've been learning. Recently, the theme was friendship. Sometimes I come up with some unusual ideas in my head that don't necessarily translate into reality.  The girls are always rather jolly in trying anyway.

Kristen is, among her many talents, an awesome soccer player rostered at the Bethel College.  James suits up for Huntington University. I brainstormed how to photograph their friendship around their soccer passion.  I probably should show you the before-and-after shots of the contortions they went through in order to make this work. Anyway, this is what I was going for:

Problem was that the sun was already going down when we started, so we just tried the positioning to see if we really could get this to work.

Many tries and poses later,
we wound up with this one on the left, and I rather liked it!
The wardrobe wasn't pre-planned, so converting to black and white with a filter helped focus the photo without distracting colors.
Hmmm.  Now that see it on a white background, I would probably lighten the tint.

It really was tricky to get the balls balanced.

(Yes, we really do have a full size soccer net in our front yard.)

Then afterwards, though the sun insisted on running its course, Kristen and I had some fun. Many of the photos used flash, which gave some interesting results, but we kept on clicking anyway :>)

I love this one...  Kristen, you should be in magazines!

So the sun kept doing its thing, and so did we.  James joined in (somewhat coerced) and that always makes for an adventurous time :>)  Kristen and I love this photo with James.  The lighting is unusual, but we decided we liked the cool effect.

Love the playfulness of this...
it's one of my favorites :>)

Jumping ahead now to the next day.... 

(I've got a couple more from the evening shoot that will show up later in this post.  Just mixing things up.)

I learned a lot about lighting that next day.  I've read about the harsh noon sun... they weren't kidding.  I tried for shade, but beware of dappled shade.  It may make some cool sun/shadow patterns in some photos, but not on someone's face.  I decided to try to edit those affected by the harshness to recover my mistakes. It took a lot of time and trial, but it helped save my favorite photos.

Here.  I'll post a non-edited photo to show what I mean...

There are deep shadows in the eye area, blown out white patches on her chin and cheeks (with no detail to recover);

also blown out color on her left shoulder and a bit on her arms.

Noon sun is unforgiving in some circumstances!

While I've learned some lighting issues lessons the hard way by not giving it attention,

the positioning  lessons went pretty well!

Kristen was protected from harsh sun by the tree for this one, and there was a perfect gentle breeze blowing!  I just love how the wind played with her hair and the lace jacket.

So pretty....

This was all about THE SHOES!

They are so her :>)

(This was just before the bench vacated Kristen from it :>)  We had a good laugh!)

All classical artists and sculptors mastered the beautiful S shape in their work.

I think Kristen did, too!

The dappled shade looks great in the grass, btw.  Just not on faces.

The tones and softness to this photograph make it so romantic.

The breeze is perfect, and the sun plays with the lace as the jacket floats.  *sigh

Kristen, did you catch what is on the tree?

(This one may be my official favorite.)

Back to the previous set of photos...
These next few just crack me up!
You guys are awesome.
I think a fashion clothing store should sign you up.
You've got the right amount of pizzazz and attitude to pull off some fun and fashion. lol!

OK.  I'm changing my mind.
I think this one's my fave;
it just makes my day.


































Here.  It's official.  Now you're in an ad, and I want an 8X10 glossy.... !

And the final one for today...
because taking a photo of unscripted joy is the best -

Coming up soon...

• What Lindsey, photos, bulldogs, deer, spiders, stinging insects and tea have in common. Oh, and violins.
• A guest blog author discussing our conversation with God 

So glad you wandered by ~
Hope you had a smile ~ I'm looking forward to your next visit!