a how-to with storyboards

two things led to this post: one is that i have been asked if i make my own storyboards, and two i had some snapshots of jack that i wanted on a storyboard.  so, i thought while i was putting it together, i would write this up!

hope this helps for those that are interested!

the first thing that i do is open all the images that i want on the board.

then i open a new document.  the dimensions will vary depending on the images that i am using.  this one is going to have three images that are each a square, so these are the dimensions that i chose.

next, i crop each image to be a square.

after doing this for each image, i drag each one onto the storyboard document and resize it to fit.

then I use the line tool in white to draw a line between the images.

now, if i want to use these on the internet, then i do a couple of things to get them web-ready.  the first thing would be to resize the document to 700px wide.

and then, with each image, i use the unsharp mask tool, with these settings.

and that's really it!

delicious disaster

i have been following bakerella for a couple weeks now and i have been craving to make some of her goodies, particularly her cake pops and cake balls.

this past weekend, my husband and son got into a car accident as someone ran a red light and ran right into the side of our volvo about 35 mph.  lucky for us that we drive such an extremely safe vehicle, todd and our 3 year old left the scene with only a bruise on todd's shoulder.  we are so very fortunate, and are very much counting our blessings.  however, poor "mommy's car," as jack calls it, is no longer in use and was towed away today for many weeks of repair.



so - yesterday we were car-less, outside of the two seater in the garage, and it was raining out.  what to do, what to do...after looking around in my pantry, i realized that i had a box of yellow cake mix that i had not used yet and some chocolate cake frosting.  after pulling up bakerella's recipe for cake balls, i realized i was missing quite a few of the ingredients, but thought, what the heck, i'll just make it up as i go!
some of the things that were "different" about my cake balls: we colored the cake batter green.  jack had requested blue, but we were out of blue, due to using it all up the last time jack wanted blue cake.  also, we didn't have chocolate bark.  we did have chocolate and peanut butter chips, from our saturday morning pancakes, and so we used that.  not a good idea.  terrible for the thinness needed to melt over the balls!  however, we only ended up having enough to cover about 10 of the balls anyway, so plan b took effect.  plan b was to use the orange hershey kisses leftover from easter.  these actually worked much better!  and the orange flavoring is awesome over the cake!
they might not be the prettiest things in the world, definitely not as pretty or inventive as bakerella's, but jack and i had a great time making them, and even more fun eating them!

finding fun - stamford child photographer

ryan does not like boundaries.  he doesn't like gates that block stairs.  he doesn't like being told no.  i have a hard time being understanding toward his curiosity sometimes, especially when he is doing something that mommy knows could cause him harm.
one morning, i was tired of saying no.  so, i let him go upstairs on his own, knowing that there wasn't too much trouble he could get into, and making sure to chase after him within a few minutes to make sure he was ok.
on this particular morning, i was carrying my camera up to the loft where my computer desk is.  on the way i found ryan.  he was playing in the sheets that were on the floor, waiting to go into the wash machine.  he was having a ball!  rolling himself around in them, and playing peek-a-boo.  i was glad to have had my camera in hand to capture his expression.
that morning i was reminded that although it's not always convenient for him to be running off, where i have to chase him down, he's just looking for fun, and letting his little 18 month old imagination run free.

to see more smiles, visit i heart faces.

meet photographer, jack wind

ok, so, it's just a hobby at this point, but what do you expect of a three year old???  :)  jack has shown quite a bit of interest in mommy's "big camera" lately, so i thought it would be fun to give him a logo and show off his work!


logo info: jack chose the name of his company, as well as the colors, and he wanted it to have a picture of himself on it.


enjoy!

jack's "bune" that he got from the yankee's game he went to with daddy.  he loves his "bune" because it's his favorite color.

ok, so what cracks me up about this one, is that when i am taking photos of ryan, most of the time he runs the other way - bad case of photographer's child syndrome.  but when his brother was photographing him, he stood there with a huge grin!

action shot of little bro playing.

i think he really "captured" the true essence of mommy in this one.  the "jack, get your finger off the lens" look.

the idea for this blog is not completely my own.  i saw this blog and thought it was the cutest thing ever!

where it all began... - portrait photographer stamford

we are getting ready to move.  totally excited about the move itself - florida, specifically, walt disney world, here we come!  however, the actual move portion of it, i am not too thrilled about.  ugh.  moving is so much work and i can't believe all of the stuff we have acquired in five years!

so, i have started going through some stuff.  unfortunately, i have not purged much, but it has been a nice trip down memory lane.

i found my artwork.  i have pieces ranging from elementary school art lessons to my college drawings and photographs.  so, i thought, why not post a few things, so others can see where i came from and where it all began.

i started out college as a graphic design major.  as part of the degree, i had to take photography 101 - and fell in love.  when i reached my junior year (ok, maybe not the best idea to have waited that long - my parents can attest to that) i added photography as a major as well.  lucky for me, i had taken enough photo classes that it didn't add that many years in school.  oh, side note, i spent a semester working on the disney college program - hence my immense love for the mouse.  any who, i really enjoyed my fashion class - but it was a lot of work!  i was shooting with a manual mamiya medium format camera, and it was tricky.  however, now looking back, i am so glad that i experienced the "old school" shooting.  it really makes it art.

here are three images from my fashion photography class.  the project was working with white seamless.

a how-to with textures

if you would have asked me a couple months ago what i thought about textures, i would have said, i really like how other photographers are using them, but they just aren't for me.  then i bought some from florabella.  i also have become a fan of shadownhouse creations.  now ask me what i think about textures...
i think they are an amazing way to transform a photo into a work of art.
recently, i have changed my facebook profile picture to a self portrait, that i had enhanced with some textures.  i have been asked what i used to achieve this look, so i thought i would write a little tutorial for those that may not be as comfortable with textures, as i once was.  this is also my first tutorial - so bare with me!

first, i uploaded the image into camera raw, and made any white balance adjustments and got rid of any blemishes.  then, i opened the image into photoshop.

then, i opened up the two textures that i planned on using.  mai tai from florabella and viewfinder from shadowhouse.

the next step is to lay those textures on top of the original image.  i started with mai tai, and made viewfinder invisible for now.  i changed the blending mode on mai tai to multiple.

for that layer, i also changed the opacity to 76%.  next, i added a layer mask to the mai tai layer.  using the brush, i painted over my face, changing the opacity of the brush, so that most of the face came through, but that you could still see a little of the texture on my face.

next, i brought the viewfinder layer into view.  for that layer, i changed the blending mode to overlay, and changed the opacity to 59%.  i then added a layer mask and ran the brush over my face again, changing the opacity a little on the brush, so my face becomes brighter.

and here you have the final product!  you can see in comparison from the original, the texture did wonders for the background, and really added an over all "wow" factor to the color of the photograph.

i encourage you to go out and experiment with textures!  it can be a lot of fun and add so much drama to your photos.

one year - stamford, ct photographer

what a difference a year can make.  i took a photo of the boys a year ago for my son ryan's monthly portraits.  my mom thought it would be interesting to see them again in the same pose now.  one thing is for sure, ryan was in motion then (hand waving,) and boy is he in motion now (trying to leave the scene!)  one other thing that is the same...they are the two cutest boys this mama ever did see.  :)

i'm ALWAYS right! :)

i was the one that chose the party shirt!  i wanted it to be a fun photo!  don't worry, todd and i made up.

i'm right - stamford family photographer

easter sunday, we got together with todd's aunt and uncle, and their twin daughters, to celebrate the day.  we decided while we were there, we would have regan, todd's cousin, take our family portrait for us.  as we were deciding what to wear, todd and i had a rather large disagreement as to what ryan should wear.  (if these are the biggest types of arguments we have throughout our marriage, i think we'll be alright.)  :)  todd decided that we should just take two photos, then we would both be happy.


which shirt on ryan, our youngest, do you think i chose, and which one do you think todd chose?

thank you regan for taking our family photo for us!

stamford nature center

this past weekend, we joined our friends for some easter egg hunting fun at the stamford nature center.  after the hunt, the kids had a good time running around the farm, checking out all of the animals.

jack really loves animals.  he went up to each one and introduced himself.  "hi cow, my name's jack!"

ryan was just happy to be free of hand holding - on the loose!

holiday weekend - connecticut children photographer

we had a great easter weekend.  on saturday, we went to the stamford nature center for an easter egg hunt.  it was a bit of a "clown face," as my husband would call it, but the kids had a great time "catching" eggs and running around the farm.  here is one of my faves from the day.  my dear friend jamie's son, wearing his easter hat.  :)

for more best shot monday photographs check out tracey clark's blog.

cookies - stamford, ct children's photographer

we are lucky to have a talented world renowned baker in the family - ok, not really, but she's a pretty amazing baker to us!  there is almost always a full stock of cookies in our house thanks to our grandma weeze.  she always sends some around different holidays, and sometimes, just because she wants to spoil us in sugary goodness.  this time she sent my favorite - oatmeal chocolate chip!  hmmm...just writing it makes me to run to the kitchen and grab one and ruin my appetite for dinner.  but i digress....

i have a little friend that shares my excitement for the arrival of grandma weeze's cookies...

thank you grandma weeze for sending us your love through cookies.

for more cute collages check out iheartfaces.