If we live good lives, the times are also good. As we are, such are the times. ~ Saint Augustine of Hippo
It’s Fix-It Friday time again at I Heart Faces! These two little sweet baby girls come from JaimeLee at Candidly Grateful. This is what she said about her photo: “This is a photo of my twins at 6 weeks old. I love the photo because of their interaction and their faces, but I feel like it’s a little drab or flat. It needs some life.”
When I first saw her photo, I thought it would be perfect with a little vintage effect! So, that’s what I did! I basically did the steps I outlined in my tutorial for I Heart Faces, “How to Get a Vintage Look in 5 Simple Steps.” But instead of adding the blue exclusion layer, I added one of my Photo Veils! These two things were the perfect combination for this darling photo!
Here is what I did:
- First, I created a Channel Mixer Adjustment Layer. I selected the preset “Black & White with Yellow Filter” from the dropdown menu. I then set the blending mode to Screen and the opacity to 70%.
- Next, I created a Color Balance Adjustment Layer. I moved the top slider just under halfway to Red; the middle slider just slightly towards Green; and the bottom slider just a tiny bit towards Yellow. The settings I used were: +40, +9, -5.
- Then I created a Curves Adjustment Layer and created a very slight S-curve to bring in a touch of contrast.
- I added one of my Photo Veils from OpenScrapbook, Honey Crisp, and set the blending mode to Overlay and the opacity to 25%.
- Next, I ran my Darkening action and brushed around the edges to bring the focus to the two sweet babies.
- Finally, I duplicated all my layers into one by pressing Control + Alt + Shift + E. I applied the High Pass filter to that layer, set to 5.5, and set the blending mode to Soft Light at 100% opacity. This is my preferred method of sharpening.
And that’s it! Here’s the final image:
I just received my brand new camera bag! I’ve (im)patiently waited four and a half weeks for it, and I am so happy it’s finally here!
I got to thinking a couple months ago I would really like a purse-style camera bag so I can more easily take my camera with me wherever I go. It’s been tough to be one of those girls who has their camera with them everywhere, especially with two very active and intense little girls! I’ve dreamed of snapping a spontaneous photo when I’m out and about during the days, but I dreaded loading up my large rucksack camera bag and hauling it around.
So I got to looking around at some of the fancy ladies’ camera bags that are really popular right now. Wow! They are expensive! Much more than I was willing to pay right now! Then I remembered Etsy and I found Martilena Handmade Bags. They were perfect for what I was looking for and very reasonably priced. I love that you can totally customize your bag! You can choose what fabric you want for the flap, and you can choose from a variety of colors for the body and inside.
Isn’t it so pretty? I chose to go with the Moxy design. It fits my camera with my 50mm lens attached, two extra lenses (plus a couple more probably if you stack them), my cell phone and wallet. It’s perfect for toting around anywhere I go!
It has two pockets in the back that are a perfect fit for my little notebooks.
There is a zippered pocket on the front and the flap is fastened down with two magnetic snaps.
The inside has two padded pockets for lenses, and one open pocket for various items. I stick my cell phone in the front open pocket. The Moxy normally comes with three pockets in the back but I had mine customized to two so the lenses would fit better.
It comes with a nice, long strap so I wear it across my body messenger style. This was one of the important features I had to have. I wanted it to double as a shooting bag for the times I didn’t want to use my rucksack.
All in all, I love it!! It is so perfect for what I wanted! I definitely recommend Martilena Handmade Bags. Alida Garcia is the owner and she is very pleasant to work with. She answered all my questions and made it through my many mind-changes! 
Edited to add… Here’s a picture of me wearing it, it’s very comfortable! It’s a perfect size, not too big or too small.
Dandelions are so pretty. Aaron hates them, especially when they make their homes in our grass. But I have to say, they are beautiful. And to two little girls, they are full of magic.
Taken with my 50mm lens with one extension tube attached (the 36mm) – f/4.5; 1/200 sec.; ISO-100
Taken with my 50mm lens with one extension tube attached (the 36mm) – f/4; 1/500 sec.; ISO-100
Taken with my 50mm lens with one extension tube attached (the 20mm) – f/4; 1/500 sec.; ISO-100
by Michelle on May 25, 2010
in family
I love this girl! She just turned four years old last week and, thank heavens, she will still take naps! Most of the time she will fall asleep, but sometimes I find her playing quietly. The rule is she has to stay in her room and take a “rest.” I usually get her out when it’s time to pick up Autumn from school.
On this particular day, this is what I find when I go in to wake her up. Some days she make me want to tear my hair out, other times she can be so super sweet I can barely stand it!
This is my sweet shot for the week. Check out others at Sweet Shot Tuesday!
