Friday, January 28, 2011

Fix-It-Friday #84

This week's Fix-It-Friday image was provided by Keli Hoskins.

Original Image:

Color Edit:

I admit, I cropped it a bit severely. From there, I ran several adjustments to white balance, color, and lighting in ACR. A few tweaks in Photoshop later yielded this image.

BW Edit:

TRA's Boring Ol' B&W

You can find other great entries here. :)

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Practice Sessions-2011

The following is an entry taken from my personal blog with details about 2011 practice sessions:

As of January 5, 2011, I will be accepting requests for sessions. A model release will need to be signed before we begin shooting. The sessions will be about an hour and will likely result in 10-20 fully edited images (weddings, births and other events are obviously an exception to this). After I make a low-res CD (suitable for printing 4x6s) of the images, I will print out a press release for the client so that they will be able to use the images on various internet sites and print as many 4x6s as they desire. If they desire a larger size, or a canvas, I will be typing up my discounted ALA Carte prices in January.

Just for clarification: For portfolio-building sessions, the session is free, and a low-res disk is free. Enlargements, canvases, and high resolution images are subject to a special portfolio-building discount.

Please use the following lists as a guide for my "services". Please remember, these sessions should not take the place of a professional photography session (as I am not a professional), and remember to support a local photographer in 2011. They work hard and can produce much better images than chain stores.

The Kind of Shoots I Would Prefer:
These are the areas in which I want to specialize. I want to be a "life events" photographer, capturing those milestones that create a visual time line of cherished events.
*Engagement
*Wedding
*Birth
*Birthday Parties
*Military Homecomings

The Kind of Shoots I Am Willing To Do:
These are wonderful practice, but if I do go pro I will likely refer to other photogs who specialize in these areas instead.
*Family
*Boudoir
*Seniors
*Newborn
*Portrait
*Model

Shoots I Will Not Do:
*Sports
*Glamour (Different from boudoir, which is come-as-you-are)
*Corporate

Additionally, I would like to extend my services to families of deployed soldiers. Because I am not a "professional" by the standards of the BBB, I cannot participate in OpLove, but if you want to have a portrait session so you can have something to send to your soldier, I will include 2 8x10s free of charge. It is important to build morale any way we can, even if it is a small gesture. God bless those who serve and those families who hold strong.

If you have any questions about any particular session and what it entails, please shoot me an e-mail at mmuphotography@gmail.com . Have a great day!

I should add that I am in the Killeen, TX area, but any friends within a few hours' travel time can schedule a session as well. I like to travel!

I Wonder What One Puts In A Mission Statement.......

Hello, readers who have stumbled upon my blog. I should begin this introduction with a bit of a disclaimer: As of January 27, 2011, I do not own a photography business. I am a hobbyist photographer aspiring to someday enter the professional arena (preferably by mid-2012, early 2013). I have a wonderful, supportive husband and an energetic son who is just shy of one year old, and I have a camera pressed to my face for at least an hour every day as I take pictures of each and every little thing that catches my eye. This blog will be used for sneak peeks of practice sessions, participation in I Heart Faces challenges and Fix-It-Fridays, and will hopefully serve to hone my photographic skills so that I feel more comfortable starting a business. If nothing else, it will be a wonderful experience.