Josh and India

I got a call from Josh one Saturday morning hoping to schedule an engagement session with his fiance…that day!  They’re doing the long distance thing and she was only in town for the weekend.  All the crazy downpours we were getting canceled another shoot they had scheduled the day before.  The forecast jumped from a 10% chance of rain to 60% in a matter of hours, but we were able to meet up in the middle of the day and avoid getting rained on!

Don’t they look like the came out of a magazine?  I really get the best clients.

Josh went to Vanderbilt and is now working in Houston while India is in Atlanta.  Long distance sucks, but it looks like they’re handling it well!

India told me they swim, can you tell??  I would kill for those arms.

How cute are they?!  These next few are so sweet.

They wanted to get a shot by the skyline, but when we got to the location it was all blocked off!  After some quick thinking, we settled on doing the last few shots at this spot not too far away.

I love this next shot :).

Lastly…the ring.  Dang.

Scotty and Lakesha

Shooting Lakesha and Scotty was so. much. fun.  Koree (the boyfriend) came along again and we all wandered around Uptown Park discovering new spots for a while before heading over to another location right before sunset.  L&S are just gorgeous and so easy to photograph!  This was one of my favorite engagement session ever, so be prepared for lots of pictures!

Koree grabbed awesome close-ups like this next one while I did more full-body shots.  LOVE Scotty’s face here, what a sweet smile while he nuzzles Lakesha :).

I frequently tell people to be serious for a certain shot.  Often, it’s a secret ploy to get them to laugh.  Scotty nailed the serious pose here and totally stayed in character, but this is what happened with Lakesha!  I love how hard she’s trying to be serious in the second shot!

Another great shot by Koree!

See?   We did lots of laughing.  I’m training myself to stay composed during all this laughing or else I get blurry pictures from all the bouncing.

I loved how the purple flowers in the background matched her dress.

They really like the color orange, so this spot was perfect for them!  Just in time too, a few days later I drove past this spot and it had been tagged.

Perfect way to end the shoot.

Editing Pictures

I’m often asked about my editing process by clients and, in an attempt to explain it here, I’ve got some visual aids for you.

I’m going to show you a few examples of each image below.  The first in each example is what photographers call SOOC, or straight out of camera.

This is what the picture looks like the moment it goes onto my memory card and the first thing I see on my computer.

The second shot is after what happens to every picture that gets proofed.  I import it into Adobe Lightroom and contrast/color correct each picture.  All of the images that go on my proofing site or get put on a disc have been edited in Lightroom.

The third shot is what happens to my favorites, the client’s select favorites, and anything that gets blogged or printed.  These are what I called “detailed edits.”  A limited number of these also go onto a disc.  These pictures have all gone through Adobe Photoshop after I export them from Lightroom.  I often get rid of blemishes (though there were none to be seen in this shot!), smooth skin, selectively increase contrast in certain areas, and sharpen the picture.

First, SOOC.

Next, after it’s gone through Lightroom.

Last, after it’s been photoshopped.

Last example, SOOC.

I cropped this one in Lightroom just a touch, but kept the same dimensions.

Sometimes, there’s not much of a difference between the Lightroom and the Photoshop version.

Occasionally, I’ll edit a picture in color and also want to do a monochromatic one (black and white, sepia, etc).  This was also done in photoshop.

So there you have it.  I hope that clarifies things a bit.  If anyone’s interested in step-by-step Lightroom or Photoshop editing leave a comment!

A+C

When I was finishing A&C’s proofing gallery I found a few more pictures that I just loved and had to share!

This background was so random and so awesome.  The paint job looked like Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” and then Sponge Bob lanterns??  Sweet.

Savanna and Mike

Savanna and I are friends from church and we’ve been talking about this shoot for a while.  She actually won my shoot during a charity auction, so this was a win-win-win!  They are such a gorgeous couple and I was so excited that she won it!

Can you see how striking his BLUE eyes are?!  They’re incredible.

We did these last since the ground was wet and they walked away with damp pants!  Many of the bluebonnets around Houston have been mowed, but we were able to find this little spot in the middle of a busy road.   I think this last one is my favorite :).

They’re getting married in Canada this summer; wish I could be there!