On the road again....

Fossil Falls, June Lake Loop, Mono Lake, Yosemite, Sequoia ... :-)

LR + Fix It Friday = Fun

It's that time of week over at I Heart Faces ...



All presets from Lightroom: 1. Photoshopped original photo 2. x=the+400 3. Matt's Summer Haze 4. Old Glory 5. Peeking 6. My own b/w preset



More presets: 1. My own messing around with LR sliders to make it desaturated and PINK! 2. 400 V1(J) 3. Kevin Kubota's Defaults warm 2 edge 4. Rebecca Lily's Chocolate Cream 5. Original photoshopped image + medium contrast curve and +2 temp 6. Aged Photo with bright reset to 0.

Be sure to head over to I Heart Faces to see and be inspired by everyone else's edits. While there, feel free to download Dana's sweet picture and try your own edits!

Orange County Children's Photographer

Morningtime in Laguna ...

After...


and Before ...


How I got there ... I made a copy of the sooc image and darkened the sky significantly and ran TRA's highlight separator (to give the clouds definition). In PS I layered the two photos together keeping the sky from the copy and the sand/tower from the original image. A little cross-processing & straightening in LR, TRA Pool Party at a low opacity, and select o pop on the tower.

Just hanging out ...

...the last of the torture sessions. For now. ;-)



And yes, Littlest Dude did dress himself this day.

And for the photo tip: experiment with shooting "blind." For many of these images I was just holding the camera under the ropes and pressing the shutter without looking thru the viewfinder. It was fun to get back home and see what goofy shots I got.

We interrupt these Keller-Dude torture sessions to bring you...

... a photo tip. My latest, greatest photo tip, based on my latest, greatest discovery last Thursday. [smirk]

Let's title this tip: The problem with backlighting.

Alternative title: How to force your camera to auto-focus into direct sunlight.

So here's the problem with backlighting: I can't really see what I'm shooting. My eyes are worthless when looking into a bright light source, so I'm pretty inept when attempting to focus manually in such a situation. Apparently, my camera has the same problem, and cannot focus, and thus cannot capture my desired photo. Wanna see how I learned to "force" my camera to focus?

And the best thing about this tip? It requires no fancy, expensive equipment. Ready?



Oh yeah, I'm totally high-tech. I blocked the sun with my hand. I totally did a little happy dance when this little "trick" actually worked.



I block the sun so the camera can focus. Then I remove my hand and snap the pre-focused picture. Voila!

Orange County Child Portrait Photographer

The Glorious Splendor of Thy majesty...

There is none like the God of Israel,
Who rides the heavens to your help,
And through the skies in His majestic splendor.
Deuteronomy 33:26

Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised;
And His greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall praise Thy works to another,
And shall declare Thy mighty acts.
On the glorious splendor of Thy majesty,
And on Thy wonderful works, I will meditate.
And men shall speak of the power of Thine awesome acts;
And I will tell of Thy greatness.
Psalm 145:3-6

More suffering ...

this time, on the swings, at the miserable park ...



me, too! tho, there's barely enough room for both my butt and my bag ;-)



I just loves me some shadow :-).





now, if I can just coerce Eldest Dude into one of these, I'll have a matched set.

Aliso Viejo Children's Photographer

Waiting is just sooooo hard sometimes...

The tennis courts were all full when we arrived to use them. The boys were bummed. I suggested we burn some time at the adjoining park while waiting for an opening. My dudes whined. Oh yes, they did. They groaned. They said they hated that park...







[Middle Dude demonstrating his "floating" technique...]



Don't they just look miserable at that despised park?!? ;-)

Orange County Family Photographer

Game. Set. Match.

Nah. Not really. When we have Littlest Dude along, it's more akin to a game of Frogger than tennis. :-}







We were done when Big Dude joked that he couldn't see the ball anymore, on account of the fog blowing in ...

Laguna Beach Family Photographer

Total unrelated miscellany ...

Gosh, when one doesn't blog for a week, one has time for other stuff ... ;-)

Stuff like my annual family album...



... where I condense 1300+ vacation pictures that I like into a mere 55 pictures to represent our summer roadtrip. Fun times.

Know what else is fun? Yearbook pictures. I got a good head start on Middle Dude's yearbook this last week.





The skies darkened and it rained for about two minutes and I fully got into the Fall mood of things. (and YAY!! Trader Joe's finally opened in our neighborhood!!!)



And then the sun came back out and we had a week of temperatures in the 90s. So much for my Fall feelings...

And, in other news ... Big Dude's mid-life crisis is apparently over. He sold the Mini-Cooper :-( (to a nice woman who's planning to use it to drive her three dogs around ... her Great Dane, Pit-mix, and Lab-mix ... in a MINI!!) and we got this different car (Keller inside joke - we call it "different" because it's not new, just new to us).



And I even got some house cleaning done. But I'm over that now. Back to blogging. Let the dust accumulation resume... ;-)

It's a dog's life...

And I'd say it's not too shabby a one at that. ;-)

Orange County Family Lifestyle Photographer

The LORD is a sun and shield...

For the LORD is a sun and shield;
The LORD gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

O LORD of hosts,
How blessed is the man who trusts in Thee!
Psalm 84:11-12

Surely My right hand founded the earth...

Surely My hand founded the earth,
and My right hand spread out the heavens;
when I call to them, they stand together.
Isaiah 48:13

Thus says God the Lord,
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread out the earth and its offspring,
Who gives breath to the people on it and
spirit to those who walk in it,
"I am the LORD..."
Isaiah 42:5,6

Pictures of Hope ... Orange County Baby Photographer

I've just found out that I've been accepted to be a photographer for Pictures of Hope. I've had dear friends spend time in NICU with their babies, and I'm honored, humbled and delighted to serve such families with Pictures of Hope.





If you are in Orange County (California) and know of a child in the NICU, please feel free to contact me directly (see email above) or through Pictures of Hope.

Orange County Baby Photographer

"Well Hello, Little Orange Riding Hood..."

said Big Dude.

Little Dude smiles, knowing what's coming.



BD: "So, what do they call you when you're not wearing it?"

LD, not missing a beat: "I usually wear it."

Name that movie. :-) We L.O.V.E. that movie. It's one of the few, like Shrek, that I/we can watch over and over again, with pleasure.

Orange County Portrait Photographer

My Favorite Things Week at I Heart Faces

Some of my very favorite things: the beach, m'boy, and beautiful flare...












More people's lovely favorite things can be found this week at I Heart Faces. Just click on the button below...

Orange County Children's Photographer

Take Courage, Fear Not.

Say to those with anxious heart,
Take courage, fear not.
Behold, your God will come with vengeance;
The recompense of God will come,
And He will save you.

Then the eyes of the blind will be opened,
And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.
Then the lame will leap like a deer,
And the tongue of the dumb will shout for joy.

Isaiah 35:4-6

My Morning at I Heart Faces...

Every once in a while, I Heart Faces has a Constructive Criticism Friday, where you can submit pictures you love that need to be fixed. And a variety of generous people will offer their time and knowledge to help you learn how to shoot better and/or fix your problem photo. It's a great learning opportunity. Here are the photos I fixed this morning (the image to be fixed is the first one in each series). Some of them are small, because I was working with a small original. If you click on the photos, you can find my "fixing" instructions at Flickr.












Head on over to I Heart Faces to see a bunch more fixes, along with instructions!