Flipping Images in Photoshop June 30, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Photography , 2commentsI love when I stumble upon something new.
Well, new to me anyway.
I specifically took this picture with the letters appearing backward because I’d rather have the lighting right (the light was behind me) than read the words correctly.
But, it kind of bugged me reading “happy birthday” backwards.
David and I started playing around in Photoshop and figured out how to flip the image.
It was super easy. It took 1.8 seconds.
Open your image in Photoshop CS2, CS3, or CS4
Click on Image
Then Image Rotation
Then Flip Canvas Horizontally
Voila!
Now the lighting is good and you can read the cake!
I love it when I can have my cake and eat it too!
From Drab to Fab in Six Weeks June 29, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Kansas, Photography, Thoughts , 1 comment so farThese photos were taken at the same park, six weeks apart.
From DRAB . . .
To FAB in six weeks.
I wish my body could make an amazing transformation like this in 42 days!
Self Portrait June 26, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Beauty, My Handsome Husband, Parenthood, Photography, Saba , 9commentsI had to shoot a self-portrait for an assignment. This did not make sense to me on many levels. Photographers like to be BEHIND the lens not in front of it! Needless to say, this was a stressful assignment.
These pictures were taken ALL BY MY LONESOME, with no help. Do you know how hard it is to focus the camera when it doesn’t know exactly where to focus? If you move one centimeter in front of or behind where you focused the camera, the image will be all out of whack.
Trust me, I had enough ghetto photos to prove this theory.
What I’m trying to say, is that not only did I shower, shave my legs, give myself a mask, paint my toes, pull this dress out of storage, steam it, put on make-up, and do my hair, but I set up the picture and shot it ALL BY MYSELF.
I did four different concepts for this shoot, and I’m posting images from shoot number four. Trust me, the first three concepts were GAG. In fact, I deleted all but two images from my first three attempts.
What to do, what to create, what story to tell, what image to put across . . .
I asked my husband of 12 years what he thought I should do. What represents me? Who am I? He smiled and said, “Sweetie, if you don’t know who you are, then you have a bigger problem than coming up with an idea for your self-portrait!”
This got me to think. I feel like I’m in limbo between two different worlds. One world I refer to as my “previous life” and one world I refer to as my “current life.”
In my previous life, the one where I had a career, worked hard, and got paid for it, we owned a bridal store. I designed bridal and formal gowns and traveled to Asia several times working with top designers. It was common for me to appear on Good Morning Texas promoting new lines, or modeling formal wear at Dallas Market Hall. I produced and emceed hundreds of fashion shows in several states, and it was usual for me to attend a black tie event weekly.
After several years in this profession, we sold our store, house, and cars, and moved to the Caribbean so David could attend medical school.
Not only did I leave a career I enjoyed, and a home I loved, but we moved out of the country to live on a tiny five square mile island called Saba in the Dutch West Indies. Shortly before moving, I found out I was pregnant with our first child.
My life changed 180 degrees! The Caribbean is the one place in the world that can make anyone “stop and smell the roses”. Having a child on top of that teaches you that you can’t always have a rigid schedule. In a nut shell, I chilled out a LOT.
I’m no longer the fast talking, high paced, results-are-the-only-thing-that-matter woman.
I feel more balanced. I like who I’ve become. I have thoroughly enjoyed motherhood. But there are days I wish I had a plane to catch, some project to oversee, a new design to submit. Or heck, just a really good pay check for working hard at home.
Hopefully this explains my pictures.
I chose to sit on the stairs in my home, in a cocktail dress, (which I had to dig out of storage) with my children’s pictures behind me. I do hope the expression on my face conveys the feeling of being caught in the middle. Trying to find the balance of both worlds that make me who I am.
This second picture was just an extra. I liked it, but there is a little too much negative space.
Don’t expect many more self portraits in the future. This assignment was very stressful to execute and made me age 10 years. You all know how I feel about aging!
Do You Know These People? June 25, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Photography , 3commentsDo you know these people?
Because I don’t.
Not one of them.
Those “people” (At The Academy of Art) who have expectations of me, asked me to photograph some strangers.
I got in my car and drove to a nearby skate park.
I was 100% sure I wouldn’t know anyone there.
I met a very thirsty dude, who made a great subject in the above pictures.
And another dude who had a few choice words to say when he and his skateboard parted ways on the cement.
I snapped some shots of this girl desperately loosing in a neighborhood water fight.
I met this girl and her sister (below) at a golf course.
They were hitting a bucket of balls and were excited to get their pictures taken.
Their feet were too.
Watch out, you just might be my next subject! Like it or not!
Amused June 24, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Little Man Dallin, Utah , 4commentsThis little guy is very even-keeled most of the time.
It may not be obvious . . .
But Dallin really likes this ball.
It makes him happy.
Very happy.
See? He CRACKED a smile.
That’s how you can tell.
Lost in Translation June 23, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Asia, Thoughts, Trips , 4commentsIn my previous life (the one where I got a paycheck for working hard) I visited Asia several times.
I learned a lot on those trips.
Like this for example:
At 5′9″, I was one on the tallest people in all of China.
Little washing machines work just as well as big ones to wash wedding dresses.
Driving a car is not popular . . .
But if you must own a car, drive a little one in style.
And most importantly, all things get lost in translation. (Yes, I took this picture in a bathroom. What? Don’t you snap pictures in the bathroom?)
(Visit engrish.com for more great Engrish from around the world.)
A Royal Welcome June 22, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, My Former Dog Children, Princess Hannah , 3commentsHave you been to my house?
Rung my doorbell?
Been greeted by the crew?
Have you ever been given a royal welcome?
No?
Then you need to come.
I promise, my greeters won’t disappoint.
This scene might be lurking behind the door, waiting for you. (The leggings, tutu and ballet slippers are considered “everyday wear” around here.)
But honestly, this is not a realistic scene. Paris is WAY too curious to hold still that long.
I like to think of Paris like a sentinel. Watching over our house. Day and night.
But come on, who am I kidding? The dog bolts at the first sign of trouble. (Trouble meaning another dog barking at her.)
This is actually what happens when the doorbell rings. If you’re new, (0r not) Paris has an unrestrained instinct to run toward you at full speed, jump up and kiss your face, and give you a through “sniff test.”
Makes you just want to come on over A.S.A.P. doesn’t it?
I Know What She’s Thinking June 19, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Friends, Kansas, Princess Hannah , 3comments
“Why am I running into cold, cold water?”
“Why! Somebody please remind me!”
“Ah, because it’s fun!”
“And cold.”
“And wet.”
“Any my friends are doing it.”
“And they seem to like it.”
“Hmmm . . . what do the hills in my backyard remind me of?”
“I know! I know! It looks like the Teletubbies set! But I’m not sure how or why I know this since my parents forbade me to watch that show.”
“I love to jump. Even if it’s on my friend. Where is my mom? Is anybody going to stop this accident waiting to happen?”
“All I know is this: running through sprinklers is just as fun as the beach. I would know. I’m a Caribbean baby.”
Hello? Tap. Tap. Is This Thing On? June 18, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, My Handsome Husband, Photography, School, Thoughts , 7commentsI started school on Monday. Photography school that is, from the Academy of Art University located in San Francisco, California.
How? Why, you ask?
The explanation is really quite simple: One night, David and I fell asleep around 7:00 PM. (Don’t worry, the kids were nestled safely in their beds dreaming about sidewalk chalk and new ways to torture Paris.) When we woke up around 9:00 PM, we started talking.
Not just regular talk, but talk.
We talked A LOT. We talked about what drives us, what we love, what we want to do with our lives, our future, our hobbies, things we’d like to learn, places we’d like to visit, our passions, where we see ourselves in ten years (both collectively and respectively), and then, David had a brilliant idea.
He suggested I take real photography classes from a real University.
Wham bam, what do you know, ten minutes later (ten minutes of very, very, intense research of course) he applied me to AAU.
You read that right, HE APPLIED ME to the school.
I fell asleep while he did all the dirty work, and 12 hours later, I got a phone call from the school saying I was accepted.
Fast forward eight weeks, and here we are today. I’m taking all the classes online which is very flexible, (and the only possible way for me to attend this University) and always available.
I have to admit, it’s been a bit of an adjustment. I mean, they have expectations of me. Can you believe they expect me to be accountable to someone else other than myself? 
And get this, a student emailed me and asked me a techie question.
ME.
Hello? Tap. Tap. Is this thing on?
And this is the weird part, I knew the answer.
I must be learning David’s computer skills by osmosis because I have no explanation for this.
I’m three days into this course and there’s one thing I know for sure:
I DON’T KNOW A DANG THING ABOUT SHOOTING IN MANUAL MODE. (Which is how I am required to shoot.)
In fact, photography is WAY more technical than I ever imagined and I don’t know why the word “technical” and “fun” don’t go together in the same sentence. “Photography is fun!” and, “technical is fun!” just don’t have the same ring to them.
I may not not know a whole heck of a lot about photography, but I do know a few things for sure:
- When I open the back door, it feels like a sauna outside.
- I have a GREAT mom tan. I’d probably win a neighborhood competition if there was one.
- Dallin’s cheeks are just as kissable today as they have always been.
- I bought my first newspaper today (for an assignment). That’s right, I have never spent money on a newspaper.
- The most important part of my camera is the 12 inches behind it. THAT’S the part I’m working on.
I hope to post some great images in the future, but if I don’t master this “manual mode” thing, then you will be reading a whole lotta text instead of looking at pictures!
“Hi! What’s Your Name?” June 17, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Princess Hannah , 5commentsHey everybody, guess what? There’s an open invitation to play at our house any time of day! YOU’RE ALL INVITED! Just ask the little two-year-old that lives here! She would like to play with you, and you, and you, and oh yeah, you can come over too!
How did I meet my neighbors before I had a child to introduce me to them? How did I know their names? Their kids names? Where they worked and what they liked to do? Did I even know my neighbors before she came along?
I didn’t.
I’m 100% positive I know my entire neighborhood because Hannah has introduced us. No one (and I mean no one) gets by her without some sort of name interrogation.
You will tell her your name.
She will invite you over to play.
And she will ask you more than 78 times, “What’s your name?” Just because she likes to hear herself talk and doesn’t know how to fill the awkward lull that inevitably happens every seven minutes to even the best of conversations.
Hi, this is Hannah. What’s your name?
