Fix-It-Friday...on Tuesday :)

So...last Friday was Fix-It-Friday for the I Heart Faces community.  And I actually downloaded the given image & edited it ...on Friday...

But...we've been crazy here, so I'm just now linking it up.  Here's the original image, given to us by (Caroline - Frogmum).


SOOC: 

 I absolutely love their facial expressions in this photo.  To me the story is reading something like this:

Girl in the foreground:  "I can't get this swing thing to work, can you??"
Girl in the background:  "Wait, wait...I think I might have gotten it!"
Girl in the  foreground: "Oh no!  Someone's watching us, tehehe.  I think they might have just taken a picture of us!!"  (Insert more giggles)

I have no idea what the actual story was...probably not that, but that's what my imagination was saying :)

Here are my edits:

1. Color

For me, this photo seemed to have a tiny bit of haze already captured in it, so I tried to edit to enhance that look.  First, I cloned out the wall/steps from the bottom of the photo.  Then, I adjusted my basics like the levels...increased the blacks a teeny bit & decreased the mid-tones.  I also added a little contrast & bumped up the brightness quite a bit.  I did a fill layer (Overlay @ 20%) in a nice peachy tone to warm it up a tad, then 2 gradient exclusion layers @ around 20% (one at the top right corner & one at the bottom left corner) at a really light lavender for a bit more haze.  Went back & bumped the brightness down a little & cropped.  Finished with sharpening.

2. BW-Gray

For this photo, I started with the original & decreased the saturation (well, actually I cloned out the wall/steps first).  From there, I made it a little brighter & I actually decreased the contrast this time.  I darkened the blacks & lightened the mid-tones...and also increased the output # to 12.  I did a fill layer in a light gray (overlay @ 47%), another in a smoky gray (screen @ 24%), and finally another in a chocolate brown (normal @ 10%)...this was to get the gray color I really wanted.

Finally, I used Florabella's (center fill light) to brighten up the center of the pic.  Last steps: crop & sharpen.  

Thanks so much to (Caroline - Frogmum) for letting us use your photo!  For more cool edits or to join in on the fun, go to Fix-It-Friday!  

PS:  Happy Tuesday :)   

Almost finished

With this beauty's senior portrait session!  Isn't she lovely :)  

Post more when I'm finished :) 

Let it be Fall!

So, like I said in yesterday's post, the next few days are going to be spent with my head in the "digital darkroom."  But before I take myself away from the rest of the world, I thought I'd share a few photos from my favorite time of the year:  Now!  

I absolutely love the fall!  I love the crispness in the morning air, the colors on the trees, the crunch of the fallen leaves under your feet as you walk.  I love football season, the comfort foods that start making their way into our kitchen, the upcoming family get together's...aka, the holidays...  I just love it all when it comes to fall.  In our neck of the woods, we're finally starting to see some of those vibrant leaf colors come out.  

Hope your next few days are spent enjoying the fall :) 

the next two ended up a bit blurry  :(

and my two favorites :)