my baby

looking through my pictures over the last few days, i've been trying to find ones to use for our family christmas cards. i stumbled upon this one and had to share.

my baby... growing so fast.

my gift

2010 has been an absolutely amazing year for our family and my photography business!  i have been absolutely astounded by the support i've recieved from all of you and i am inspired. 

as many of you know, and maybe many don't know, i am a social worker.  for years i worked with young families who were struggling to make ends meet.  i became quite knowledgable about the resources in our community, and even took over editing and producing the kamloops community meal list that was widely distributed around town.  my boss considered me a human phone book and i even had other local agencies calling me to ask about other resources in town.

since leaving my job when i went on maternity leave (three and a half years ago), i have missed having the opportunity to help others.  after watching the movie pay it forward tonight on tv with my son, i realized that there is something i can still give, even though my job description has changed.

i wish i could give away a car to a newspaper reporter whose car has just been totalled... 
i wish i could help talk a distraught woman off of a bridge...
i wish i could help make someone fall in love...

... but i'm not a little boy in a movie, trying to change the world.

i am a mom, and a photographer who deeply cherishes every one of my photos.  every moment in my children's lives has been documented and cherished.  i am also a social worker who realizes that when money is tight, spending money on photos is something that just doesn't even enter your mind.  i want to help someone save a few of those precious, fleeting moments.

so here is my gift.  the one thing that, at this point in my life, i can offer.  my time.

i would like to offer a free family photo session.  this session will be in my studio or in the family's home (local only), and will be of the immediate family.  pets are always welcome to be involved in my sessions!

As computer access and money for printing are often lacking, this photo session will also include a custom photobook, one 8x10 print and 2 5x7 prints.

so here's the deal.  i would like to open this up to anyone (in kamloops or surrounding area) who feels they, or someone they know, fits the description of the family above.  please email me a short paragraph on the family (i don't need every detail, just why you think they are deserving and their contact information), and their name will be entered.  as a social worker, i know the importance of confidentiality.  please make sure that you have permission from the family before you send anything to me.

a few other notes that i should include;
 *i will not be posting images from this session.  if the family feels that they would like to, and have the ability
   to, they are welcome.
 *this is not a contest. it is a gift from the heart that i would like to share with someone.
 *please email questions and submissions to cbphoto at shaw dot ca with "paying it forward" in the subject
  line (to help me keep emails straight!).
 *i will accept submissions from now until december 4th.  i will then take it to random.org to determine the
  recipient.
 *i would like to hold the session the following weekend, december 11th preferrably, so that edits can be
  finished and prints can be made for the family before christmas.  the album will be presented in the new
  year.

please feel free to share this link with others and pass the information along.  the more people involved the better :)

thank you again to everyone for your love and support this year.  you are amazing!

carrie

fix it friday

inspired by a question about photo editing by my cousin, i decided that it was time to let loose on a few secrets... shhhhh!  it's not all about the camera, sometimes crap comes out of that black little box in your hands and knowing how to fix it to get what you were looking for is priceless!

this image was from one of my recent mini sessions.  i'd wanted a winter bathtub scene, but forgot my metal bathtub outside. in the snow.  ok, so back to the drawing board.  we still had cute baby, bath towels and christmas duckies... let's go for it anyways.

totally forgot ages and stages. hehe.  little j wasn't quite able to sit up by himself yet!

with spiderman bean bag chair propped behind him, we got j sitting just long enough to snap this between lauches to grab him before he toppled (please don't be alarmed, mom was sitting just off camera but being the mother that i am, i was launching myself to catch him too!)

the end result of this laughable set up was a not-so-perfect image.  i had backdrop and unwanted props in the picture, the exposure wasn't right and all of my lovely bath bubbles were turned wrong and off screen.

photoshop cs5 how i love thee!

after opening my RAW image in photoshop, the cloning tool made light work of fixing up the backdrop problem and props that didn't belong, adjusting levels helped black out the backdrop completely and lighten little j perfectly.  i always touch up the eyes for clarity, i find it just makes the picture!  i darkened the handles on the bubbles that were showing then used the lasso tool to select just a couple of the bubbles.  i then copied and pasted them to other spots, which helped make just enough to complete my image.

good luck with your photo shoot on saturday cousin p, you will be great! 

if anyone following this has tips or tricks, i'd love to hear them.  what would you have done differently?