"Elf Yourself" Ellisons

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Sweet Dreams

I Heart Faces entry - WEEK 48 - December 7th - "Sweet Dreams" -



A group of us moms like to take our little children on a train ride on an old style train called The Blue Bird. The gentle train rocking lulled little Billy to sleep. If you knew Billy, then you would know that he 110% energy and a 110% boy. Makes this photo especially sweet.

Pink

I Heart Faces - Week 40 - October 19, 2009 - Pink challenge

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month...My mother is a survivor and has been cancer free for over 19 years. It came a year after my father died. That was a trying time. We all probably know someone who is going through this right now. I know two wonderful women that come to mind. I pray that they can recover and grow closer to God during this awful time. Please stay positive-minded. Here is my darling daughter, almost 3, all dressed up in pink. Photo taken specifically for "Pink Week".

Excited!

I Heart Faces - Week 40 - Oct. 14 - Excited! -

[Excited = All photos entered this week need to feature a person in them that is clearly excited and enthusiastic about something. The emotion should be easily conveyed when we view the photo.]

Is this shot for the pink week? Or excited week? I think definitely Excited! Vista's 'scarf princess dance outfit' is a big hit in our house. She was spinning around and so excited.

Blue

I Heart Faces -Week 38 - Sept. 29, 2009 - "Blue" photo challenge

Fiona in her blue tie-dye shirt, playing in the blue water area of Legoland. I like how the afternoon sun is shining on her face.
I had a lot of "blue" choices, including "blue" faces,( not just the color blue). But this one really says "BLUE" to me.

Completely Candid

I Heart Faces -Week 37 - Sept. 22, 2009 - "Completely Candid" photo challenge

I have more posed shots than unposed shots. If a person sees the camera, then it's not "completely candid" right? That's a tough challenge. Here is my completely candid shot. While on vacation this summer, we had the kids put on their bathing suits and cool off in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. The fountains shoot up out of the ground in a somewhat unpredictable way. My two year old was frightened. My husband Jack, is hugging her for comfort and protection. I just love this shot how daddy is a solid protector of my precious with all the spouts of water shooting up around her and the laughter looks on people in the background.

My 1st Fix-it-Friday submission. I use CM's MM 3.0

My first submission to the I Heart Faces Fix-it-Fridays:



Here's the original and how I got to my finished image:



The original is a good shot. If there was only one thing to improve it would be to crop it. Do you see how the arm in the forefront is bigger and way more in focus than the girl's face? This is for I Heart Faces, not I Heart Forearms, so cropping to a square is my first thing. I use Creative Memories Memory Manager 3.0 for my photos.




Then I click "Auto Color" and "Auto Contrast" and "Sharpen (lightly)". This image didn't need any extra adjusting in my opinion.



Then I click on "Touchup" and "Lighten" and I lighten the whites of the eyes and catch light just a bit. And I lighten the teeth, just a bit.


Now I think the image looks great this way. Green and red are complimentary on the color wheel so they look very nice to each other. But the green is very strong and competing with the girl's hair. What to do? The finishing touches for me are still under the "Touchup" tab. I "Decrease Color" and brush that on the background. Then I notice some fly-away hairs, so I use the "Clone" feature to copy the background over her fly-away hairs. I'm not very good at cloning so I can see my work, but I'm including it here in case you have any tips for me. One last thing, under "Adjust" and "Color Balance" I removed 10 points of Blue. Here is my finished submission:






If you think you would like this program, please visit my Creative Memories - LisaBE and check out the Memory Manager 3.0.