3 months old .. already ?

I guess this little cutie is "technically" not my nephew just yet, but he'll never know me to be anything other than "Auntie Kara" so - we'll go with ..

This is my nephew ! =D I can't believe that he's already 3 months old ! It seems like just yesterday I was going along with his Mommy to her Mid-wife appointment & feeling this little guy kick her belly. Or, maybe that was a week ago - it seems like just yesterday that we were praying for the little bugger to turn & not be breached so Naomi could go through natural labor. Or, maybe that was a few days ago - it definitely feels like just yesterday that I got to meet this little guy in the hospital & a few days later help to welcome him home & a few days later photograph all of his glorious sweetness.

Well, I guess time has flown and the little handsome man is now 3 months old ! He can do all sorts of fun things now, like stay awake !! haha ! But, he can smile & coo & is learning how to hold things in his pudgy little fingers. He's SO cute !!

.. and my favorite =D

HDR photos

Photography is an ever changing world. Especially with the digital era beginning - it just opens up the doors for all sorts of new things. And one of the new things I've been playing around with are High Dynamic Range [HDR] images.

According to wikipedia, HDR imaging is "a set of techniques that allow a greater dynamic range of luminances between the lightest and darkest areas of an image than standard digital imaging techniques or photographic methods. This wider dynamic range allows HDR images to more accurately represent the wide range of intensity levels found in real scenes, ranging from direct sunlight to faint starlight."

Unfortunately, you can't really shoot an HDR image in camera yet. They are starting to make cameras with this option, but for now - the best way to achieve the HDR quality is to do it in post-processing. There are several different options available to convert your plain-jane images to HDR-spectacular images - the most authentic being : you shoot several different images - all having different exposures. Some high, some low, and some in the middle. Then, you bring them back into PhotoShop & merge them all together. That would be a true HDR image. However, this requires the camera be on a tripod & the subject to not move through the entire series of images. And, if you're like me, you don't typically carry a tripod with you & so to get the exact same shot with several different exposures is super hard.

So, you can get around that - by tweaking a single image in PhotoShop & AdobeBridge. Once again, there are multiple ways of doing this - but all of the roads tend to lead to about the same result.

HDR images are amazing because they lighten the lighter colors and darken the darker colors. That may not sound very impressive - but it is the ability to turn images that may be amazing anyway - into something that is WOW! HDR images tend to have a fairy tale-magical-whimsical feel to them - let me show you:

BEFORE (straight out of the camera) :

AFTER:

BEFORE (straight out of the camera) :

AFTER: [like I said - whimsical]

BEFORE (straight out of the camera) :

AFTER:

BEFORE (straight out of the camera) :

AFTER:

BEFORE (straight out of the camera) : [notice how little detail there is in the water..]

AFTER:

BEFORE (straight out of the camera) :

AFTER:

BEFORE (straight out of the camera) :

AFTER:

BEFORE (straight out of the camera) : [this spot is actually right up the hill from where Derrick & I got engaged!]

AFTER: [doesn't this feel like a fairy tale land?]

BEFORE (straight out of the camera) :

AFTER: [one of my favorite photos I took at Disney]

BEFORE (straight out of the camera) :

AFTER:

BEFORE (straight out of the camera) :

AFTER:

Hello 2010 !

Everyone else is posting their favorite images from 2009, so I figured why not jump on the wagon and follow suit?

2009 was a fantastic year in my life! I did so many things for the first time, made so many memories & met so many amazing people! I moved away from home [1,000 far miles away] and lived on my own for most of the year. I worked at the "happiest place on earth" for 8 months and soaked in all the sunshine & heat Florida had to offer. I worked crazy hours, learned how to carry pixie dust in my pocket, and learned quickly how to "hunt" characters. Disney World is a vacation spot, but to my friends and I - it was our playground. We took backstage tours, saw things behind the scenes that no one gets to see, and learned all about the magic that makes Disney what it is.

I spent days and nights on the beach, drove my car all over the state of Florida, and did some really crazy [and stupid] things with my friends. We watched tons of movies, ate lots of food, and played wayy too much Monopoly. While most people were sleeping - that's when our lives came alive. We worked all day and played all night - taking midnight drives to the beach, thinking we owned Wal-Mart at 2am, and raiding IHOP in the wee hours of the morning.

Florida was awesome. It was hot, sunny, and generally just beautiful. I missed my family & friends back home and ached for Derrick, but my time was so full that I had very little time to actually dwell on missing them.

I think I spent more money on plane tickets than I spent on food - the 4 times I flew north to visit my family over those 8 months.

And, as if those 8 months weren't enough to be the highlight of my year, then Derrick flew down to bring me home. And on August 15, we got engaged.

I honestly didn't think anything could top my experience at Disney World - how could one moment be better than 8 months spent in the "happiest place on earth" ? Well, I'm not sure how that worked - but it did.

But, enough words - on to photos ! My photography grew by leaps and bounds in 2009. I had my first job as a professional photographer - shooting for 3 months at Disney World. And when I came home, I also shot my first wedding solo! I still have so much to learn, but I'm so excited for 2010 and all the new opportunities it brings!

And without further ado - I present a few of my favorite photos from 2009 !!