Brendan's 1st Birthday: Birthday pics

So here are a few pics that I took for my nephew's 1st birthday.  Those of you that read my blog may remember I picked up this great bushel basket last week & Ella  & I did some research to ensure a 1 year old would fit in said basket.  I also took some of the family & tried to take some with his sister, but she's not so much about having her picture taken right now.  They are cute, of course, it always helps to have a cute subject.  Not technically perfect in any way, but I think they capture my nephew pretty well.  Enjoy & have a great day!

P.S.  I made both the banners, they are no sew b/c I don't sew--it's just better that way!

85mm ISO 100/200 f 3.2-4.5 1/125-250 ss

He may be all smiles here, but he soon flipped the entire basket over, oops, sorry about that--Ella couldn't flip it, we tested it!

His mommy made him this cute onesie

Big sister wasn't so much in to pics, but this one is still cute I thought

Also cute

I kind of liked that Brendan was standing up in this one, also tried to matte process this one, what do you think??

All boy, he loves trucks

Gotta have this pose for a 1st birthday

Mama & her boy, tried to matte process this one also

This would be beautiful in a dark wood frame with white mat...just sayin'

Muller family

Dada & his little man...thought this one was really sweet

Brendan's 1st Birthday: It's cake time

I always enjoy a first birthday, especially a birthday party for my adorable nephew!  It is so hard to believe that he is 1 already.  With he & Ella being so close in age, I should realize that he is old enough to be 1, but it just seems like this last year flew by so quickly that I could hardly keep track of time.  I was asked to do some pics for Brendan for his party & then some for his birthday pics.  Although, I know our family would not hate me if they didn't turn out well, I am always nervous before I take pics for others as I still feel like I have so much to learn & then I worry if they don't turn out well.  I mean, I guess if they don't turn out well you can always go to a studio to get some done, but being the OCD person I am--I always want them to turn out well.  So this last weekend this "auntie with a camera" (usually I'm the mom with the camera ;) played photog at Brendan's birthday party in Grand Rapids, MI.  Here are a few pics of him with his birthday cupcake.  I've got so many more to edit that I may do several blog posts to share the cute ones.  Enjoy & have a great day ;)

Why so many black & white??  Well, I had to use a really high ISO b/c my light was limited (p.s. I do have them all in color also, but for blogging purposes I liked the bw better) so they were kind of noisy when I viewed them, so I turned them bw & used my noise reduction in my RAW editor

My sister-in-law made this cute monkey cupcake cake for my newphew...isn't it sweet ??

Crazy old Aunt Shannon made that banner, also used in some other pics

This is my favorite

Giving baby brother some love

Her brother made sure she got some also

I think he liked it :)

Mac & Cheese monster

I don't know why it is, but at some point both my kids have gone through this obsession with Mac & Cheese.  Here are a few snapshots of Ella enjoying her favorite meal.  It makes her so happy & I do usually pair it with veggie/fruit so I guess it's not so bad for her.  Have a wonderful day!

A bushel of love

Well, I got this bushel basket at our local antique store Wexford General Store Antique Center for 10 bucks for some pics I plan on doing of my nephew for his 1st birthday.  Because I can never wait to try out a new "prop" & also b/c I needed to make sure a 1 year old would fit in this basket....I had to put Ella in it for research purposes.  I think these turned out really cute.  Take a look at baby girl with her apple.  I hope you all enjoy & have a wonderful day!

85mm ISO 100 f 3.2-4.0 1/100ss

Summer girl

Here are a few of Jessie girl in a cute little summer outfit.  I was attempting to get her near this old fence in order to get a different background, I got some, but of course she had to roam around, so only a few.  I'm trying to get better with lower f stops & different lighting scenarios.  So this was a trial of an f 2.5 & 2.8.  I'm also working on learning how to do adjustment layers, specifically curve correction layers & level adjustment layers to enhance contrast/color on my pics...so you will see the comparisons below, what do you think??

What's new with Jessie lately??  I'd say her language development has really taken a step forward.  She makes 4-5 word sentences now & is aware of everything, so you should be very careful with what you say!  Still just as skinny as a rail & still weighing around 25 lbs or so, of course, her only speed these days is run (poor mama :)  She can now peddle her trike pretty well (I will try to get a video to post soon).  She's getting her last primary molar (A for my dentites :) so I've been up with her at night.  Still loves to read & play in the pool.  Doing well on the potty & even going with me to do errands in big girl panties.  Very proud of my big girl & we are amazed by her progress!  Hard to believe she will be starting "school" the end of August, just 1 half day a week & then 2 & 1/2 years old in a month...crazy, how do I have a child this age as I still feel like a "new" parent?? Enjoy & have a great day!

Photo 1:

Original

Levels corrected

Photo 2:

Original

Levels adjustment layer applied

Adjusted red, orange, & green filters on black & white adjustment layer

Photo 3:

Love this one of my big girl

S-curve corrected & retouched skin a little

Photo 4:

Original

I reshaped the s-curve on RGB color to enhance color/contrast

Photo 5:

Corrected s-curve on this one, only slightly, but maybe it looks a little clearer

Just cuteness, although I think curve correcting & level correction would help these

It's not as sharp as I like, but that face is so Jess

Red Day

Sunday I decided that the girls & I should wear red.  I really wanted to get them in their dresses from Brazil & I had to match also :)  Here are a few snapshots of us together on Sunday.  Thanks to Michael for playing "Phodaddy"--get it, photographer daddy!  Have a wonderful day.

My right eye looks a little crazy, don't know why, I think my contact was acting up...check out baby girl's hair :)

Me & my girls

Jessie 28 months & Ella 14 months