A peak at what I've been up to!

twocolor · Jan 30, 2010

Been gone for a while. Business was crazy over the holidays, but we've now hit our January/February slow down. I'm looking forward to it, because right after November, we found out we are pregnant again, and I'm exhausted all the time.

But here's a glimpse of a few of my faves!

Josh66 · Jan 30, 2010

twocolor said:
Been gone for a while.

I was wondering where you ran off to... Nice to see you back!
And very nice series of portraits!

twocolor said:
[...] right after November, we found out we are pregnant again, and I'm exhausted all the time.

Awesome! Boy, girl? To early to tell?

mom2eight · Jan 30, 2010

Great job! Congratulations on the pregnancy. Can you tell me how you get the eyes so sharp. I am still working at it but very poorly I might add. What are you doing in PP to achieve this?

clbd39 · Jan 30, 2010

First off congrats on the pregnancy!!!

the photos are great, #1 is amazing!!! do you mind if I ask how your get your photos SOOO crisp?

twocolor · Jan 30, 2010

mom2eight said:
Great job! Congratulations on the pregnancy. Can you tell me how you get the eyes so sharp. I am still working at it but very poorly I might add. What are you doing in PP to achieve this?

The number 1 tip to getting the bright crisp eyes are to light them correctly from the get go. If the eyes are too underexposed, there's not alot that can be done in post processing.

BUT, as far as their sharpness, there are a few things I do. I bump the contrast using a layer mask, and add it to the eyes ONLY. When you sharpen an object, what you are in fact doing is increasing the contrast between light and dark pixels that are adjacent to each other. I also (using a layer mask) do an unsharp mask and apply it just to the eyes.

My biggest caution is to not over do it. Too much sharpening causes some issues in how natural looking the eyes are. A little bit goes along way.

twocolor · Jan 30, 2010

O|||||||O said:
twocolor said:

Been gone for a while.

Click to expand...

I was wondering where you ran off to... Nice to see you back!
And very nice series of portraits!

twocolor said:

[...] right after November, we found out we are pregnant again, and I'm exhausted all the time.

Click to expand...

Awesome! Boy, girl? To early to tell?

Thanks Josh! Too early to tell. We already have 2 boys and 2 girls, so whatever it is, it's really going to throw off the balance we've got goin on!!!! I'm hoping girl, we don't want the guys out numbering us!

mom2eight · Jan 31, 2010

Thanks, I have just had such a hard go at it. I have element and I have installed a mask, but don't really know how to use it yet. I'll follow this and see what it gets me. I just love your vivid colors also. Do you have a website?
BTW we have kept it even also 4 boys and 4 girls can't let them boys out number you. Although they are much easier in some ways!

twocolor · Jan 31, 2010

mom2eight said:
Thanks, I have just had such a hard go at it. I have element and I have installed a mask, but don't really know how to use it yet. I'll follow this and see what it gets me. I just love your vivid colors also. Do you have a website?
BTW we have kept it even also 4 boys and 4 girls can't let them boys out number you. Although they are much easier in some ways!

twocolorphotography.blogspot.com is my blog. I get so slammed with jobs, that it sometimes gets put on the back burner. I have an intern starting next month, and that will be one of her jobs, keeping the website current!

I love that you have a large family! I heard that boys break your house, and girls break your heart. My oldest boy is 13 and my oldest girl is 10. HE is my heart breaking child! SHE is my me! I understand her so well, because she is just like me!! We'll wait and see what happens as she gets older!