Well, we are headed off to WPPI's (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) annual convention in just a couple days. It promises to amazing fun mingling with 10,000+ other professional photographers for 5 days! I'm also stoked to be part of WPPI this year. I'm teaching a MasterClass that, yes, is sold out.

But if you missed the MasterClass, you can still see me in action.

I will be helping out at the Thirst Relief booth from 11 to noon on Monday, March 8th. And I will have 20% off coupons for Flourish for anyone who stops by the booth to say hi.

Also, I will be doing a Photoshop tutorial demo at the ProDPI booth from 3:00-3:45 on Tuesday, March 9th. The tutorial will focus on how to effectively use textures in photos. So stop by and see some Photoshop fun and check out ProDPI's amazing press products, while you're at it! This is the kind of editing that I will be covering, how to integrate textures like this. Can't wait to see you there!

Well, we wrapped up our first {life as art} workshop of 2010 last weekend and it was just fabulous! I adored getting to know my workshop attendees and feeling their energy and excitement. And despite the cold and snowy weather, I think that we all got some amazing images! Thank you again, one and all, for such an incredible weekend!

A couple shots with models . . . and for those who will ask, editing on all these images was just my soft color pop action (with a dolci texture on the first image).




And a couple headshots of some of the workshop attendees . . . .

Well, I just have to give a little shout out for Thirst Relief and WPPI this year. I've donated a one-on-one, 2-hour mentoring session to be auctioned off tomorrow, February 16th and February 17th. This is your chance to help bring clean water to the world and receive a one-on-one private mentoring session with me at the same time. I promise to be uber-generous with the winner, haha. You can see the details here:

Auction Details

As I said, the bidding starts tomorrow and you don't need to attend WPPI in order to bid on the auction. Don't hesitate to email me if you have any questions!

Alright! Just thought that I would take a minute to update all the happenings around here.

We're really excited for our first in-person {life as art} workshop of 2010 coming up in just two weeks. The workshop is entirely sold out and we're busily making last minute preparations. The March 25-27 workshop is sold out too. Also, the workshop in Orlando on April 29-May1 still has a couple spots left, if you want a workshop a little later in the spring. Additionally, our June lighting workshop is sold out and the lighting workshop on July 9-10 only has 1 spot left.

Many of you have asked what happened to my group on Flickr. Apparently, Flickr is deleting all groups that are tied to a business or product, so I have instead created a page on Facebook for Flourish Emporium. I will be posting updates and specials there. You can also feel free to jump into the discussions section and ask questions. Also, if you post a photo using my products, feel free to tag me in the photo. This will help others to find examples of photos edited with my products.

Flourish Emporium Facebook Page

Also, many of you have asked if I will be creating a Photoshop version of my Sunflare presets. And the answer is yes! I am currently working on creating a Sunshine set of actions that will add sunflare to your images. Additionally, I am putting the final touches on my new Ethereal Action set. It includes actions that will add a light, airy feel to your photo. I love this set, because it brings out detail in shadows and masks blown highlights. I plan on releasing both sets in the next 10 days or so.

Another sample . . . . .

After


Before

Alright. I've decided that I'm a very bad blog mommy, cause I can't seem to post more often. Sigh.

So in an attempt to better my blog parenting skills, here's a fun little session I did with my daughter not too long ago. I love the snow and bright sunny winter days, which seem to be few and far between this year. So here's a little fun! All of these images were shot with a huge studio strobe to camera right.












An in case you were wondering what the shots looked like without the strobe, here you go:

Well, I just had to hop in here and say that my new Proofing Presets and Sunflare Presets are now available on Flourish Emporium. You can see samples and read all the details there. And hey, why not save a few pennies while you're at it?! Enter this coupon code when you checkout and receive an extra 10% off your entire order:

flourish013110

Also, my {life as art} professional workshops are selling out for 2010, so if you've been hesitating on signing up, now would be the time to ensure your spot. And if you can't make it to a {life as art} workshop in person, the Workshop in a Box will provide you with that workshop experience from the comfort of your own home. In fact, enter this coupon code when you check out and receive $50 off your purchase of the workshop in a box:

box013110

Note that both coupon codes will expire on January 31.

And stay tuned . . . . . there are fabulous things in the work for February, including the launch of my Ethereal action set . . . . I've been working on this set for a while and I LOVE the look of it . . . soft, light and oh-so-yummy! Here's a little teaser . . . . .

Before


After running an action from my new Ethereal set . . . .

Okay, so my first New Year's Resolution is to post more to my blog. Honestly, I need to schedule it on my calendar, haha.

Second New Year's Resolution is to create more products for Flourish Emporium. To that end, I've been working feverishly on several items. One is a set of proofing presets for Lightroom and ACR. This are presets that will allow you to quickly proof a session in LR (primarily) but can be used in ACR too. I do all my proofing in LR and this is a collection of the presets that I use on every session that I proof.

Along with the proofing presets, I also have created a little set of sunflares for Lightroom and ACR. These are just little sunflare presets that you can add to a photo to get an instant burst of sunlight from the edge of the photo.

So here are some before and afters using the proofing presets and sunflare presets. No PS work here . . . . all these edits were done in LR using just the presets and no other adjustments. And those of you who have worked with presets know how fast theyare to work with. These edits took about 10 seconds each to do. I love these sets and anticipate having them ready for purchase in the next week or so.

Before


With Proofing Presets applied


Sunflare preset added


Before


With Proofing Presets


With Sunflare presets added


Before



With Proofing Presets


With Sunflare preset added


In addition to these presets, I'm also working on a new action set I'm currently calling Ethereal . . . . . think soft, light tones . . . . . it's going to be so yummy!

First of all, I want to wish everyone a happy holidays and a very merry Christmas! After weeks of craziness, I have mailed all my holiday cards, completed my Christmas shopping (though I haven't started to wrap presents yet . . . . sigh) and am now hoping for at least a day or two of relaxing time.

But I first wanted to wish everyone some Christmas cheer, so here are the outtakes from my 2009 holiday card. Photos are always stressful, especially when you add an active 16-month old into the mix.

First you have to catch the toddler . . . .


Then you have to get him to hold still . . . . .






And prevent him from escaping . . .



And going boneless . . . .



And then several hours of frustration later, 164 frames, 2 swapped heads in Photoshop and lots of tears (theirs and mine), you have a holiday photo. So here's wishing you and yours a fabulous holiday season!
 

I've been meaning to post this session for a month or two now, just finally getting around to it. I loved shooting this wedding and working with such a fabulous bride and groom! So here are a few highlights from their wedding day!