michelle kane photography » just for fun

my lady bones ::: child photography in sheridan, wy

Michelle — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 04:36:18 +0000

Eternally grateful for this gem.

Just a short, impromptu shoot tonight with my little lady bones (one of the MANY pet names I have for her)

…. reveling in the lovely evening light, nothing fancy, just being and shooting and giggling….

together.

Perfect.

hasta la vista ::: photographer and photoshop mentor

Michelle — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 03:05:38 +0000

We’re blowing this popsicle stand for the next two weeks! Off to enjoy surf, sand, sun, family, friends and 3000 miles in the truck with our two perfect ANGELS. (power of positive thinking!) All correspondence will be returned on the week of the 30th. Thanks Jagers for being such awesome neighbors, house sitters and puppy care takers. You guys are awesome! Cheers!

my beauty ::: kids portraits sheridan wyoming

Michelle — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 04:34:38 +0000

My lady turned 3 today. Yes, my mind is spinning at the realization that she is no longer my small baby, but 3 going on 13. With an affinity for makeup, nail polish, pretty clothes and having her hair done up in curlers, she is my life sized doll who is so fun to spiffy up and take pretty pictures of.

She has forever changed me. Her tantrums are eclipsed by her vibrant personality and sweet heart. Oh, how I adore her. With the softest, most impeccable skin and pouty lips and her eyes of cocoa brown, I look at her and marvel that this darling life sprang from me. I lose myself in her daily. In her hearty giggle and wrinkle of her nose I am enveloped. Oh yes, she tries us daily, then turns right around and causes my heart to explode the next minute with her tenderness. With spunk and fortitude like I’ve never know in a 3 year old, this one surprises me, challenges me, impresses me and makes me the proudest mama there ever was. She’s beautiful and bossy and brazen. I thank the Lord for entrusting her to us. Here’s to my heart and soul at the tender age of 3.

unsuspecting before and after ::: photography and editing mentoring ::: wy photographer

Michelle — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 19:53:15 +0000

Thank you everyone for your response to the before and after post yesterday as well as the interest in mentoring. I appreciate it so much. In keeping with the before and after image theme, I thought I would share something quite a bit different. It seems I receive a lot of inquiries about post processing client images… you know, faces, skin, color casts, that sort of thing. But then there are those people that are interested in “stuff”. They are curious about making backgrounds pop, look surreal or semi-HDR. I wanted to feature this image, to demonstrate that you don’t necessarily need a fancy lighting setup to create art. This shot was literally taken from the window of my Yukon, shot mid-day in obvious harsh sun and shade. I wasn’t even really thinking about my camera settings, but rather shooting off the cuff reference photos while scouting for session locations. Hence, the reason that the shutter speed and ISO were jacked up for no apparent reason.

I’m a sucker for weird, random junk. Crazy? Maybe, but this sort of stuff speaks to me as an artist. When I do a shoot, whether it is a session for a client or just shooting for art images, I’ve always got in the back of my mind what I can do with the image in post processing. This location spoke to me as a possible backdrop because of the colorful, dark, highly textured wall. Plus, all the junk strewn about added texture and interest. Doing a deep, rich, moody edit really requires the image to have color and depth to begin with, that can later be intensified and brought out in editing. Same is true of the clothes clients wear. Textured, colorful, layered clothes add visual interest and give the image a starting point for vivid, rich editing. Also, even if there is a hint of color in an image, but I don’t necessarily like the color, it’s certainly changeable in post. I’ll demonstrate this concept in the next before and after.

EXIF: SOOC :: 50mm 1.2 lens • 1/400 • f/5.6 • ISO 320 • spot metering (not great settings, but it is what it is!)

2nd image is after tweaks in just Lightroom. Exposure down to -1.5, recovery up all the way to 100, fill light up to 65, blacks up to 72, brightness up to 59 from 50, contrast maxed out at 100, basic S curve in tone curve and clarity maxed at 100, vibrance and saturation both brought down a bit, split toning added with a slight yellowish/mustard hue.

3rd image after editing in Photoshop. The details of this edit are too numerous to list, but in general, include tweaks to blending modes, dodging and burning, shadow and highlight tweaks, selective color replacement and massive sharpening.

And voila, it goes from random car window crap shot, to 16×20 canvas hanging on my living room wall.

blessing no. 402 ::: sheridan wyoming photographer mentor

Michelle — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:06:23 +0000

We went out scouting locations last night as a family. Mosquitos were horrendous and although the location we found was pretty amazing, the bugs were so thick that the spot is pretty much a no-go. The kids bounced around the wide open spaces like farts in a skillet, as my husband would say. There’s nothing like setting your kids lose in a massive outdoor space for them to wind up filthy dirty as they burn off their spazmo energy.

I had to share this one image of Aiden, as he *never* lets me snap a real photo of him lately. The boy is truly allergic to my camera. No joke. The moment the camera comes out, he starts rubbing his eyes and waxing on about how his allergies are acting up. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME! So, to get this one shot of him was well, magical.

Then there’s Julsie. Nothing fancy. Just her. I see her standing like this all the time with her tiny fingers clasped together, staring in awe over something new she’s just discovered.

I am a mom first and foremost. In these simple moments, I am blessed.