Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Happy Valentine's Day!

First off, Happy Valentine's Day!

I couldn't resist doing a holiday photo shoot with everyone. I wanted to try doing a high key background, and have wanted to try for a while. But backdrops are expensive, and so are studio lights. Turns out, I don't need them. I ended up picking up this white backdrop from the fabric store. It was $6.99 per yard, I picked up three yards, and used a 50% off one item coupon, so ended up paying just over $10 for this backdrop.

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I also don't have studio lights, and I don't know if I will ever have the money to invest in them. Or if I would use them enough to make it worth the investment in the first place. I don't even have a bounce flash. Instead, I used mostly window light, a reflector, and a four bulb lamp that I moved off to one side to try to even out the light on the background.

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The pictures came out looking okay in RAW, but not awesome. So, I went into Lightroom and did a first ever for me. I invented my own preset. I named it "Bright White Valentine" because it basically made the backdrops bright and white and brought out the reds in the balloon (from Dollar Tree) and the red heels (from a thrift store in Toledo, OR on my birthday for $2). I still have a ton to learn about Lightroom, Photoshop, and editing in general, but I love how these pictures turned out.

Of course, I couldn't leave it at that. I ended up experimenting some and coming up with a few other favorite edits. I may have gone a bit overboard. If you are interested in seeing all of the photos from this shoot, look me up over on Flickr.

I can't decide which edit I like the most. Do you have a favorite? Like the clean white look above, or the faded vintage below? Whichever it is, I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day!


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11 comments:

  1. Ok these pictures are gorgeous!!! I love both settings, the whites look like they belong in a magazine or maybe a calendar for February?? The vintage are just beautiful!!

    I think you should do a calendar.... I would love one!

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  2. .,Great Photos., both setting were great...looks awesome.

    Happy Heart's Day,
    Muttluks

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  3. Woof! Woof! Great Photos. Yes you don't really need those accessories to take good photos. Mom loves outside lighting they work the best. Love the vintage look of the photos. Happy Valentine’s Day! Golden LOVE. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar

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  4. These photos are so cute! Wrigs says no spike heels for him, thank you very much! ;-)

    Happy Valentine's Day!

    Susan and Wrigs

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  5. Love the photoshoot and hearing how other people do it. So cute!

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  6. All the photos are lovely, but for Valentine's Day I prefer the bright white/bright red as it just POPS!

    Very nice job!

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  7. They both look great! Love the one of your new kitty...what did you end up naming him? I also love the one of Koira standing in the shoes looking up. I would not have guessed that you don't have studio lights!

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  8. Great photos - love the opportunity to find new blogs through blog hops.

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  9. Wow, both are gorgeous. I kind of like the white for the pet shots, but the bottom ones of just the balloon and shoes in the tones you've got them in. Very nicely done! (And no one looks scared of the balloon!)

    Cobi + person

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