Black and white

We were at Oak Brook Mall, I saw a lot of lines and  decided to incorporate them.  I felt like the man had a little GQ going on so I had him walk towards me, told him to look "over there" and button up.  We walked around the mall and here are a few from that day. My goal was a magazine style fashion edit, so I edited these to be black and white with a high contrast of highlights and shadows. ​​​​​​​

Color choices

This portrait is a good example of color.  Not only is the subject wearing a solid color, the hue works well with her skin tone.  Wearing a solid color allows no distraction to the focal point, your face, smile and eyes. The subject happens to be a good friend, she like many people I encounter are not comfortable in front of the camera.  I was able to take this beauty while her camera radar guard was down;  And because I am curious I looked up the color palette to see what colors go well with her skin tone.....I think her skin tone looks lovely with these!  ​​​​​​​

Unsuspecting couple

This photo was taken in Arizona.  We were heading back to our car when my husband pointed out this couple watching the sunset.  The sun was coming down quick and it was brilliant. I was able to save a lot of the image taking the picture in RAW mode.  In the original you will see the sky is blown out, it was extremely bright along with lots of shadows.  It was another learning experience for me on settings for my camera.  Here is the end result with my personal editing style (the crop change  made a big difference too).  I probably should have given them my card to share the photo with them.  ​​​​​​​

The fisherman
 I absolutely love nature and am torn between being a nature photographer and a portrait photographer. Nature inspires me to to be creative on how I can share the beauty I see. There is so much going on with beauty all around.  I was content with my initial edit but was drawn to an editing style I was recently exposed to.  I love it and will be revising older photos to see if any will work. My goal, was to create a surreal image. 
First image is what the image looked straight out of the camera. Second is my personal edit, keeping it realistic, enhancing what I want the eye to be drawn to. Third edit is my artistic edit. ​​​​​​​
Family photo

This is my family on my husbands side. It's not easy to get this group together so I definitely wanted to capture this day.  I didn't have much option of background but I didn't want that to stop me.  I learned a lot with this photo and think I did a decent job with replacing the background (and a few other things) shhh. One thing I learned is, try really hard to get the ideal background out of the camera or at least, have a less busy background if possible. :) ​​​​​​​

Sunset art
I am fascinated with light and shadow. Understanding how the camera interprets allows you to become creative.  Here are a few purposeful photos. The last two portraits are from a fall session, they saw on Pinterest a photo of people making the shape of  hearts with their hands at sunset and asked if we could create that.  I love collaboration!
Crops make a difference
These are basic crops for a portrait, but it is good to have the use in mind when deciding.  Social media profile photos look best with a square crop just above the collar bone; hanging a photo on your wall also will look great with a square crop but not necessarily cropped at the collar bone. Artistically, crops help the eye lead where you want it to go and can remove distractions.   
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