Beggar Lady Photo: Before & After

As I can only add 1 photo for every "I Heart Faces" photo challenge, this is a separate blog entry for those interested in my "before" & "after" photo composites of the "Beggar Lady."

I Heart Faces: Dramatic Black & White

This is my second "I Heart Faces" photo challenge, and I wanted to challenge myself by venturing onto new learning paths.

There were so many photos to consider, but I liked this photo of the blind beggar lady that I encountered during my travels in India in 2005. This lady was standing outside the gated area where a wedding was taking place. It was very interesting for me to watch part of the Indian wedding ceremony. Guests were coming & going; a beautiful white cart decorated with flowers and 2 horses were at the ready to whisk the bridal couple away. There was such a contrast of colour & festivities vs the lone woman in drab clothing begging for a few rupees.

The original colour photo was quite drab looking and I just "didn't know what to do" with that photo. (If you would like to see the original photo, I've added it on my blog after this entry.) Thanks to this photo challenge, here's what I did to create the finished "dramatic" look:

• convert photo to B&W
• run a portrait action
• add vibrance
• add 2 textures
• make needed adjustments (levels, curves)
• burn around the edges
• add a vignette
• frame

Check out some of the other participants photos here.

"Beautiful Sky"

In addition to the weekly photo challenges on "I Heart Faces" there are also different photo themes on this website's free Community Network.

Last summer the smoke from the mountain forest fires cast these interesting rich hues on the sky above Calgary.

I submitted the above photo to the website, but the 2 photos below weren't not submitted... I have added them to this blog for interest's sake.

The sky above Lighting Lake, Alberta.

Summer 2009: I looked out the window at home & saw this very interesting cloud formation.

I Heart Faces: Focusing on Angles

This is my first entry for "i heart faces" (www.iheartfaces.com) and this week's challenge is Focusing on Angles. The weather has not been conducive for venturing outside today, so I tried a new angle while indoors.

Before my son settled down to sleep, I took this photo.

Remembering Emily

Love cannot be measured by increments of time...

An entire lifetime of love can be squeezed into a few brief miraculous moments when necessary.

~ Author Unknown

It was a year ago that little Emily & her twin sister Caidance entered this world. As a photographer for "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep," I had the opportunity to meet these 2 beautiful little girls.

Emily only lived for 12 hours, but I was able to photograph her for 3 hours of those precious 12 hours. I think of Emily so often... she was so beautiful, and she captured my heart.

Today I'm thinking of Emily on her 1 year Angelversary, and Caidance on her first birthday.

I just love this photo: Emily & Caidance are each holding onto their mother's hand.

I am honoured to have been a part of Emily's short life here on earth and to have the opportunity to allow Mom Deborah to always remember her one little angel that left all too soon.

If you would like more information about NILMDTS or if you would like to donate to this wonderful non-profit organization, please go to www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org

Julie, Sarath & Amara

Julie & Sarath and 2 year old Amara came out to the studio last Saturday to have some photos done.

The first time I took photos of Amara was when she was just 13 days old; the last time I took this family's photos was when Amara was just under 1 year old; it is so fun to watch this little gal grow up!

Jules is only 12 days away from delivering Baby Sofia!

Amara was pleased with her reward from her parents for being so good!

Here is just one of the bunch of maternity photos that I took of Julie:

Amara liked climbing on the ladder :)

Sarath & his girls

Thanks for coming over, Jules, Sarath & Amara!! Looking forward to meeting baby Sofia!

Taylor, Jayden & Maleah

My sister Rochelle took some photos of her 3 daughters, and she asked me to do some special effects... so I played around with some different ideas.

Of course, this is also to give you an idea of what one can do with just 1 photograph...

"Three textures":

Vintage look with border:

B&W + Colourize with border:

Colourize with new texture & border:

Colourize + textures, no border:

Autumn glow:

Vintage Blush:

Vintage:

Sun-kissed:

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

I can hardly believe it's mid-March already! This year is just flying by... and I am finally catching up on my blog postings.

I volunteer for the non-profit organization "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" which offers free remembrance photography for families who are going through the loss of a child. We believe that these images serve as an important step in the family's healing process by honouring their child's legacy.

February 13, I attended one of NILMDTS's training seminars which was taught by Trina Lewis of Creations Photo in Edmonton. Trina is also a photographer for NILMDTS. She did a wonderful presentation for the group of 10 photographers who attended this information/training session.

It has been an honour to be involved with NILMDTS over the past 2 years and to give an invaluable gift of remembrance photography to families who have gone through the loss of a child.

If you would like more information about NILMDTS, or if you would like to donate to NILMDTS, please check out their website, www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org.

Landscape Photos

I have been busy the past four Saturdays with a photoshop class. It was a lot of fun, I learned lots & met some great & new photographers.

I made montages/collages of a few photos during the photoshop class...

Castle Mountain Lookout: This is a panorama of 28 individual photos. The views of the surrounding mountains and the Bow River, Trans-Canada Highway, and CP Railway in the valley below are absolutely amazing!

The photo is printed as 40"x17"

Garibaldi Collection: This was one of my early SLR series photos which I have made into various composites and then put together as a collection. Photo is printed as 10"x20"

I lived in Australia for a few years so I obviously took a lot of photos during my stay overseas.

This first photo is very memorable for me. I had gone on a hike with some friends to see this cabin, "Craig's Hut," which is the location for the Australia movie "The Man from Snowy River." The photo was originally taken in colour, but I converted it to B&W and changed the tones of the cabin. This photo is printed as 20"x16"

These 3 statues are part of Melbourne, Australia's beautiful city. The backdrop is eucalyptus tree bark. This photo is printed as 24"x12".

I snapped the photo of the 2 pelicans on the boat by Queenscliff, Australia in 2003. I was always captivated by this photo, yet there was something "missing" which prevented me from printing this photo... until now.

I added some textures and converted the photo to a water-colour, then I added another Australian beach photo of tessalated pavement to the background. I love the final product. I printed this photo as a 10"x8".

If you are interested in purchasing any of the photos, please email me at photosbywilma@gmail.com, and I will pass along price quotes for the specific photo.

Redhead Mack

Our friends Kevin & Katy have a band called Redhead Mack, and they asked me to take some photographs of the band.

Redhead Mack's album "ISH" had its initial debut last week at a concert here in Calgary. The music was amazing. Check them out at www.redheadmack.com.

"The Group" (left to right): Katy, Gail, Kevin, Dean, Eric

Singer-songwriter & guitarist Kevin:

Just for fun... I put 4 photos together to make this final photo.

Congratulations on the launch of your "Ish" album, Redhead Mack! We look forward to hearing more of your songs!!

Photography Quotes

A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know. ~ Diane Arbus

The camera doesn't make a bit of difference. All of them can record what you are seeing. But, you have to SEE. ~ Ernst Haas

We try to grab pieces of our lives as they speed past us. Photographs freeze those pieces and help us remember how we were. We don't know these lost people but if you look around, you'll find someone just like them. ~ Gene McSweeney

Maybe because it's entirely an artist's eye, patience and skill that makes an image and not his tools. ~ Ken Rockwell

You know what a camera is? A mirror with memory. ~ Author Unknown

No matter how advanced your camera you still need to be responsible for getting it to the right place at the right time and pointing it in the right direction to get the photo you want. ~ Ken Rockwell

Most things in life are moments of pleasure and a lifetime of embarrassment; photography is a moment of embarrassment and a lifetime of pleasure. ~ Tony Benn

Where there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us ro see. ~ Dorthea Lange

Photograph: a picture painted by the sun without instruction in art. ~Ambrose Bierce

It's weird that photographers spend years or even a whole lifetime, trying to capture moments that added together, don't even amount to a couple of hours. ~James Lalropui Keivom

When you photograph people in colour you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in B&W, you photograph their souls! ~Ted Grant

Often while traveling with a camera we arrive just as the sun slips over the horizon of a moment, too late to expose film, only time enough to expose our hearts. ~Minor White

A photograph is usually looked at - seldom looked into. ~Ansel Adams

I think a photography class should be a requirement in all educational programs because it makes you see the world rather than just look at it. ~Author Unknown

A good snapshot stops a moment from running away. ~Eudora Welty

The camera can photograph thought. ~Dirk Bogarde

There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs. ~Ansel Adams

No photographer is as good as the simplest camera. ~Edward Steichen

The goal is not to change your subjects, but for the subject to change the photographer. ~Author Unknown

A photograph is memory in the raw. ~Carrie Latet

There will be times when you will be in the field without a camera. And, you will see the most glorious sunset or the most beautiful scene that you have ever witnessed. Don't be bitter because you can't record it. Sit down, drink it in, and enjoy it for what it is! ~DeGriff

Fear is a darkroom where negatives develop. ~Usman B. Asif

All photos are accurate. None of them is the truth. ~Richard Avedon

The camera cannot lie, but it can be an accessory to untruth. ~Harold Evans, "Pictures on a Page"

You don't take a photograph, you make it. ~Ansel Adams

Buying a Nikon doesn't make you a photographer. It makes you a Nikon owner. ~Author Unknown

If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera. ~Lewis Hine

A photograph is like the recipe - a memory the finished dish. ~Carrie Latet

Everyone has a photographic memory, but not everyone has film. ~Author Unknown

The negative is the equivalent of the composer's score, and the print the performance. ~Ansel Adams

The "B" Family

Last week, the "B" family came for a photo session. Derek & Christine have a fun sense of adventure & their daughters Heather & Allison were just so sweet! Thanks, guys, for the opportunity to photograph your family!

Family Photos

I follow some photographer's websites... one of those sites is Australian photographer's Joanne Faulkner. I just love her style!

Here's an excerpt from her blog that I really liked:

Sometimes, when I take family photographs, the parent or parents are not keen to be in the shot, or may not want to purchase any with themselves in it because they don't like how they look. Or the photos, they say, are about the kids and not them. But what about when the kids grow up? They will one day treasure photos of their parent/s in their youth. I agree with David Williams, www.davidanthonywilliams.com, when he says:

"We need to get into people's heads that the portrait of a child - whilst lovely - is not nearly as important as one of the family or with parents….because when the child grows up and has family of their own - they go looking for their parents as young vital people.

I know, I went looking."

Christmas Templates are Here!

I ordered a bunch of Christmas templates for Christmas cards. Here are a few of the templates that have been ordered.

All templates are for 4x6 or 5x7 photos, but they can also be ordered as press print cards.

If you have a favourite photo, I would be happy to put a Christmas template together for you.

Please contact me at photosbywilma@gmail.com if you are interested in these Christmas templates or need for information.

I inserted photos of my nieces & nephew that my sister had sent me & used it as a sample for this card.

Kevin & Jeunine & Family

Last week I photographed a work colleague's family. Kevin & Jeunine have 2 very cute little fellas. Jordan just wanted to be funny, and Rocco was all smiles as long as he had a toy in hand. It was neat to watch the changing attitudes of these 2 dudes. I had fun photographing this family.

This photo of Rocco makes me want to title it "1-800-OH-SANTA"

Hmmm... wonder what he wants for Christmas??

New Photo Studio Equipment

Last week I purchased a new brown backdrop for my photo studio. I also purchased a child's chair.

My son was the first to sit in this chair - he was not impressed... but then, I don't blame him... he was getting hungry.