All the Moving Parts

The other week I was asked by a family who is practically family, if I could take pictures of them for this year’s Christmas card. I was honored.

I went right to work planning a Christmassy scene. I looted Christmas decorations from my mother’s vast collection and made some props. I did photo testing inside and outside my house to check the light situation. After my prep work, I felt confident and ready for the Christmas photo shoot.

When taking pictures of a family of six with four kiddos 1^st grade and under, one challenge is capturing “all the moving parts”. However, they were champs. The family did an excellent job of keeping smiles on their faces and focusing on the camera. Not to fail the mention that I had the advantage of knowing the children well and of course I had my trusty shutter.

I believe that the shoot was not just a great time, but a great success! Check out these adorable smiling happy faces!

 

                                

Friendenemy

Good news everyone, my business cards are in and looking good! Phew! The time has come to pass those puppies out! Watch out because here they come!!!

Prints… Sigh… It is amazing how much trial and error is involved with getting a stellar photograph from the computer screen to a tangible print. At the moment I am at the mercy of the fine retail establishments in the area. It is like that prophet Forrest Gump and his box of chocolates, you never know what you are gonna get.

Here are some of the hurdles…

Computer screens are illuminated that in itself can represent an image falsely. Not to fail to mention that computer screen settings and calibration can vary.

Printers can also read color differently. One photo lab can create a blown out print that is overexposed, while another lab can produce prints that are too dark. An overly dark image has most likely fell victim to my archnemesis dot gain.

I love that term dot gain! Now I have a name for my friendenemy. I used to battle with dot gain all the time when I was making maps for the Town of Davidson, NC. I could never figure out what happened to my beautiful vibrant colored map from my computer screen to the printer. The map would print out way too dark and the bright vibrant colors were no longer.

Turns out, I was a victim of dot gain! With time and wise words from a professor, I realized what I needed to do to defeat my enemy! I must lighten the image before printing to avoid the oversaturation of printer ink, aka the infamous dot gain! After trial and error and defeating my nemesis, my beautiful prints and I can now live happily ever after!

Other Exciting News:

I have placed new pictures on my website and Facebook page. Check, check, check, check them out!

http://www.captivatebyerica.com/services/scenes/

https://www.facebook.com/captivatebyerica

Next stop, Etsy! Stay Tuned!

Here is a little photo gem for you all…