Back from Canada and the woes of an older point and shoot camera

Many photographers will tell you somewhat snobbily that "It's not the camera, it's the person that is responsible for a great capture." I have heard this so many times when a lay person asks something like "This is a great picture, What kind of camera do you have?" Well guess what. I am here to tell you, sometimes it's the camera.

We went to the Wiggles concert in Canada last night. With two children young enough to be considered babies, I in no way wanted to be responsible for my SLR, camera bag, diaper bag, baby food, bottles blankets, etc. So I decided the experience was more important than the pictures. After all, do I think that I will be framing pictures at the concert for display on my mantel? Nope.

I absolutely loved the concert, and I don't think I would have enjoyed it with a heavy camera to protect all night. Unfortunately, there is not one salvagable picture of my son. Or really any of us except The Wiggles. Concert lighting makes it impossible to take decent pictures of both the audience and the performers without a lot of setting changes and using full-auto. When I took pictures of the stage, the great lights made it possible for me to get a decent shutter-speed. Not true in the audience. Motion blur everywhere. And I think there is a problem with this camera Grain at even the lowest ISO. I need to throw it away.

I don't truly regret bringing the old junky camera in as my diaper bag was full, but as you see the pictures weren't great.

If you are waiting for the blotchybaby action tutorial, I will work on it once I have recovered from this cold. Plus I am still waiting for some wonderful person to lend me a newborn picture to work on.

hi all just checking out my mobile capabilities so I can send you wiggles pictures tomorrow

BlotchyBaby Action

I have had an amazing response to my Free BlotchyBaby Action. This is getting crazy. I am beyond thrilled. I can't wait to release a whole line of actions, and many more freebies and giveaways are coming up.

I also have been making newborn photprop headbands specifically for photographers. You will see what I mean later. Once I hit 300 fans following my facebook page http://www.facebook.com/#!/digiphotrescue. I will be hosting my first giveaway. So like me and refer your friends!

I am going to try to attach the BlotchyBaby Action here
 http://www.filefactory.com/file/b3g616e/n/BabyFace_Step_1_Freebie_BlotchyBaby.zip

Let me know how the download works out, or if you know a better hosting service. This one was just the first file host that google listed.

Keep in mind that this is only the first step of adjustment for a newborn edit. You will still need to clone and otherwise polish your image. I will be coming out with an entire newborn portrait setup action soon.

Enjoy the Freebie.

Amanda

PhotoShopping with the Plague-First Action giveaway

The plague hit the Gibbons' household this week, I have not been doing much--unless you consider wiping a lot of runny noses "much." Before I got sick, I managed to get my first action ready for release. It is called BlotchyBaby. It is used as a first step in editing newborn skin and teens with acne. Right now the only way to get this free action is to 'Like' me on Facebook at DigiPhotoRescue, and get me your email address. I promise I am very likeable ;).

About Me!

I came into the Photography world quite backwards. I am a High School teacher by trade, and the first job I applied for was a Business Teacher at Escanaba High School. One of the classes I was to take over was a class called Advanced Media Technology and the syllabus was pretty much...PhotoShop. I new how to open the program and that was it. I had never touched it before in my life.

Of course, I wanted the job so I knew that I would have to learn fast. It turned out I had to make my way through a few chapters of a step-by-step text over a weekend. After that, I just stayed a few chapters ahead of my students. Once I learned all the magic PhotoShop could do, I was mesmerized. I thought working in the program was fun, but I didn't think Photography was a particularly valuable endeavor so PS just became a hobby after the class was cancelled due to lack if funding.

Fast forward five years and I have two children, 2 and 8 months. I have since resigned from my teaching job, which I thoroughly loved, to stay home and take care of my babies. After my daughter was born in February, I was perplexed by the juxtaposition of how beautiful she was sitting in front of me and how average she looked in the pictures I snapped.

I thought it was just one of those things until I had Holly Nicholson of Holly Nicholson Photography out to take Family Portraits. I was blown away by how lovely my family looked. While I may never have the talent of some of the great photographers, I resolved to do a better job preserving my family memories. After all, what good are your family photos if they are so poor you don't want to look at them?

My first real post will follow later today.