Toddler Tuesday #3

Wesley loves his daddy. I am thankful the days he is more attached to Kyle than myself. Gives me a little break. I love this photo =)

Logo Prototype

This afternoon I was bored. So I thought I'd try to create a logo. I've worked with illustrator a little bit, but not enough to where I would call myself a graphic artist. I actually would love to take a few classes online from the art institute for graphic design and for photography. Hopefully in the next year or 2 I can atleast be a full time student and graduate from the university.

Anyways this is what I came up with today. I like the font. This is only 1 concept, and I'm sure I can come up with more later on, but I don't want to spend this gorgeous day on the computer. But while my toddler naps I wanted to kill time.

What do you think?? Honest opinion. Suggestions? It's a simple design. I really hate complicated or too many things going on.

Fix-it-friday #4

Original

Edit #1

Adjusted exposure, curves, brightness, clarity.

Sharpened a bit.

Dodged and burned the eyes.

Edit #2

Same edits and 1st but just lightened a bit more

Edit #3

The famous seventies action. Adjusted to personal likings

Edit #4

same edits as above

BW beauty action - Pioneer woman

boost action

adjusted boot opacity

This was fun! What a goregous little girl and her brown eyes are AMAZING =)

Hope you like them!!

Check out all the other amazing fixes over @ iheartfaces

Wyoming Wednesday #2

Sorry a day late! 

Right around the corner from my house is this wide open field. Usually its full of snow, but not today. The ducks have returned!! Spring is here.....sort of. =)

Toddler Tuesday #2

Sorry I missed yesterdays toddler tuesday, so I'm posting it up a day late.

Smiling @ his ducky (which I wish I had included in the photo. Oops)

i ♥ faces "angles" photo challenge

This week on iheartfaces is angles. One thing I need to take more of would be different angles. So I had to look back a little bit but I found a really cute picture of my little boy when he was 2 months old, which really wasn't that long ago. I just love those cubby cheeks! Boy do I miss these days.

Mystery Monday - Week 2

Iheartfaces didn't have a fix-it-friday this week. And I didn't edit any of my own, so I skipped the day. And I didn't have any links or comments for a showcase saturday or sunday so here I am for Monday.

Today is Mystery Monday. This isn't photography related but I thought this would be really helpful for people with kids, or who might be pregnant or just anyone who might be curious. The last few weeks I have decided to go green and switch to cloth diapers. It's a pretty overwhelming thing to think about and I didn't even know where to start. I you-tubed a few videos and googled cloth diapers and found this really awesome website that has helped me understand the various kinds, how to videos on the types, brands, must haves for cloth diapers, etc. 

Pootersdiapers.com

I'm the type of person who would like to save money in the long run, and I figured 3 years of diapers, wipes, would cost me over $1800 diapers. Yikes! Thats a lot of money, and I'd rather invest 300-400 (and that would be the high end for me) on the necessary supplies: 

• cloth diapers (maybe 15-20 to start since I have a 1 year old but if I had a newborn 24-30), 
• covers (unless I choose the AIO or pocket), liners (for the pocket if I choose that), 
• wet bag (for travel), 
• detergent that is safe for cloth diapers 
• diaper rash cream that is easily washable on cloth diapers,
• snappies or pins (for the prefold diapers)
• liner for diaper pail @ home

On this site they also talk about getting out the tough stains with just basic stuff that most people would have at home! That also helps because then I don't have to go out and find something special, but just things that most stores (wal-mart, safeway, kmart) would carry! The sun, peroxide, and making a paste with the powdered laundry detergent on the tough stains is the basic home ingredients.

I am in the final decision stages for the type of diapers I want but I'm thinking I may try a couple of each. I really like the all in one diapers and the pocket. And even though its a bit more work to fold I like the pre-fold as well and they are affordable! I will definitely post the stuff I buy in a later post so keep your eyes peeled.

So anyways I thought this could be helpful to beginners like me, or anyone curious or isn't sure if cloth diapers are for them. Yes maybe there is a bit more laundry but its worth the time & investment! And I love when its easy to understand. 

Check out pootersdiapers and let me know what you thought!

Do you use cloth diapers? or have you ever considered it?

Hope this was helpful! Happy Monday!

You Capture - Reaching

Todays challenge is reaching.

Wesley LOVES his binky so much! So at the park a couple days ago we had him reach for his binky through the equipment. So adorable! I thought his was perfect for this weeks challenge. Enjoy!

Thankful Thursday

I'm sorry I missed this day also.

Things I am thankful for this week.

• My mother coming to visit and helping out with Wesley, cooking, cleaning. Shes been a HUGE help, and even though we have our differences (which is a ton and we have a hard time being in the same room for more than a day), I still love her and appreciate everything she has done for us.
• A couple days of warm weather. That gave us opportunities to get some pictures taken, play at the park, take walks, and just being able to get out of the house.
• The friends/family that came to celebrate Wesley's 1st birthday. He loved playing with the kids, playing with his new gifts, and eating yummy cake.
• The new people I've met this week both for business and play & the new kids Wesley met and had fun playing with!
• Family for always being there.
• My husband for being strong through these last few months when he lost his best friend, his dad. For working hard to provide for the family, and working on "us".
• Having a roof over our heads, food on the table, clothes on our back. 

There are so many things, and I could list a million, but I do want to save some for future weeks!

Wyoming Wednesday #1

Sorry I'm a couple days behind on my Wyoming Wednesday, but life happens and we get busy, so here is this weeks find.

Just around the corner from my house is a field, with cattails. Until just a couple days ago I didn't realize there was a section of them. Here is the beauty I captured.

Toddler Tuesday #1

A couple days before Wesleys birthday I decided to give him a piece of chocolate cake. Oh yeah. He loved it, can't you tell? Ahh the joys of motherhood. 

Your turn!

Show your toddler tuesday photo(s). 

Just leave your link in the comments. 

Just 1 rule. 

Please link to your actual post not your blog. 

Or if you don't have a blog, wherever your photo is! (flickr, facebook, myspace, photobucket, etc)

For example.

Correct: 

http://jenileeholbertdesign.blogspot.com/2010/03/theme-of-week.html

Incorrect: 

http://jenileeholbertdesign.blogspot.com/

i ♥ faces "bundled up" photo challenge

Wyoming has LOOOOOOOONG winters. We went finally took Wesley sledding for the first time after getting a good amount of snow. It was chilly out there and we wanted to keep the little man nice and warm. I thought this photo was perfect for this weeks "bundled up" challenge. I don't know if he could handle anymore layers! LOL. 

Mystery Monday - Week 1

This is a histogram.

So for today's mystery monday are some helpful tips for avid photographers on how to properly ready a histogram. I found this article and thought it might come in handy. I've only read a part of it but so far it has really helped!

http://www.digital-slr-guide.com/how-to-read-a-histogram.html

I have always wanted to "nail" exposure and not have to do a lot of editing after taking my photos. Sometimes I get lucky and nail it, other times I do alot of fiddling. Check the article out. I hope it helps you!!

It doesn't have to be an article but it could. What do you want to share today?? A tutorial? Video?

Just leave your link in the comments. 

Just 1 rule. 

Please link to your actual post not your blog.

For example.

Correct: 

http://jenileeholbertdesign.blogspot.com/2010/03/theme-of-week.html

Incorrect: 

http://jenileeholbertdesign.blogspot.com/

Happy Monday!!

Theme of the Week ♥

STARTING MONDAY 3/15: Each day of the week is something different. I want to make time to blog everyday (well atleast 6 days a week & 1 day to recover). So I may end up skipping some days too.


Mystery Monday: Open to anything you would like! Maybe a tutorial, photo-edit, favorite blog post of the week, random photo of something, favorite song or video, craft project, etc. I love mysteries =)
Toddler Tuesday: My little boy is now a toddler *gasp*. I want to showcase some of my favorite photos of the week of my little man.
Wyoming Wednesday: Nature is so beautiful, especially in Wyoming. Each week I want to show you the beauty I've found outdoors here in wyoming.
Thankful Thursday: In words (and pictures of course), I want to give thanks. I don't say it enough and have a lot to be grateful for. Also every thurs @ ishouldbefoldinglaundry is a new photo challenge (you-capture). I've have already participated a couple times already and will continue this.
Fix-it friday: Every friday @ iheartfaces I will show you the weekly photo I've edited with instructions on how I did it. Sometimes I'll even have one of my own photos I've edited and show you how I do that as well, or a neat tutorial.


AND....

Spotlight Saturday or Sunday: Each week I will showcase my favorite links from each day!

See you all Monday!!

Please share your post for that week in the comments section!

Fix-it-friday #3

Original

Edit #1

Levels and curves adjustment.

Dust and scratches: only used a 1.0

Ran the Old west action from PW and adjusted that.

A touch of cropping, and trying to clone the arm? or shirt that was in the way so it would be less distracting.

The little girl has such cute cheeks, lips and eyes and I wanted those not to be hidden by the underexposed photo.

But I wasn't completely set on this photo because the eye colors really seemed off so I did a second edit but just changed the coloring a bit. (edit 2)

Edit #2

I kept all of the edits the same as the first photo except I changed the colors a bit. Reduced the greens so the little girl would stand out more than the background. Boosted the reds a bit.

Edit #3

Levels adjustment, curves and dodged eyes a bit, ran dust and scratches.

Ran PW heartland action. Ran curves again to darken a bit and sharpened slightly.

I do all of my editing in lightroom and cs4. Mostly cs4 this time but edit 2 was done in both.

I hope you like them. It was a bit of a challenge this week but I still had a ton of fun!!

Check out other awesome edits over @ iheartfaces.

You capture - Quiet

This weeks challenge at You capture is Quiet.

#1

The laramie greenbelt. So quiet, and peaceful. Winter also marks a time for quiet. The trees are dead with no life in them. These walks are my favorite. Away from all the noise and cayous. No musical toys, no babies crying, no phone ringing, just the quiet, fresh, Wyoming air.

#2

The quiet dead trees that have no leaves, and are just waiting for the warm weather to bring them back to life!

#3

The field of straw and snow. Another beauty of a quiet afternoon walk.

Check out other inspiring photos over at

Dion "urban" portraits - Laramie, WY

A couple days ago I gave you all a little sneak peak from dion's session. Dion is from the city, so instantly I knew we should go with an "urban" session. We made it work here in Laramie! My new photog friend Lauren came along to shoot as well and we had a blast together =) (She had a few up as well over on her blog so check it out)

Dion was such a great model for us. Which is actually something he wants to get into and he totally rocked it!

It was so hard to choose favorites. There were so many amazing photos but here are a few that I absolutely LOVED ♥

Which is your fav??

{sneak peak} dion | portraits

Today was my very first actual photo session. I wasn't nervous because it was someone I knew and we had so much fun!! The weather couldn't have been more perfect. No coats!! I can't believe it.

Dion was such a good sport. He not only had me taking photos but Lauren of ellekaystudios as well. This was great practice for both of us!!

Here is a sneak peak from today.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated. What do you like? Don't like? Would change?

Hope you like it!!

more to come soon

Finding my identity

I have been playing around for quite some time now with different watermarks and couldn't come up with one I really loved. I just want to have something simple for the time being while I figure out my photography brand.

Which I'm actually thinking of changing the name from Color My World Photography & Design to Color My World Studio because when I do get my own domain name typing colormyworldphotographyanddesign is SUPER long and ridiculous, but colormyworldstudio is much better. BUT the .com is taken already. All of the other domains are available. .net, .org, .info but I'm not sure if I want those. .net isn't too bad. But I'm not completely set yet.

What do you like??

colormyworld.com
colormyworldstudioinc.com
colormyworlddesign.com
colormyworldphotodesign.com
colormyworldinc.com

I want to get my website up sometime in the next few months because I'm hoping (cross my fingers) that all of the friends that mentioned to me they want photos taken will let me do that. 13 sessions hopefully. That would be great!!

A photo of my husband and son watching the baby

Fabulous giveaway @ thesavvyphotographer!

This is an amazing giveaway that I would LOVE to have. If your like me and new to photography and want to build your client base, this is for you!! Check it out

 

 

"The Get Schooled School Portraiture Guide for Photographers

has just launched and

Courtney DeLaura of Get Schooled Photo

is excited to gift two lucky readers the entire

LUNCHBOX of Get Schooled Photo products.

Not only does the Get Schooled Photo products guide you through the entire process of high end school portraiture, it also includes a private membership to her You are Schooled Blog where

Courtney posts daily with inspiration, success stories, marketing ideas, guest bloggers, shooting tips and inspiration. All with the goal to help you succeed in high end School Portraiture.

Be sure to check out Get Schooled Photo Blog http://www.getschooledblog.com for more information about the guide, marketing forms, childrens book

and private members only blog!"

Enter to win here @ thesavvyphotographer!!!

Fit-it-Friday #2 ♥

Once again its that time of the week again where we fix a photo @ iheartfaces.

Problem:

"having issues with overexposure in the top left corner and with blemishes on his face."

Original

Solution:
Using CS4

1. Copied the background layer & did a mask around the areas I didn't want lightened.
2. Curves adjustment on the area of the boy that was too dark. Did a slight blur on the masked area to smooth the edges.
3. Color fill adjustment layer to a nice medium blue and changed the opacity of the layer to overlay. Erased everything but the sky area. Slight blur on masked area to smooth edges. Changed layer opacity to liking.
4. Flatten image
5. Unsharp mask. 30%, radius 3.6, threshold 0.
6. Copied background layer, surface blur, erased everything but facial features I wanted to keep smooth.
7. Patch tool to remove blemishes.
8. Flatten, dodged the eyes a little bit.
9. PW warming action
10. Flatten again, up the vibrance, up the contrast a bit
11. Masked everything but the hair, and sharpened that a bit more. Using the clone tool, touched up the overexposed area on hair. Reduced the opactity to look realistic. Minor curves adjustment again and am finished.

Wanted to keep the photo bright and warm. Hope you like it!

First edit

Second edit

I did all of the above changes and then ran the seventies action and adjusted as needed. I'm in ♥ with the seventies action. Its totally my signature style. But I love the richness of the 1st edit too =)

♥ Blog love ♥

If anyone is interested in following my other 2 blogs please stop by and show them some love!

All about Wesley (recently updated with pics of my little man).
Holbert Family 

And I wanted everyone to see the new dog we got! Hes so cute and very photogenic =) I think it runs in the family lol. Check Cleatus out here.

I probably have way too many blogs but thats ok because I update them frequently and I'd rather keep my photography/family stuff seperate.

And since I'm going to make sure that every blog I post a picture, here is my husband. He loves his 360.

You Capture - Shapes

As always I'm delayed in my posts. This weeks theme is shapes. This was a fun challenge. I found a couple photos that I had taken recently but also went out and took some photos yesterday not knowing that one of them would be perfect for this weeks challenge.

#1

Bubbles from doing dishes make the perfect shapes. Sometimes things right under you nose might surprise you. I really like this photo.

 

#2

Jellybeans. Who doesn't love those? Yum. These were the favors I threw together for my baby shower last year. I just found the left over ones and though this would make a great photo. 

Speaking of Jellybeans does anyone watch unwrapped? I watched how they get all that flavor into those little tiny beans. 7 day process! and over 14 for the sour ones.

 

#3

To be honest, I don't even know that this stuff is called. But I love the texture and shapes. Its everywhere here in Wyoming.

Check out the other shapes for this weeks challenge over at you capture! Hope you liked them.