WOW...people sure know how to shop! LOL! Although I worked all weekend I tried to sneak in a little NSD shopping at night and early morning, and even then the stores were PACKED. I had trouble getting in places and I loved looking at store stats (most x-cart stores show on their page how many shoppers are in the store). SBG kept showing 500 customers!
I only picked up a few things and one of the things I got wasn't even on sale! Figures! LOL!
Thank you to everyone who stopped by my store. You all are the best. I am still really humbled that people would choose to use what I make to create pages to record their memories. I love that I am a help to people who want to embrace and record the moments of their lives.
I hope that some of you also got some scrapping done to go along with all your shopping! I haven't yet, but I sure am hoping that this week allows me some time. I did sneak in a page last Friday with pictures of Caleb's birthday breakfast at Disney :)
(click to make bigger)
I have to admit, though, that a lot of my free time that could be spent scrapping has been spent reading camera books. I've become a little obsessed in my decision to take better pictures. I DO get a lot of good shots...but I also take hundreds of photos a week and ANYONE is bound to get some good ones. What I want is to be able to see a moment, take the picture, and KNOW that I have captured it well. Right now, it is pretty hit or miss. So, I have been learning to shoot in manual and also learn to read my meter and my histograms to make sure I am getting the right exposure. I am also learning better post-processing and better ways to share on the web. I never realized that when you resize for web everything goes soft. So, you need to sharpen it to make it look like how it would in real life.
See the difference in these two photos?
And these two layouts?
And in case you are wondering, I used an unsharp mask with settings 500/.2/0
*****
Okay, well, Katelynn needs to eat so I need to get going. Hope your Monday is wonderful. I'll be back tomorrow with a kid update. Love these little people!
Janet--share what books you are reading!! I'm always on the lookout for a good photograpy/photoshop book:) And maybe I'll have to try your USM setting too--I've been using 100/1/0 (recommended in a photoshop book I read) but I really like your results. Have a great day!
Posted by: Hollie | May 06, 2008 at 03:17 AM
Hey, once you get it all figured out you'll have to come back and teach us! :) I think your photos are always fantastic! Goodness, mine need a ton of work not to mention learning the post-processing stuff. Whew, I need to quit my day job. :)
Posted by: SteinyGirl | May 06, 2008 at 03:54 AM
I would love some tutorials on photography once you get it down!!! I just got an new camera and only know how to use the auto setting
Posted by: Gretchen | May 06, 2008 at 04:14 AM
I just started using my itty bitty sharpen for web action and can't believe the difference it makes. Who knew! LOL! I also have a pile of photography books sitting next to me. Meters and histograms are exactly what I'm trying to learn, too! :) How funny!
I did a little shopping...I picked up a kit at catscrap, some frames and a kit at oscraps and I think that's it! :) Oh yeah...I bought a commercial use album by Paislee press at oscraps because I think it's beautiful and I can use it for my photography business! :)
Hmmmm....maybe you should do some 20 page shutterfly ready albums for photographers to use for clients! You could always do personal use ones, too...my mind is spinning with ideas! LOL!
Posted by: KellieP | May 06, 2008 at 04:17 AM
What a difference the two pictures have - wow! So cute that little Alaina is too!!!
Did you happen to get my last email?
Posted by: MandaKay | May 06, 2008 at 04:58 AM
GOrgeous photos, Janet! WOW! And yes, I see a difference between the before and after sharpening images! Btw, your girls are gorgeous!
Posted by: Rona | May 06, 2008 at 05:03 PM