Scrapbooking and Christmas Gifts

We have been making some good Christmas gifts as it is fast approaching and decided to tackle some ceramic tiles with a nice touch for those that lost someone they love. Here are a few pictures of the process, pretty simple really.

1. Designed Layout in PhotoShop
2. Printed Layout (6" x 6") on an 8 1/2" x 11" paper
3. Cutout
4. Glued to tile
5. Covered with an Arcrylic Spray for a protection

Total cost is minimal, maybe $2 or $3 i'd say.

Enjoy!

Portrait Shot Testing

I purchased an ePhoto background and light kit from Amazon with a 6x9 Black, White, and an extra grey and white muslin backdrop, it came with two stands and umbrellas that work as continuous light using household style bulbs. I have 2 flashes (430ex and Yunguno YN460) so the extra lights are just that as I plan to use my flash setup instead.

My wife got dressed for the day, and my Daughter was going out for a belated valentines day supper so I took the opportunity to take a few photos of them with the new setup.

I'm pleased with the results for the first pass and see a few spots I can do better like placement with the hair light flash but all in all i'm happy with the first attempt.

I tested a quick photoshop skin softening technique as well and I think everyone is pleased with the results.

Practicing the LA Headshot Technique

I'm patently waiting for the winter to be over, so I can take pictures outside without it being -30 degrees celsius. I have been reading beginner and intermediate tutorials on Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO, and Flash techniques. I recently purchased a light stand, shoot through umbrella with a speedlite mount and a 5-n-1 reflector to help get the shots i'm looking for complete.

I've got a pretty good feel now on setting my camera to manual mode and knowing what I need to do to get a properly exposed photo but certain situations still get the best of me. I'm alot more comfortable though and am now trying to master the flash power in manual mode seing i'm firing my flash with a wireless Yonguno RF-602 trigger.

Things are looking good and pictures are improving alot, looking forward to nice sunsets, wildlife, and outdoor landscape photos this summer.

Project 365 - A photo a day

Today I was reading a post on the forums @ Photography on the Internet about being a better photographer and someone suggested to do what's known as "Project 365" where you upload and share a photo every day. I created an album on Facebook as well as Flickr to share my quest as I try to become better at photography.

Follow my Facebook posts or visit my Flickr PhotoStream as I become better at taking pictures.

Flights for Vegas have been booked...

That's right, the flights for Vegas has been booked, we are planing to spend July 28th - August 14th, 2011 with David at his condo. Jolene has been waiting a long time to go there as we didn't make it on our honeymoon trip to Palm Springs. Back then while at DisneyLand we promised each other we wanted to take the kids to see Disney Land at least once with the kids when they got older. With Camryn now 8 years old I think it's a great time to get out and let everyone enjoy it.

Everyone is looking forward to the trip, I'm not sure they realize just how hot it's going to be :)

Quick update to get the ball rolling

Welcome to the site... this is my first post and I think my wife and I will use it for some updates on things were doing, have done, or would like to do in the future. Things will just kind of fall in place if we make use of it the way we would like to.

The 3 girls are in school and as you can imagine are excited for that. Alisha is now 16 and doing well in school as well as work, Brittany is turning 15 this month will have her learners (now for the snow to melt so she can practice) she enjoys school, my youngest Camryn is in grade 3 this year and doing great.

Kiwi is going to be having a litter of pups in a month or so, we tried a couple other dogs with her but have settled back on one.

Currently I'm employed as a Systems Analyst with Spectra Credit Union, I started work there in January 2008 (Just had my 3 year anniversary) after working as a MIS Manager for SRI Homes, Inc for approx 9 yrs. I'm very pleased that i'm able to work in the IT industry and enjoy the work i'm doing very much. Spectra Credit Union really has been an oppurtunity i've been waiting for for a long time. It has given me the chance to use the tools i've learnt in the past and also learn a wide variety of new skills as I learn off my co-workers.

Jolene also works at Spectra Credit Union with me and is currently doing a wide variety of things at the contact center and enjoys it alot. Outside of work she is busy with the house, kids, dogs, and all the other things that keep poping up.

We are all looking forward to summertime again to do some camping.

Enjoy the site, updates, and photos... This will be a nice interesting way to update others and store some updates on our family in the process.