photo of the day {Wednesday}

Ooooh, there are some glorious shots swimming in the {TML} flickr pool!

This wonderful, warm shot is by Gina Oh.

POTD [Tuesday]

I love, love, love, love this shot by Jentymom.



The eye contact, the story behind it, the perfect black and white conversion...wonderful!

Thanks for making our Flickr Pool such a great place to hang out, everyone!

a delayed [POTD] monday

i knew there was something i was supposed to do before i crawled back into bed yesterday. i have a rotten sore throat and all the joy that accompanies that so please forgive the lateness.
in the spirit of easter week - this photo from laura - bootsieking is so sweet i had to share it with the maternal lens readers.
hope you all have a wonderful, healthy week.
don't forget to check out all the beauty in the maternal lens flickr group.

{goodies for the blog...it's a giveaway!}

jodi from mcp actions is offering up a fantastic giveaway to the maternal lens readers.



The Prize: One lucky reader will get the Finish It Photoshop Action Set - compatible with Photoshop CS2, CS3, CS4 and Elements 5, 6, 7 & 8. Here is a direct link to this set: http://www.mcpactions.com/finish-it-photoshop-actions-1.html


Description of the set:
As a photographer, your blog and website are two of your best marketing tools. So, make your images look the best they can online by using the Finish It photoshop actions. This spectacular set of actions makes it easy to prepare your photos for the web.



Included in this set is a choice of 35* finishing touches to make your images fit the style of your blog post. From thin frames to color bars to rounded edges, you can choose what is best for you and any particular image. Heck, you can even change the colors too! The possibilities are unlimited. Within every action, your image is automatically sharpened for the web, converted to sRGB for best monitor colors, re-sized to fit a blog, and provides the option to include your logo if desired.




And finally, it also includes 8* actions that will re-size your final web image to fit most standard blog and site sizes from small to large photos. Yes, we have thought of everything you may need at your fingertips to make preparing beautiful images for the web easy and fast!







How to enter: (4 changes to enter!)

1- Tell us how you feel this action set could benefit you (in the comment section)
2-Sign up to follow @mcpactions on twitter - http://twitter.com/mcpactions. leave us another comment
3-Join MCP Actions Facebook Fan Page - http://facebook.com/mcpfans. leave us another comment
4- tweet or post to facebook about this contest and come back and leave us another comment.


Winner will be picked via random drawing on march 31st at 9pm, mst.

GOOD LUCK!!!

friday's fun finds

we are starting a new segment called 'friday's fun finds'. once a week we will be showing one fun item we have found and want to share. they may be photography related, my be mommy related...they may be just strictly for fun!! hope you enjoy these!!!

today we have these super cool photoshop magnets from photojojo. aren't they great?!
a must have for every photographer as far as i'm concerned! :)




what a great present these would make!!

{friday potd & giveaway winner}

i got lost in the maternal lens photo pool this morning. what amazing talent there is!! it's so hard to only pick one photo from all of the amazing ones. this one was actually buried in the pool, but it spoke to me as soon as i saw it. make sure you enter your photos!!

today's potd is from lori of cayden lane photography

and the winner of the agoo clothing company $25 gift certificate is....
Beth Simmons!!


happy friday!!!

{low down, throw down with Brenda Acuncius}

happy thursday!!

oh, i'm a happy girl today!! i am over the moon excited to have one of my photography idols on the blog today! i love to learn more about who they are...it actually makes their photography have more meaning (if that makes sense). i love and adore every single thing that brenda does. her style, her way...and well, her!! she is a gift to the world of photography and she is an inspiration to all who see. seriously...LOVE her!!!!

so, enough of my chit chat....i'm super excited to introduce you to brenda acuncius!

Name: Brenda Acuncius

Business name: Brenda Acuncius Photography, Actions and Textures by Brenda and Bloom Workshops
Location: Denton, Texas (just outside of Dallas)
Website/blog: www.brendaacuncius.com

www.brendaacuncius.com/blog

www.actionsbybrenda.com

www.bloomworkshops.com

Tell us one sentence to describe your photography: I think that most people call my work a mixture of whimsy, light, fun with a dash of magic.

What's one thing that everyone should know about you?: I'm a self-confessed HTML/coding junkie! I love working with it. I taught myself how to read it so of course I make mistakes but it's cool when I figure something out and it works. It does have it's downfalls...I'm constantly changing my splash page and all my blogs! LOL!!

How long have you been doing photography and how did you get started: My first paid session was in January 2007. I actually wasn't planning on going into business but I was contacted by some companies via my blog about doing some product shots so it just took off from there.

What's the best meal you cook? Anything in a crockpot (which is basically everything)! I'm not a cook but I try to make meals for my family and since I don't have a lot of time to spend on dinner (especially when a workshop is going on and it's the holiday rush), I throw everything in a crockpot. I'd like to meet and thank the person that invented it...my family would too! LOL!!

If they made a movie about your life what would it be titled and who would play you? Oh goodness...no clue! Probably Dazed and Confused 2! Not that I'm like that in business but since I had Grant, it just seems like I'm out there (a little more than usual)! A second movie would be Confessions of a Shopper! My daughter has 100x more clothes than I do and better than mine as well...I LOVE to shop for her!! I figure I can still con her into wearing what I want her to wear because pretty soon we'll be butting heads in that department! Who would play me....I would say someone like Nicole Kidman but people who know me would say that is a far fetch! Tina Fey would be a good fit.

If you could own one exotic animal as a pet what would it be why and what would you name it? A penguin...not sure they are consider exotic but they are my favorite animals. Clyde would be a good name for it. They all look like "Clydes" to me with the way the waddle and stuff (hopefully I'm not offending any Clydes out there). =)

What is your greatest post processing tip that you are willing to share?: If you have an overexposed photos that you LOVE and want to save, try applying a dull layer over it to tone the brightness down along with some textures.

Tell us the best advice that you have ever received (photography related or life in general): I'm a quote girl so I LOVE quotes! A client of mine gifted me a book of inspirational quotes and every single one of them are words to live by. The book is called LIVE GOOD. A couple of my favorites are:

* Reach out and open the door that no one thought could be opened. Life is behind it. -Kelly Ann Rothaus

* I've seen and met angels wearing the disguise of ordinary people living ordinary lives. -Tracy Chapman

* My hope still is to leave the world a bit better than when I got here. -Jim Henson

* You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it. -Robin Williams

* There is more in us than we know. If we can be made to see it, perhaps, the rest of our lives, we will be unwilling to settle for less. - Kurt Hahn

If you were given $500 today what would be the first thing you would do?: A day at the spa...I NEED it! That would be heaven! I think my husband would have to drag me out of there because I probably would make it my permanent residence.

If you had an entire Saturday to do whatever you wanted...what would you do? Well..let's see. After I got home (I mean dragged home) from the Spa, I would say I would LOVE to sleep! LOL!! It's a precious commodity around here (especially with the time-change)!

Where do you go to find inspiration?: EVERYWHERE! Ever since I started photography, I look at things so differently now then before. I watch movies for the cinematics, color, location, perspective and so on. It drives my husband nuts because I completely miss the whole point of the movie. Magazines, Flickr, greeting cards, etc. Just the other day, I downloaded a Lady Antebellum song on my phone and I like the posing of the album cover. It's amazing what is around us in our everyday lives that can touch our creative side.

What type of sessions are your favorite (children e-sessions weddings newborns....) and why?: Hands down, definitely children. I'm lucky because I'm known as a child photographer so that is about 95% of my bookings. I think it's because I'm a child at heart and I can relate to them easily. I'll sing at the top of my lungs (fully knowing I sound awful) and I don't care. I'll do all sorts of goofy things and I think they just warm up to me and get into the session and have fun.

What equipment do you use and if you had only one lens to use...what would it be?: Up until a little over a year ago, I used a Canon 20D body. I upgraded to the 5D markII which I love! I only have primes lenses: 85mm 1.8, 50mm 1.4 and the 30mm 1.4. I'm eyeing a nice sweet fish eye that I think would be really fun to use with sessions. If I could only use one lens, I would have to say it would be the 50mm 1.4. It barely comes off my camera and it's very versatile both inside and outside.

What has been your most memorable assignment and why? Oh my....there are so many! I would have to say it was a family that I did for an indoor natural light session when I first started out. I left with only taking about 80 frames. It was one of those proud moments in my career because I knew I had some awesome shots. I didn't just shoot to shoot, I waited for the shot. It was a good feeling.

If we surprised you at your house today what would be the first thing we would notice? My ugly carpet! We are in the processing of replacing it It drives me nuts that we've had it in the house since we had it built. I hate it and I would rip it up right now if I had the muscles! LOL!!

What was your first paid session like? Were you nervous? Did it turn out how you wanted? My first paid session was actually a referral from another photographer. I didn't do any portfolio building and so it was my first session ever (other than product/commercial stuff). I was soooooo nervous because they wanted a lifestyle session which really isn't want I'm known for but it was awesome, better than I ever expected. They were naturals in front of the camera so of course that made it easy for me.

What moment in your life makes you smile every single time you think about it?: There are so many both personal and business. Personal, definitely the birth of my kids! Business, it would be doing taxes (weird I know) but I finally got the sense of how much I make a year after our taxes are done! LOL!! Even though I'm a stay at home mom and I LOVE it and wouldn't have it any other way because it's so rewarding, it's also a good feeling to be able to contribute income as well. Another business one was when our first Bloom Workshop sold out in 3 minutes!

I would also say that I was in a position to help save some animal shelters and abused animals too by giving my actions away to generous people that contributed to them. If they contributed $15.00 to these places, I sent them all my actions for free. Every time I've done this, it's been a great turn-out! One time in just 4 hours of doing it, we were able to raise $2500.00 for one shelter. I'm a huge animal lover and just to be able to do this makes me happy. Plus, my daughter is learning from this as well. When she received some Christmas money from some relatives, she donated to the SPCA. That makes my heart smile!!

What is at the top of your wish list right now?: A studio! It will happen! My husband is more into looking for places than I am. He'll email me links of locations that he looked up while at lunch at work. His goal is to quit his job and become my business manager. LOL!!

What is the first photographer that comes to your mind and why? Amanda Keeys to this day! She is the sole reason why I got into photography. Had I not seen her work, I shudder to think what I would be doing instead. After spending hours and hours on her website, I decided right then and there that I wanted to take better photos of my daughter.

And lastly.....when we started the maternal lens all of us filled out this questionnaire and shared our answers....now it's your turn :)

What is your favorite word? Seriously? Really it is...I say it way to much!
What is your least favorite word? No! It a limited word and of course I hear it a lot from my son! LOL!
What turns you on creatively spiritually or emotionally? Being with my kids, family and friends! They bring out the best in me when I'm surrounded by them.
What turns you off creatively spiritually or emotionally? Having a messy house. If I know that I have dishes to unload or a pile of laundry to do, unless I get it done first, I'm worthless.
What sound or noise do you love? Rain....it's so comforting to me.
What sound or noise do you hate? Ambulance sirens.

What is your favorite thing to say when you get mad? "I'm soooo over this!"
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Interior decorating.
What profession would you not like to do? Port-a-potty cleaning and disposal!
If Heaven exists what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? You lived the life I wanted you to live...you made me proud!

a HUGE thank you to brenda....

ALSO brenda is offering a 25% off discount off of anything you order from her actions website!! awesome, huh?! all you need to do is enter the coupon code: maternallens!!!!

{giveaway}

there is a great clothing company out there called agoo. it has tons of wonderful clothing choices for boys and girls. i have a few products from them and they are wonderful. they are fun, durable, well made......and i not only love them, but my kids do too. in fact, the agoo shirt my son has is his "most favorite" shirt. it even makes him run faster and jump higher! haha. well, according to him it does :)



the agoo clothing products are great. they are stain resistant, uv protected, anti-bacterial and they are made of wicking material. you can read more about them here. they offer so many products too--from onsies, to dresses and pants, to leg huggers and jackets.

{leg huggers pictured here}


the fantastic people at agoo are offering a $25 online gift certificate to one lucky reader.
all you need to do to enter to win is:

--visit the agoo site and tell us in a comment what you would buy with your gift certificate.

--if you would like an additional entry, visit the agoo facebook page and become a fan. come back and leave us a comment to let us know you did!

contest ends thursday at midnight. good luck!!!

{getting good skin tones}

when we asked our readers what you would like to learn more about, a large group were very interested in learning how to get those perfect skin tones in photos. today we have a guest blogger on tml with some really great tips to achieving those great tones. Jessica is a seattle based photographer and her work is just brilliant!!

Getting good skin tones
Jessica Feely

When most people ask how to get good skin tones, I think some of them are referring to not only color, but skin texture, creaminess, and the light being even on the skin.

This can be a little tricky because there are several factors involved. A good rule is, try to get the image as perfect as you can IN CAMERA as possible. This will make your job easier and requires less post processing to fix errors, lighting, WB issues, etc.

Below is a list of things I make sure to do in order to get perfect skin (or as close to as possible). These are the things that work for me and my photography.

1) In camera white balance- I usually shoot on Auto White Balance. I know other photographers that shoot using Kelvin or Cloudy for example. Auto works great for me, and is usually really close to how it should be if not perfect. Plus it is one less setting to change on my camera! When I open up my RAW images in ACR I go through and correct any WB issues. Sometimes I don’t have to, and sometimes its minor changes. (Side note- shooting in jpeg doesn’t give you as much control over WB in ACR as shooting in RAW does. That is my experience and I much prefer the WB of a RAW image).

Bottom Line: Shooting WB on Auto is okay.

2) Finding the light- I feel that lighting is probably the most important thing in photography. It’s all about how you see it and use it. Light can really make or break an image. So when I go to a location (I always scout out my locations, I want to know how the light will look and affect my subjects at that time of day) I always make sure that I have good light available. I have several locations that I use specifically in the evening, and some that I use in the mornings. I do a lot of urban sessions, so another thing I look for is the shade side of the building.

At the session, I may turn my subject’s face away from the light and then use a reflector to bring light back into the eyes. Most times I will have my subject in open shade with their face facing the light source. I always look for ‘raccoon eyes’ which to me means that their eyes are dark and lacking light. If this happens I will use a reflector, or literally turn them in a circle until their face (eyes) lights up. Another good rule of thumb is to look for the catch lights in the eyes. Chances are that if you don’t have them- your light isn’t that great, and therefore their eyes will look dull.

Having that even light on your subject’s face is a huge help in getting great skin in photographs. Open shade is great and to me the best lighting and sometimes the most pleasing. Living in Seattle brings many overcast days. I honestly am not a fan of overcast weather at all. Yes, it is like a ‘giant soft box’ like you have heard a million times over. However, to me the photos look flat and dull, and there doesn’t seem to be as many catch lights in the eyes. I tend to use a reflector much more on overcast days than on sunny days. They are a great investment!

Bottom line: Turn your subject towards the light to ensure even light on their face. Use a reflector when needed to help with shadows. Pay attention to where the light is coming from!

3)Shooting in Manual Mode (Exposure, shutter speed, aperture, ISO)- There are so many books written on this stuff and your best bet is to invest in some of those AND just practice shooting in Manual to understand it all. I remember getting my Nikon D40 beginner dslr and I thought I was good using Aperture Priority. Then a couple months later I got the D300- semi pro camera and still used it in Aperture Priority. It wasn’t until 7 months after that I decided to brave it and try shooting in manual. I was nervous because not only do you have to talk to your subject, make sure the lighting is good, make sure they look good, etc, you have to constantly meter off the subject and change your aperture & shutter speed. I had a hard time wrapping my head around the triangle of Aperture/Shutterspeed/ISO. But what I did notice was that I could control the light in my images so much better than before. I knew that it would take a lot of practice, but it was worth it. I have never gone back. EVER. I could seriously go ON and ON about all the benefits and great things you could do. Give it a try!

Understanding Exposure is a great book to start with.

Bottom Line: Shooting in Manual will help with getting correct exposure and therefore help with lighting and skin tones! That also means less editing in ACR/PS.

4) Shooting in RAW- Shooting in RAW has many benefits, and it is usually a preference thing. I used to be a jpeg girl and shot that for a long time. The thing that wins me over is exposure corrections. Say you didn’t have time to meter because the kid was running around all crazy at the session; you can correct the exposure pretty well in ACR. Moving the slider won’t get to grainy/noisy on you until you get to a certain point. But with jpegs you can’t do too much with exposure once the picture has been snapped. That doesn’t mean you should be sloppy when metering. Ive done that too and it just creates more wasted editing time. Also, jpegs compress the image and applies a setting (that you have in your camera’s settings) to the image. When you have a RAW image, you literally start from the ground up and can build it to however you want. Give it a try- set your camera to shoot in RAW + JPEG and compare the two images. When I compare mine side by side, the skin is much smoother and creamier in RAW images. Yes, maybe not as much color as jpegs, but that is because jpegs are compressed and sharpened remember? You need to do those things manually with RAW images.

Bottom Line: Shooting in RAW helps you to start from a clean and fresh canvas. It gives you more choices and customization.

- Shooting JPEG gives you about 16.7 million possible tones and colors.

- Shooting Raw gives you 68 billion!

5) Skin retouching in PS- Once you get to this point with your image, you will know how much work you have ahead of you. Looking at your image, do you still have dark circles around the eyes, weird shadows? You can still save your photo by slightly dodging (brightening) those areas of the face that are too dark. The majority of the time, I don’t do much at all to skin in Photoshop. I do a light skin smoothing that gives a softer look. If I need to remove blemishes, I will use the healing or patch tool. Everyone has their own style and the way they want their pictures to look. Usually skin retouching is all personal preference! Just remember to not over-do it!

Bottom Line: Be yourself, and do your own style!

I know there is so much more to these topics, but hopefully these will help give you inspiration and motivation to try new things. Good luck!

thank you so much, jessica!! make sure to leave her some blog love and feedback!