Anyhow, I wanted to show you my editing steps in this image I captured about a week ago and that just subtle adjustments is all that is needed to make this a great image.

1.  Ran ProRetouch (TRA) at 40%…I still want to be able to see lines/pores in her face so she doesn’t look plastic.

2.  Removed a stray hair with the clone tool that was a bit distracting.

3.  Lighted up her face (at about 15% opacity) with Ying/Yang (TRA)

4.  Used my dodge tool to run over her eyelashes one time to get them a tad darker.

5.  Ran Oh Snap (TRA) at about 35% to give it a little more “pop”.  HOWEVER, I need to make sure I don’t loose the details in her black jacket.  They look pretty dark in this image, but on my computer, the details are still there.

6.  Smart Sharpened, saved as JPEG.  I also give my client a second, web-ready file of all their images.

Elizabeth is the author of Whole Living Blog, which gives you a TON of healthy and important information about eating right!

I made the decision to take my 70-200mm lens, thanks to a handful of friends on Facebook!  :-)  Below are a few snaps…Ryland is #28 (Royal Blue team)…there is a mix of images of both teams.  Looking forward to next weekend!

And, I just happened to have a camera laying around the house, so we took off on Sunday evening and took some quick pics of the kiddos.  Enjoy!!!

We met up in Boulder, CO and took some beautiful images of both Susan and Steve, who were an absolute blast to work with!!  We even got a treat about half-way through the shoot…Steve and Susan gave us a private concert, which was AWESOME!!!  You two are VERY talented!!  Near the end of the shoot, we brought the kids out to take a few family shots, too.

Wanted to give a quick shout of thanks to Maria of Studio Sister Photography for coming along to help me out with lights and reflectors, which helped a ton since the un was behind the cloud most of the shoot.  Thanks girl!

Seriously, I am completely ecstatic and thrilled to get this!!  I have worked really hard for the past five years developing a strong brand backed by top-notch customer service (in my opinion) and have had some absolutely amazing clients to help me along the way, thank you!!

Along with the award, I will be featured in the Stiletto Women’s Magazine and will make sure to pass on the link once it is published.

I have 25 WONKA BARS that are wrapped and ready to be mailed out.  Inside THREE of them is a golden ticket (I have no idea where they are since my kids mixed up all the chocolate bars for me), which awards you a FREE senior session PLUS 5 high res digital files.  Wanna WONKA BAR???  Just email me the answers to the questions below and I will drop a bar in the mail to you.  Hey, even if you don’t find the golden ticket at least you get some free chocolate!  Spread the word to your friends on Facebook and Twitter!

RULES:  YOU MUST BE A CURRENT JUNIOR AND LIVE IN THE DENVER, COLORADO AREA!!

Email me answers to these question to:  keridoolittlephotography@gmail.com

1.  Name, email and mailing address (so I can mail you your chocolate bar)

2.  What school do you currently attend?

3.  What activities are you involved in at school?

Remember, I only have 25 WONKA BARS to mail out, this will be first come, first served.  Good luck!!!

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING!!!

This year the couple had PERFECT weather to race 2+ miles while stopping at different businesses to complete a set of tasks.  I was stationed at the start line, Happy Cakes Bakeshop, Menchies Frozen Yogurt and Plum Sage Flowers.  I had a BLAST photographing the couples as they raced through their tasks!  Even got to see a photo-finish for third place, which was oh so exciting!!

Congrats again to everyone who participated!  Below are a few images from the race…however, if you’d like to see the entire photo album, just visit the Facebook album Hitched in the Highlands.

Julie was sooooo much fun to photograph!  I think she has a little model inside her!  She was game for anything, which always is fun for a photographer!!  Also wanted to give a quick shout-out to Tina of Worthwhile Style who was Julie’s stylist for her shoot.  Julie…you look fantastic!!

Brides…if you are in need of a planner, don’t hesitate to call Julie, she will take good care of you and your big day!  Here is a link to Bliss Elevated Facebook Page.

Here is the direct link to my article:  http://learnshootinspire.com/2012/02/16/inspiring-interview-with-keri-doolittle-photography/

1.  By now, everyone has probably heard of Square.  If not, it is a mobile credit card processing gadget.  Go to their website to get a FREE Square, connect up your banking account and you are ready to process credit cards!  Simple.  I believe you can also get SQUARE at Target.

2.  Photogene.  This is the app/software I use to edit my photos on my iPad.  These are never the final edits, but when I am creating a client slide-show from my RAW images, this app will do the trick!  NOTE:  If you are looking for a CF card reader for the iPad, this is what I use:  CF Card Reader for iPad.

3.  Easy Release – Model Release App.  I am NOTORIOUS for forgetting my model release form.  It is built into my contract for my wedding clients, but for my portrait clients, everyone should be signing a model release form.  Now, there is no need to print out papers and bring it on-site.  Just use this model release app for your iPad and you are SET!!

4.  PadFolios.  To be completely honest, I have never used this app.  I have gone to client meet-up’s and have used my iPad for a slideshow, but didn’t think it was as effective as my albums.  The albums are a lot larger with awesome image quality, printed on high-end paper.  Those still seem to be the best “wow” factor, in my opinion, but if you want a completely digital portfolio, this might be the app to get.

Keri Doolittle is a Denver Wedding Photographer who specializes in local and Rocky Mountain weddings, along will destination wedding photography.

Sarah and her staff are based out of Colorado Springs, however, she does events all over the Front Range.  So, if you are in need of a wedding or event planner, don’t hesitate to give her a jingle.  :-)

Keri Doolittle is a Denver Wedding Photographer who specializes in local and Rocky Mountain weddings, along will destination wedding photography.

Whenever I am shooting with my off-camera flash set up, I kind of get a feel for where my settings should be by taking a few images of the sky.  I want to obtain that really dark blue sky that will set the background for my image.  I took a series of three pictures, in manual, and here is what I came up with:

Now, I know I wanted to be at 1/200th, because I wanted to cut out a lot of my ambient light, since it was SO bright outside.  When using your flash, remember these two things:  Aperture controls your flash and shutter controls your ambient.  So, once I had a general idea of where I liked my settings, I set up my flash unit, as pictured below:

I am actually bouncing my flash BACK INTO my umbrella and then onto the subject.  Next, I had Ryland stand in that general area that is circled above and these are my results:

As you can see, the flash eliminates a lot of harsh shadows that are caused by the sun and also lets a lot more light into your subjects eyes.  If I were to add or do anything different to this shoot, I would have added a reflector, camera-left, and reflected a little more light onto the subject.  But, with no one around to hold my reflector except for a few 3 year olds playing on the swings, I made do with what I had.  :-)  Would love to hear any feedback below!

The reflector that I use is called a “5 in 1 collapsible reflector“, which takes a little practice collapsing.  :-)

So, I decided to take out my best 5-year old model and show you the difference between reflected and non-reflected images.  All of the images below are SOOC (straight-out-of-camera, no editing done) and were taken at 12:30 PM on a bright and sunny day here in beautiful Denver, CO.

When looking at the images below, make sure to look at the eyes and shadows.  Using the reflector simply eliminates big shadows under the eyes and helps the whites of the eyes “pop” a little more, saving me a TON of time in post-editing.  Colors seem to be a bit more vibrant, too.  The two comparisons below are using the SILVER side of the reflector.

The next two examples are using the GOLD side of the reflector, which helps warm up the image a bit.  One thing I wanted to point out in these images was Ryland in the very last photo…when you are using your reflector, you can TOTALLY blind your subject by reflecting light back into their faces, so make sure you feather the light…either step back further (which I couldn’t do, since I was both shooting and holding) or don’t shine it directly at their faces, maybe shine it a little lower.  This will eliminate them from squinting so much.  In the last comparison, I really eliminated some hot-spots (look at the snow and his jacket), which also will help in post-processing.

The next step in shooting during harsh hours of the day is using your OFF CAMERA FLASH!!!  You will LOVE the before and after shots of this test, which will be posted SOON!!!  :-)

Keri Doolittle is a Denver Wedding Photographer who specializes in local and Rocky Mountain weddings, along will destination wedding photography.