A simple photo is my pick for the photo of day which came a day late.

I am thankful for being safe today and I pray for all those who are affected by earthquake in Chile.
I hope you are having a nice Saturday evening.

Much love,
Joyce

Eeeeek, 11 days had passed since I last updated my blog. Some of you might know by now that I love to send love but I wasn’t meaning to be stuck on that Valentines post. There must be a good reason, right? You betcha! (using my acquired Minnesota accent).

I mentioned previously that I want to get my albums and slideshows out of using Adobe Flash (and make my site more iPad-ready ) and to get there, I opted to do it by myself rather than hire someone. It’s pretty risky, I know but I love to program (hey, it’s my day job).

Anyway, since I am focusing on children’s portraits for 2010, Nathan’s album/slideshow was the first to get moved. Otik’s will follow.

Please see screenshot.

The album is at: http://joycedzphotography.com/nathanm

Please bear with me for now as I am re-editing and completing my site.

That’s all for now. I am off to my dance class.

Much love,
Joyce

Some of you may have noticed, I hardly had any blog entries posted on a Saturday. Weekends are usually pretty busy for me and it’s also my time to be away from computers.

Anway, I don’t want to start a trend of writing one every week although today, I want to give you a glimpse of some of the many reasons (unrelated to photography) why I don’t.

Our remote-hugger cat named Milky:

And my love for cooking yummy meals (for recipe, click here):

Do you think I should continue?

Enjoy your Saturday! Happy Valentines Day, too. Celebrate it not because of the occasion but because there are gazillion reasons to love!

Much much love,
Joyce

Photoshopping (or post-processing) has always been my waterloo and there were times in my photography-life wherein I find myself throwing in the towel (good thing I pick it up again). I get frustrated with monitor and color calibrations, over and/or under processing a photo, selecting which Adobe Action to use and list of qualms goes on.

However, to compensate for my lack of post-processing skills, I have been working so hard for the past year to understand and trust my camera so well (have been tempted to switch but stuck with the ever-reliable Nikon) and how it behaves with my single lens (I sold the rest of them). I bet it was a relief for my husband JZ because it meant that I won’t be spending tons on gears. On top of that, I have learned to search and find the best light that will work for each situation that I am in with my subjects. I have failed in numerous occasions  but thanks to the digital world, I didn’t have to deal with wasted film rolls.

Moreover, the last session I had with Debi and Peng gave me so much reassurance on my personal growth with this journey. I was and still ashamed to admit that I was at first scared of that shoot knowing that I have to deal with snow (exposure problem), full-sun (shooting at 2:00 in the afternoon with a cloudless sky) and cold-weather (fogging, etc). However, I managed to come of out it unscathed — I will be forever thankful with that wonderful couple for their patience while I took practice shots and fiddled with my settings). Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Anyway, I didn’t put this image on my earlier posts for them because I feel this is so special — that I want it to be a photo du jour feature on my blog. I showed it to them while we were shooting and now I am showing it to my blog readers for the first time — almost straight-out-of-camera (we call it SOOC) and did not need much photoshopping at all.

I am so grateful, satisfied and happy lately because I feel like I grew an inch or so…

How about you, what aspects in your lives do you see improvement(s)? Please do share.

I am excited for the weekend. JZ and I are visiting and maybe cooking for our parents (in-laws for me) tomorrow .

Happy Friday all!

Much love,
Joyce

“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” – Victor Borge

Before we started that afternoon, they both confessed to me that they aren’t that sweet with each other however with the sound of their laughters emanating almost the entire time I was shooting, I didn’t even notice and actually thought otherwise. Debi told me Peng is so funny and that that is one of the things that she likes about him. She laughs heartily and contagiously and he made her do it even more. It was such a joy to be around them.  

For this session, they requested for a fun, playful winter shoot  and “just lots of snow”.  So for location, we actually didn’t have to go far from where they live (the entire state of Minnesota is covered with snow ) — we started at Carriage Hills golf course, moved to various spots in Eagan and then ended up at the Community Center which is close to where she works.

Anyway, it is always hard to pick what to post when there are so many to choose from — plus they are so gorgeous — but here are some of my favorite shots. Enjoy!

(The snow was almost knee-deep but they didn’t mind)

(Up close and personal)

(Our version of ‘Twilight’ with her rings  – yes, it’s a snowball  – I added the texture on post-processing)

(Debi doesn’t have a bad angle — just simply stunning)

(Proofs that they are affectionate with one another. )

(Work it!)

(This is my most fave that day. )

Debi and Peng, I send my early BEST of LUCK wishes on your church wedding this December. I bet it will be so beautiful and magical.

Keep on smiling and laughing together. Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of your life.

Much love,
Joyce

P.S. Their album/slideshow will appear on my website shortly. Stay tuned for that as well.

I am a new member (or follower) of the site i heart faces! and I am loving it as I love faces, obviously.

Anyway, I haven’t been fully involved until today. For the site’s Fix-It Friday, they highlighted a family that is very special to the site – the Zwart family.

Angie (co-founder of i heart faces) is friends with Jeff and Adrienne who is an active participant in the weekly challenges.

My dear mom had her bouts with cancer hence I feel a personal connection to the family. So with that, I decided to dip my toes on their weekly challenge(s) and share my take on this already beautiful photo:

(Original Image)

(A. Setting on ACR before I imported it in Photoshop CS3 – I love those sliders)

(B. Final version – Edited on Photoshop CS3)

Here are the additional minor steps I did:

1. I burned on the face of the little boy on the left since there’s a little hotspot (burn, shadow, 4%).

2. I added a little vignette to darken the elements in the background (duplicate layer, filter -> distort -> lens correction)

3. Sharpen for the web using Kevin Kubota’s Magic Sharp.

Try it yourself or experiment.

To the beautiful Zwart family, stay strong and continue loving each other! God bless!

Happy Friday all!

Much love,
Joyce

I am extremely grateful for the chance to shoot with this gorgeous, super happy and fun couple earlier today.

Here’s a quick post and a sneak peak from that session:

(They did arrive in style)

(They played on the snow and under the sun)

(And we ended with a shot of them having this beautiful light on their beaming faces)

Stay tuned for more…. I need to retire for the night.

Happy Saturday evening!

Much love,
Joyce

P.S. It is my first winter shoot and a first for 2010.

I was down with a nasty cold last week… while it wasn’t exactly super fun, it gave me plenty of time to relax, play with photos and clean things around our home. Anyway, since I miss posting last week, here is an early photo du jour:

This was taken over 3 years ago at Wind River Range, Wyoming. Great and fantastic times worth remembering.

I hope you are having a wonderful Thursday.

Much love,
Joyce

It has been a very blessed, wonderful and fulfilling 2009! I am very excited for the unfolding of this new year… I am practically speechless (or hung over)

Anyway, since it has been customary to post my photo du jour on Fridays, here is one from the intimate celebration last night with my beautiful friends:

(from L-R: Ayesha, Fred, Robert, Dennis, Wendy, JZ, moi, Bri, Clarissa)

Happy New Year to all!

Much love,
Joyce