This Sunday - Burlington Women's Show

I'll be exhibiting this weekend at the Burlington Women's Show, Sunday February 21st from 11 am - 4 pm at Tansley Woods Community Centre.

It'll be a fun event - food, wine, shopping (I'm just one of over 50 vendors) and prizes.

Click here for more info, or contact me directly at sandy@theintrepidlens.com. I'll be in the main foyer!

Retouching - A "Before" and "After"

Lots of clients ask me if I can take care of a few blemishes, a scar or sometimes to lessen the effects of time (yup, those wrinkles!) when I'm preparing their images.

My philosophy on retouching is pretty straightforward. A light touch, take care of anything that's temporary (blemishes, cuts and bruises from the playground etc.), and to make sure everyone look like they've had a great night of sleep before the photo session! Anything beyond that can be requested, and I can advise what's feasible to keep the image looking natural.

Every image is also colour balanced, adjusted for tones (highlights and shadows), and I also scour each image for lint, stray hairs across the face, loose threads, scuff marks on shoes etc. On smaller images these corrections might not even be noticed by my client, but on larger photos they can be quite obvious if not taken care of!

I thought I'd show you an example of the type of retouching that I apply to a typical image. My lovely daughter Suzanna agreed to let me post this before & after comparison. This image was taken in my studio, using strobe lights, reflectors and a background.

Suzanna was looking forward to showing off her new dress (let's call it aubergine colour), but in order to get her face nicely lit it was necessary to bounce some light with reflectors. Unfortunately this also reflected the colour of her dress onto her face - so removing the colour cast was the first step.

There were a few shiny spots (on her shoulder for example) that I wanted to minimize. These hotspots can draw the viewer's attention away, so away those went.

A few minor blemishes and stray hairs across her forehead disappeared as well. Besides removing the purple colour cast, I toned down a bit of redness in her skin. The green background was enhanced a bit to compliment the colour of her dress and hair.

Being a studio shot, I also did a bit of complexion smoothing. But not too much, I still like the texture of the skin to show through (not like those "glamour" shots where the skin appears to be unnaturally smooth, that wasn't the look we were going for on this image!)

A bit of brightening of the eyes, reduce some of the shadows and we're done! Here's the final image. By the way, I've ordered this image as a large canvas to use as a studio sample, it'll be on display when I'm exhibiting at the Burlington Women's Show on Sunday, February 21st. And of course I'd be happy to bring it to any post - session consultations to show you what an impact a large canvas can make in your home!

Readers Choice Awards Nominations - May I Have Your Vote?

I'm honoured to have been nominated for the Burlington Post's 2010 Reader's Choice Awards - my thanks to those who put my name forward!

I've been nominated in two categories:


1) Best Business/Service - Photography Service

1) Best People - Photographer


It's easy to submit your vote.


Step 1: Go to the website at http://www.burlingtonreaderschoice.ca/

Step 2: Register your email address

Step 3: Activate your account from the email sent to you

Step 4: Log-in and vote for your favourites!


Voting commences Friday Jan. 29th at noon, and closes Friday, Feb. 5th at noon.


I'd really appreciate your support!

Thanks,

Sandy

New SlideShow Posted with 2009 Images

Click here to view a new slideshow with images from 2009 Portrait Sessions.

Some great locations, I'm looking forward to going back for sessions this year.

Watch for the February newsletter coming out next week, are you on my distribution list?

The Intrepid Lens Newsletter

I don't know how I let so much time pass between blog entries - sorry 'bout that! Lots of holiday print orders kept me busy at the end of the year. Thanks to all my lovely clients for your business!

I've just sent out my January newsletter to subscribers. This month I'm featuring a January Print Sale, and new PDF pricing/info guides. If you're not yet a subscriber it's easy to sign up. There's a button on the right side of this blog, or you can email me directly at sandy@theintrepidlens.com to have your name added.

Upcoming newsletters will feature new photo packages, new What to Wear guides, Storyboards and more! Plus I'll be giving newsletter subscribers first choice of spring portrait sessions when I open up my schedule.

I'll do much better my blog entries this year...

New DVD Slideshow

Attached is a video featuring the clients who have booked me at local private school (I'll be having this running at my booth this weekend at their annual winter fair).

Just a sample of what your customized DVD from a session might look like - your photos, your music and different effects of course, these are all custom created with the personality of my clients in mind!

Beautiful Fall Days

Not all of my subjects are human!

We've been blessed with fantastic weather this week, and I took full advantage driving to Paris, Cambridge, Guelph, Erin - and of course my own backyard in rural Burlington which is where I found these beautiful creatures.

These horses were very friendly, in fact getting them to "act natural" took lots of waiting! At one point five of them were all up at the fence hoping for a nose rub (or more likely a snack). Kinda like the start of each "human" photo session with kids, it usually takes 10 or 15 minutes to get past the point where children feel that they need to pose and we start having fun. That's when the best shots happen, when everyone forgets that I'm snapping away!