Kaedyn

This is a photoshoot I did a couple of weeks ago of my friends' sweet little baby girl, Kaedyn.  She has the most beautiful big blue eyes.  I just couldn't wait to do her pictures.

Downloading Fonts to Mac

I thought I would post this now that I have finally figured it out for you Mac users. It's not so easy to just download a free font from the web like you used to do on your PC. After searching, I finally figured it out and I'll tell you how to do it.

*Make sure other programs are closed before doing this or the font may not install on that program*

1. Download "The Unarchiver". I know there are other programs that do it but this is the one I'm using and it works great. When you download it, it should save automatically to your desktop. Leave it there.

2. Go to 1001 Free Fonts or some other free font website and download the font you want. Keep in mind that not all fonts are compatible with Mac's. I know that I cannot open ".zip" files. I'm assuming it's because they are made strictly for PC's (correct me if I'm wrong).

3. Now that you have your font downloaded (it will probably be a ".sit" file) and it's on your desktop, drag it onto your "The Unarchiver" folder. It will automatically create a new folder for that font except it is now accesible. The Unarchiver opens up your files to make them accessible, just like when you had a PC, you had to have your .zip files opened before you could use them. Make sense? If not, let me know.

4. Open the folder. There may be a folder in there labeled "BB", "FFIL", or etc. that is grey. If there is, all you do is drag and drop it into your Fonts folder (HD>Library>Fonts). You may also see another folder, that looks like the original ".sit" folder, that is labeled "BIN". If so, you need to drag and drop that "BIN" folder into The Unarchiver one more time. It will create another little grey icon that you can then drag and drop into your Fonts folder.

If all went well, when you open Photoshop or Word, the font will be there. Please let me know if you tried this and it worked. I want to make sure I didn't miss a step.

Jenks Kids

Just a little photoshoot from the other day. I don't have a lot of tips to add lately so I thought I would just start posting some pictures.

JPEG or RAW Continued

I subscribe to "Popular Photography" and was just remembering that I saw an article titled "JPEG vs. RAW". This was before I even knew about RAW so I didn't read the article. Well, I went to their website and looked up the article. You can read it here: http://www.popphoto.com/howto/2196/jpeg-vs-raw-the-advantages-and-disadvantages-explained.html

I'm starting to think it is all just a preference thing. Just like the article said, there are plusses, and minus' to both. I have the space to save in RAW as well as the software and I like the fact that IF I do want to do alterations or adjustments, I have 100% of the photo information to work with. However, if you do not have that much space and you like how your pictures are already, then why not stay with JPEG? Honestly, I think it is a personal choice and I don't think you can go wrong. If you are doing JPEG, I would make sure to always, always keep the original and save alterations as .psd (if you are using Photoshop) so as to not take anything away from your photo.

One more thing, a little off the subject: I was talking to my friend, Jen, about this a few hours ago and one of the things we talked about was how no matter what you do, it seems like you will never have the best camera (or lens, or printer, or program, or anything for that matter) because they ( by "they" I mean all those imaginary people who are really smart and come up with all these fun toys) will always come up with something newer and better. That's just the way it is and isn't it great that we just keep learning and there is never an end? Sometimes it is great and sometimes, I find myself getting really frustrated. Being a mother of two, there is never enough time for me and my hobbies and it frustrates me that I can't be my best in this hobby and other hobbies because of time. But ya know what? The learning part is so fun and as long as my kids know I love them and they turn out well, I will have all their adult life to learn what I want and become better. Plus, look at all these great photos we're getting of our kids, loved ones, beautiful scenery, and so forth just while we're still learning. It's worth it right? Right. These are lasting memories that we will always be able to share with others.

I had to put a little paragraph in about this frustration because I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one that feels this way. I have to remind myself to be happy with what I DO know and how far I have come. Plus, if I knew everything, I wouldn't be getting to know all of you. It's so fun to share ideas and learn from each other.

Jessica Sprague

I have had a couple of people ask me what a good program to buy for digital scrapbooking would be?  I tell them, "I don't know, I just use Photoshop."  

They reply, "Well what does Becky Higgins use?"

I say, "She uses Photoshop too."

Well, after the fifth person asked me this, I finally decided to just e-mail Becky and ask.  She said that she is in the same boat I am - we LOVE Photoshop for everything.  However, she did recommend going to Jessica Sprague's website.  I totally LOVE this website!! She offers so many tips and tutorials - some you have to pay for and some free. Check it out! Go and just indulge yourself in her fun tips!

JPG or RAW?

Okay, so I'm going to attempt to explain what I have been told about shooting your pictures in RAW instead of JPG.  I asked about RAW in my Photography class and this is what he said: 

RAW is uncompressed thus giving you more flexibility.  When you shoot in JPG format, and you have an (let's say) 8 mp camera, you are only getting like 3-4 mp of information from that picture because it is compressed.  With RAW, you are getting all 8 mp of information giving you more to work with when you are editing.  This is important because every time you save a photo, you take a little bit of information away.  I know this is hard to understand and I can't say I understand it COMPLETELY, but I have switched to RAW and have been a lot more comfortable with taking pictures since.  I feel like I can edit my pictures more if needed and not feel like I'm taking anything away.  One thing to keep in mind is that with RAW, since it is not compressed, it takes up a lot more space for one picture.  I went out and bought a bigger memory card just so I can shoot more RAW images on photoshoot's.  Also, this is IMPORTANT, you have to have a program like Adobe RAW to switch those photos into JPG.  At least, that is what I am told.  Don't kill the messenger.  If you research RAW and find out more, PLEASE please share with the rest of us.  We are all learning so don't be stingy!  :)

Also, something that is important to remember is to save and re-save your photos as little as possible.  Every time you save, you lose information.  If you work in Photoshop, save a photo as a .psd until you are completely done meddling with it.  I always, always keep a copy of the original photo so that if after I've edited it once, I find I need to do something else, I can go back to the original.

Okay, last tip.  In my class, my teacher really pushed the program called Adobe Lightroom.  He said it is good for if your not doing a lot of touch ups:  

you can search for things with key words and etc.

you can make slideshows

you can print really easy from it

it saves multiple crops in one picture

I know you can get a student discount when buying it.  I don't know if that means any student gets the discount or just those schools contracted with the company.  Something to look into though if you don't have Photoshop or would just like something that is a little easier to handle and convenient.  My teacher just raved about it.

If any of you have comments about RAW, JPG, or Adobe Lightroom, please share.

Questions?

So, I am just wondering if anyone still checks this blog?  If you do, let me know and I'll continue to post, if no one replies, I'm going to just shut it down and post on my blog.