Before and After #2

Hi there! So yes, I was a bit neglectful of the blog last week. But hey, it was Thanksgiving. And it was AMAZING! I don't know if I've ever had a better Thanksgiving. Luisa and I even did some Black Friday shopping. We weren't those crazy people that got up at 4am to get in line. No thanks. We left the house around 1, and enjoyed the much shorter lines, less traffic, and surprisingly ALL the same deals! We loved it. I hope yours was wonderful as well.

But to make up for last week, I'm going to blog every day this week. There. I said it. Now I'm committed. But I have some really fun blog posts ready that I'm excited to share.

SO! To kick it off, I thought I would do another before and after post. If you missed the last one you can see it here. I've been experimenting with Totally Rad Actions for photoshop. They had a killer deal last black friday and my only regret is that I didn't buy both of their packs.

My first image is pretty subtle, but the next too are more drastic that anything I've ever posted. So without further ado...

SOOC (Straight out of camera) image:

Edited Image:

Quick note: All of these image were edited first in Aperture, and then in Photoshop with the TRA demo actions (I edited this shoot before I had bought the action pack). You can get these free right here! So with this image, you'll notice I burned the edges a bit, warmed up the skin tones with the Action Troy at 20%, and that's about it. Not too much going on here.

SOOC on left. Final edit on right:

Recipe:

Duplicated Layer in Photoshop, set blending mode to Multiply, and then with a mask, painted in the vignette and darkened corners.

Added a contrast layer, and also painted in the edges with layer mask.

TRA action Troy at 29%

Pioneer Woman Action (Both packs are free) "Seventies" at 10%

SOOC on left. Final edit on right:

Recipe:

Duplicated layer, set blending mode to Multiply and then paint in the burnt edges.

Troy at 23%

Seventies at 20%

And there you have it. Notice, I only used two actions, and also that in the future I'll probably back it down a little. I always notice that when I learn a new editing technique, I use it too much, and I need to back down the effect about half. But I'd love to hear your take on them. Have an amazing Tuesday and we'll see you tomorrow!

Life Thru the Macro: Beaters Made for Lickin'...

My family has a tradition to go around the Thanksgiving Dinner table and say the things that we are most grateful for. MANY have accused that tradition of being 'tacky' and I must admit that in my youth I did my fair share of griping and groaning. But nonetheless, I am proud to say that due to the small amount of maturity that I have gained since leaving my parents home, I can now see the wisdom in my Mom's insistence of this tradition. As such, Nate and I wanted to share a few of the things that enrich our lives and for which we are truely grateful.

We are grateful for the unwavering support of our families.

We are grateful for a world SO BEAUTIFUL it is worth exploring.

We are grateful for modern technology and that it allows us to connect with YOU.

We are grateful for the world and culture of Photography- how it enriches our lives, provides for our family and that it lifts, challenges, intrigues and inspires Nate.

We are grateful for our little one... that he's healthy so far, that his heart is beating strong and that we love him so much already.

We are grateful for the free country in which we live that allows us the pursuit of our dreams and passions... that allows us the freedom of our faith.

We are grateful for the knowledge of a loving Heavenly Father and His mindfulness of every aspect of our lives.

We are grateful for the healthy bodies that both Nate and I take for granted, but that allow us to swim, ski, run, hug, work and dance.

We are grateful for the small things in life that awe us and make us smile: a warm breeze, a sunset, chocolate covered cherries, freshly fallen snow, dancing, laughter and music.

We are ETERNALLY grateful for each other; that we can be unconditionally loving as we witness each others lives.

And finally, we are grateful for beaters that are made for lickin'... that after cooking for hours and hours on Thanksgiving Day, that we could sit back and watch the enjoyment of our little niece Julia as she found delight in the 'sweetness' of life.

Life Thru the Macro: Photographing the Photographer...

... is MUCH harder than you might think. Nate's Mom can firmly attest to the fact that she has been driven to tears on an occassion or two when trying to photograph her handsome, though VERY uncooperative sons. This is what I get when I attempt to photograph my handsome, though uncooperative husband:

Hopefully our son will not adopt his Daddy's antics with the camera! ; ) Shout out to Victoria de Martigny who inspired me to write this post... thanks for letting me steal YOUR idea!!

Dominic+Dorys Engagement Session

Yes, I know today is Friday which means I'm supposed to post a photo of the week. But I had the greatest engagement session recently, and quite honestly, I can't wait till next week to post it.

So...first off, I love photographing people in love. For one, they're happy and it truly shows and that makes ALL the difference in the pictures. Actually it makes my job pretty easy. I just need to capture the love and happiness that's already there. Dominic and Dorys are very much like this. They're in love. They're happy. They photograph really well, because nothing is forced. All I have to do is let them be them...happy and in love. (Plus they're extra amazing because they're bringing me to Mexico to shoot their wedding in December. Seriously? Can't wait!)

You might recognize this first photo's location from my Photo of the Week blog post two weeks ago.

After being downtown, we headed up to the foothills, one of my favorite places to shoot.

I'll end with one of the last pictures we took that day. We had photographed well past the just before sunset light, and we could start to see the lights of Boise come on. As we were walking back to the cars, Dominic had the great suggestion to get the lights in the background. The lighting was still beautiful so we snapped a few right there on the road. Awesome suggestion Dominic! You guys are awesome!

Aruba Adventures

I feel like I'm a pretty lucky guy. I get to do what I love (capture images), with the person I love (Luisa of course!), in really cool places that I love (New England, the Caribbean, Mexico, Costa Rica, West Coast etc.). I feel blessed. Life is good. I've been lucky enough to be able to have Luisa join me on most of my photo adventures, and I have to say traveling with her is a blast. Here's a little video we made of our last trip to Aruba to shoot a wedding (which can be seen here). So what if our travel plans weren't supurb: drive to SLC (5 hours), red eye to Georgia, early morning flight to Aruba. Coming back it was a late night flight to my personal favorite airport EVER (kidding) JFK...spend the night in New York, really early morning flight to SLC. Drive the 5 hours back to home sweet home in Boise. But we had an amazing time. Like, an unbelievable time. So we made a little video to showcase the trip. Hope you enjoy!

I think the words to the song say it perfectly. "Home is wherever I'm with you".

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Life Thru the Macro: Things NOT To Say about Your Pregnant Wife...

"It's the craziest thing... but I swear EVERY single day now, she's just getting bigger and bigger."

We ALL had a good laugh at that one, especially me, because it's SO TRUE. Aside from that one verbal slip-up, Nate has been taking care of me fantastically. Last night he tucked me into bed with EVERY single pillow we own and gave me a foot rub. He even tried to brush my teeth for me [not recommended: I was laughing so hard we got toothpaste everywhere]. This little boy inside sure is lucky, if Nate is HALF the father to our kids as he is a husband to me.

*P.S. Nate JUST said this and we both laughed so hard that I had to add it: "No, no I was just kidding. Don't pick it up for me. That'd be like asking Goliath to touch his toes." ; )

Photo of the week: SURFING!

I returned yesterday from meeting a client in Laguna Niguel, California. It was 35 and raining when I left Boise. California was 75 and GORGEOUS! It was so nice to visit, even though it was a short visit. I met with the client at the Ritz Carlton at Dana Point, and took some time before my flight yesterday to snap some shots of the surfers. Totally wish I had brought my swim-suit, Who goes to southern California without a swim-suit? Me. (I've only surfed twice, so I'm pretty much awful at it, but it looked like SO much fun). So here's this weeks photo of the week:

Jeff, Blu and Anna

Meet Jeff, his wife Blu, and their adorable daughter Anna. Luisa and I have been friends with Jeff and Blu since we moved to Idaho, and I was excited at the opportunity to take their family pictures. I actually did a shoot of Anna last year, that you can see here on the blog...seems like FOREVER ago. It took Anna about, lets see...3 seconds to warm up to the camera.

Anna was such a natural in front of the camera. Here, Blu and I were telling her to open her eyes by saying, "Big eyes". She was awesome at opening her eyes, along with her mouth.

I LOVE this time of year in Boise. Gorgeous lighting, beautiful colors, great location and awesome family. Life is good!

So Anna is three, as you can see here, and can make about every expression in the book. She put my camera to the test as she'd literally second after second pull a new expression at the camera.

Here's just a FEW example of those expressions. Like, "What are you talking about?" or "Cool...whatever!" It was honestly hilarious and I had to do everything I could to stop from laughing as she pulled expression one after another.

And of course, we had to throw some leaves.

Hope you all enjoyed! Have a great day!

Life Thru the Macro: Insights into Our Kitchen...

Aside from photography, Nate's other passion in life is food [except when he's alone]. To his tastebuds, EVERYTHING is "the most delicious thing" he has ever tasted. No matter if he burns his tongue on the first bite, he can't slow down enough to avoid burning himself on the second. Despite Nate's enthusiasm for my cooking, at times I've been tempted to take offense when he plainly states: "This isn't quite as good as my Mom's", but I know that with most 'Perkes Family' recipes, I'll never quite live up to that standard. I've accepted that fact, however, so: sorry Nate, but no matter what I do to them, I think my chicken enchiladas will forever be 'soggy'.

There is a particular recipe, however, that I have enjoyed attempting to 'perfect', although perfection is still just out of my reach. This is Nate's favorite cake in the world: The Ring of Coconut Chocolate Bundt Cake. I thought I might give you all an insight into our kitchen and every single one of Nate's birthdays:

He likes it so much, I can't even keep him out of the batter.

Here's to crispier enchiladas and many more 'rings of coconut' in the future!! You can find the recipe here.