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Hey there!  My name is Abbie, I’m a photographer in southeastern Minnesota.  I  I have a little boy named Zabe who is 3.5, and a loving husband Bud.  I’m the owner of Abbie Flom Photography (www.abbieflom.com) and The Salon Room (www.thesalonroom.com)  Both of these businesses are my passion, my hobby, and what I believe in!  Without the help and loving support from my amazing family and friends I wouldn’t be where I am at today!

OH yeah and one more thing.  I love Andie Smith Designs!

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ok, totally schmaltzy, but i’m new here. so, bygones.

hi … i’m michele skinner, and i’m new to andie’s party! i live in minneapolis with my geek/husband, marc, our geek-boy, henry (10), and little miss fabulous, harper (who will be five in two weeks!). i’m a canon girl, i’ve been shooting for other people for four years now, and just recently have i gotten the nerve to step into the business side (ahem). i’ve been using photoshop since 1995, and it’s well-loved. however, now that i’ve had lightroom for a year, i’m head-over-heels with what it can do! especially since andie just introduced me to presets!! andie and i met through scrapping, but continue to grow our relationship via pixels and apertures and love for making beautiful photos! and with these presets, making a beautiful photo even beautiful-er is super easy!

i played around with all the different options and combinations in the work it! set, and found i was having the most fun with funkifying images.

funkifying is a word,  yes? here, i’ll illustrate the definition:

here is my lovely daughter, being herself …

metadata: iso 250, 1/250, 50mm at 1.4

straight outta the ol’ canon. a little flat, but cute. with a face like that, though, i guarantee the photo can look even better!

let’s try a little livening up …

lightroom adjustments: 2/3 exposure increase, 2 increases to black clipping, vignette at -60 lens correction

any normal person would walk away at this point and be happy with a sweet li’l snapshot, but why? where’s the fun in that?

how ’bout we warm it up a bit? give it a little old-school plastic cheapy camera glow?

work it! toys: 110

remember those little rectangles of black plastic called a 110 camera? you slid the oddly-shaped film in the bottom, popped a clip of flashes on the top, and crossed your fingers? loved my 110 when i was a kid. but i digress …

let’s move on. what if we played with the color a little?

work it! tints and tones: lemon-blueberry

do you know that lemons and blueberries are, surprisingly, and amazing combination? how did andie know? this color is delicious! speaking of delicious and lemon-blueberry, martha stewart has a recipe for a lemon-blueberry tart that is out of this world. i craved it when i was pregnant. but i digress yet again …

while both of these photos look great with their changes, i wanted to push it even further. as i scrolled through the work it! options, my eye was immediately caught by the words “big,” “bang” and “theory.” and guess what?

work it! color: big bang theory

it was perfect for this photo!! just like the big bang theory. have you seen this show? it’s hilarious. i can’t decide if sheldon or howard is my favorite. but … still with the digressing. bazinga.

and the best part about finding my favorite enhancement for this photo? with the presets, it took me about three minutes. tops.

click … like it? yes. for this pic? well, no. okay. click. how’s this one? ooh … that’s cool. save. try another. and repeat.

so, okay. the presets are awesome with color. but … how about black & white?

well, in a word: spectacular!

here is little miss fabulous at nine months old, sleeping like a little angel, straight out of the camera:

now to make this photo even more glowing and angelic …

gorgeous.

how? layering several work it! presets … exposure: bright lights, tools: dream date on, tools: vignette more dark, b&w: mochachino.

again, less than three minutes to make a good pic great.

thanks, andie!!

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I want to start my first post on Andie’s blog with an introduction for those of you sitting there wondering who the heck I am and why I am writing on this blog.

In short, my name is Jen Beck and I am often found under the pseudo-name of pokeygirl5 on various message boards.  I have been a scrapbooker, digital scrapbooker and photographer for numerous years now.  I currently shoot with a Canon 7 and utilize Photoshop CS4 and Adobe Lightroom2 to edit my photos.  I have three kids, 2 boys and a girl and am happily married to Tim for almost 10 years now.  I am excited to join Andie’s team and can’t wait to utilize her amazing designs and workflows.

So… enough with the intro and onto Andie’s upcoming product release which I am in *love* with!  Being the person of routine I am, I often edit solely in PSCS4 and forget to utilize all of the goodness the LR has to offer.  Thankfully, Andie pushed me out of my comfort zone and reminded me why LR has a place in the editing market.  Her upcoming release of LR presets are simply amazing and added a fresh, fun element to my photos that I wasn’t achieving with my massive collection of PS actions.  For the following photo, I utilized the upcoming “Work It- Toys 110″  My daughter, normally a totally girly- girl donned her brother’s hat and gave me attitude.  This preset gave me the perfect tone the echo her sentiment, dark and moody but enough light to still allow a hint of sweetness to shine through.  This is just one of five in the “Toys” preset which in turn is only one of 8 new presets that will soon be hitting the store.  Be sure to check all of them out- there is sure to be something for every photo you take.

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hello hello!!!

well, i’m very excited to be a part of the ASD Design Team!  I am a fulltime wedding and portrait photographer based in Amarillo, TX but i travel all over the place for weddings and portraits. I am also the official photographer for several organizations in Amarillo and volunteer for Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep.

Photography is, and always will be, a passion of mine. I have been taking “photos” since i can remember. Dating back to high school yearbook. Shortly after igraduation, i went to work for a portrait studio in Amarillo.  Later, i decided that i would rather move to San Antonio to pursue a mass communications career. I worked for two radio stations in San Antonio, as an on-air personality while attending college at UTSA. I had every major under the sun – but always kept photography as a minor. After i settled on “Pre-Med” i decided to continue taking photography courses to “blow off steam”

Five years ago, i moved back to Amarillo and started working for a portrait studio again. Two years later, my boss pulled me and my Wendy’s Frosty into the studio and informed me that i was being let go.  So this time, two years ago, i began working for myself full time and officially created my business, Chriselda Photography.

it has been a very challenging career path but it has FAR surpassed my goals and expectations, even in it’s infancy.

now – for what you REALLY want to know…

i have been using ASD for a loooooong time. she is my saving grace. keeps me sane during High School Graduation Season and Christmas Card season, and have i MENTIONED wedding albums?!?!?!

so to be on this design team is both an honor and pleasure.

Random bits of joy:

* i’m a single mommy to a wacky and boisterous four year old little boy that rocks my face off

* i NEVER capitalize my “i”

* i ::heart:: exclamation points!!!

* i despise laundry more than anything else in this world

* i don’t wear white socks

* i have an unnatural fear of styrofoam

* the Lifetime Channel is on all day long while i am editing

* i rarely turn down cake

* if i could have one wish granted… it’d be to have bacon be fat free and calorie free.

(and, of course… world peace)

i’m kinda quirky like that

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Hi everyone, I’m so excited to be part of such an amazing team of creative and talented individuals! ASD is gonna rock!

My name is Andrea Blair, yes another Andrea. I think the world can never have to many of us

I along with my husband, curious 4 year old son and a VERY active yellow lab named Hutch reside in sunny Salmon Arm BC, Canada. Having always loved the arts and all things crafty I embrace a carefree and fun approach to my photography. I choose to work primarily on location finding the challenge as an available light photographer exciting! I enjoy working with families, kids, babies and LOVE expectant moms. My business has been up and running for 3 years and seems to be growing everyday; This is my baby.

” Above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you, because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikley places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it. ” Roald Dahl

When I’m not working on the computer or cuddling on the couch with the boys in my life (Hutch included) you can find me in my garden or out in my community. I regularly donate my services as a photographer to various charitable organizations. When I see smiles come from within, from the connections I’ve made, It makes me smile!

I look forward to  sharing my works with you and if your interested in getting to know more about me and my apple pie loving – vintage wearing – coffee craving quirkiness you can check it out here: http://www.ablairphotographyblog.com or you can follow my ramblings on twitter @ablair5 if your on facebook feel free to drop by my new fanpage .

All the best!

Andrea

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Yet another introduction:  Hi!  I’m Kathy Austin.  I’m a part-time preschool teacher married to a cutting horse trainer & mother of 3 daughters, that will come into play later in this post.  I’ve always loved cameras & photography.  I took one photography class in college, just to satisfy my art requirement.  I was hooked.  At that time it was b&w film and developing in the dark room.  I got married, had a “real” job & kids, my only contact with a camera was a very average 35mm p&s.  I think my first digital was a whopping 3MP Kodak p&s in about 2002.  I currently reside in Tulsa, OK & have lived here almost 6 yrs, but we have lived all over the place–horse trainers move as often as military families.  We call San Antonio, TX home though.  When my youngest was born, I really wanted to be able to take better photos of her and as our horse business expanded, better photos of them were necessary.  I upgraded to a better point & shoot and an SLR film camera.  About 3 yrs ago, I decided to get more serious with my photography and started trying to learn all I could about digital photography, Photoshop, posing, composition, etc while saving for a good digital SLR.  Last year I got the Rebel XTi and got thrown into the photography business completely by accident.  I was taking photos of horses for our website & for customers to use with registration papers, a local NCHA affiliate that we show with was needing a photographer for their big New Year’s show (ringing in the 2009 year) and a friend suggested me to the owner contacted me.  I apologized, explained I didn’t have the equipment, she asked if I could rent it & she would pay the rental.  So there I was thrown into the world of horse show photography, learning strobe lights, and all the challenges that go along with fast action, bad lighting, and the need to anticipate shots brings.  That started my photography business.  I just celebrated my first anniversary in business when I shot the same 2 New Year’s shows again a week ago.  Along the way, I have picked up portrait shoots:  families & children, along with some teens/seniors.  So thanks to our horses, showing, and family, I was presented with my first photography subjects and a decent knowledge of what I liked and didn’t like in both portraits and show action shots.

I met Andie during my last year’s intro to the photography business, while she was with another place.  Then she & another photographer was doing their Route 66 tour & since it runs near our ranch, they stayed in our barn apartment.  We met up again last summer while I was in Fort Worth for a big NCHA show and we shot around Cow Town.  I dearly love Andie!  She’s an amazing photographer & so talented in both photography & design.  I already have quite a few of her products & love them.  I’m so thrilled to get to be on her blog team!!

I really mostly shoot action photography and equine portraits.  I’ve always tried to use natural lighting except in show arenas, which require multiple strobe-lights.  I’m now trying to learn studio portrait lighting as this crazy winter weather we’ve had has forced some of my portrait sessions indoors.  I also upgraded to Canon 20D and 50D and I’m starting to add to my lens collection instead of just borrowing them from friends.  My next purchases are the 70-200mm f/2.8 and the 100-400mm f/4-5.6 lenses because I’ve discovered a love of the close-up head-to-head action shots at shows and have found that my customers love them as much as I do.

My goal this year is to grow my business even more.  It’s very nearly full-time as it is.  I keep getting more shows to shoot and while I do most of my printing on-site, it takes quite a few days when I get home to get the photos processed, uploaded to website, print the orders that needed special editing, etc.

I’m so looking forward to meeting the rest of the team and being a member of the team.  And I apologize for the bad photo of me…I don’t have anything formal and a shot from Christmas this year was the best I could do at the moment.

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Yes, it’s ANOTHER introduction. I’m not nearly as cool as the other bloggers on the ASD blog team; in fact, I’m quite the dork and freely admit it. Not in a cool, geeky kinda way, but more in just a …. well, dorky kinda way.

I was born in Gainesville, Florida (GO GATORS!), but  moved to North Carolina when I was 6. I love it here; we’re about 4 hours from the beach, and about 2 hours from the mountains. I live in a pretty small city, but we’re close to Charlotte and other large areas.

I have been married 20 years, but I’m only 38, so I’m not as old as that sounds. We have four kids – ages 20, 19, 17 and almost 15. My 19 year old is leaving for Air Force Basic Training on February 2nd and we are both getting nervous!

I became a college student for the first time in my life last January, and am beginning my 4th semester on January 11th. I’m in the Business Administration Transfer Program.

I’ve also recently started on a journey to wellness- I have a long way to go, but I’m working hard at becoming healthy and losing weight.

I have always loved photography but never thought about it becoming anything more than something I enjoyed. When my best friend’s children were smaller, I started doing little mini sessions with them, and started learning about garage studio set ups. I don’t have a garage, but I began learning about natural light photography and soon began getting lots of requests to take pictures for other people. I found that I do have a natural eye for composition, and that people were willing to <gasp> PAY ME to photograph their families! I did some portfolio building sessions for some mom’s in a local mom’s group, some for a few people at work, and  from there eventually started my own business.

I work almost exclusively with natural light outdoors. I acknowledge that this where my strengths are. I am a candid portrait and wedding photographer and I’ve been in business now for about 4 years. I know I’m not alone when I say that 2009 was challenging, but I made it through and I’m ready to see big increases in productivity for 2010 and am excited to see what the New Year holds for me and Sheri Allison Photography. My goal is to grow my business to be able to consider it a full-time job.

I’ve known Andie now for almost five years, I think, and I’m proud to be one of her bloggers. I look forward to promoting her awesome products and also challenging myself along the way.