Photography Shmenography BBQ Sauce and Doggie Doo

Layla was born just as my sister, Sara, was opening her own photography studio. As you can imagine, she got her portraits done all the time. That was before we moved so far away! Now that Layla's portraits are all so special and unique I just can't bring myself to take my second bourne (ha ha pun intended) to Walmart or Sears for the same old boring cookie cutter sittings.

Soooo, I have a good camera ( Canon Rebel), good software (Adobe Photoshop Elements), a good baby (well, the BEST baby) and beautiful scenery all around. All of this adds up to great pictures right?? If only it were that easy.

I'm sure I should be using different settings on my camera. Photoshop is going to take me ages to use up to it's potential. But at least I have a growing appreciation for the work that my sisters do (Emily works for Sara).

First step, I took some pictures. Baron was extremely cooperative. I tried to get Chester in a few shots but he was not cooperating so I put some bbq sauce on Baron's shoulder. Yes, you read that correctly. I put BBQ sauce on my infant's shoulder to entice my huge beast of a dog to show some interest in him. I got his attention but not a shot. All I get is his back end towards the camera while he sniffs Baron. He is too well behaved to lick him, which I thought would have been cute, but not well enough behaved to sit where I want him to for a picture. Fine, Chester's off the hook. Let's go outside. I prop Baron up against my fence and start clicking. Slowly he begins to lean, lean and fall. Oh gross! I realize amongst the leaves Chester has left us a "present" and Baron nearly face planted right into it. Now that would have been a portrait we'd remember. Alright, we're done. Time to edit.

After uploading my pictures I attempt to "photoshop" them. I only got this program a week ago so it's brand new to me. Ugh. I have my laptop on the arm of my couch so I can "play" while nursing. After hours of editing and control z-ing here's a few ones worth keeping. I put the before and after photoshop for your amusement. I think some of the before's are better than the afters. Oh well. He's perfect, even if the photography isn't.