Myrtle Beach Photographer: Texture Tutorials

I have had several people asking me about how I apply textures to my photos and then remove the texture from part of the photo. There are 2 techniques that I use for this. The blur technique is my favorite, because it keeps the color of the texture over the whole photo while removing the textured part from certain areas like skin. The other technique is masking, this removes the texture completely from which ever area you desire, but because you use a layer mask the texture is still there and can be brought back. I put these tutorials together, complete with screen shots, for anyone that wants to know how.

I hope everyone finds this useful.

My Beautiful Boys {Myrtle Beach Children's Portrait Photographer}

I have been so caught up with creating templates and logo design lately that I haven't taken any good photos of the boys in quite some time. So one evening I decided to get the bamboo mat and brown backdrop out and have a little mini session. It was a challenge, for sure. The last time I took photos of Daiden he couldn't walk yet, so it was much easier to capture him without him running towards or away from me. I did learn a valuable lesson, I will be doing no more studio style sessions with Daiden until he is old enough to follow instructions. I have to say, Mason did a fantastic job for posing for me. I love the photos of him laughing and reading to his brother, he is so handsome.

Matt & Caitlin Speck {Myrtle Beach Wedding Photographer}

So, I had the pleasure of photographing Caitlin and Matt's weddingreception and then taking it to the beach for some creative photos. I did an engagement session with them at the beginning of the year, so I was very excited to be a part of their wedding as well. They are such a great couple to photograph and so fun to work with. Here is a preview of some of the photos from the beach.

Levetation {Myrtle Beach Portrait Photographer}

I decided to have some fun with my 365 project today. I had read a tutorial from a flickr member awhile back on how to construct a levitation photo. So, I decided to give it a shot! It was surprisingly easy, except for the fact that I don't have a remote shutter release so I had to use the 10 second timer :( Well, here it is: day 42 of my 365 project.

Sonia and Pete {Myrtle Beach Wedding Photographer}

So this wedding was a total blast.  The great thing is that this couple has been together for something like 13 years, all they wanted was a small wedding on the beach and a big get together after.  There was no pressure, just good, relaxed fun and lots of food.  Here are a few shots from the wedding and reception.

Adeline Wilcox {Myrtle Beach Childrens Portrait Photographer}

So, I got to do my very first little girl photo shoot and, oh man, it was a blast! Adeline was loving the camera, she was such a great model. We shot from around noon until almost 5pm with absolutely no meltdown. Of course, we took breaks to allow her and Daiden to play and have a little fun, but she did such a great job. Slipped in a few shots of Mommy ad Daddy as well. Oh, I love all this girlie stuff!

|Whitney|

Another Beautiful Day {Myrtle Beach Childrens Portrait Photographer}

Well, Nick and I were exhausted after church this morning, and knowing that we had to get back to the house to finish the photo studio, we of course, put everything off to take the kids to the park. It was so nice out! Daiden rode in a swing for the first time and Loved it. Mason made a little friend today and they played army guys in the sand. It was great. Also gave me the opportunity to take some photos of the kids. I just started my 365 challenge so today was the start. I figure it will motivate me to get my camera out AT LEAST once a day. My kids are growing up so fast and I don't want to miss anything. I love my little boys.

Day at the Park {Myrtle Beach Childrens Portrait Photographer}

Well, now that the business end of the Agee wedding has been wrapped up I can take some time to play around with some photos Nick and I took of our kids. The day after the wedding we took the kids to the park (right after a HUGE burger from 5 Guys, ugh). Anyways, we still had the borrowed cameras so, of course, we had to get in some pictures of the kiddos. I have been playing with textures a lot lately, and just recently was introduced to the world of Photoshop Actions. I downloaded a few and made my own adjustments to get the look I was going for. I am pretty happy with the results and look forward to purchasing a specific package in the next few months. These things save SO much time.

First Wedding {Myrtle Beach Wedding Photographer}

Finally finished my first wedding, oh geez it was crazy. Nick and I definitely learned a lot about staying on our toes. The wedding was great and we got some amazing shots, despite the fact that everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. As I said before, this was a HUGE learning experience and we will definitely do things differently next time. Also learned that no matter how prepared you think you are, things can still go wrong - so chill out and roll with the punches :)

Adorable Pregnant Belly {Myrtle Beach Maternity Photographer}

I was browsing through some photos for inspiration the other day and all of a sudden i just felt like I needed to add some maternity photos to my portfolio. Thank God for Facebook, it's an awesome tool. I just posted what I was thinking about and got several replies from pregnant women or their families. The most promising was Danielle, she is the sister of one of the girls from Barefoot Church. She is due in about a week, so we had to hurry. We had the shoot yesterday - in my sons bedroom since the studio is under construction - and it turned out beautiful. I love taking pictures of pregnant women, because they just can't help looking beautiful. Even when they don't feel like it, they are. Of course I kept hearing comments like, "Can you shoot from and angle so my face looks thinner?" or "Ugh, I'm so big.", but she did a wonderful job. It did help that I had my 5 month old son in the room to help her relax. He got some really nice smiles out of her:) I hope she will be pleased with the way she looks in these photos, it was such a privilege to share this with her and i just hope it made her feel as beautiful as she is.

First {Myrtle Beach Photographer}

Okay, this is the ground breaking first blog post for StudioFour12. Woot! Nothing really to report right now. At this point I am looking everywhere I can think of for inspiration to help me become a better photographer. I have a couple weddings coming up, my first actual wedding jobs. I was pretty nervous for awhile, but today I sat down and looked at some of my old work and then some of my more recent work. I know I have a LONG way to go and I hope to always be growing and learning. However it was pretty encouraging seeing the way my composition and post production has evolved. I love spending time just playing with pictures and seeing what happens. Most times something pretty cool can be discovered. I have to admit, I love my job!