Lightroom Tutorial - B&W

Lightroom is awesome, have I mentioned that before?

For my first official Lightroom tutorial I thought I'd start with a few simple edits for Lightroom newbies!

Today is how to turn your colour photo, into a black & white image. Now there are a gazillion ways to do this, but here is the quick & easy way.

- Start my importing your chosen photo.
- Go to the Develop area
- Here is my colour photo that I'd going to B&W

- On the menu on the right of the screen, scroll down to HSL/ Color/ B&W

- Click B&W & your photo will automatically be transformed!

- You can then either leave the image as it is & export (save) it. 

- Or you can adjust the colours in the image. On the screen shot above you can see on the right the colours. Your can move the curser to the left & right on each colour. Have a play around & get a feel for it. 

- I also adjusted the tones (exposure/ fill light/ blacks etc.) by sliding their cursers to the left & right.

Here is my final version.

You can see my changes to the Tone on the right. I increased the exposure, fill light & black.

Hope you like it & it'll help for future edits x

Camera Tutorial - be brave & step away from auto!

Well, it doesn't feel like that long ago my first ever DSLR landed on my doorstep.

A Canon 350D. It was so scary, there were so many buttons & dials & I had no idea where to start on the various settings.

The best way to learn, I feel, is by practice. I have taught myself how to use my camera & now it feel great that I can switch on my camera & know, more of less, what setting I will need to get the best picture for the setting I'm in.

I intend to give various tutorials over the coming weeks, to encourage you to be brave & try switch off auto!

Below are two photos, taken by my husband of my two girls & me. 

The first photo was taken on 'auto'. Ok, not bad, it's an ok photo I guess, but any old camera could have taken that. 

So after a quick look at the photos, I adjusted the settings.  Increased the shutter speed a touch, widened the aperture, reduced the ISO & voilà.

These are both totally unedited, straight out the camera. But even a few subtle changes can make a huge difference.

What do you think? 

Next week we'll discuss aperture.... hold onto your hats...

40 ways to distract a toddler!

I just came across this post tonight & it is packed with fantastic ideas to keep the little 'uns busy!

Useful for every mum when you need a few minutes of peace & quiet!

Now to be organised enough to actually starts going this...

On top of the world

Sometimes I wish I could be 3 again & feel that standing on a fallen tree was like standing on top of the world :)

Lightroom!

I use Lightrooom over photoshop. I do enjoy Photoshop & it certainly has it's advantages. But for me, Lightroom is brilliant!

I'm going to post some tutorials over the coming weeks for tips of this amazing bit of software x

Leek & Potato soup

Tonight I made soup, just what you need on a cold, wet & windy July day!!!

Thought I'd share my recipe. I like simple food best of all. With two kids & being busy busy, I don't like to faff on mid-week meals.

I cut up 3 leeks & sweated them in some butter. I chopped up 3 big potatoes (skin & all!) & chucked them in with 700ml of stock, a big splash of milk & simmered for about 30 minutes. I then used my hand blender to whizz it up, added some better & that was that.

Easy mid-week supper that everyone loves :)

What I've been up to...

Wow, what a busy few weeks!

Firstly, the Photomarathon was awesome! Very fun but VERY tiring, it really is like a marathon - draining mentally & physically! But I really enjoyed the challenge & will definitely do it next year! Looking forward to the exhibition & seeing everyones photos :)

So the last two weeks I've been absorbed in Nursery photos, yes, nursery photos! My daughter's nursery asked me to go along & take photos of the kids there, they were trying to do something different to the usual white screen/ false lighting/ awkward photo, type nursery photos. Anywho, it was a ball! I loved it & the kids were great, but it was incredibly busy & tiring & sad not to get to spend as much time with each child as I'd have liked to have done. But I'm really happy with the photos, hope the parents are too.

Lastly, last weekend we had a family get together & I got to see my nephew, yay! Haven't seen him properly for months & it was so sweet to see how much he's grown & how, to him, everything is AMAZING! He is so sweet, a photo below is my favourite of the gorgeous little man.

Photomarathon 2012!

After years of trying to take part, I finally managed to get a place in Cardiff's Photomarathon!

Various things have got in my way over the last few years, including having babies & family plans & just been down right unorganised!

This year  however, I was on the ball & bagged myself a place! Entry number 333 - hope 3 is my lucky number!!

So what is Photomarathon? You essentially get 12 random topics decided by the organisers (given to you in batches throughout the day) & have 12 hours (1 hour allowance per topic) in which to photograph & interpret each topic. I have no desire to win, I just want to take part & enjoy myself.

Here are some entries from previous years: http://www.photomarathon.co.uk/gallery/

Wish me luck....

Making the most of the weather

Hold the press - I think today I possibly took my favourite photo ever... ever....

I had a photoshoot with the lovely Emily & her family. This included 4 year old Millie who was just gorgeous, happy & smiley. The rain poured outside - so what do you do when it rains? You make the best of it! This photo in particular just caught the moment for me :)

I'll upload more photos soon x

Rain rain go away!

Am I mad? We're off to the Jubilee Celebrations in Cowbridge, it's cold & raining :/ 

Well lets hope the sun gets his hat for just a few hours today so it's a decent turn out!

Meanwhile I'm busy at work getting last mite bits ready to dash out the door - wish me luck x

Jubilee weekend!

Well its the start of the Queen's Jubilee weekend & what a busy one it'll be!

Among other fun things planned, I'm excited to have a stall at my first fair! It'll be in Cowbridge on Tuesday - eeeep, I'm so nervous! Here's hoping the weather cooperates & we don't face a downpour.

I'll post photos of the stall next week, wish me luck!

A little hello from me...

So hello & welcome to Kate's blog!

I created this blog a little while ago but life has been a tad hectic of late so I'm only now finally getting round to saying a little hello :)

So what have I been up to? Well, my girls have just turned 3 & 1. I've been going through high & lows, happiness & sadness. Excited for their discoveries and constant appetite to learn and challenge themselves, sad that I'm losing my teeny tiny babies.

Millie, my eldest, has always been such an adventurer & from just a few months old, wanted to get up and go! She has a wonderfully wicked laugh that fills the room with sunshine.

Sweet little Annie, is hot on her heels. Learning, laughing, growing, far too fast for my liking.

We celebrated last week with a joint birthday party. All Millie had requested was a rainbow cake and a bicycle for her birthday. Well I say bicycle, she actually asked for a princess ballerina bicycle. My husband & I decided on a normal bike, jazzed up with tassels & a basket & she was very happy with that!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful girls

 My Rainbow Cake Inspired by Sweetapolita

 By the way, the lack of actual people in this party was because we took these after friends had left! I had no real time to take photos during the party - what a whirlwind!

She definitely takes after her mother....