Peeping Tom

Take a photo through an open door, preferably without the subject knowing you're there.
Due to the lack of doorways in the common areas at home, I hid at the bottom of the stairs behind a bench to snap this picture of Max playing...

Black and White Conversions

From scratch, with no actions or presets!

I Heart Faces - My Favorite Face(s) of 2010

My favorite photo of 2010.
I didn't have to think very long about this, and I'm a little surprised I didn't choose a picture of Max, but this picture makes me smile so much, every time I look at it!
Both parts of this couple have been friends of mine since high school, and we've already decided that my Max will marry (or at least go to prom with!) their little girl.
I had so much fun shooting a bunch of pictures for their Christmas card, but this one just thrills me.
Technically, it's really excellent for me; since I've only been really working on my skills for a couple of months, a capture like this is rare, and it came out exactly how I was envisioning it, so that's exciting for me!
Emotionally, I just love everything about it... Daddy's adoring look at his baby girl, mama giving me one of those laughing smiles that are my most favorite thing.

Thanks for looking!

This photo is submitted for the weekly challenge over at I Heart Faces... wanna see more Favorite Faces of 2010? Click here:

Digital Tilt Shift

Tilt shift lenses are a specific type that skews the depth of field of the image, and the effect often causes full-size things to look like miniature models.
These lenses are not inexpensive, so the challenge is to recreate the look digitally.

My first attempt, a picture I shot of Temple Bar in Dublin on our honeymoon
BEFORE


AFTER


My second try, with a picture of a local house I shot with the intention of tilt-shifting it... the elevated POV from the original helps with the miniature look, as does the increased saturation of the after image.

BEFORE


AFTER

Off with Their Heads!

Take a photo without showing the subject without a face or head, and tell a story.
Image shot at 4/4.5, ISO 1600, 1/50ss, 18-70mm @ 70mm