Baby Evie- You Pick

I love my cousin Jessica! She is my favorite (shhhh..... don't tell our other 30 first cousins). Can't help it but she just is. We have always had a special bond & have remained friends throughout our adulthood. She became a mama for the 1st time earlier this year & now has baby Evie. Jessica & Evie are no stranger to the blog. You probably seen them most recently on our trip to TX back in August but if you missed it click here

Anyhoo- Jessica had the cutest picture of Evie on her Facebook page this week that her husband Jonathan took. You could tell that they had worked hard for the shot. They made the ever popular homemade flag banner & even put a trunk in their back yard. The picture was super cute but I looked at it and thought it could use a little help. So I asked Jessie if she would send me the picture & let me edit it.

So here's where you come in. Jessica really wants to print this picture for their house and I've done a few different edits for the pic. So take a look at the different "styles" and let us know which one you like the most. If you're like me & having trouble leaving comments on the blog, then email me your favorite one and I'll send along to Jess. We both appreciate you help!

1. The original. Super cute, just needed some tweaking (and disclaimer here: I'm not a professional so they aren't professionally edited)

From Evie

2. Edited version. I cropped it, fixed the white balance, upped the exposure since it was under exposed, added some blacks, vibrance & tad bit of saturation. Better huh??
From Evie

Here comes the fun part- I recently purchased some presets for Lightroom from One Willow. They're funky & fun and I play with them at a minimal. But thought it would be fun to see them here so here goes. (These presets were added to the edited file)

3. Afternoon Tea
From Evie

4. Compassion
From Evie

5. Imagination
From Evie

6. Songbird
From Evie

7. Spring Rain
From Evie

8. B&W Dream
From Evie

If you need to go back & look again- here's a recap.

Top- Original edit
Bottom- Afternoon Tea
From Collages

Top-Compassion
Bottom-Imagination
From Collages

Top- Songbird
Bottom- Spring Rain
From Collages

Here's another one just for fun. Evie wasn't quite in focus but it was still cute.
From Collages

The more I learn about photography, the more I realize its all about editing. Yes, you absolutely have to have composition and technique to make a good picture but to make your pictures "pop" you have got to edit. And learning to edit takes time. Lots & Lots of time and patience. That's why I'm so excited to be taking another Lightroom class this Saturday. I can't wait!

Okay- Get to voting!
Thanks,
Candice

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Historic Oak County Park

This past Saturday I had my first non-family, non-friend photo shoot. The Historic Oak County Park of Wake County was looking for a photographer to take some pictures of the park to update their brochure. Our friend Heather Tart was sweet enough to recommend me. The park manager reached out to me a few weeks ago and we picked Saturday as the day. She brought in a few employees and their children to set the "scene". The weather was absolutely gorgeous and the leaves were incredible!

From Historic Oak Co Park
From Historic Oak Co Park
From Historic Oak Co Park

I can't believe that I have never been to this park before because it is right up my alley. It was a old farm that the state purchased several years ago and they turned it into a park in 1997. It has the original house, old barns, stables and even a cotton gin!
From Historic Oak Co Park
From Historic Oak Co Park
From Historic Oak Co Park

The park is not only a beautiful place but its also a place to teach folks about agriculture. Their visitor center has fun facts and pictures for adults and their Farmer's Corner allows kids to dress up and "play" farm.
From Historic Oak Co Park
From Historic Oak Co Park

They also have 2 goats on the property and they were a huge hit with the kiddos.
From Historic Oak Co Park
From Historic Oak Co Park
From Historic Oak Co Park
From Historic Oak Co Park
From Historic Oak Co Park

After petting the goats, we went to the cotton field. This is one of my favorite pics from the day but I HATE that it was overexposed. Switching it to B&W helped but unfortunately didn't fix it.
From Historic Oak Co Park

Once their cotton was picked, they had a machine that would clean the cotton.
From Historic Oak Co Park

I think they chose the right person for this gig because it combined my 2 favorite things- photography and agriculture. Now, will they think they choose the right photographer after they see the pictures? Who knows? But I had a good time!

And because my lens always seems to find kids it likes- I leave you with these 2.
From Historic Oak Co Park
From Historic Oak Co Park
If you're in the Raleigh area & haven't been to the Historic Oak County Park- GO! I plan to come back!!
Candice

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NC Hot Air Balloon Festival

Last weekend my friend Mel & myself took a day trip to Statesville, NC for the 2011 NC Hot Air Balloon Festival. This has been on my NC to-do for a couple of years. I've never been before & was so excited that Mel wanted to go with me. I took 650 pictures. They were overwhelming and I've been sitting on them for over a week wanting to ignore them. But I finally went through them today and its SO hard to pick which ones to share with you. I'm warning you now: there will be LOTS of pictures in this post! And if you're still hungry for more I'll include the link so you can see them all.

The day was absolutely gorgeous. Bright blue sky & not a cloud in sight. This was the 1st balloon on the day.

From Hot Air Balloon Fest

I became obsessed with this balloon. Took way too many pictures of it.
From Collages

Mel & I even got our picture in front of it.
From Hot Air Balloon Fest

When she & I are together I always take pictures of her. She loves to be in front of the camera so she makes a good subject.
From Hot Air Balloon Fest
From Collages
From Hot Air Balloon Fest

Me on the other hand- getting less and less comfortable in front of the camera. I definitely prefer to be in the back of a camera these days. But Mel got some good ones of me.
From Hot Air Balloon Fest
From Hot Air Balloon Fest
From Hot Air Balloon Fest
From Hot Air Balloon Fest

Like my sun booger???
From Hot Air Balloon Fest

We got to Statesville around noon. There wasn't too many people so we took pictures, did a little NC beer & wine tasting, ate a funnel cake and then did some good 'ol fashion people watching.
From Hot Air Balloon Fest
From Hot Air Balloon Fest
From Hot Air Balloon Fest
From Hot Air Balloon Fest

After a couple of hours of chillin & people watching, it was back to work. At 4pm they brought in 50 hot air balloons & filled them up & let them take off. I couldn't believe all the people that where there by 4pm.
From Hot Air Balloon Fest

It was a mad rush to get to the balloons
From Hot Air Balloon Fest

But some just hung back
From Hot Air Balloon Fest

Balloons were everywhere & people were trying to get as many pictures as they could
From Hot Air Balloon Fest

A few went up after a couple of minutes
From Hot Air Balloon Fest
From Hot Air Balloon Fest
From Hot Air Balloon Fest

And then it seemed like all 50 of them were up at once
From Hot Air Balloon Fest
From Hot Air Balloon Fest
From Hot Air Balloon Fest

I couldn't get them all on my camera there were SO many (wish I could have brought a really wide lens)
From Hot Air Balloon Fest

There were lots of volunteers to help with these massive balloons
From Hot Air Balloon Fest
From Hot Air Balloon Fest

But the thing that did the main work??? The burner!!!
From Hot Air Balloon Fest

This is the thing that gets these balloons in the air
From Hot Air Balloon Fest

And its HOT & it has to be to lift those balloons in the air.
From Hot Air Balloon Fest

Up, up, up & away!!!!!!!!
From Hot Air Balloon Fest
From Hot Air Balloon Fest

After the balloons left, it was chill time until they returned. We hung out while the crowd tried to get a ride of the remaining 3 balloons.
From Hot Air Balloon Fest

7pm was the highlight of the day. Its called "The Glow". Its where all 50 balloons come back and they all light up their burners at the same time once the sun goes down. Mel & I got ourselves situated on a hill with our tripods to get these night shots. You need your shutter opened longer in order to get all the light into the sensor. Some shots were good & some were great- it all just depended on when you clicked & what balloons were "glowing".
From Hot Air Balloon Fest
From Hot Air Balloon Fest
From Hot Air Balloon Fest

I love how the burner literally lights up the balloon & the people under neat it while everything else is dark.
From Hot Air Balloon Fest

From Hot Air Balloon Fest
From Hot Air Balloon Fest
From Hot Air Balloon Fest
From Hot Air Balloon Fest

Spectacular
From Hot Air Balloon Fest
From Hot Air Balloon Fest
From Hot Air Balloon Fest

If you've never been to the NC Hot Air Balloon Festival- I highly recommend it! And a big thanks to Mel for coming along. I had SO much fun. Love ya!
Candice

If you want to see much more of the festival- check it out here
Hot Air Balloon Fest

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