Shelley's Kids

Normally I wouldn't share images from a session gone bad but the kids are so cute I wanted to. The reason the session went bad was my fault. I am trying to learn how to take pictures on manual and I some how got the Shutter Speed way off. Most of the pictures are dark and grainy. Anyways, I wanted to share a few since, like I said, the kids are so cute. The two below, Arley & Orrin, are my friend Shelley's kids. The little tot down below is her niece, Sonora. Hopefully we can do another session and I'll stick to what I know!

This one cracked me up because of the finger. :)

New colors!

Obviously I have changed a few things on the blog. I have been researching templates for my Erin Rollins Photography blog and decided to play around with this one. Anyways, I hope y'all like it!

Rounded Corners

Here is another trick I've learned just by surfing the web. I am obsessed with a website called ILP.com (I Love Photography.com). My friend, Kelly, who is a professional photographer told me about it. It is perfect for all photographers but especially green ones like myself. You can learn so much from other people. If you have a question you just ask it and people will give you all kinds of advice and information. You can even post pictures on there for constructive criticism. Anyways, I've been searching other photographers websites trying to get ideas, trying to figure out if I want a blog or a webite for my business, etc. I noticed that most of them have rounded corners on the pictures they post. A lot of people (me included) have no idea how much time it takes to actual edit pictures. Anyways, I wanted to share the two that I practiced on. I think it makes them look even better. Oh and I also learned out to smooth out skin. Not that precious baby Lexi needed much but still. :)

Sweet Rebecca and the dog that was walking around that day.

Texture

I am slowly learning how to add texture to my photos. Here are three that I've played with today. Now that they are loaded up on the screen it's a little hard to tell with the pictures being so small. Maybe you will be able to click on them and make them bigger. Anyways, hopefully this is something I will get better at with time.

You can see it around the edges in this one. This one is very subtle. I put the original picture below it so you can see.

Zachary turns 7!!!!

I can't believe it's taken me over a month to blog about this but our sweet Zachary turned 7 last December. I can't believe he's getting so big. We let him choose between having a small group of friends spend the night or a big party with lots of friends. He choose the small slumber party and had the time of his life. He was SO excited about it all. Martin & Linda kept Addie that night so that we could give Z & friends our full attention.

The boys played 'Pin the mustache on Luigi.'

I decided to splurge on his cake since we weren't spending a whole lot on the party. My friend, Sue, owns a bakery so I had her make a Super Mario Bros. cake. I bought the little figures that are on it but she did everything else with frosting. I took Zachary with me to go pick it up. I didn't tell him anything about it. He was blown away. When we got home he kept saying, "I just can't stop staring at it - it's so awesome!" And it tasted as good as it looks - money well spent!

The boys played Wii & XBOX, pinball and colored Super Mario Bros. pictures. They ended the night by all of them getting in their sleeping bags and piling in the game room to watch Kung Fu Panda. The next morning Jason made pancakes and I made scrambled eggs and bacon. They all had such a great time!

Location Scouting - Gulf Islands National Seashore

My cousin-in-law, Amy, told me about this place when she took her son, Hutson, on a field trip last year. I have been meaning to go over there and take a look but it's kind of a drive (it's in Ocean Springs, MS). Today is a very gloomy day here in Gulfport and we didn't really have any plans so I took Addie along with me. She always loves to get in the car and go somewhere. It is a really neat natural park that is a great place for camping. Maybe in the spring when it warms up we can take the kids there and stay one night. Maybe. :) I'm not much of a camper but I could probably handle one night (with bathrooms nearby). Anyways, like I said it is very cloudy and gloomy but I went ahead and took a few pictures. A couple turned out okay. Hopefully I can talk a client into making the drive all the way over there.

Erin Rollins Photography

Well it's official (on Facebook anyway).....Erin Rollins Photography is open for business! I created my Facebook page last night because I posted some pictures of a precious girl, Rebecca, that I took yesterday and I've had a number of people ask me how much I am charging and wanting to set up sessions. So I am just going to bite the bullet and jump on in. I'm pretty nervous about it but excited at the same time. To see the two sessions I have had you can go to the Erin Rollins Photography blog I created. Obviously I will be getting a more official looking one sometime but this was just something I created so my friends could show their friends and family who weren't on facebook. I need to have a website created and all of that but I'm still figuring out how to get all of that done. Anyways, I just wanted to share the news with all of you!! Here is the link to the new blog:

Erin Rollins Photography

Mardi Gras decor

I took all of my Christmas decorations down only to put up Mardi Gras ones. I pretty much just decorated the outside of the front door, a little tree in the entryway and the glass vase type thing in my kitchen (which I didn't take a picture of). My friend, Heather, and I went to Gordon's in Mandeville again (we went for Christmas decorations) last week and I was so excited with what I got I put them up that day. I think it turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself!!

I made the wreaths too.Had to get my fluer de lis in there somewhere.

If any of you non-coastal people want to see a Mardi Gras parade.......come on down!!

Old Hatten Property - Location Scouting

So I tried a new location today with the kids. This piece of property was in Martin's cousins family for a long time. They eventually sold it and the company who bought it has yet to put any housing on it. Neither Zach nor Addie was thrilled about taking pictures again but I got a few I could work with. I wasn't very happy with the pictures in their raw form so I used the new program to make some artistic touches on them. Here are a few that I was actually happy with once I doctored them up.

Will & Sophie

I told y'all I was obsessed!!! Okay, I just had to go back over some of the pictures I took recently of my niece and nephew. I know some of Sarah's family checks my blog so this is for you!!! I do wish my other nieces and nephews were close by so I could take pictures of them as well. I'll start off with little Will. I am so in love with this picture of him. If y'all could see it big like I do on my computer you would see what I am talking about. His eyes are absolutely stunning in this picture. I did a little ACR magic on this pic....

This is my absolute favorite!
Had to convert to black and white of course...
And a little sepia...

Little Vignette around the edges.

And now Sophie Diana. I tried taking pics of the kids for Sarah & John's Christmas card but didn't have a whole lot of luck getting a good one of them together. I took Sophie outside and although it was a little chilly she was a trooper.

Look at those curls. Precious.

This is my favorite picture of her.

I did two different black and white pictures. Couldn't decide which one I liked better so I put them both in here.

Very subtle difference but there is one!

Favorite Pictures - retouched

I am in love! Jason doesn't need to worry because it's only with a computer program but it is SO awesome. My friend, Kelly, who is an absolutely amazing photographer has mentioned ACR before and I never knew what she was talking about. I decided to Google it (gotta love Google!) and found that I could try it out for 30 days for free. ACR is Adobe Camera Raw - for those of you who don't know what it is. It's an Adobe program that helps you do different things to your pictures. Enhance them I guess you could say. I doctored some of the pictures that I took today of the kids on the beach. I cannot wait to try it some more!!!

In this one I did a Vinette around the edges.

I did the same to this picture although you can't really tell. I thought this was cool.
Absolutely LOVE how this one turned out...

I told him to say "peace." :)

What a handsome boy.

So I'm sure y'all will be seeing a lot more of these kinds of pictures!!!

Location Scouting - Biloxi Beach

A friend of mine in Junior Auxiliary asked if I would take her engagement pictures on the beach. I haven't really taken any here in Gulfport/Biloxi so I thought I'd better practice to make sure I get the right time of day. I took Addie and Zach down there today to see how they would turn out. Zachary was game for posing for me but it was hard getting him to look at the camera. There would be some really fantastic shots of him if he were only looking at the camera! My friend, Kim, knows how to switch out faces so maybe if she tells me how to do it I can get a good one of him looking at me. Addison on the other hand didn't particularly want to pose for me today. She was having too much fun playing on the beach. Can't say I blame her. We never take them down there. Maybe we'll be able to do more of that next summer since she will be older. Anyways, here are some of the better shots....

Tis the Season........

I finally got around to taking pictures of the Christmas decorations I put up this year. Last year I got rid of a lot of stuff because my tastes have changed. Normally I am a creature of habit but when it comes to decorating my tastes change a lot. This year was all about Mesh Rolls. If you don't know what I'm talking about you probably don't live in the South. Of course I don't have any idea if you Northerners decorate with it or not but it's become the big thing down here. Sam's had the best price and the prettiest rolls. I got red and lime green to decorate my house with. I put it on the tree, the mantle and around my front door. I also decided to put it around the doors to the kids rooms just for fun. I'm sure we have Christmas tree farms around here some where but I have no idea where they are. We ended up getting our tree at Sam's this year. It's so much prettier in person all lit up!

Here are a few of my favorite ornaments.
Our entrance way.

Our mantle. I finally had our initials monogrammed on the stockings. Zachary kept asking which one was his.

The front door. It's much prettier in person. I have things tied into the mesh/ribbon.

This is a little Christmas tree by the front door. I don't know if you can tell that or not in this picture! :)

I forgot I put a little mesh in the dining room as well (above the china cabinet).

This is on the island in our kitchen. I don't have a lot of decorations in there yet. Hoping to hit some great sales after Christmas!!

Here is Addie's door. I chose different colors since she is such a little diva. :)

Here is Big Z's room.

I can't believe it's Christmas next week. I wish I could see my family this time of year. Hopefully next year we can make a trip to KS in December. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!