Happy Weekend!

I'll be busy, busy, busy all this weekend,
so rather than neglect my blog and all of you,

I'm sharing the guest post I did for my sweet friend 

Melanie of Pretties and Posies

a couple of weeks back.

Enjoy, and have a wonderful weekend!

p.s.
{when we finally do close on the house, I'll shout it from the blogtops}

*****

Hello Pretties and Posies readers!

I am so pleased and honored that sweet Melanie
has asked me to do a guest post here on her beautiful blog.
This is my first guest post ever, so hang in there with me as I learn the ropes. :-)

In getting to know Melanie, I've discovered
that we both share a passionate love for photography,
and some of the best you'll find out there can be seen right here on
Melanie's gorgeous blog.

For those who don't know me, I only just began blogging a year ago this month.

I work full-time as a respiratory therapist,
have a small booth in a local antique mall,
and an Etsy shop which is due to re-open soon.

My blog was initially meant to chronicle
my journey towards being a vintage shop owner,
but in recent months, it has taken a decidedly unexpected turn towards my new,
all consuming passion...photography!

As I began blogging, I quickly realized that as important as the words are,
the images are really key.

This time last year, I had never taken a photograph
with anything other than a disposable camera!

Soon after starting my blog I upgraded to a Canon point and shoot,
and just this past May I met the new love of my life...my Nikon D5000 DSLR.

{my first ever photo with my amazing new camera...my baby boy!}

But I'm here to reassure you that as nice as it is
to have such a wonderful camera, it's not essential
to producing eye-catching images....there are so many wonderful photo editing resources out there,
many of which are FREE!

Let me show you a bit of the magic I've been able to create
using a variety of photo editing programs.

This image is straight of the camera (SOOC, hereafter)...

And here it is after taking it for a couple of spins
through Photoshop Elements and Picnik...

#1

#2

SOOC...

And with PS Elements and Picnik

Now, if you were to ask me for step by step instructions
as to how I achieved these dramatic changes....well, I'd be at a loss,
because I'm still very much a novice and learning as I go.
I just play and tinker and tweak.
Which is what I encourage all of you to do, too!

One tip I can share actually came from one of the comments I received on this post:
It's all about the crop.
Cropping your image properly gives it that extra pop
and can turn an ordinary pic
into something extraordinary.

Want to see more?
No problem!

My SOOC barn image...

And since I was going for a sun-washed, vintage look,
here it is after using Florabella Actions in PS Elements...



SOOC...

And through the magic of photo editing:

SOOC...

and after...

SOOC...



and after...

Nice image below, but nothing special, no "wow" factor.



Compare that to the after...

Wow!

And what about my trademark Fiona and Twig header?
Yep, made more lovely through the beauty of photo editing!

Before (SOOC)...



Dark, under-exposed, and I wasn't even holding the camera straight.

And voila!



I could share my passion for photography with you all day long,
but I'll conclude now with a list of photo editing resources
for those whose interest has been piqued:

picnik.com

Photoshop Elements

Florabella Actions

The Pioneer Woman

CoffeeShop

FlauntR

Picasa

I hope you have as much fun as I've had!

Melanie, thank you so much for the opportunity
to share my passion with all of your lovely readers!

Have a beautiful week!