One little monkey jumping on the bed.
He fell off and bumped his head.
Called the doctor and the doctor said,
“No more monkeys jumping on the bed.”
No more monkeys jumping on the bed.

Sammy decided he was going to make a run for it when I asked him to stop jumping on the bed. The big problem: there was no more bed! Everyone keeps telling me how cute little boys are with black-eyes….the verdict is still out on that. I get a little sad every time I see that little fella with a shiner!

Rewind about *cough* 25 years…yeah, I said it, I am rapidly approaching the BIG 3-0! What do you remember about SHOW + TELL in grade school? I remember being so excited to take something that absolutely everyone was going to flip over. I was lucky enough to open a Cricket Doll one Christmas when I was younger, and that was going to be the most radtastic-super-duper SHOW + TELL item when we went back to school from Christmas Break. All the other kids were going to freak, squeal and pee their pants (not necessarily in that order) when they saw it. I carefully took my new friend Cricket to school only to find out Cricket was a multiple! She had a bazillion twins and I was not the only one with a Cricket Doll! With that said, I will need to start with a disclaimer for the first post and all SHOW + TELL posts; these tips/tricks might not work for everyone, but they are things that work for me. I am just letting you behind the curtain for a sneak peek to see how this wizard works.

I was recently asked to teach a workshop and decided in preparation for this, I would start a SHOW + TELL section to my blog posts. This section will give tips I have picked up either learning from other great photographers or things I have learned on my own along the way.  To get this started I want to show a (GASP!) SOOC (straight out of the camera) image and then show you one that is processed. I generally strive to get the shot as close to the final product as possible, but sometimes things change on the fly. There might be a bird that makes an unexpected flight into my frame (true story!), or I may have a vision for the final image and know I will need to do editing in post processing to achieve that vision.

—————–1—————–

Body: Canon EOS 5dMarkii Lens: EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM Focal Length: 32mm ISO: 100 Exposure: 1/125 @ f / 2.8

My first image is to show how I process the skin. People have pores, freckles and sometimes a strand of hair blows in your face when I click my shutter, but guess what??? (GASP AGAIN!) If you don’t ask me to edit it out, I will probably leave your skin as is for the most part. I would share my recipe for toning, but then I am giving away the kitty! You will have to come back another post for that

BEFORE                                                                                                                                       AFTER

—————–2—————–

Body: Canon EOS 5dMarkii Lens: EF16-35mm f/2.8L USM Focal Length: 16mm ISO: 800 Exposure: 1/13 @ f / 2.8

Your exits are here, here, here and here….it is the law for exit signs to be on the walls in public places, but not the law to have them in your image! I shot this image and not only needed to lose the exit signs in post processing, but also started to lose my subject. I used a different crop and some CS3 magic to wake this image up and I was able to break-dance after I finished!

BEFORE

AFTER

—————–3—————–

Body: Canon EOS 5dMarkii Lens: EF16-35mm f/2.8L USM Focal Length: 16mm ISO: 125 Exposure: 1/1600 @ f / 2.8

I shot this image not noticing at the time the camper in the background. It is on the bottom right of the frame. With the help of my trusty clone tool in CS3, I was able to viola — park it somewhere out of my frame.

BEFORE

AFTER

If you are still reading this,  congratulations you made it through my first installment (PILOT if you will) of SHOW + TELL. I hope you share your before and afters with me in a comment with a link to your site or a flickr page. I would love to see how your wizardry wand works!

Yes….this title is correct. I was walking with Sam the other day through Arbor Hills for a family/headshot portrait session. I thought I would take Sam for a stroll before the shoot and get a look at the site before the family showed up. Well, we ended up walking in a huge circle that did not lead back to where we started. Sam did have a nap, but woke up when he saw Whitney! Once I got back to the car to meet them, I downloaded the compass application for my iPhone. Hope that helps next time I am in a pickle like that! And what’s a blog without a picture post….here’s some candy to smack on while you ponder the compass app for your phone

I am now on facebook! Ok, so I have been there for a little while, but I wanted to try it out to find out what I was doing. I generally replicate the post from the blogsite, but just FYI, my fans (become one now!) might get some inside information on what’s going on the world of amy karp promotions! So click here —-> amy karp PHOTOGRAPHY on facebook!

and….you might have noticed I have a twitter dropdown on the blogsite. I send updates from my phone, so you can stalk me by the minute instead of the post Here I am on twitter!

My little man turned ONE…it seems like yesterday I was saying, “hey I am half-way there!” <– at 20 weeks! Little did I know I was going to have feet the size of watermelons and be put on “bedrest” for this fella. Boy, he was certainly worth it. All 8.2 lbs of him on April 14th at 5:16pm. I really tried hard to have him at 4:14pm. I was pulling weeds in the front yard the Sunday before I went to the hospital (that night I was going to be induced). I had to make sure the yard didnt have weeds in it. I knew we were going to have a lot of folks over and I wanted it to be presentable. Off to Cheesecake Factory we went for my final dinner and then to the hospital. The waitor’s face was priceless when we told him we needed the check because we were on the way to the hospital to have a baby. At 8am they came in to start the IV’s and get my labor going and 9 hours later, Sammy Jay was here!

So we celebrated his big ONE with Elmo and the gang. He (and a lot of other kids I know) love Elmo. I really love the whole entire Mommy experience, I just wish it wasnt going so fast. Happy Birthday Sam…Mommy and Daddy love you!

this weekend is really going to be action packed.

1) shoot with two awesome folks on Saturday at the Dallas Arboretum

AND

drum roll please……………..

2) Sunday – a shoot out with Allison Davis!

Watch for the pictures to come soon!

Also, I have some awesome gallery wraps on display at Penelope’s Bridal…these canvas’ are wonderful. If you gals (or guys) want to do something fantastic with your mantel, this is the way to go. They are way cool and this company is so wonderful. There was a hand-written note inside the package (great packaging as well) when I opened it! That added personal touch means so much in the digital age. It was nice to see HANDWRITING!!!! Anyway, what’s a photographer’s blog without pictures??? Take a look at these beauties. If you are looking for a wonderful dress, check out Penelope’s Bridal. Their store is conveniently located off the North Dallas Tollway and their dress selection is fabulous! Also, if you are looking to consign your dress, check the store out. Dont forget to say I sent you!

I know you might be thinking I am neglecting my blog, but I have some pictures that are hiding out until after the big wedding days! Bridals are so much fun, although I am always so sad I cant share them with my adoring fans until after the wedding On a personal note….there has been some major overhauling at our home. That keeps me busy during naptime.

things have been pretty hectic and chaotic since having a baby, starting a business, and all sorts of other duties/hats to wear. somehow in the middle of all the chaos, I manage to find time to take pictures of my favorite model. his personality is starting to really show and boy is he a ham!!! I have NO IDEA where he gets it from.

he is starting to mimic me and it is hilarious. I squish up my nose at him and smile really big, that’s one of the images below and just after that he is trying to “whistle” like Mommy!

I am so excited about my new camera strap. I got a shootsac for Christmas and I wanted to make sure to accessorize to the fullest! I was looking for fun new camera straps online and found several I “liked”….I knew I wanted fun and fresh, so I went to the fabric store and found some I LOVED! I decided to make my own. I don’t sew that well, so we were off to Arlington to pick the fabric, then enlist the help of my Mom’s sewing machine (and her hands of sewing expertise). I found a pattern to  make the slip-covers for my strap, so depending on the mood (or shoot) I am in, I can change the entire look of my strap. 

Check out these saucy fabric choices! Can you just sense Sam’s excitement? My husband said his Mom used to drag him to these types of places when he was little, now he won’t step foot in them with me. He tells me “he’s running out of gas” ten minutes into the store. I hope Sam likes going, because I love it. Its arts and crafts….what a way to learn!

Check out the finished product from one of my designs….I LOVE IT!