It's that day again. The one we surely won't forget - September 11. In some ways it's hard to believe it's only been eight years. In other ways it feels like it was just yesterday. I'm sure it seems like an eternity to those who lost loved ones. My heart goes out to them!!

I remember. I was a senior in high school sitting in Mr. B's Web design class. Another teacher ran in and turned on the news. I literally couldn't believe my eyes. It hadn't been too long since I'd been there in person taking pictures of the famous New York skyline...complete with the twin towers. I remember sights like these...



Once it did sink it...it really hadn't. It had clicked that it was serious and real but I had yet to grasp how deafening it must have been to those nearby, how much pain those inside felt, how scared those who ran from the smoke clouds were. I don't know how hopeless the families at home felt when they hadn't received a call from that loved one yet, or how terrified the firefighters felt as they ran in knowing they traded the chance to see their spouses again for the chance of saving someone else's. I do know what it felt like to be a sad American that day and how the pride felt in the months that followed.

With all of the weekend's excitement and busy-ness, I forgot to mention one VERY important detail. My Oklahoma State Cowboys had a big win over Georgia!!!!!!!! Go pokes, Go pokes, Go pokes, Go! Not only that but they are in the TOP 5 now! YEAH! And, not only that, they've been featured on Sports Illustrated Magazine's cover twice in one month!! That's what I'm talking about!

Today we'd like to share what our post-processing (editing) process looks like. Dac handles the majority of our editing work. As a graphic designer, he really has a good eye for details and he does a great job of making our photos look their very best.

We try our best to take pictures that truly capture life or even just a moment and add a little sugar and spice to make them just that much better. Sometimes we make only minor adjustments, keeping the photo as close to real-life as possible, and sometimes we add some flair to make it more of a work of art.

To us, there's a delicate balance between great, straight from the camera photos (the cupcake, if you will) and the editing (the frosting) we apply afterward. You can have a cupcake by itself and it's great. I mean hey, I'd take it and be happy! =) BUT, there's just something about adding the right amount of frosting that makes it complete. That's why we do what we do and here's HOW we do what we do. Since Dac's most recently been working on Jared and Kylie's wedding proofs, we'll use one of their pictures as an example.

Picture 1: This is what our picture looks like straight out of the camera, when it is imported into Adobe Lightroom. We shoot in RAW format which gives us the most flexibility in post processing, but it also ends up looking the most "blah" right out of the camera. See?

Picture 2: This is what the photo looks like once it has been adjusted in Lightroom. Things done in Lightroom include basic color edits and adjusting exposure (how light or dark the entire photo is). This is what our "proofs" and the photos we give clients on a CD look like.

Well, Labor Day weekend is just about over and I'm sad about it. It was a good but busy weekend and quite frankly I'd like to take another day off to rest up. Thursday night we shot a fun senior session. Saturday was a great wedding day. Sunday was church, lunch at Grandma's, and a fabulous engagement session. Today was odds and ends around the house, errands, hanging out with a friend and getting baby puke ALL over me,  supper at Dac's parents house, and lots of photo editing! Now that you know all these un-interesting facts about our weekend, I must tell you, I have a dentist appt. tomorrow. Just one of the many reasons I don't want the weekend to be over. I HATE going to the dentist. I practically kick and scream like a toddler on my way in for a simple cleaning! =) Wish me luck.

 Here are a couple sneak peeks from the weekend. Rusty and Amanda got married in a sweet ceremony Saturday. They both looked great and we really enjoyed the laid back day. They're so cute together! Yesterday we met up with Jerry and Adrienne for their rad engagements. We've been looking forward to this one for a quite some time and it didn't disappoint. These two are fun! =) All of these guys helped us to have a great weekend!

This weekend we spent the day with Chet and Kayla and a bunch of other really cool people. The wedding was lots of fun and Kayla made a beautiful bride! They seemed SO happy together. =) So I'm happy for them. Here's a little something to tide you over...



Happy end of Monday!