Category Archives: Other Stuff

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Thankful…

November 28, 2008 – 3:05 pm

On Thanksgiving morning I set my alarm extra early…but not to fire up a turkey or start the stuffing (that would come later).  I snuck out of the house and hit Starbucks for a little wake-up call, then headed to the airport with my friend so we could welcome home a sweet baby from Vietnam.  She and her family were arriving a few days early, and her arrival was a Must Photograph event.

We walked into the International Arrival area of DFW and were met by hordes of people waving flags and cheering as music blared and soldiers returned home from overseas.  It was amazing to witness.  This father peeking under the blanket that covered his son’s carseat, to peek at his baby’s face for the very first time. These soldiers coming home to a welcome like I have never seen before. Incredible. I had chills. And tears. And am oh so thankful that I was able to witness this sight.


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I owe you guys pictures…

October 12, 2008 – 11:51 pm

lots and lots of pictures.

The adoption session from Thursday night. The mini sessions from Friday. And the big family session from Friday too.

But yeah…I was bad this weekend. I hung out with the kids, cheered at my son’s first soccer game, saw some friends, and had a late dinner in Fort Worth with a few of my favorite girls.  Today it was the pumpkin patch, the building of train tracks and practicing of cartwheels, and a picnic table dinner in the backyard.

Tonight?  I’m on pins and needles waiting for The Call that I need to hightail it to Fort Worth.

And in case it does come tonight…I’m gonna need some sleep. So forgive me, sweet families…but you’ll see them in another day or two.  They are awesome, and they will be worth the wait!

By admin | Also posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)

Fun with Photoshop…

October 6, 2008 – 11:53 pm

I’m back from the lakehouse with our friends and we had THE best time.  While there we did two quick sessions with our friends (both previous clients…I lose so many clients to friendships! ;) )

My relaxing 4 days means I’m in the mood to play tonight (not work), and I thought this would be a fun image to play with…and also fun to share my editing process since I get a ton of emails asking what I do.  So here goes…no promises that this will be coherent OR easy to follow.  Just a quick run-down…

So here’s this awesome capture from this weekend.  Here’s what it looks like in the camera:

You’ll see in the original that the right side of his face is super bright, and the rest is pretty dull.  I HATE losing detail when images are blown like this, but it is possible to bring them back most of the time if you shoot in RAW (and FYI- I use CaptureOne to edit my RAW images).

This is what the finished image looks like (the side of his head still has detail (see his hair?), his face is bright, and the war wounds from this weekend are gone (along with his 3-night-sleepover undereye circles)

I took the original image in CaptureOne and adjusted the exposure until the side of his head that is blown comes back-which makes the rest of the photo really dark and icky:

and then I adjusted the exposure again until his face is where I want it (even though the rest is blown and icky in a completely different way):

So I layered the three images, erasing in what I wanted to keep of each individual layer:

I flattened the layers and touched up his bruise and undereye circles:

Then I cropped and burned the edges a bit, boosted contrast and brightness, and viola…a finished image:

Side note…Can you see me? :)

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Taking a break…

August 5, 2008 – 11:08 pm

Sugar is taking one last hiatus before the crazy holiday season begins.  We’ll be closed until Monday, August 18th.  So if you email or call and don’t hear back right away, trust us, it’s nothing personal ;)

My family is hitting the beach in Florida, and I’m excited to have a full week of no work to look forward to.  Which is good, because the amount of work I did NOT get done before leaving tomorrow is sky high and overwhelming…and it will allllll be waiting for me upon my return!

And in case you’re in the mood for some fun news-pop over to our adoption blog…we’ve been matched and are just over the moon with happiness.  Baby is due mid-October!

This is good to know BECAUSE it’s going to shrink our holiday shooting season by two weeks, and we’ll stop booking sessions for the year after October 15th.  So book now (Call Mindy at 214.315.9459 or mindy@sugar-photography.com), and help us welcome our newest addition into the family!

By admin | Also posted in work schmurk | Comments (1)

Loving Wyatt…

June 15, 2008 – 1:00 am

Sweet Wyatt was our second adoption session today, and his family’s story is one of those full-circle tales that gives you goosebumps.

I first met his Mommy and Daddy last year at the NICU bedside of his big sister Isabella.  Her session took place as part of the charity Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, and I was so sad to hear of her passing in October.  She was such a fighter from the very beginning.

Her parents decided that adoption was the right choice for them and last week were present at Wyatt’s birth and able to take him home from the hospital.  Now they are living that hectic, sleepless life-with-a-newborn life, but you can tell that they wouldn’t trade one second of it.  They are so in love with their precious little guy.

Sidenote:  Daddy is a photo lover…I was busy getting little man settled for his ‘curled up naked in a basket’ series, and looked up to see this…I *had* to snap a quick pic.  I love his cute Mommy’s look of adoration, his Daddy’s camera clicking away, and his watchful aunt and cousin in the background.

And that other girl? The one on the far right? That’s my new BFF from Virginia, Patti.  I get loads of emails asking for portfolio review, advice, equipment questions, mentoring requests, etc…and I try to answer as many as I can.  Patti’s email was so sweet and for whatever reason I was feeling extra warm and fuzzy that night, and I called her.  We had a great chat and I offered to have her tag along and assist on a shoot if she was ever in town.  Guess who took me up on it?

So we had a great day playing with today’s two families, chatting up a storm in between, and I sure hope that somewhere in between she managed to take home a little encouragement, inspiration, and motivation.  She took a lot of notes, so I hope she learned something too!

Thanks for the Starbucks, lunch, and the laughs Patti!  (See? I’m easy!  Feed me and flatter me, and you’re golden!).  Ha!

By admin | Also posted in Adoption, Adoption Sunday, Baby Boys, Newborn | Comments (5)