Paige Smith Photography

A New Blog!!

2010-08-20T08:21:00.001-07:00

Hello! My long awaited blog is finally up and ready to face the world!

Check it out!

paigesmithblog.com

Enjoy!

I'm baaaaaaack!

2010-08-12T21:45:00.001-07:00

Phew! That was a long vaca! Sometimes you feel like you need a vacation from vacation! :)

But I'm back and I'm ready to roll. I still have family in town for the next few days, but after that I will be editing and posting like nobody's business. Oooh, and my new blog is right around the corner! I can't wait.

Here's one of my favorites from this summer:

Tchao amigos! Ate logo!

R&R

2010-07-21T08:15:00.000-07:00

My husband's not the only one who deserves a little R&R!!

Right now, although MIA and faaaaaaar away from my lovely home computer, I am still busy busy busy making photographic plans for my future. My sweet little usual subjects are feeling the biggest burden of camera-in-face syndrome, but they'll get over it. And love me for it when they're older. :) I'm also fitting some fun family photo shoots into my vacation time. Let's just say shooting a family with four kids ages 5 and under is rough. Especially when it's 85 degrees outside with 90 percent humidity. Does any one know of a de-sweat Photoshop action? I've got some cute, sweaty babies comin' your way!

And last but not least....my blog is in the process of a HUGE makeover. And by huge, I mean huge. The grand reveal will hopefully happen sometime in August. I don't know exactly when because I'm not the only one involved in this thing. But it'll be sweet. So get excited. :)

Until then, stay happy.

Paige

Welcome back, sun. We missed you.

2010-07-12T23:08:00.000-07:00

I just got back from an awesome, sunny shoot with an even awesomer girl.

Check out some of my faves:

New Tricks

2010-07-10T22:15:00.000-07:00

I like this photo cause my baby girl loves making the under water sound with her lips. This is her exact face every time it happens. Delicious. I love this kid. And I love that man. I'd say he was delicious too, but I'm pretty sure this blog is G-rated.

I learned a few new tricks in Photoshop today that makes my images look SO much cleaner. I LOVE it. Thank you Becky Earl Photograhy! You're really cool. :)

The Men in my Life

2010-07-07T10:50:00.001-07:00

These are the men in my life.

This one just had a birthday!!

and is totally crazy.

I wanted a "serious" pose so I told him to stop smiling. Less than a second later my model gave me this pose. Oh man, work that camera, boy!!

And this guy's alright, too. Ok, more than alright. He's stinkin' hot, that's what he is.

I just love 'em.

Baby Girl

2010-06-26T10:39:00.000-07:00

With all the photoshoots I was doing/editing for friends and family over the past few weeks, I hadn't taken as many pictures of my own kiddos. Poor babies. I'm sure they missed it terribly. Ha. So yesterday I took my baby girl out for her own mini photoshoot. Now, kids can be difficult subjects because they are so active and have attention spans lasting approximately five seconds. My kids have attention spans upwards of three seconds. This little girl of mine, as cute and calm as she may appear, is a little firecracker. She's got so much energy that sometimes I think she's just going to burst! Ok, maybe not quite that much. But close. So this photoshoot, with just me and her, was really funny as I chased her down and tried to get her to remain in one good lighting area. I should post some of my outtakes. Hmmm...maybe another day. But here are my faves from our 10 minutes of photo time. :)

This first one I edited a million ways and posted them all to see which one I like the best. I have yet to cast my vote. Which is your favorite?

Loves her mama!

I'm wondering if I should be putting my logo on all my blog pictures...Hmmm... Anyone know how to create your own action in Photoshop?

Sisterly Love: Part II

2010-06-19T15:08:00.000-07:00

More. Cause aunts are awesome. As opposed to ants. Like the ones in my kitchen. Those are not awesome.

But aunts are.

I like this crazy arm, slanty one. My baby girl's got spunk.

And one more of these guys, just for good luck.

Beautiful People.

2010-06-16T20:23:00.000-07:00

You've probably already noticed this. Over and over again, in fact. But because I like beating dead horses, (Ok, no. I don't. Who made up that expression anyway??) I'm just going to say it.

I keep some beautiful company.

I'm pretty sure it's because beauty attracts beauty. (HA! Have you noticed I haven't posted any photos of MYSELF in about one year? Yeah, there's a conscious reason for that.)

But seriously now, I took some family photos for beautiful friends a couple weeks ago. It's so easy to take pictures of beautiful people. It's kind of unfair. I sort of feel like I'm cheating this whole photography thing. Like it has nothing to do with ME and everything to do with the models on the other side of the camera. But whatever. I'll pretend it's really me. :)

So here you go. Eye candy.

I'll end with this picture that I love because it tells such a funny story. Mom and Dad wanted a photo of the two kids holding hands. Unfortunately, it was really breezy and the kids were super cold and sad. Neither of them wanted any photos, much less one of just the two of them holding hands. So here we have Big Obliging Sis and Lil' Bro Grumps with Mom and Dad encouraging them along.

Ha. I Love it.

Senior shoot!

2010-06-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

I'm still not sure how this all happened. But it seems like every week I'm doing a type of shoot I've never done before (which isn't hard, given my young photography life). But really. Who do my friends think they are trusting a novice like myself? Seriously, now. But I'm VERY grateful for the experience and the fun. Honestly, I am having sooooo much fun with this. Like, it pretty much consumes my empty thought box. No more mindless daydreaming about how those two people made that kid, or how much do you think it would cost me to rent a hot air balloon for a day. Well, fine. Maybe there is still some of that mindless daydreaming going on. But less. Definitely less. Now I'm just imagining myself as a billionaire owning the photography world. :) Hehe... or something like that.

So back to business. Seniors. This was my first senior shoot with an awesome kid. Not only was he totally talented and interesting, but he did anything I asked him to. I'll be honest. I was nervous going into this shoot never having been a senior boy myself and not sure how he would act around the camera, but I was really happy how everything turned out. But, I'll let you be the judge today.

Enjoy!

Sisterly love: Part I

2010-06-10T15:53:00.000-07:00

My sister and her hubbs came for a visit last weekend, so of course we had to do a quick photo shoot. I got a couple cute shots that I'm excited about for them. Here are my favorite:

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

2010-06-08T13:53:00.001-07:00

Amen.

This week's photo challenge over at I heart faces?

Play.

This senior was totally playing.

I'm in love.

2010-06-02T19:50:00.001-07:00

With a lens. 24-70 Canon L series, to be exact. I'm sorry, hubby, but you're going to have to move over.

This baby won my heart on a recent photo shoot for my friend, Stefanie (Click on her name and check out her awesome photography website!). I was doing just fine with my 50mm (love that kid) until the sun rays struck. Maybe it was because I don't have a hood, but my lens just refused to focus on a shot that I knew I HAD to have. Fortunately when you're taking photos of a photographer for her website, she brings along her camera bag with all its goodies. Inside I found the apple of my eye (do people still use that expression anymore? I'm pretty sure they don't. For the past 40 years. Thanks Mom.). Stef came to my rescue and courageously let me borrow her 24-70 lens and it did the trick. Oh boy, did it ever. The rest of the photo shoot was pure bliss. And the post-processing of these photos? A JOKE. I'm not kidding you. The photos I am posting here are STRAIGHT OUT OF CAMERA! NO alterations WHATSOEVER! OK, so it doesn't hurt that Stef was a runway model in a previous life she pretends she doesn't remember, but honestly. LOOK at the beauty. Like I said. I am IN LOVE. Give me a few weeks/months and you can bet I'll have justified this purchase to death. Just you wait!! It will be mine!

So here are the pictures from my most favorite photo shoot YET! I had fun playing around with exposure and lighting and this gorgeous lens. Enjoy!

Wedding photos!

2010-05-26T21:36:00.000-07:00

Without further ado...

Who me?

2010-05-23T21:48:00.000-07:00

Yes you. Couldn't be! Then who?

Ok it was me. I was the photographer at a friend's wedding this weekend. I know. Crazy. Me.

But for some insane reason my friends trusted me with their LIFE and let me take their wedding photos. Despite some crazy obstacles I couldn't have imagined, I came out with a couple good pictures. So what if I took thousands? I'm learning, Ok?!?! It was a HUGE learning experience, and I really am grateful for it. Will I do another wedding? That is still yet to be determined. Once I finish my edits, I'll let you know. We'll see if I can surprise myself. :)

So stay tuned... There are wedding photos afoot!

I heart faces photo contest

2010-05-17T21:42:00.000-07:00

Woohoo! I'm finally on my game this week and entering my first I Heart Faces photo contest! The theme is "faces and flowers." How perfect is that?

How could I possibly resist posting a picture of this perfect redhead? I couldn't. That's the answer.

I can't help myself.

2010-05-16T23:07:00.001-07:00

I could do this all night.

But my baby's crying.

So I've gotta go.

But check it.

Later.

Bet you didn't know I was from the hood.

Cause I'm not.

Good night.

Photoshootnesstrocity

2010-05-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

My friend Bonnie has the cutest kids in the WORLD (apart from my own, of course!), and she let me take pictures of them yesterday. Honestly, I had to bribe her to come over. And even that almost didn't work!

I would like to hire her kids as my poster children, if she'd let me. But that would probably require way more bribes than I can currently handle. So we'll have to settle for this one photoshoot for now. :) Thanks, Bonnie!

I had to consciously stop myself from taking too many pictures of this cute redhead.

Here's her big sis being her beautiful self.

The only downside of this photoshoot was that the sun wasn't out! We were all prepped and ready for that sunset glow, but apparently the sun didn't get the memo. Oh well. Maybe next time!

More! I'm on a roll...

2010-05-14T14:48:00.000-07:00

Is anyone reading this blog besides my mom?

Comment please! Do you like my pictures? Why? Not like them? Porque? Like some of them? Porquoi? Not like some of them? Sei la. :)

I'm interested. Do tell. Thanks. :)

And I'll just throw one in of me for fun. It's not easy taking a photo of yourself at arms length and making sure it's in focus. I would know.

More from Me Ra

2010-05-13T22:49:00.000-07:00

You thought I forgot. I know you did. Ok, so maybe I almost did. But as promised, here are some more photos from my weekend with Me Ra Koh and her husband, Brian.

I'm not sure what to say about these photoshoots except that they were huge learning experiences for me. I stronly dislike (hate is too big a word) posing people to get a certain shot. Unfortunatley, I'm learning that is necessary to some degree. People just don't automatically feel comfortable in front of the camera (check out katiekettphotography.com to see my personal evidence of this) so you pretty much HAVE to help them along. At first I felt paralyzed when our models walked out. I suddenly had absolutely no idea how to take a photo (and if you'd seen some of my follies, you would understand). Fortunately I was surrounded by other women who were incredibly motivating and encouraging. At the end of the day, these were some of my favorites. It's OK to kiss a bunch of frogs to get to the prince still, right?

Katie Kett. We partnered up to see what it was like in front of the camera (AWKWARD. That's what it's like.). Great exercise for all of us. And this stinkin' cute girl can NOT take a bad photo!! Too bad my focus was all out of whack...

Check out her stuff at KatieKettPhotography.com. She's awesome. And from Chicago.

The End.

But not really cause I still have more.

Better.

2010-05-12T16:47:00.000-07:00

Thank you, Photoshop Raw Editor, for having a better eye than I.

More.

2010-05-11T17:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some more photos from my sister's visit a couple weeks ago. I'm still largely experimenting with what I like/don't like as far as composition/post processing are concerned. (feel free to give me your own opinions/constructive criticism) The practice is really good, and I can already see some things I would like to change in the future. Luckily, it's just play to me!

Testing

2010-05-06T08:14:00.000-07:00

You're supposed to be able to see the before and after Photoshop by scrolling your mouse over the image...but it doesn't seem to be working. Anyone getting that affect on their screens?

Strawberry picking, and the like.

2010-05-04T19:54:00.000-07:00

My sister came for a visit last week with her cute family and I was able to get some shots of her kiddos, along with more shots of mine. Of course. I can't help it.

There are a bunch of photos sitting on my computer waiting for me to come out and play. Too bad I've been busy rescuing my daughter from her big brother. Seriously. Like saving her life. Multiple times. Ugh...big brothers...

Here are a couple big brothers looking sweet for the camera (you don't fool me, boys!).

Me Ra Workshop!

2010-04-26T09:17:00.000-07:00

I've got so much to say about my awesome experience this weekend working with renowned photographer, Me Ra Koh and her hubby, Brian! But, it's going to have to wait. Life is calling.

Here's just a sneak peek at some fun shoots we did this weekend under the direction of these two awesome people:

Thank you for a great weekend, everyone!

Storyboard

2010-04-18T21:52:00.000-07:00

As I've been experimenting with photography, I think I may have found something I really enjoy doing: storyboarding. Is that even a word? Well, I like it. Maybe it's the journalist in me, but I just love the art of telling a story through photos. I really have no idea what I'm doing here, but at least I'm having fun trying!

Here's a sneak peek into this crazy kid's obsession with chocolate milk. :)

Yum.

Oh yeah. Keep it comin'.

Must.....get.....every.....drop!!!

One more satisfied customer...

leaves home happy. :)

Now if you'll excuse me, I just got really thirsty.

A favorite

2010-04-15T21:46:00.000-07:00

This is my photoshopped favorite right now. Although, truth is, I only did three and now you've seen two of them. So I guess favorite isn't saying a whole lot.

Oh, and I know I need some new subjects for my photos. Believe it or not, I'm starting to get bored with my regulars, too. Not that I don't like looking at their beautiful faces, I just want something new. I think I'm going to go hire a full-time nanny tomorrow and just start taking photos of everything I see. Oh wait. I can't do that. Nevermind.

Did you know

2010-04-09T22:46:00.000-07:00

that you can try Photoshop for free for 30 days? It's true!!! I'm just about to finally invest in the real deal so thought it was perfect timing to get a taste before taking the whole thing home. I'm really really excited to start playing around with it. Thank goodness Photoshop Elements has already paved part of the way for me.

Here's something I played with today:

(see previous post for the 'before')

Are you kidding me?

2010-04-01T22:34:00.000-07:00

No. I'm not.

Yes, Ruth, I won THIS!!!! And it's a good thing you mentioned it in your comments because they were about to choose another winner!!! AH! I had family in town all last week and didn't check my blogger friends' updates till Sunday night. Little did I know that I was famous. Ok, not really. But sorta.

So there definitely ARE good things that come when you're lonely, tired and a little crazy. :)

Thanks Me Ra! I can't wait!!

Backyard

2010-03-06T08:50:00.000-08:00

Here's a photo I took a few nights ago on the hill behind my house. It's a great little escape from the busy southern California metropolis below. Despite having a tired baby strapped to my front, I like how this one turned out.

Angel Gabriel

2010-02-04T07:44:00.001-08:00

Gabebeachtex, originally uploaded by paigeandgarretts.

Hmm...let's try round 2.

Friday Night

2010-01-29T21:40:00.001-08:00

So the rest of you probably have a life. Lucky for me, I don't! Here's what I did Friday night. Tell me what you think. :)

(click on photo to get the full effect)

- See above post for the photo!

Smiley

2010-01-25T21:39:00.001-08:00

IMG_3049, originally uploaded by paigeandgarretts.

Just a little more fingerfood to tantalize your tastebuds. :)

Favorite photo shoot

2010-01-25T20:43:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness. I just can't get enough of this delicious girl.

This is just a tiny taste of my awesome photo shoot today with this kid. I absolutely love that she's not old enough to really reject or have any other interests apart from me.

Delicious.

To see more of my photos, check 'em out on flikr!

I'm famous

2010-01-22T22:08:00.000-08:00

Of course you're not suprised. I mean, you expected that of me, right?

HA!

And, alright, famous probably isn't the right word. Maybe cool or fabulous or something else entirely.

Why? Well, because Pioneer Woman posted one of my photos HERE! Ok, so G took it, but I set it up, aperture, timing, pose, etc. so I still get the credit. :)

Remember when I wrote about how much I loved her here? Yup.

Now if I could just win this...

Better?

2010-01-16T21:38:00.000-08:00

A comparison

2010-01-15T14:28:00.000-08:00

See, I just don't know about black and white. Color is so attractive. I mean, look at those cute rosy cheeks!

But then again, black and white is pretty stunning. Her eyes just POP here!

What do you think?

And is that light on her mouth bothering anyone else? I may have to do something about it...

I did it

2010-01-11T22:26:00.000-08:00

Yea! Black and white! I finally did it and really like it!

Boucoup Bokeh

2010-01-07T13:48:00.000-08:00

I love this picture because of the crazy small depth of field. I also love it cause I have no idea what G is doing. Probably just being a two-year old.

In playing around with the color of this photo, I thought for a second I'd make it black and white. But for some reason, there is this little guy on my shoulder that just won't let me make any photo black and white!! I don't know what it is, but I can't do it. Even a photo of a piano, for goodness sakes! Anyone else have this problem?

A New Lens! Now what?

2010-01-02T23:16:00.000-08:00

Christmas was so good to me.

Not only was I with family and friends and good food and fun activities,

but I got a new lens!

This is my first new lens. And I have no idea what I'm doing with it. But at least I'm having fun trying!! Here are some adventures into my new 50 mm 1.8 lens.

What would I do without my willful subjects...

I can't help but love 'em!

2009-12-01T14:24:00.000-08:00

Delicious

2009-11-25T09:08:00.000-08:00

If this doesn't make you want to go have a baby girl right now, then I don't know what will.

(Please ignore my crazy broken thumb. It needs surgery. Bad.)

PBR

2009-11-13T14:00:00.000-08:00

This is my sister. I know she's cute. And we went to the Professional Bull Riding competition together last weekend. But this is the ONLY good photo that came out of that night. Does anyone have any advice for me on shooting good photos in really bad lighting? I think using a flash kills a photo, so I need some help please.

Thank you!!

Confessions and a little action, baby!

2009-11-06T20:41:00.000-08:00

Confession #1: I'm pretty much obsessed. With Pioneer Woman, that is.

How did she get so cool?!?! I mean seriously, people. How can ONE person have that many talents all to herself? Share the love here, please! Of course I want to be her. And live in her lodge. And eat her food. And ride her horses. C'mon, who doesn't?

Confession #2: I love The Biggest Loser reality show. I'm totally into it. Just in case you didn't know, I am really NOT the type of person to follow a bunch of shows with crazy intense drama queens with "reality" that is so staged it's stupid. But I admit I do make a few exceptions. One of which is The Biggest Loser (maybe you'll find out my other exceptions on a later post...). There are several reasons why I like this show. Without going into every single one, I'll let you in on one biggie: Jillian Michaels.

Yeah, she's tough. Yeah, she's mean. Yeah, she's BUFF. And I love it. I kind of want to be her (minus the profanity, of course). Actually, I think I could be her if I ever figure out how to get rid of my insecurities. I think there is a little Jillian lurking beneath this skin of mine...

So moral of the story, I want to be PW + JM. Is that even possible?

But that's totally a random tangent. Back to PW. Did I happen to mention she's an AWESOME self taught photographer. I know, really. It makes me sick too. :) She posts really cool photography tutorials, giveaways, etc. on her blog all the time. I love browsing and playing with the cool stuff I learn over yonder (just working on my country drawl here). Here is one of PW's actions in ACTION! I use Photoshop Elements which doesn't exactly support actions, but it does let me play around with things to create the same effect. Thanks to PW, again, I was able to work it on these two photos here. Check out the befores and afters.

Before

After (using PW's Fresh and Colorful Action)

Before

After

Oh yeah. And I love babies.

Cute apron giveaway

2009-10-21T14:07:00.000-07:00

No. I'm not doing a cute apron giveaway.

That wouldn't make sense on a photography blog!

But someone else is!

And you can win it if you go HERE.

If you like to eat, then you will like their blog. And I like to eat.

Enjoy!

2009-10-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

So what do you think about these photos WITH the textures?

(See below for the befores of the photos)

I think it's kind of cool. Gives it even MORE of that by-gone era feeling.

I had a bad day

2009-10-15T21:37:00.001-07:00

So I was all excited to have time to play with textures tonight, right? Right. But guess what I did instead? I got locked out of my house with two cranky kids until way past their bedtimes (or so it felt...). I took about 200 trips to Lowe's and made about 500 phone calls. My headache went from bad to worse, I missed Enrichment night and my makeup smeared.

But fortunately I met some helpful people and eventually made it back into my sweet abode only about $5 poorer.

So, I'll probably burn some night oil and play around with those cool textures now. Either that or neglect my kids tomorrow and do it then. We'll see how I'm feeling. :)

Enjoy the new playlist.

Texture. Who knew.

2009-10-15T14:28:00.000-07:00

Oh man. I could play around with Photoshop ALL DAY if I wanted to. Well, I do want to, but I don't think Gabe would be down with sleeping all day either. Oh well. :)

Here is something I just tried out for the first time! Texture! Who knew it was so cool and so easy? Not me! Thanks to Pioneer Woman, I get free little photo tutorials whenever I want 'em. :) Ain't she a peach? Today's assignment was to play around with textures. I'm just using the textures she provided here, but I'm going to go hunting for some more around the house today to play with tonight. Ooohh, I'm already getting excited about this!

So check it:

Very basic. I could do way more with it. But I think I just like it the way it is there. Look forward to more textures tomorrow from my hunt tonight!!

Before and After

2009-10-14T13:10:00.000-07:00

Editing programs are really amazing. I work on a Mac and use Adobe Elements. However, iPhoto has its own editing program that does some pretty awesome stuff. I've been playing around with it for a while and am happy with the results.

Here is a little taste of iPhoto doing its thang:

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

And I didn't mean to download this, but I did. :)

As you can see, I like the "antiquey" look. Maybe a little too yellow for some, but not for me. It takes me back to an era in which I never lived. :) Hmm...

2009-10-07T08:25:00.000-07:00

What I use:

Canon Rebel XSi

This is an awesome camera for the budding photographer.

iPhone

Believe it or not, some of my photos are taken with my phone! This tiny and extremely portable device actually has quite the skills. Check out the photo below taken with my phone.

And a little editing goes a long way.

2009-09-30T08:06:00.000-07:00

Ever since high school I've had a fasination with photography. It was one of those things that I always wanted to explore yet never found the time or courage to do it. I am finally making time and discovering courage to pursue that dream.

I am still discovering my style of picture-taking, but I know I really love the photojournalist's approach. Catching a unique moment as it happens is a skill. Portraying a personality within that moment is an art. I'm trying to do both.

I also love colors. Nature's palette is the most beautiful.

Welcome to my blog.