A Different Type of Portrait

OK....I really suck at not putting up more blog postings on a regular basis, but I promise to get better with doing so...just hang in there with me.

I was compelled to do a different type of picture that I have not done as of yet on my blog...Below you will see a sample of a more formal picture verging on the lines of a glamour portrait. What you will notice different is; unlike the other examples of models that I've done...this picture has a much more softer feel/look. The other model samples were more for magazines, etc....Don't forget, I could have really went CRAZY and over the top with the "glamour retouch"....but, I decided that for this example, I would just make it look very professional and realistic.

By the way....it doesn't hurt to have a beautiful model to take pictures of and make your job easier...lol! This is just one of the tons of pictures that I took of this very attractive model!

My plan is to do an "Over The Top" glamour retouch, so you can see the huge difference....but for now...enjoy! Email me and let me know what you think
@ chrisjamesphotography@comcast.net

Click on image below to view larger picture.




Chris

How I Took A Simple Snap Shot & Turned It To A Portrait

OK...this was a very fun project to undertake. Basically, my challenge was to take an ordinary snap shot of a person and turn it into a beautiful portrait. When I took this picture, the talent had no make-up on, and just stood there for me to snap the shot...and that's what I did. However, I saw in my mind as a photographer and retouch artist how beautiful I could make the picture look...well you can be the judge.

Below you will find the "Before" and "After" results of the same picture...Wow, what a HUGE difference. When I showed her the finish product, her expressions said it all!!!! She was blown away and really loved my work! Tell me what you think!

Now, I have a challenge for you....look at the "Before and After" photo and tell me how many changes I made to the photo.....>>>>>???? Email me your response. Until next time...Dare 2 Be Creative with your Projects!

chrisjamesphotography@comcast.net

Chris

Touch on the images to get a larger view.

Photo Retouch & Repair!

By now, if you have been following my blogs, then you know that I love taking photos (hence the reason I am a photographer) and retouching photos. Well, first of all, let me say that I did not take the photo of the beautiful model below, however, I did receive permission from her (the model) to use her picture as an example on how to repair a damaged photo and top it off with a nice fresh look (retouch) to bring it all together. Thank you Ms. TM.

OK...here we go...as you can see, the original picture below has a bit of damage to the photo on the left side of the background itself as well as on the body of the model's arms. The first thing I did was fixed the background area, next I tackled repairing the damage to the models arms. After I was done with the major repair corrections, I made some color corrections to add some depth to the over all image.....then, I worked on retouching he image and giving the model a fresh look and digital make-over.....and let me say this, the model is already extremely beautiful...all I did was took it to the next level...that's what retouching a photo can do, it puts the icing on the cake!

Below is the original image as it was shot and displayed (again, I did not take the photo...I am only using this picture as an example) (click on the image to view a larger size)



Below you will see my finished version in its original state as the photo was taken. Added are the corrections I just mentioned, photo repair, color corrections and retouching.
(click on the image to view a larger size)




And finally, below you will see my version of how I like to see the photo cropped and ready for display. (click on the image to view a larger size)




Hope you enjoyed another retouch project. Don't forget, you can leave comments at the end of each blog and contact me for your photographic needs at : chrisjamesphotography@comcast.net

Thanks Ms. TM for the use of your photo!!

Finally, there were several different ways that I could have retouched the photo from basic to extreme...but for this example, I just wanted to keep it simple...C ya!

Chris

The SURPRISE Wedding!!

Of all the photography events that I've done...the wedding of Pam & Ron was the most interesting one of all, because the Groom (Ron) had no idea he was getting married!! But wait a minute...let me put things in perspective. Ron had proposed to Pam a while back and he most defiantly wanted to spend his life together with her (hence the reason he asked her hand in marriage), he just didn't know that Pam was going to surprise him and do all the planning so that he wouldn't have to worry about anything....

Originally, Ron was told he would be attending a special function that required you to dress up in a tux (black-tie) well, the long story short, after "everyone" kept this a secret from him...Ron found out the day before the wedding that he was going to get married the next day!!

Ron was speechless, and extremely proud of his soon to be wife (Pam) that she had gone through all the planning and organizing to pull this off....and I had the pleasure of being there to capture on camera all of the excitement, fun, laughter and tears of joy from family and friends as Pam & Ron became husband and wife.

I would be remiss if I didn't give kudos to The Hall Family for having the wedding at their absolutely beautiful home!!

Anyways, below you will find a special "Sneak Preview" of the wedding story that unfolded in front of the eyes of my camera. Most importantly, come back to this site because once I'm finish working on the entire story book picture album, you will get to see all of the incredible moments that we all were so blessed to be a part of with Mr. & Mrs. Ron Herndon!

Enjoy! As always, please feel free to contact me if you need my services, or just want to make a comment about some of the pictures/blogs. Email me at: chrisjamesphotography@comcast.net
Just click on the image to view a larger picture.

Chris

The Advantage of doing Photography & Graphics...lol!

One of the greatest advantages of be a photographer and doing your own graphics is .... when it comes to special moments and last minutes ideas....all you have to do is, "just do it yourself!"

For example, my little boy will be turning #4 in March, so of course I wanted to hook him up w/a custom birthday invitation card to send out. Instead of spending money on a generic store invitation, (by the way, stores/companies hire people like me to design invitations to sell...so why go and buy one, right) I simply create and design my own.

Since he is really into Transformers and Spiderman, that became my building block for a concept/theme. From there, I took several pics of him and selected the best one. The pic started off in full color and by the time I was finished playing with it....I had created a very cool, hip, retro looking invitation very much suited for a 4 year old kid! He was soooooooo very excited!

Now, my no means is this one of my elaborate designs, but remember, design for your target audience...Below is the invitation that I created....until next time, C ya!

Chris

--- click on the picture below for a larger view ---

Being Creative w/Scrap Photos

OK...while at a recent photo shoot, the client was doing a wardrobe change, in the meantime, I kept looking at this very nice custom wood/stained-glass door in the main entrance of their estate home. So, I just took a picture looking through the very small diamond opening that shows another beautiful home sitting on a hill.... I just simply pressed my camera lightly up against the glass, focused on the white house on the hill and took the picture. I had no intention on using the shot at all, just killing some time and thought...this would make an interesting scrap shot.

Below you will see the picture of the "before" photo from the glass door as it was shot from the camera (this is what I saw) ....and in the "after" photo you will see how I created an interesting border with the scrap picture. What I did was took a scrap photo that I was not going to use and created an interesting picture frame "border" design, dropped in some text and placed the main picture within the border itself...that's it!

Again, the purpose of posting this was to express an artistic view point....Remember, when it comes to graphically/artistically expressing yourself....there is "no" wrong way of showing your vision. Challenge yourself to be as creative as possible!

Enjoy!


Chris

New Photos...

OK... its been way toooo long since I last posted, but I am trying to get some very important things done for my photography business. Anyways, here are a couple of recent pictures of a model I took that I hope you enjoy...She is very beautiful and this was her first professional photo shoot!

With this model, I did the complete retouching and photography. She was naturally beautiful and all I did was gave her the "magazine cover look!" The flawless skin and make-up that you see in 99% of all magazines, especially if its the cover or center fold.

As always, if you are interested in booking me for an event/photo shoot, just drop me an email:

chrisjamesphotography@comcast.net

(click on the image below to view a larger picture)