Homecoming 2009

Last weekend (September 19) was Jessica's last high school homecoming dance. They had a group of 47 kids all eat dinner at Jessica's boyfriend Brandon's house. I was on hand to help out with the festivities. The kids all looked so good. The boys were handsome and the girls so grown up and just down right gorgeous.

Jessica went to the hair salon to have her hair done. After the stylist finished her hair she said "Jessica, I just think something is missing." She literally ran next door to the Dollar Store and bought the beautiful silk orchids that matched her dress perfectly.

Dinner was catered by Moe's and I must say it was delicious. The kids all enjoyed themselves and the rain cleared up just before they got there. It was a great evening for all.

Hope you enjoy the photos. Some of them have the Perfect Portrait PSE action downloaded from the CoffeeShop blog. Check them out if you like the effect on the portraits.

Jessica and her boyfriend, Brandon
Brandon, Jessica, Jaime and Tyler
Brandon, Jessica, co-cheer captian Danielle and Clay

Majority of the girls in the group (missing Paige)
Whitney, Taylor, Jessica and Paige

Photoshop Elements Actions

Photoshop Elements has got to be one of the best pieces of photo editing software out there. Many times I've considered upgrading to the full Photoshop version, but just can't justify spending $600 or more on a piece of software. Well today, I've finally decided that I don't need to have the expensive version. My Photoshop Elements User Magazine came in the mail today. On the cover was the title "Action Central". That grabbed my attention right away. Having read about actions on various web sites I was very curious. While I could find free actions on websites the mystery still remained on how to use them, but most of all how to load them. This article solved both those issues.

Check out the photo below using the Orb action downloaded for free from the PSEU website. Additionally, the website provided several links to free actions and tutorials on how to use them. The Texas Chics Blogs and Pics had an awesome tutorial. Click here to access the site with great instructions on loading and using actions. Honestly the orb action took 2 seconds to convert the flower photo into a cool orb.

I'm off to try some more actions. I'm officially hooked.

Butterfly Pictures

In my email inbox the other day I received a newsletter about photographing butterflies. You need to shoot them in jpeg format (not RAW) and use a fast shutter speed. On Saturday Meghan saw this beautiful butterfly while sitting on the deck and told me to get my camera. I was very fortunate that the butterfly hung around and let me take his photo. It gave me an opportunity to put the tips from that email newsletter into practice. Sure hope you enjoy these pics.

"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly."