2010 Favorites!

Wow...where did the time go? I cannot believe we are moving right along into 2011.  Seems like the 1900s were just yesterday! 

With hillary d photography, Josh and I have been so blessed to have such great clients.  I tried to go through my galleries and pick a few favorites. 

*spur of the moment New Years resolution* 

make a template of more than 15 favorites to share before the end of 2011!  

 A few highlights that I can name quickly this year were the Amarillo College Suzuki String students, Amarillo High School Orchestra banquet, part of the Senior Classes of 2010, junior high slumber parties, Pet Portraits in the Park, 1980s UN-GlamourShots, Holiday Mini sessions, 
and Holiday Portraits at le Chateau Pet Resort.


A sincere thank you to everyone 
that was involved with 
hillary d photography in 2010!

Holiday Pet Sessions! [Amarillo Pet Photographer]

Check out a few friends we met at le Chateau Pet Resort 

last Saturday!  Stay tuned for more pet session days in 2011!

Winston's First Birthday

 Cousin Ramses is here from St. Louis! (my nephew's pup) So cute!

Le Chateau Pet Resort [Amarillo Pet Photographer]

Thanks to a friend, Ronda, we were introduced to the wonderful people at

Le Chateau Pet Resort in Amarillo.  

Our furbaby, Winston, just fell in love with the daycare at 

Le Chateau immediately!  They offer so many fun, and spoiling services for your babies that have four legs!  They have condos for cats and playgroups for pups.  Winston knows the road trip to Le Chateau now.  As soon as we turn onto Coulter off of Arden Road, he jumps up at the window wanting to hang out!  That right turn onto 77th off of Coulter is what really gets him excited!  He KNOWS where we're are headed then!  The scenic drive down 77th is always a chore for the driver in our car!  We have to keep W from jumping out of the window, while he cannot contain his enthusiasm for his friends at his playgroup! 

Join us at Le Chateau on the 6th for some pet portrait fun!  

Have an afternoon off while your four-legged babies hang out with friends in their gym! 

Gorgeous Kiddos [Amarillo Family Photographer]

The M family is always so great to work with! Such cool kids! I am so happy I will be able to watch these two grow up to be a beautiful young lady and a handsome young gentleman.

Fall is here! [Amarillo Family Portraiture]

Fall is here! I cannot believe there are leaves on the ground already! Kim and her family are always so fun to work with. Here is just a sneak peek of the session. Her boys are a hoot!  I saw a moon in the sky and by the lake! hehehehe  Silly, fun-loving kiddos are the reason I photograph children and the reason I still teach!

the wind in his hair [Amarillo Pet Photographer]

Oh! The Simple Joys in Life!Winston LOVES car rides!  He just loves the wind in his hair. He will squint his eyes through the fast wind, while hanging almost half of his body out of the car window.  He always need constant reminders that, no, he cannot put his back paws out on the side mirror too! He gets his front paws out there, but that is as far as I will let him get! This is his ode to the open road! 

Fur Baby [Amarillo Pet Photographer]

There are so many things to be done around the house, so many things I can do to prepare lessons for this coming week, so many customer images to edit, but I just LOVE my fur baby!

Saturday Morning

Football, Football, Football! [Amarillo Family Photographer]

Ready to meet Dottie!? [Amarillo Pet Photography]

Dottie Montgomery...what a sweetheart!  I am a little biased toward Jack Russell I am sure, but she was so SMART and so distinguished!  I hope these two images make you smile! They sure do make us smile!

 

Now for a great shot! I love a fast shutter speed! Can you imagine how fast that tongue came out and back in!?  I love the element of surprise while importing the photos into lightroom too! YES! 

 

My Joy

So I still need to work on week one assignment, but this is the workshop I am officially registered for...just am not participating in! I have been under the weather, but hope to get to my self portraits soon!

I heart Winston [Amarillo Pet Photographer]

Winston has become a difficult subject! He gets mad when I take his picture while he is sleeping and he doesn't sit and look at the camera like he used to! 

All of my little noises and tricks to get him to tilt his head are old news now! 

I am going to have to start finding new material! He is giving me this, 

"Gaw Mom, not the camera again..." attitude when I try to take his picture now!

U family [Amarillo Family Photographer]

I had the great pleasure of photographing Bethany and her family yesterday evening! I fell in love with her parents and family instantly. Such a sweet family. Josh and I are so blessed to have spent the evening out at their land. It is always so peaceful to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city life! 

Bethany and her Josh are expecting their first baby in only a few weeks...

you can just see the joy and emotion in the images...

i heart faces fix it friday #69

Sometimes there is just that photo that looks better black and white! I thought this one would as soon as I saw it! I <3 faces shares a photo for followers to fix each Friday! Since school as started, sometimes I do not make it, but I napped after work and now here I am blogging! YaY!

The original image...this makes me want to photograph DVR and myself! 

 Then my edit using PS CS4 this time! I attempted LR3, but didn't like the colors, so I moved to PS where I am comfortable with vignetting and b&w conversions! 

www.iheartfaces.com

 original and then my edit...done solely with lightroom 3! I am excited!

Fix it Friday #66

I am a little late this week...this whole work thing is getting in the way of my photography! LOL

Here is the original:

and then my take on the post processing...

Used a texture from Brenda Acuncius after I added fill light and a little saturation to the green.  I extended the canvas and added a little burn on the edges.

I heart Fix it Fridays!

My take on Creative Sunday's "raw"...

Raw: adj 1.Not cooked 2. Changed little from the original form; not processed 3. Having the surface abraded or irritated 4. Not trained or experienced 5. Vulgar; coarse 6. Disagreeably cold and damp 7. Unfair

Raw is the one-word prompt over at

http://madelinebea.com/blog/

for Creative Sunday!

Here is RAW BEAUTY...We love Rusty!

(Thanks to Elaina for letting me capture his beauty!)

Fix it Fridays

Fix It Fridays! Join in on the fun!




Here is the original that we get to edit! So cute!

And here is my take on it. I lightened up the shadows in lightroom and did a few spot removals on his face and lint from his sweatshirt. (I am a little OCD) I added a tad fill light and bumped up blue and purple saturation for his sweatshirt and eyes!

Then I opened it in photoshop to warm it up a bit, then did a few surface blurs for the grain and then sharpened and cropped.

Please feel free to leave comments! I love comments!

Winston does not like the camera today...

Or was it the raincoat I was making him wear? It is a tad small...
I think we will give a hand-me-down to his friend Pearl!

the itaaaalian peeeople...

My father-in-law is another one of the million things
I gained the day I married my husband!

When he cooks Italian food in his kitchen, or in a kitchen at a cabin, or wherever, he turns into THE ITALIAN PEOPLE!

I typed the title out attempting to show the Italian accent that he speaks with throughout the WHOLE preparation and cooking process. The Italian people normally leave as soon as the food is ready, and we get Boyd back!

So...as you can expect, we have athe Itaaaaaliana peeeeople over to our house now when we cook Itaaaaaliana fooda! LOL


They were here tonight!

Amarillo Pet Portraits

Love these puppies!

The beginning...

Do these look like tomatoes to you?

Winston [Amarillo Pet Photographer]

Winston is a great model...when he wants to be! I finally caught him sleeping! It took me about 10 minutes of acting like I was just standing there...


I wanted to catch him doing homework with Josh...I believe he lays on his feet to sleep so he will know when Josh gets up! Winston doesn't want to miss a THING!

We continued our photo shoot after the shutter sound woke him up! These are all shot with the light from our front, east-facing window. He was about 5 feet from the window under Josh's feet and then came to where I was...about 2 feet from the window. Would like for him to stay further away from me, but when I am sitting on the floor, this is an exciting thing! (i guess?) :P