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Monthly Archives: November 2008

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20 Awesome PhotoBlogs Baltimore Maryland | ilovephotoblogs.com

November 29, 2008 – 11:44 pm
By Jodie Otte | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Step back to Halloween… and…secret to PhotoShop? PhotoShop magic.

November 29, 2008 – 11:51 am

Oh my, have I been busy busy busy with the holiday season!  I haven’t had time to share some of my personal stuff at all…

I promised I would show my kids’ horses at the Muddy Creek Meadows Halloween Party.  I’ll start with Erynn and Stormy…  I took the time with the kids early October to make some costumes with them.  Erynn and I did most of it as obviously Barrett isn’t all into this… he’s in that transitioning kid to teen stage - poor guy, that’s a rough time :)

Stormy was to be a Leprechaun and Willow was to be a Native American Pony.  Erynn dressed up with Stormy, Barrett did not dress up, but he did paint Willow up.

Stormy and Erynn won first place in the contest… here they are… Stormy stepped so proudly with all her ribbons in her hair.  Take note of the black leg warmers with gold buckles on the front, as well as the pot of gold hanging around her neck.  That horse will tolerate nearly anything Erynn does to her…

horses costumes halloween
 
Stormy wore her hat proudly… Dean couldn’t stop laughing at her in the hat… it’s just so bizarre to see that ;)

horses costumes halloween

As I show Barrett’s horse, Willow, I wanted to talk about PhotoShop. A lot of people ask me if I use a lot of photoshop. Actually, I don’t. When I shoot for clients, I shoot on all manual and make sure I get it right in camera - white balance, etc. correct in camera as well as possible. I shoot so many images for my clients that I have to take the time to get it right in camera, so my workflow runs smoothly and efficiently. When I photoshop, I use basic things - contrast, curves, color balance, dodging, burning, but when it is right in camera, I barely have to use these tools. There’s no magic button, it’s not rocket science - it honestly is about getting it right in camera - that is the secret.

However, when I shoot my family snapshots, sometimes, well… honestly, most of the time, I am lazy. I simply set my camera to Aperture Priority, and shoot away. I just performed PhotoShop magic on this snapshot. Yes, it took time. There is no easy quick fix to a shot this bad. And the horrors, this shot came from my amazing Nikon D3!!!! at ISO 5,000 and shutter of 1/40 handheld. That’s bad news as any photographer knows…. but alas, laziness, rushing around, this is what you get…

horses costumes halloween

but with taking the time to color balance, tweak curves, contrast, etc., this is the result - a better snapshot! ;) If I took the time in PhotoShop with every picture that I shoot for my clients, I would NEVER get the hundreds and thousands of images finished. That is why it is so important to shoot it right the first time, getting it right in camera.

horses costumes halloween

By Jodie Otte | Posted in personal/family, photography workshop/seminar, photoshop actions for photographers | Tagged , , , , | Comments (4)

What can I say? | Family and Children’s Portraits

November 23, 2008 – 1:22 am

Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous girl… what else can I say? :)
Jodie Otte, Newborn Baby Child Photographer
Jodie Otte, Newborn Baby Child Photographer
Jodie Otte, Newborn Baby Child Photographer
Jodie Otte, Newborn Baby Child Photographer
Jodie Otte, Newborn Baby Child Photographer
 

By Jodie Otte | Posted in child photography | Tagged | Comments (9)

Newborn | Maryland Baby Photographer

November 21, 2008 – 5:06 am

Of course, I have still been photographing newborns:

Welcome K!!!  I love her name, I have not heard it before and I would love to say what it is, but I don’t share names of babies on my website unless they’re mine! :)  I  photographed her big brother a few years ago as a newborn as well.  He was very timid around his little sister, I think his eyes tell all :)

Newborn
Newborn
Newborn
Newborn
Newborn

By Jodie Otte | Posted in baby photography | Tagged , , | Comments (1)

Back in the Studio | Baltimore Portrait Studio

November 20, 2008 – 5:50 am

Let’s move back into the studio for a little bit… here are two more siblings, of course - this time BOYS!

Baltimore Kids Photographer
Baltimore Kids Photographer
Baltimore Kids Photographer
Baltimore Kids Photographer
Baltimore Kids Photographer

By Jodie Otte | Posted in child photography | Tagged , | Comments (4)

More Fall Colors and More Siblings | Baltimore Children’s Photographer

November 19, 2008 – 7:23 am

More siblings! :)  I’m actually asked over and over again about the studio - yes, this is still on the studio property.  While we are located in an area that is far from congested and not always incredibly convenient, it is well worth it to use the property surrounding the studio on nice days.  I like to take advantage of the best of both worlds - indoors in the studio and outdoors around the studio.  Kids do better when we can do a little of both, so they are constantly stimulated by their surroundings and don’t get bored in the same spot in front of a big light ;)

Children's Photographer, Jodie Otte
Children's Photographer, Jodie Otte
Children's Photographer, Jodie Otte
Children's Photographer, Jodie Otte
Children's Photographer, Jodie Otte

 

By Jodie Otte | Posted in child photography | Tagged , , | Comments (5)

Siblings | Maryland Children’s Photographer

November 18, 2008 – 4:24 pm

Oh wow, where have I been?  My poor blog, neglected…. sad…. but… well… For some strange reason, right in the middle of Christmas Rush, well, that’s the time when something is going to happen, right?  It’s just the way things work.  One of my wisdom teeth were bothering me really bad.  Funny, because I specifically remember wwwaaayyyy back when I was in high school, my dentist said, “you don’t have anything to worry about,  your wisdom teeth will never come in.”  But about 10 years ago, two of mine broke through the surface; however, one of those two has been lodged against a tooth for 10 years, of course creating problems, but I procrastinated removal.

So last week, I couldn’t wait any longer, and I go and get two extractions done.  Um… yeah…. wide awake, no anesthesia, that’s the way I roll! lol ;)

If you know me, you know that I don’t take medication.  I have to have some really bad pain to open up the ibuprofen or Tylenol.  I cannot take prescription pain medication at all.  I’m very allergic to some, and others will not stay in my stomach for even 5 minutes, even at the lowest half dose I can possibly take.  So over the years, through two C-sections, hernia and diastasis surgery, all I took was Tylenol or ibuprofen.  It’s not very pleasant, but either is the alternative.  I’ve always just sucked it up and dealt with the pain.

So of course, wisdom teeth extraction is no exception.  I chose no anesthesia due to having problems coming out of anesthesia.  I did get shots of novacaine to numb everything, and after one episode of nearly fainting as the numbness crept down my throat fooling me into thinking I coudn’t breathe, I took a huge deep breath and went to my “happy place” while the dentist went to work cutting and drilling, and finally pulling those nasty things out. 

Whew, it’s done, it’s done, it’s DONE!  It’s a relief.  I’m dealing with the pain and throbbing, and Motrin does take the edge off, but today is probably the best I have felt since undergoing the procedure.

Well, enough of my drama, of course, I have many many many pictures to show, but not enough time as usual, so I’ll end this post with siblings… the most popular session type this time of year! :)

I have a special place in my heart for boy/girl siblings, because I have my own boy and girl and love to watch them interact, and know very well how to relate to them and how they relate to each other…

children's photographer
children's photographer
children's photographer
children's photographer
 

By Jodie Otte | Posted in child photography | Tagged , , , | Comments (3)

Children’s photos during Fall/Autumn in Maryland…

November 9, 2008 – 6:25 pm

I absolutely hate the humidity we get here on the East Coast but I will accept it as long as I get to experience Fall every year…  love love love these leaves - they transform the area around my studio and make it look completely different - love having variety and options year round over here! ;)

 children's photographer, Jodie Otte

Here’s the above cutie… as a newborn baby -  yes, I photographed her when she was only a few weeks old…

newborn photographer, Jodie Otte

Now look at her!  Such personality!!! Every child has their “thing” - something about them that shines through with their personality and I love to capture it….Here’s a progression of the face she kept making - she was cracking us up and cracking herself up! ;)

child photographer, Jodie Otte

 

By Jodie Otte | Posted in baby photography, child photography | Tagged , | Comments (8)

Soccer Boys | Bel Air Maryland Photographer

November 8, 2008 – 8:20 am

This is the fifth time I have seen this family for photographs. It has been so wonderful watching K grow up and then with the addition of his little brother… and they are nothing but fun… just absolutely fun! Toward the end of the session, they put on their soccer stuff and played outside the studio which was even more fun!

Natural Light Photographer
Natural Light Photographer
Natural Light Photographer

By Jodie Otte | Posted in child photography | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

Three Girls | Baltimore Maryland Portraits

November 7, 2008 – 8:32 am

Do you remember these three girls? Two years ago, I photographed them in the studio in the three dresses - everyone remembers them :) They were the first children I photographed when opening my studio in the new location in Monkton. It was so nice to see them again!

Children's Portraits
Children's Portraits

By Jodie Otte | Posted in child photography | Tagged , | Comments (3)

Like mother, like daughter?

November 4, 2008 – 3:54 pm

Quick News: Emails, phone calls, etc. will be returned by this evening, and there are six galleries getting ready to go out between today and Thursday, so if you are wondering where your gallery is, you are probably one of them coming out ;)

*****************

Okay, back to — Like Mother, Like Daughter?

Such a cliche, you hear it all the time, huh? It has always been fascinating to me, how much a daughter looks to her mother for guidance, for morals, for how to present herself in this world, and will pick up on habits and ways of her mother, even though she will never ever admit that ;)

Here’s a little example that I thought was cute…

My girl, Erynn, refused to ride her horse English. She kept insisting all she wanted to do was Western, and I was okay with that, as you can see her Western horse shows, etc. - CLICK HERE…. but I secretly hoped she would give English riding a try. I really thought it would suit her well, but I didn’t want to push it onto her.

So I have Pippi now, and I’m having so much fun with her. Erynn and I went out on a paper chase this Sunday (each class is a two-mile trail “on the flat” or “over hurdles” through the woods, through water, up rocky hills, across open fields…). We did both the flat and hurdles. My goal this time was to not fall off like I did a few months ago trying to take the hurdles. We had a blast, we really did.

But I have started riding Pippi English as I am learning to jump her. Here’s a quick shot of dirty Pippi and me trying to break in my field boots for an upcoming Hunter Pace.

Jodie Otte

I’ve noticed Erynn giggling at my breeches and getting more interested in jumping… well finally, finally today she decided she wants to ride English - no pressure from me, but it seemed my excitement every time I completed a jump apparently wore off on her… Here’s my girl… ;)

Erynn Otte

By Jodie Otte | Posted in personal/family | Tagged , | Comments (4)

Twin Girls!

November 4, 2008 – 3:43 pm

These two girls were so fun to work with.  Such totally different personalities and they really look nothing alike do they? ;)  But yes, they are beautiful beautiful twins :)

 children's photographer Jodie Otte
 children's photographer Jodie Otte
 children's photographer Jodie Otte
 children's photographer Jodie Otte
 children's photographer Jodie Otte

By Jodie Otte | Posted in Uncategorized, twin, triplet photography | Tagged , , | Comments (2)
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