The year is drawing to a close and given that the Mayan apocalypse was pretty mild (I only lost a computer power supply), I decided to work on archiving my 2012 photos and enter the new year with a clean slate. While looking over the photos, I found that I was looking at them with a fresh set of eyes. Inevitably, I began to pull some old photos for some new edits. 

Here is the first photo that pulled and edited. I performed several photo shoots in a limestone quarry located right here in Rock County. The original image is rather bright. Indeed, the sun can be seen coming in from high above and casting harsh shadows on the subject, Lisa.  The cream colored limestone bounces the sunlight around quite a bit during the summer, which adds to the challenge of shooting out there. For this photo, I eliminated much of the cream color tone by adding a cool, dark, color cast in the background while popping the subject's tones in the foreground. The red cape seen here is displayed as captured--I almost always bring extra props such as this to my shoots, they come in handy in the most unexpected places. 

Janesville Photographer | Red Inspiration

The next photo is also Lisa but it was taken at a different location. This time on the shores of Lake Michigan during the morning hours. In fact, the photo was taken immediately after a sunrise beach shoot just down the shoreline a ways. Unfortunately, the sun was behind Lisa and the sky was rather unexciting. The edit here brings in additional cloud cover from a different photo. The dog laying next to Lisa is Rambo. Because of the timing of the shoot, Rambo had to come with. Of course, Rambo found his way into several of the shots! 

Janesville Photographer High Impact Creations LLC | Portrait Photography Hopefully, I'll have time to pull some more photos from the 2012 gallery and provide additional edits. If so, I'll add them here. 

As I look back over the many sessions I found that I have a bias towards more dramatic images like the ones I am showing here. When looking for a photographer, style is important. If you are a reader that is casually looking at this blog with an eye towards hiring a photographer, compare the styles of the different photographers and determine which style you like the best. Styles are subjective, there isn't a right and wrong--only preference. My dramatic style isn't suitable for all subjects but at times, it will make the difference between a boring stare and a High Impact Creation. 

--jay