Live Life Creatively

If the Design Fits, Wear it!

2015-10-08T09:58:00.000-07:00

I am a member of Clickin Moms, an online site featuring forums, contests, classes and more for photographers. Yeah, it’s mostly made up of mom-arazzies, but there are many professionals, too, who participate in the contests, online classes and conferences.

Each year they feature a t-shirt contest, and here are a few of the designs I submitted. (Still hoping they get the like button fixed on my entries so people can vote for them! ;D) You have to be a member to vote for the designs, so I thought I would post them to my blog so that everyone could see the ideas.

If you are a clickin moms member and like any of these designs, vote for them using this link to the 2015 contest. Thanks for your support! Who knows, you may just be seeing one of these on a t-shirt real soon!

Creating Portrait Artistry One Pixel at a Time

2015-09-24T13:03:00.002-07:00

In this day of turbo charged cell phones and an abundant means of sharing images on social media, standing out in the photography field is a new challenge for photographers.

The typical criteria that customers use for selecting one photographer over another

(location, experience, talent, personality & reputation) still have value, but today,

many clients make their choice based upon a photographer's style or a specific

artistry that they want to achieve with their own portrait/photos.

It is a wonderful opportunity for photographers to find their uniqueness and

to express the talents that make their photography special...their brand.

For me, I approach photography with an extra creative eye, looking at lighting,

the blur of colors, the patterns or shapes created in posing, striving to

create MORE than a photo, something I refer to as portrait artistry.

Sometimes the opportunity just happens, when light falls magically upon the

subject creating an image that looks more like a painting than a photograph,

but other times I choose to create the magic through digital means.

How is this done, you might wonder? Through advanced programs

such as Lightroom and Photoshop, photographers get the opportunity to

shine like artists and bring their vision to life through blending layers,

masks, textures, the merging of multiple images, etc

Below is an example of an impromptu photo I took of my daughter Ashley

with her puppy, Zoey. You can see how the before image is super sweet and

evokes an emotional response, however I saw the potential to take that to a higher

level and create real portrait artistry, as shown in the after result below. For me,

creating portrait imagery that takes whoever is viewing it on an emotional

journey is the ultimate goal. Leave them breathless and wanting more.

Make your portraiture a priceless treasure that each customer wants

to repeat and can't resist sharing with the world.

For more examples of my photography, click here

to visit my website or facebook page.

Some people view art; others live it.

2015-06-25T09:02:00.000-07:00

“Some people view art; others live it.” - Cheri Wenger

For you creative types out there, you get this statement totally. Art is not just something we look at or create, our whole life is a continual process of appreciating beauty, collecting inspiration and translating that into everyday experiences and art. So it is with great joy and excitement that I can say that after a two year interruption (divorce and other life events just happen), I feel like I can return to the "art" of it all...my passion and my creative self.

Life sometimes takes us on detours, some of which I have yet to even encounter, but I refuse to allow it to take from me the one thing that gives breath to my life. I create. I need to share it so others can enjoy it, too. Don't get me wrong, I never stopped creating, my enthusiasm and passion dim were merely dimmed. Through the process, I learned a very valuable fact — never let another person dim that light, and make you question your talents.

So here is my welcome back to blogging...I am beyond excited to

...once again.

Art

Portraiture

Most of you know that my creative roots started way back in kindergarten with my love for drawing and painting, which later evolved into a career in graphic design. After an introduction into digital photography and much encouragement from friends, my passion and interest for photography grew. So why not offer customers a more unique product combining the best of both worlds?

The image above was taken during a beach shoot, and the photo by itself is precious, but why not take it one step further to create a unique work of fine art portraiture?

How did I do this?

This was created combining other photography images and textures on layers in photoshop with some design brushes to create an expanded background suitable for a large gallery wrap (canvas).

My customer didn't have quite the wall space for this 16x20 version, so I reworked it in size to fit an 8x10 canvas board wrap which they chose instead. Below is a quick cell phone shot of the it.

Quick tip: Always work in a larger size than you think you might need cause you can always shrink but quality is effected when you try to enlarge.

The smaller finished canvas board wrap

Keep an eye on my blog for upcoming tips and even some tutorials on art portraiture and other DIY creations! I plan to share the chalk paint restored vanity that is now my new desk.

Your Chance to Enjoy the Tropical Lifestyle

2014-04-14T13:12:00.001-07:00

Ever imagine what it would be like to live in Florida and experience those beautiful surroundings 24/7? Here is your opportunity! We just listed our home for sale by owner. You can get a sneak peek inside by viewing some of the photos of our 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage tropical paradise.

You can view more photos and house information on Zillow.

Imagine yourself poolside or enjoying the backyard...

If the winters up north have gotten to you, this is a gorgeous

property that would also make a wonderful second home.

Contact owners at 321-243-3051.

At $249,900, this one won’t last long!

Photo-Texture-Word Art

2014-04-08T09:07:00.001-07:00

The combination of three things...a photo, a texture and some inspiring words, can bring about new art.

I started with a photo of some clouds that I had taken on my iPhone that I later edited in Snapseed...

Next I overlayed one of Kim Klassen’s “just a touch” textures found here.

the image. Go to the link above to download the texture and to register

to receive other textures created by the talented Kim Klassen.)

Recipe: Used kk_just a touch2 texture with linear burn overlay at 78% opacity on a layer stacked above my cloud image, shown above to get the blending of image with texture.

Final step in Photoshop was adding some words in assorted sizes and colors on separate layers in Photoshop. These have to be stacked on top of the texture and photo layers so that they are visible.

It is always good to save your layered Photoshop file for future editing before flattening and saving your composited final image as jpg, tiff or other file format for sharing.

The Shoot, The Vision and then, that Smile

2014-03-05T09:18:00.000-08:00

The day began with a simple shoot objective: to build a portfolio of modeling images for Ashley with a fashion feel to them. The morning was foggy and overcast so I was excited to see what we would get. The first shot was meant to be a test. In fact, Ashley said she wasn’t even aware that I was ready to shoot photos. I love the calmness and mystique. I believe that Ashley took on the mood of her surroundings and it showed in throughout this modeling shoot.

You can view the entire Modeling in Melbourne gallery of images from this shoot on my facebook page.

The vision: to capture some high-fashion images with a variety of moods and poses taking advantage of the props that mother nature was providing naturally admist the backdrop of the river and train trestle. The trestle was the perfect location. The colors and textures contrasted with the background, but beautifully complimented Ashley’s hair and skin which lead to some beautiful shots.

After a serious of very striking, moody poses, I coaxed out of her a smile, and I knew at the moment I clicked this shutter that it would be one of my portrait favorites. As photographers, we see smiles of all kinds, some cheesy, forced and even some over the top ones, but when a true natural one is captured it is pure magic. After taking a series of such serious shots all morning, this smiling one stood out even more! That is why I couldn’t resist entering this image into the iHeartFaces.com Smile Photo Challenge contest. You can check it out or enter your own submission on their site.

’Tis the Season for Custom Christmas Cards & Holiday Gifts

2013-11-23T06:17:00.003-08:00

Are you in that crazed and dazed stage of the holidays where you are about to attack your shopping list, prepare the turkey, get the house decorated to impress everyone you know and then, oh yeah, squeeze in that holiday family photo session AND order your cards? I can relate to the big flurry of tasks and sleepless hours ahead, my friends. So as a girl who always likes to help her friends out, I have partnered with Minted.com to make the holidays just a tad bit easier for each of you...and honestly, me too! Yes, you may know that I have designed many a Christmas card, invite, etc. myself, but I was searching for a way to offer more awesome options for my family, friends, design and photography customers and found it here. So check out my new CWD SHOP, the place for fantastic and fun custom photo products, cards and more! Click on the image below to check it out.

You will find great, customizable cards for Christmas, Hannukah and all of the other holidays of the year. This can be your shop for birthday invites, moving notices, birth announcements and other great life celebrations. Here is just one of the trendy new designs they have, ready for you to customize with your family’s name and photo...

Three EASY WAYS you can order cards & other photo products:

1. My Cheri Wenger Design Photography customers can select up to 3 images from their photo session. Fee is $15 for upload service. ( I am waving this for all new shoots before Dec. 15th, so book your photo session now!) 321.243.3051. I will add you as a client on my gift shop site and send you an email link to the storefront where you can shop and use the photos from your photo tray to customize the products. As this is a busy photo season, allow some time for me to do this which takes a little while for the high res files to upload. Contact me for pricing if you want more than 3 photo added to your tray. Customize your products and complete your order online. Be sure and let me know what you thought of your shopping experience by emailing me at cheriwenger@gmail.com.

2. DO it YOURSELF cards with YOUR IMAGES - Start at www.cwdshop.minted.com. Use the tabs to select the style you want, photo or product you want to order. There are pet cards, Christmas cards, ornament cards and more! Have fun choosing. Here is one example of one of the cute ornament cards available. Talk about an extra treat for the recipient!

3. Order First, Upload Later - For those of you who know what design you want, know which photo(s) you want from your customer gallery, you can complete your order, send me the order # and I will upload the photo. Once I submit, you will receive confirmation that your order is complete along with a client proof to review. Pretty easy, huh? Just $15 fee for any previous photo shoots. Any new shoots booked from now until Dec. 15th will receive this free of charge.

Still need to accomplish that family photo shoot?
Book a session today, spaces still available for family mini and full sessions. Call 321.243.3051.

A girl and a horse and beautiful farm

2013-09-27T06:44:00.000-07:00

As a photographer, part of the process of capturing truly memorable images and considering the location for the shoot, the time of day that will convey the lighting and vision you have in mind, and of course figuring out how to utilize the lighting, posing and scenery to your creative advantage.

Through the generosity of my friend, Holly, I was able to indulge Ashley’s fantasy to do a farm/western style photo shoot with her. Since she was little, my daughter has always loved horses and has always known how to play to the camera and pose. So much of my work was pretty simple, however the technical aspects of on location, natural portraiture brings challenges in capturing the images you sometimes have in mind.

Here are my top 12 favorites from the session...

If you would like to view more of the images, check out my fan page on facebook where I have posted the album or view the gallery directly on my Cheri Wenger Design Photography website. If you aren't a fan of the music, just hit mute while you browse the site, and if you want to see any of the photos at a larger size, just hit the slideshow button in the upper right and hit escape key to exit when done viewing.

Please leave me comments, suggestions and inquiries if you are interested in having me take photos of you or your family. If you are on the facebook fan page, be sure to like my page and help me expand my fan base. Thanks! Happy Friday!

Oh, The Sunlight in Your Hair!

2013-08-20T11:31:00.004-07:00

There is something so simple and beautiful about the sun painting a radiant glow along the edge of flowing locks of hair. This is something that can be so beautifully captured as the sun begins to set. It is the perfect kiss of color of nature’s purest highlights that can turn an ordinary portrait into a brilliant result. You can literally watch the sun work it’s magic to breathe life into the frozen frame of a portrait.

This technique of hair lighting works with any color hair, but with lighter shades, it is often most striking. For these casual senior portraits, the location was the side of the road, yet you can see how the sun against the dark green palette illuminates, Kylie in her photos.

We later moved to a brighter location away from the trees to allow some brighter light to shine down. And for these shots, I really wanted to showcase her long beautiful hair so I asked her to turn away from the camera and tilt her head up. Then I asked her to bunch up her hair and play with it. These shots were a mix of dramatic and playful images...and ones that became our mutual favorites from the evening photo session.

Photo Tip: When you feel like you are running out of ideas and poses to try. Ask your model to touch or play with her hair. Since it is ultimately attached to the person, there becomes some type of emotional attachment that unveils itself before the camera. It also helps to loosen up their hands and get them more comfortable with posing. Depending upon their hairstyle, you might want to introduce a clip, a headband, a hat or some other prop. Try this out at your next shoot and share with me your results!

Impromptu Sessions - Just Grab Your Camera and Shoot

2013-08-19T08:58:00.003-07:00

During our recent vacation in the Florida Keys an unexpected photo opportunity arose when we stopped off at a cute little oceanside park just past the 5 mile bridge. My daughter’s boyfriend starting climbing a tree, and soon after, she followed. With camera in hand, I snapped some photos of them climbing, sitting and posing for a few couples shots. We had to work around the wind, but I have to share with you this tree shot that is just priceless of the two of them. Here is the sepia-toned image followed by the color version. There are a few others, but I love how her hair was flowing in this amidst the backdrop of the twisty branches.

And here is the color version (below)

If you choose to do a similar tree shoot. Compose your shots to work with the branches rather than fighting them. Below, the widespread branches acted as a support for James in the background, while the larger trunk made a great ledge for Kylie to be seated in the foreground. Another perk of shooting from this angle is that you also get the beauty of the blue sky peeking through the branches.

Seated and smiling, they look very happy and relaxed sitting in the tree. Be sure when shooting from below to utilize a zoom lens to enable you to get close to the couple, and be mindful of their clothing and positioning of their legs so the shots aren't overly revealing or awkward.

Also pay attention to how the light is falling to avoid harsh shadows or harsh patches of sunlight across faces. Unfortunately, I did not have my flash along with me to use a fill flash, however, I think we still managed to pull off some great images considering these were mid day shots, not the ideal time for lighting.

Getting a very natural portrait of a guy, especially a teen male, can be challenging since they aren't typically as into having their photos taken as girls their age. That is why I seized the moment to take some quick portraits of James, having fun and looking very relaxed.

On the ground, the wind proved to be a big challenge (part of the reason we started exploring other areas and shooting by the trees). I did manage to snap this solo beachside shot of Kylie by the tree post.

The lesson learned from this impromptu photo shoot is that when your subjects feel relaxed and in their element, it will show in the portrait session. With family, or even clients, you can stage and pre-plan portrait sessions, but sometimes you have to just throw caution to the wind and work with great opportunities as well as nature’s wonderful props. Forget that they may not have on the perfect outfits or makeup, and just roll with the real life experience. You may be surprised with some of the best, most natural portrait sessions yet! Happy Snappin'!

My Entry for Chic Critique's Cover Contest

2013-08-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

When I heard about Chic Critique's Cover Contest, I immediately thought of one of the images I was editing from my shoot the other night. It fit the criteria, 3/4 pose, serious expression, creative layout that would allow for headlines and featured articles, so I thought, WHY NOT?

Why shouldn't this great image of Ashley showing off her hot new lacey dress be the one they chose to grace the cover of the next issue. It is the perfect goodbye to summertime fun and moving on to the road ahead.

Be sure to stop by the Chic Critique site and check out all of the enteries. Feel free to leave comments of support, if you like. I will be sharing other great images from some recent shoots, however moving two kids off to college in one week has us a bit busy.

Look for my entry...

Live Life Creatively: Lifestyle Photography — Not just a pretty picture

2013-08-08T05:47:00.001-07:00

Live Life Creatively: Lifestyle Photography — Not just a pretty picture: As an on-location, natural light photographer I learn to work around a lot of things such as weather, lighting, confined spaces and pers...

Lifestyle Photography — Not just a pretty picture

2013-08-08T05:42:00.000-07:00

As an on-location, natural light photographer I learn to work around a lot of things such as weather, lighting, confined spaces and personalities to capture great images. Not every subject may feel comfortable having his or her photos taken. That is why lifestyle photography is a great method of creating not only fun images, but memorable ones, too.

Have you ever tried taking a photograph of a family member that is less than enthusiastic about having their picture taken? Sure, we have all been there before. What can truly be a game changer is when the person being photographed has a distraction...something that takes their mind off of the task at hand — to capture of picture of them. Think about this as you approach your next photography session. Get your subject talking and telling you about themselves, the love of their life, their favorite activities and watch their expressions and demeanor change.

Sometimes talking just isn’t enough and it takes mixing things up to truly relax your subject(s) and get them into their comfort zone. No, this doesn't require yoga, meditation, or a glass of wine (although that has been known to help ;). You just have to work with your surroundings and bring along a few props to break the ice.

So what makes a good icebreaker? Simply think back to when you were a child and the things you loved to do that were carefree and fun, and let your creativity and imagination flow. Do, however, keep in mind that you don’t want to get the people dirty or too messy for their portraits unless you have mutually decided ahead of time that they are more interested in a lifestyle portrait than in having any formal posed ones. If they want the posed ones, too, then shoot those first.

You know how most people save the “silly shot” for last? That crazy fun one with tongues sticking out, bunny ear fingers behind someone’s head and other outrageous behaviors. Well, ask them to do that first. Break the ice and loosen them up. Bring out the real personality in a subject and it will most likely continue through the remainder of your shoot. In the example above, I brought along some bubbles for the family to play with while sitting on an outdoor swing. Granted, these may not be the selected best shots from the shoot, but it got to show a spirited side of the family having fun together and brought out a very lighthearted playful side.

Try this technique at your next photo session to bring the fun of lifestyle photography into your portrait experience. You may just discover more natural smiles, a more relaxed setting where both you AND the people being photographed are enjoying the photo shoot. Discover lifestyle photography — photos that tell a story and create memories.

Be sure to visit for more photography tips and inspiration. In my next Discover Lifestyle Photography post, I will discuss how to work with your surroundings to break up the monotony. In the meantime, pick up your camera and go beyond the pretty picture — capture true memories!

It's Been A While

2013-08-02T16:41:00.000-07:00

Call it burn out from social media overload and combine that with a whole lot of life’s busy-ness and you will understand why I have been away from my blog for so long. I guess I just needed to Live Life Creatively for a while without the pressure of having to share it with the world. Recently, our family took a trip to the keys...a family first and I loved how relaxing a vacation it was. Here is one of many self portraits I took while in Marathon.

So what have I been up to? A hectic senior year with our youngest daughter filled with activities. Keeping up with our other college girl. Accomplishing one of my New Year’s resolutions by not only learning, but switching over to Lightroom 4 for all of my photo organization and editing. Yeah, I still use photoshop for the REALLY creative stuff and in-depth retouching, but I have to admit that despite the steep learning curve, I am starting to enjoy using Lightroom. And I have to give Kim Klassen most of the credit. I took her Round Trip class and it gave me the jump start that I needed.

Professionally, I have still been doing some graphics work while working even harder to develop the photography end of my business. This includes all the work in putting together marketing materials, a website, pricelists and much more, all while continuing to educate myself to become an even better photographer. I am finding a great creative thrill and challenge getting to combine my artistic side with the world of photography. And on the design end, I am creating my own advertising and plenty of photography custom templates for mini albums, cards and more which I hope to start selling soon.

Wanna check out my photography website? Click here, then explore! Be sure to sign my guestbook while you are there. And if you live in the local area, call me if you would like to do a photo shoot. It is never to early to get started on those family Christmas cards!!! Or call my studio at 321.243.3051.

It is good to be returning to a familiar place where I can

Oh Those Eyes!

2012-10-16T10:58:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have posted, but life has been just crazy busy. This is the norm between juggling graphics, photography, family life and being in the heart of volleyball season.

I would like to share some images from a recent Senior Photo Shoot done at Gleason Park in Eau Gallie. There are so many beautiful natural backgrounds there that allowed me to showcase Jessie’s beauty. Here are some cropped shots showing a variety of poses with a couple different outfits.

Jessie has such a natural smile and amazing eyes that I wanted to be sure to highlight in her photo shoot. Prior to the shoot, we discussed the colors and likely outfits that she would choose to wear. This is always a good idea for photographers to discuss with the people that they will be shooting. It gives you a great opportunity to make suggestions to accomplish the overall look that your client is trying to achieve. Now with cell phones, they can send you photos and the two of you can work in a partnership to achieve a successful shoot.

Post shoot editing gives other opportunities to add styles and effects to create the mood for an image. If you look at the color version, shown in the right hand corner of the grouping above, you can see how different a feel a similar shot from that series has to it when stylized with my black & white allure action. Her eyes, oh those beautiful eyes, become the center of attention.

Selecting the Right Style and Effects for Images

2012-08-24T09:53:00.000-07:00

Many people view photography as simply as you take the picture and you print it. Done deal. However, photography is like a terrific recipe, there are a lot of ingredients that go into the perfect outcome. Taste is a subjective thing; so is the world of photo editing. You see, it is not just as simple as clicking the shutter. Post editing offers so many choices for both creativity and enhancement that can truly effect the outcome of a photo. So how do you go about selecting the right style and effects for images? How do you determine which choice is right for your customer?

As a photographer, you cannot possibly make the right choice without first getting to know your customer and what drew them to you in the first place. If it was merely the referral of a friend, then it is up to you to find out what photo styles they like. This can be accomplished by asking them questions about different sample images on your website or in your portfolio. Or if you have a group of actions that you typically like to use, perhaps you can take one image and show them different style choices for that photo. This may be something you may want to do yourself before editing a batch of photos from a session to determine which styles & effects best depict what you envisioned creatively. Let me show you an example of this...

You can see from the example above, how these simple changes to lighting & color can effect the overall tone and mood of a photograph. Now, the choice is up to you to match the imagery both the style of photography that you want associated with your name, and most importantly, creating a finished product that is what your customer desires. My tip is to really ask those questions before shooting so you know going into your shoot what look you are trying to achieve.

For more photo examples visit my website. I hope that this article inspires you to live life creatively both through your lens as well as through your post editing work!

One Shoot in Adverse Conditions - 3 inspiring results

2012-08-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

What do you get on a stormy night, with a bit of drizzle and a lot of enthusiasm? Three concepts for shooting in less than ideal conditions. Here is how you can think quickly on your feet and salvage a senior portrait session.

When we arrived at the park, it was still lightly drizzling with the weather predicting a one hour window before sunset, however clouds were constantly looming and lighting was tricky, so I started out under a large gazebo posing my model, Christy, while I sported an umbrella over my shoulder to protect my camera. Here are some of the images working within the confines of the gazebo.

We then moved outside the gazebo once the rain let up using, at first, a frame as a prop, then a brightly colored umbrella. Yes, mine! I thought, why not work with the weather in this situation and have fun.

For this model, who is a very natural beauty, the umbrella shots were some of her favorites from our session. To think, those might not have even happened if it wasn’t for the weather!

Another amazing outcome was the spectacular sunset that occurred. I used this opportunity to use it as a photo backdrop as well as to experiment with doing some dramatic silhouette, artsy style photos.

So the lesson of the day is, if you can work around the weather, you may be pleasantly surprised by the end result. Let it test your quick thinking, challenge your creativity and inspire new approaches to your portrait photography. For more photo inspiration, visit my website.

If you like what you see here, click the like button on my facebook page or subscribe to my blog for more creative inspiration and tips.

The Prop Connection

2012-07-21T09:37:00.001-07:00

Using props can always add an interesting element to a photo, but when you use a prop that has a connection to the main subject in your photo, it adds a deeper level of meaning. For instance, when shooting senior photos, I like to ask the teens that I am photographing what their hobbies and interests are. I even ask them to bring along a favorite article of clothing or jewelry, something that they have a connection to. One senior wore a necklace in her photos that was special to her. That way, regardless if the necklace was lost or damaged, she would have it forever preserved, photographically, for her to always remember. These props can be an old teddy bear, a heirloom from a grandparent, a favorite hat or a piece of their sports equipment.

The reason for this? When someone is passionate about something they love or even love to do, it typically comes through in the photos I take. My photography is not just about capturing images, it is about creating memories.

When you shoot a photo with a prop that they have selected, it reveals a little bit about that person’s life and evokes conversation and interest. Sometimes, it reveals a personal and sentimental connection. And sometimes, it just is a comfort zone that puts your subject at ease. In having something familiar from their real life in the photo session, it makes them almost forget that the camera is there. Of course, it helps to continue that chatty conversation which also helps to distract and relax them.

In the example above, I thought it would be interesting to bring along an old bike wheel that had some busted spokes as a fun prop since the model, Kylie, works at a bike shop. It makes the viewer wonder, “why does she have this wheel?” and creates more interest in wanting to know her life story.

Begin shooting with props and exploring ways how you can reveal a little bit about the life of the person that you are shooting and leave the viewers of your photos wondering...what is the prop connection?

For more examples, vist my website or Facebook Page.

The Perfect Photo Location Could Be Right Around the Corner

2012-07-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

Locations and backgrounds can be vital to creating an awesome photo...sometimes, equally as important as the subject itself. The setting can dictate the mood of a photographic image.

This photo, below, almost appears to be a painted studio backdrop, but don’t be fooled.

I realize that I am blessed to live 7 miles from the beach so opportunities exist for lots of gorgeous shots, however a creative type never falls back on the expected. We are always seeking new locations and cool places to shoot photos. For me, an amazing discovery proved to be right around the corner, one that I have driven by thousands of times over the past 8 years. The farm that backs up to our suburban community is sort of out of place. It sits on the roadside of a fairly busy road. There are horses in the stables and occasional cows in the fields. It is a reminder of my days out in Kansas when we drove to Zimmerman’s farm to pick out our pumpkin and enjoy Fall festivities.

Since I don’t know the owners, I thought about just stopping on the side of the road to start shooting a sunset photo session with my daughter, Kylie. We had plans to go to a park near the base of the causeway, but she agreed to try a few shots. We quickly discovered that there was no need to drive any further than right around the corner. Check out the amazing photos we took and the variety of looks simply by walking a few feet in one direction or the other.

In the shots below, which you can view larger by clicking on, you see the changes in lighting creates different mood & overall feel to the shots. This was accomplished by positioning the model in different scenery with the light falling in different directions. When shooting in manual mode this requires constant monitoring and changing of aperture and shutter speed...and as light diminshed, even changing the ISO for a few of the shots.

After we got just a wee bit too close to the farm and were chased off by some very large, not-so-friendly dogs, we scurried across the street where we saw the perfect fence and scenery for some brighter lit sunset shots...some of my favorites of the day! After applying a few actions and doing some post editing, you can see how different a look these images have. Remember, they were shot all within the same hour, just a change in scenery with actions applied. Pretty amazing, huh? Out of all the pictures we took, both Kylie and I agreed that these were our favorites of the night. Imagine that — my 17 yr. old and I agreeing on something! Pretty special.

So when you are struggling to make your photos fresh and new, a walk around the block may open up your imagination to some new photographic possibilities. Or if you are limited in new background settings, simply change the viewpoint, or position your model in different lighting, to create some fresh new images!

Drowning in Pictures!

2012-07-12T08:33:00.000-07:00

On Monday, I did a double photo session with our youngest daughter, Kylie, who is about to start her senior year. She is also a spokesmodel for my photography business, Cheri Wenger Design Photography so we did a DREAM session...twice the photos, twice the fun!

She and I are both not morning people so I wasn’t sure how waking at 6 am was gonna correlate into getting ANY good pictures, but I think you will agree that we did more than alright! She started off with a cute silky sundress to have a slightly more formal look with plans to change into shorts & a tee.

Living in Melbourne, FL provides awesome opportunities to shoot photos at the beach. We just couldn’t make the true sunrise at 5:30...no way, no how that would happen with either of us! We did some in the water, but she didn’t want to get too wet since we were just getting started. We played with bubbles. Note: it really helps to have an assistant for that shot so they can direct the bubbles while you snap away! We managed to get a photo or two, but I am gonna try that again, like planned, in her shorts and colorful t-shirt, which by the way, we never got to shoot. We'll save that for another more fun and playful photo session.

Hey, you don’t know what a success this really was. We didn’t have even one squabble AND despite sweating our tutus off, there were plenty of smiles and great shots. Now, we took a break at Starbucks for breakfast and some passionfruit lemonades to revive ourselves! Here are some of the shots taken by the Indian River along with a few from the beach session.

You know, I have always said that I am an evening person and my daughter is just like me, in more ways than one! She comes alive in pictures and I just seem to have more creative ideas for shots, angles and lighting. No, this couldn't have anything to do with staying up late working on design stuff for my business! As you can see by all these photos, I am in picture and editing overload, but lovin' every minute of it! The handheld ponytail shots at sunset are my mommy faves, and hers too!

If you want to see the complete gallery of photos from the a.m. and sunset photo sessions, check out my facebook page or go to my Cheri Wenger Design Photography website and you will see them as two of the featured galleries. Be sure to leave me a guest book message on my website and to hit the like button on my facebook page! Thanks.

Live Life Creatively: Photo Website Launch & Spokesmodel Search

2012-07-10T10:45:00.001-07:00

Live Life Creatively: Photo Website Launch & Spokesmodel Search: Today marks the big day...the launch of my long awaited photography website . Eventually, I hope to have a custom designed website whic...

Photo Website Launch & Spokesmodel Search

2012-07-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

Today marks the big day...the launch of my long awaited photography website. Eventually, I hope to have a custom designed website which will join together all of my creative worlds, but this new site is so exciting from a photographer’s standpoint. Here, you can find out more about me, my photo services, and check out examples of my portfolio.

Once you visit the homepage, you will see a slideshow of photos featuring babies, children, teens, couples & families. One unique aspect to my photography business is my not-so-secret weapon, my design & creative skills! As an artist, I bring my creative eye when composing photos, looking for colorful and interesting backgrounds, locations and perspectives. My extensive background in photoshop adds to my editing capabilities as well as the option to offer my customers custom portrait art combining design techniques with their photos. See examples of some art portraits on this page of my site.

I also use some of my own stock photography images to create photo art, both of which will be available for purchase as prints on my site. Be patient with me as I work on building to the stock photography library!

INTRODUCING OUR FIRST ANNUAL SENIOR SPOKESMODEL SEARCH CONTEST

Do you know a local high school senior who is outgoing, comfortable in front of the camera and enthusiastic when it comes to talking about things that they like? Encourage them to enter our Spokesmodel Contest. Note that we will be doing another contest for Juniors in the Spring 2013!

Click here to go to our Contest Website page.

If you pop by the photography website, be sure to leave me a message

and let me know what you think of it, and which are your favorite photos!

To keep updated on my latest shoots and happenings at

Cheri Wenger Design Photography, hit the like button on my facebook page.

You can click on the FB button link at the bottom of my website or click here.

The Beauty of Textures

2012-06-26T05:30:00.002-07:00

This is another photo art creation using photos taken of a bouquet of carnations. I merely wanted to take a picture of them to preserve their beauty so my daughter could remember that Valentine’s day gift. I couldn’t photograph them indoors because the lighting just wasn’t right, but when I simply placed them out on the table on our lanai, magic happened. I was able to photograph them like a painting and convey the beauty that my eyes were seeing. However, in adding Kim Klassen’s textures to the image, really turned this piece into art.

Beauty Fades

Photo art featuring textures by Kim Klassen.

To see the evolution, you must see the original photo.

It has a warmth to it, but I love the vintage look of the finished art

achieved by adding Kim’s Just Blush texture plus some of my own textures

and quote to it! Check out Texture Tuesdays challenges with Kim. This is her justblush texture:

Here are the two of my own photo textures that I applied to the image that helped to add that dreamy, watercolor look to the image. For those of you not familiar with photoshop, you can layer photos, textures, text and color over photos in varying opacities with different layer style choices to achieve very dramatic or very subtle effects.

The two photo images above were photos taken of the glass block window in our master bath. The third image, below, was a closeup taken of our textured wall. So you see, creativity exists all around us, just waiting to be used and appreciated!

In the first image, I changed the hue to a sepia tone look. It includes wispy textures from the floral arrangement that sits on the ledge.These are all colored textures, however you can use b&w textures/photos to create effects. Don’t be afraid to experiment & live life creatively!

Here’s a peek at my layers palette in photoshop so you can see the order of the layers used.

Live Life Creatively: Using the Hottest Colors in your Card Creations

2012-06-14T06:00:00.001-07:00

Live Life Creatively: Using the Hottest Colors in your Card Creations: ...see if you can guess from these two card samples the latest "in color"!

Using the Hottest Colors in your Card Creations

2012-06-14T05:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I picked up an issue of In Style magazine and my eyes settled on a page featuring shades of watermelon pink as one of the latest, hot colors to wear. Maybe I am a bit psychic when it comes to picking in colors, LOL, but I just created two cards last week featuring that color. In the first card I have paired it up with a hot coral color and used the technique I shared in my last post for handcoloring your stamp with markers, only I did not spritz this one, I let the markers blend the colors on the stamp.

Another fun thing to try is stamping a verse and cropping it with a punch so it is still readable, yet it works with diecut frame. I used varying circle punches on this example with a diecut frame by Stampin’ Up!®. The result is a clean, simple, yet cheerful birthday card.

Mum’s Birthday

The textured watermelon cardstock used on this card, below, was embossed with a texture. I added interest to my punched scalloped circle by doing the repetitive stamping technique to create light and dark values of ink using this beautiful stem from the Watercolor Trio set from SU. The loopy border punch is from the Martha Stewart Collection. I used multiple embossing folders & punches on this card to create interest and texture, especially on the petals which were created using the 5 petal punch, embossing then cutting them in 2 or 3 petal sections to create leaves. The scalloped circle was raised up using dimensional foam, also allowing the sheer ribbon and petals to be placed underneath.

Strawberry Floral

So before you start your next card creation, take a peek online or in the fashion and home magazines to see what the latest, hottest colors are. It may just give you the creative spark you need to...