Jennifer Duffy Photography

Concept shoot

2011-09-20T11:24:00.002-05:00

Well…I know, I have been gone for a while. Things have gotten crazy and I had forgotten to schedule time for myself to write…

Since the last time I have posted anything, I have gotten quite a few things done…a few model shoots, a pinup shoot, been published…twice.

So let’s start with the model shoot for the spring……

This was my first attempt at a conceptual shoot.

I was inspired by the flowering bushes of spring and the hard and soft textures that they have.

I had three wonderful and talented models to work with…Morgan Harris, Taylor Scott, and Fallon Rivers.

Jane Ellen was my stylist and make up artist and I had some wonderful jewelry to work with from Shelbi Lavender, who is know for her work that American Idol contestant Nathan Stoop wore during the show.

Talk about some bling!

The images turned out wonderfully and ended up being published in Williamson Social in Franklin , Tennessee.

Here are a few of those images for this shoot.

Crave Photography Mentoring workshop!!

2011-04-19T06:59:00.000-05:00

Crave Photography is graciously giving away a mentoring workshop for a lucky photographer!!

I would personally love to get this...I feel like I have reached a point where I need some guidance on the next step on where to take my business.

So here is the link to the give away in case anyone wants to check it out themselves....

Crave Photography Giveaway.

Vicious Threads!!

2011-03-10T17:36:00.002-06:00

Sorry I haven't posted this sooner but I have had a nasty cold and then allergies on top....Needless to say Zyrtec is my friend.

I had the pleasure of working with some really wonderful folks on this shoot.

Jenni of Vicious Threads , a local designer, great working with her....great vision! Amanda Davis did a wonderful job on the hair!! I have worked with Amanda on another shoot and she is wonderful to work with. Julie Elizabeth was our make up. Loved it, Love her!! Please check out her page!!

And let us not forget our wonderful model.....Erica Rhoton. She was wonderful....she gave a 110% and was a trooper. I really enjoyed working with you!!

And of course my bud......Danny Meyers of Studio Shoots Photography. He graciously let us use his studio and did a spectacular job on the lighting!! Thanks so much Danny!!!

Here are a few shots from that afternoon.......

Fix it week #88

2011-02-25T17:10:00.007-06:00

So I decided again to several versions. I also took a screen shot of one of the processes I use for images.

ORIGINAL

VIBRANCE

BLACK AND WHITE

MUTED

CHOCOLATE

SPARKLING VIBRANCE

When I am doing a full edit of an image I know I am going to print, I will dodge and burn using Layer Masks. And on the Chocolate, I put a gradient mask on and set the layer to Overlay to get the beautiful browns in that image.

Fix it Friday #87

2011-02-18T16:26:00.000-06:00

It is Fix It Friday from I Heart Faces yet again!!!! I have kind gone a little crazy with this week image from Andrea Riley

I decided to see how many different edits I could come up with in an hour....I hope you like them.

ORIGINAL

COLOR

SOFT COLOR

BLACK AND WHITE

SEPIA

WARM BLACK AND WHITE

TEXTURED BLACK AND WHITE

TEXTURED COLOR

CROPPED SEPIA TEXTURED

Enjoy!

Sunsets and snow...

2011-02-14T07:13:00.000-06:00

Tennessee has gotten then most snow I have seen since I moved here in 1981. Before this winter I believe the most snow seen here was in 1986. Memphis and Nashville were hit by a really good snow fall.

So needless to say I had to go out and capture some wonderful images of this winter.

Here are just a few images I have take over the past few days that we have had such wonderful snow storms...

These can be purchased from my website...they will be up there in the next day or so.

Fun in the Snow!!

2011-02-14T06:40:00.001-06:00

Ok...yes it snow AGAIN in Nashville. And it caused major havoc on our highways with people getting stuck and what not....luckily I got home from work that night after a 2 and half hour drive. And getting snowed in a bit allowed me a day off to create these little beauties.

I was able to spend the entire day with my little girl and take my her out for some fun in the snow and get some great shots of her in the snow.

I went with a blue theme, blue sweater and blue gloves a, hat and scarf and I think it really turned out well.

Hearts!!! I heart Faces Competition.

2011-02-08T20:15:00.001-06:00

So I decide to try and get some shots of my daughter out in the snow. And since it is the month of Valentine's, I decide to go with a heart theme.

I Just love the fact that the snow has come around again so I could get some shots out in the snow....

Friday Fix it #85

2011-02-04T12:58:00.002-06:00

Well here is a Friday Fix It from I Heart Faces. And this week is a photo of a little baby.

Here is the original.

Here is my edit....I decided to do some graphics to the image and have a bit of fun.

I cropped the image, then changed the color image to black and white. Here I didn't desaturate the image, I actually went into grayscale. Then I tweaked the curse and the levels to get the contrast that I like.
With babies, it is nice to go kind of light on the skin tones and darken the eyes. It helps to makes the baby's features to pop.

I then I opened a blank file and put some flower brushes I like and used white to make a pattern on the file. I then went in and selected each area with the magic wand. I copied the selction. Then on the original file, I pasted the copied selection into another layer. I left them selected. I then turn off the viewing of that file, so that the highlight areas are still visible. Go to the layer with the image; and inverse the selection. Now hit delete. Got to the bottom of the layers palette and choose the half white half black circle, choose fill with color and pick your favorite color.

Then I added a few more flowers with the brush tool in black. Flatten your image and save as a jpg.

Here is my result.

Here is the link to the brushes I used as well....
Brusheezy. They are by Hawksmont...I rather like her work..

MCP Project 52:Week 3

2011-01-21T20:03:00.000-06:00

So MCP is doing a Project 52; to post at least one photo a week. Each week will have a different theme and you try to create and image to reflect that theme. I decided to participate and I hope that I grow and stretch that proverbial artistic muscle. This week's assignment was shades of grey, I took an image from y new point and shoot canon camera that I had snapped one day after a nice snow. I edited it in LR3 to get the Black and white look that I have....

It was nice to have a small camera with me this past week, just snap what I want and go. I toss the bad and edited the keepers and ta daa....

Enjoy...both the snow...yet again where we live and the image!

Valentine's Pinup Special

2011-01-15T12:52:00.001-06:00

I have decided to offer a Boudoir/Pin Up Special for all those women out there that want to feel special and sexy for their special someone. I will shoot these in the privacy of your own home or at my location, provide you with a free pin ups style make up and 25 images fully edited on CD with it's own private case for $100. You will also receive on 11x 14 of any image of your choosing.

Appointments need to be made by February 5th to be ready for the 14th.

Call 615-972-2153 for appointments or email me at info@jenduffyphotos.com.

I Heart Competition: Smile

2011-01-11T07:02:00.001-06:00

So it is a new year and I am ready for to try and get my blog going and a more steady basis...with that in mind, here is a competition from I Heart Faces. Smile...is the theme since it is their 2nd birthday! Happy Birthday!
And since it was their birthday that inspired this particular theme I have chosen a picture of my daughter from my niece's birthday party....I found my daughter outside in my Mom's dogwood tree (yes in it) and I had to get a shot of her having fun. She has a great smile but right now it is a bit covered...in braces but I think it is one of the best smiles I have ever gotten from her, but I think that the climbing in the tree had a bit to do with that smile.

Lanier's.................2010

2010-12-16T15:06:00.000-06:00

Every year I have the pleasure of photographing one of my friend's children. I have know her and her husband since high school. So I truly love being able to get with them and capturing a wonderful group portrait of their kids...

This is my fourth year photographing her children: Taylor,Maddie and Hinton. We went to the new park in Franklin: The Park at Harlinsdale Farm. This is a beautiful park to visit and has a wonderful view for sunsets.

We arrived there just at sunset to catch a few good shots. I don't have to work real hard with these children...they are naturals in front of the camera.

Hinton request at least one "goofy shot", that I have in the collage, but I absolutely love this shot I called his "MacDaddy" pose. He had my going the entire time!

Every year, I try something different for their shots and every year the get better and better. I have to say these are some of best images I have take to date. Thanks for the loyalty and the friendship Kerry and Mike! Merry Christmas and ......I really can't wait till next year!!!!!

I Heart Faces week 37 competition ..........Vroom, Vroom.

2010-09-13T19:42:00.001-05:00

Vroom! Vroom!

For I heart Faces Challenge, this week is cars....Luckily, my friends and I have, we have a small group and we call ourselves the "Flash Party", like to get together and shoot using models and strobes. Our goals are to get used to shooting with models and learning how to control the light when using studio strobes in an outdoor setting. Here lately, we have been getting together to shoot some Pinup work at a favorite local diner that is big on cars...the cars are outstanding! The work that goes in to some of these is just mind boggling, needless to say, we really appreciate the fact that the owners let us shoot with models near their cars! And the cars are a big part of the image, they help with the feel and look and really can make or break the image....

The image I have chosen below is one of my favorites and I really enjoy the interaction between the models, Caitlin and Jenny. They really got into character for the shoot and were excellent! I would also like to thank the makeup artists that come out and help with these shoots. The overall look is a specific one and to have these women show up, do makeup in the dinning area and nail these looks is incredible! So thanks to Julie Elizabeth for the makeup and hair. Paul Breeding and Adrian David Payne for the lighting set up.

Fix Friday Week # 70

2010-09-12T12:27:00.001-05:00

Here is the next Fix it Friday installation From I ♥ Faces...... Yes I know it is Sunday but as they say....."better late than never."

Ok, I start out duplicating the background layer. Then I run a high pass filter on the second layer and set blend mode to overlay. Take magic wand and select the eye, do a Ctrl+Shft+I(this makes and inverse of the selection). Run the Gaussian blur filter at 4.0 pixels. Now flatten everything.
(this the dodging and burning portion )
Next, hit Shift +Ctrl +U, this turn that layer into a desaturated layer, set blend layer to Overlay. I then give it a layer mask, fill black and paint back with white i the areas I want to keep lighter.
Repeat this process but set blend layer to Screen(this will lighten you image a bit) and keep layer mask white and paint back into the areas that you want to dodge.
Repeat again, and set to soft light for layer blending. Make sure you have the areas you want to dodge and burn they way you like. Now flatten layers.
(to apply textures)
Duplicate layers, open texture file that you like; I am using one with a great bokeh feel to it. Copy and paste into photo you are working on and size for image. Shft+Ctrl +U. Set blend mode to Screen. Make a layer mask, fill it with black and take the brush with white and paint into he areas you want the texture. Now take a gradient fill and add to layer and set at 39%.
Add a layer, fill with texture again. this time don't size, if the file is larger than the image. This allows for some nice variations in size for you texture. Set blend mode to Soft light. Add layer mask, fill with black and paint in with white to get the texture how you like it.
Add a third layer, with a different layer( this is one I made using several textures and a few gradient masks). Set blend mode to soft light as well. Add layer mask and fill mask with black. Now paint in areas you a want to make textured with white. Set Opacity to 76%. I then changed the layers saturation and hue by going to the bottom of the Layer tool and clicking on the black and white circle. I then chose the Hue and Saturation tab. Made my adjustments and then I created a clipping mask to the previous layer of the texture. This way only the hue and saturation of the texture was adjusted and not the entire image.
And Last I add a layer and filled with a Pattern. Again, at the bottom of the Layer's tool, use that black and white circle and click on Pattern fill. I choose a cheese cloth looking pattern and set the blend mode to Soft light. Adjusted the opacity and put it around 28%. Then dodged her eyes just a bit (at around 9%).
Viola!!

Here is right before I will flatten the layers on last time.....

Before......

After......

"Summer Loving.....had me a blast."

2010-09-07T23:48:00.001-05:00

I have decided to get my blogging chops up to speed, I entered the I Heart Faces challenge.. "My summer in review." a story of my summer in pictures.

As to quote Olivia Newton John.."Summer Loving...had me a blast."

This year I had to work pretty much full time at my 9 to 5 job, but when we could, me made sure we got in our summer loving! Whether it was walking on a sunny afternoon, an arts camp with dance, admiring a garden while we had a neck built, or heading to a festival or even the beach.. We made sure we had a little fun.

These are the bits a pieces that made up our summer....

Enjoy our little piece of summer with this collage....

Tristen Loden..

2010-09-06T21:19:00.001-05:00

Here is a sneak peek at the current shoot I did about two weeks ago.
This is a neighbor, Tristen. We had a great time shooting in the field at the end of our street, did some "off roading" in my Honda Civic, and then the downtown area in Portland. I really think these are some my best so far....

Thanks Tristen!

Big News....

2010-06-23T11:58:00.001-05:00

I have a been getting my site redesigned and as soon as it is up and ready....
You guys will be the first to know....

In the meantime I will be updating you all with some recent shoots and my vacation to Florida...

Hopefully I will have something for you tonight.....

Fix it Friday: April 2, 2010

2010-04-03T10:06:00.001-05:00

As you have read , I am participating in a little challenge each week called Fix it Friday from I Heart faces....

This week our photo comes from The Lucas Zoo.

Here is the original....

So I have made a few edits from this one image.

Edit #1...

I first ran curves, I always use and S curve to get he pop I want. Then ran my levels, always increasing my midtones and bringing down my highlights. From there I sharpened here eyes using this process I picked up form Carley Mac.

1.Duplicate you layer.
2.Run High Pass set at 10.0 and with the layer set to soft light.
3.Flatten Image.
4.Duplicate layer and select area around eye using your quick selection tool.
5.Invert the selection.
6.Run Gaussian blur over this layer having your Gaussian Blur set to 4.0.
7.Reduce the opacity of layer to 35%.
8.Deselect layer and flatten.

And that is how to sharpen your eyes without going over board on the sharpening.

Next I ran the Soft Strawberry Glaze Action, by Coffee Shop Presets, on the image to give it the dreamy princess look.

Edit #2.

1.Here I ran my basics on editing. The S curve and my Levels.
2.Then I went to Image, Mode, and Grayscale. To me this is where you get the best looking black and whites.
3.I ran the Curves again, and levels. Making sure to get the contrast I like and I like them rather contrasty so adjust to your own taste.
4.Then I duplicated my level, selected the Rectangular Marquee tool( the dashed box at the top).
5. Set your feathering to 150 pixels.
6.Draw your rectangle to make a nice border for your image.
7.Invert your selected image.(For PC you can hit Ctrl, Shift, & I for a shortcut, Mac is Command,shift and I.)
8.I then used the paint buck with my color selected to black, fill in the area selected.
9. Set layer to 25% or according to taste.
10. Then I ran my levels on more time to make sure my whites pop and then I flatten image and save.

Edit #3... My Hand Tinted look....

1.Always run your basic edits. Curves and Levels.
2.Duplicate you level.
3.Go to Image, Adjustments, then Desaturate. Your image will look like a Black and White.
4.Then select the erasure tool and set opacity to 4%. Yes, 4%.
5.Erase the areas you want to be colored. Do not use the erasure at 100% for the gives a highly artificial and quite frankly too glaring of a edit. I know it is rather popular now a days for this look, but I am trying to make this look as close to a real hand tinted image and they were rather light and pale most times in their coloring. You can increase the opacity for a brighter color.
6.Flatten image when done and Save.

Hope you all like this and feel free to ask any question in regards to the steps. If I might have left something out, don't hesitate to let me know.

Thanks, Jennifer

Fix it Friday : March 26, 2010

2010-03-26T18:40:00.001-05:00

Here is my version of the fix it friday for the I Heart Faces website..
This week I decided to do some real playing around.

Here is the original:

Once I opened the file, I performed the basic curves( always use and s curve), adjusted levels, and then contrast.
To Sharpen the eyes I run this little correction.
Duplicated the back ground layer, did a high pass filter, flattened it. then duplicate the background layer, select the eyes. Duplicate the abckground layer, run the guassian blur at 4.0 pixels and adjust the layer to 35% opacity. Flatten and deselect the eyes.

I then ran CoffeeShop Color Orton Action with Contrast Kick. Then I flattened the image. Then I duplicated the background layer, ran a hue and saturation on the layer
to get a nice pink like purple. Then flattened that layer. Adjust the levels again, putting the middle level at 2.0. I then duplicated the background layer, ran a guassian blur at 10 pixels on the duplicate layer, created a layer mask with reveal all. I then set my brush at 25% opacity with the foreground color as black,
then paint over the areas that you want to keep sharp. Set duplicate layer at 35%( or where you like the softness) and flatten again. And there you have it...

Check out the other edits done by several photographers at I Heart Faces...It is a great insight into how some get the look they have and a few new tricks for Lightroom and Photoshop are always good to have.

Another Preset for Lightroom users...

2010-03-20T06:50:00.008-05:00

I really love my Lightroom. It has allowed me a freedom in editing that I find was truly missing up until now. that said, I also now people find it a bit daunting to figure out...

So here is another preset to help out some of my friends......

Here is my Dreamy Black and White preset. It is to be a bit on the bright side and rather contrasty.

Original:

Preset: Dreamy Black and White:

If you like this preset, you may download it from here.

Enjoy!

Some presets and brushes for the Lightroom....

2010-03-13T15:29:00.000-06:00

So those who know me, know I love Lightroom. I do almost all of editing in Lightroom any more and I have found that the brushes and a few presets have done a world of good for me. So I have decided to post a few of my presets for you to download as well as some of the brushes I have created.

Here is an example of my Sixties Film preset.

Original: Preset:

Here is the link to download that preset.

Now I did adjust the exposure and did some dodging after I used the preset. But that is what is so great about them; you can make any adjustments while you are looking at the image and you can see the immediate results.

And for those who haven't tried to install a preset, here is a great blog that gives some great instructions on how to do that as well as some more great presets for Lightroom.

In a few days I will upload another preset for you to enjoy....

Thanks,
Jennifer

Fix it Friday....

2010-03-12T16:59:00.003-06:00

So I saw the bog I heart Faces, and every Friday the have a mini challenge with a challenging photo to see if you can fix the problem. Here is this weeks challenge...

So I made some adjustments in Lightroom to this image.

I used my "Dreamy Black and White" preset (of my own creation). then upped the exposure to +3.05 and set the clarity to -100.

Then I moved to Photoshop where I used MCP's texture applicator action to apply two textures and then set the image to black and white. I dodged the area around the eyes and burn in some of the areas on the pinball machine. And this is the image I created...

Snow,Snow, and ..jeesh enough already.

2010-02-25T06:42:00.003-06:00

So here in Tennessee, have had one of our first true winters in quite some time. Around our house it has snowed several times and I don't think that the kids actually went to school for entire week solid, for about a month. The one occasion that we received a decent snow, we got about 6 - 8 inches. It was gorgeous. So bright and white...a wonderful blanket that silences everything is envelops. So one morning , after some cabin fever starting to set in, the family got out in the snow and took a walk around the neighborhood. It was early in the morning and the sun was shining bright, making for some beautiful colors and images....

Our house at Christmas...

2010-01-04T15:35:00.001-06:00

Well, I am finally able to ge the images of our house decorated for Christmas up...
I love Christmas and all the lights, personally I don't see why we can't do this all year round.