Getting Started {The Picture Perfect Project}

Welcome to the first Picture Perfect Project link up of the year! 

Ever since Beth asked me to join her in this link up, I have been planning what I would shoot (Kinsey and Brielana), where I would shoot (outside), and why I was shooting (to preserve this fleeting time of life called childhood). But what I would shoot with took major thinking. You see, I don't have a real camera. I use my iPhone and granted it isn't the ideal situation, but until I save up money for that DSLR, I am making the best of what I have.

Luckily (or not? lol) Liz is in the same boat as me and she did some investigating and found out Manual app is great to use for full control over the iPhone's camera settings and at $2.99, didn't break the bank. After some playing around with the settings and finding my groove, I have used it practically every time I take pictures, which is almost every day!

On to the Photos!

In these two pictures Kinsey is my lovely model; both were taken a mere minutes apart in the front yard during the morning. The picture on the left is just using my iPhone camera, the one on the right is using Manual app. 

                                     Settings: unknown        Settings: AP 2.2 ISO 32 S 1/313

Holy cow what a difference! Having control over the settings just brought so much more warmth to her coloring.

Taking advantage of the sunshine! For the life of me I can't find the settings anywhere. Kinsey's eyes just pop in these photos!

Settings: AP 2.2 ISO 40 S 1/159

Oh, Brielana. If you look hard enough she has two little flecks of dirt on her lower lip. Forever putting all the things in her mouth.

Later that same day we got some more sister pictures, this time in the backyard:

Settings: AP 2.2 ISO 160 S 1/200

I love how Brielana is the focus and how soft Kinsey is, but for the life of me, I don't know how that happened?! ***After reading Laura's post the other day, I realized it was due to my small f-stop setting (2.2) Thanks Laura!***

Settings: AP 2.2 ISO 320 S 1/23

This was inside the car and she just looked so dang cute in her scarf I had to take a picture.

Editing:

As much fun as I have been having taking better quality pictures, I also made it a goal to get better at editing. I decided to purchase Afterlight ($1.99) after so many great recommendations and have been enjoying playing around with it. Turns out I need just as much help editing as I do learning how to take pictures using manual settings! Haha.

Here are some side by side before and after pictures:

I just brightened up and added some saturation to my favorite picture and made it that much better! Now I'm not one to toot my own horn, but this gives me hope in my abilities. 

My only qualm with this picture is how light her hair got. Everything else is great. I love how her eyes are now green instead of muddy brown, I love the pink of her lips and the clean black and white of her scarf. Pro photogs, is there a way to adjust the hair issue?

Again, brightening and saturation adjustments. Kinsey's hair is a little hazy (is that the right word?) but I like it so much more!

And there you have it! I'm still working out a bunch of kinks but I feel 100% confident that by the end of this year I will have improved my photography and editing skills. Such a feeling of accomplishment (maybe I should wait til the end of the challenge to write that, eh?)

Now it's your turn to link up! I look forward to gleaning some pointers and ogling some beautiful pictures! Thanks for joining us! The Picture Perfect Project link up is open until January 31st. You can also join us on Instagram using #ThePicturePerfectProject

An InLinkz Link-up

Beth//Courtney//Desiree//Elizabeth//Stephanie//Me