Lauren Bee

Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.

Filtering by Tag: section AL family photography

My PhotoShop Escapades - Huntsville Alabama Fine Art and Conceptual Photography Artist

I've been an artist for decades.  Whether it's the endless unicorns and mermaids I drew as a child (I'm talking notebooks full!) or the two years' worth of pastels, acrylics, and graphic drawings and paintings I created in college as a Fine Arts major, I've always felt this near-manic drive to create visually.  Even when I was a writer, my words attempted to invoke the visual-emotive through effusive comparisons, similes, and allegory, words flooding the page like a thousand drops of liquid rainbow, mingling with a thousand more splashes of warm honey-glitter.  (See what I just did there?)

I suppose it's only natural that something inside of me shifted when I began to use a DSLR to full effect.  At first it was just playing around with a Kodak point-n-shoot, but then the Nikon D3100 became "a necessity", followed by the D7000, the D7100, and now the FX D700 (two of them -- yes, two).  Don't even get me started on the quest for quality glass;  my current obsession is the Sigma Art line, the 35mm 1.4 being the most frequently wielded weapon of choice.  

The learning curve didn't stop there.  Along with self-propelled education in the use of manual mode and Kelvin white balance, I ripped through editing software with a hunger akin to Edward Cullin on a vegan diet.  Lightroom was a very good investment, along with a few Creative Live classes, watching assorted and sundry YouTube tutorials, and picking the brains of several excellent photographers.  It's been painful and maddeningly frustrating at times, with sudden stops and starts, moments where I just didn't understand (!!!) and even the occasional (violent) urge to just quit it all!

And all of that in just four years.

Around this time last year I signed up for Creative Cloud.  And then I just quietly paid the monthly fee, terrified to dip my toe into the waters of all things Adobe.  I wanted to try Photo Shop;  truly I did.  I just didn't know where to begin.  So I didn't.  I just stared at it.  Weeks went by, more payments made.  I tried to find the time to start playing with the buttons and whatnot... but it was just so terrifying, so daunting.  So I ignored it.

Until about eight months ago, when my creative spirit just sort of said to me, "Lauren, look.  If you procrastinate any longer, you're going to stagnate -- and artists don't stagnate, you hear?  'Cause when they stagnate, they die.  Long, horrible deaths, moaning and wailing in pits of darkness and despair and --"

And that's when I told my creative spirit to shut-it because I got it (and she was being way too melodramatic anyway .... which yeah, is what creative spirits do...)

So I started playing with Photo Shop (PS).  The first few attempts ended in tears and much bemoaning to a friend who is very well-versed in PS and who just swore up one side and down the other that it's pure magic.  Bless her, she tried to explain some things to me, but I just was not getting it.  I didn't even know words for things, so I couldn't so much as Google for information.  I mean "how to use that swipey thingy that does The Thing in Photo Shop" didn't yield such great results.  Still, I tried and tried on my own, hacking and sawing, reading up on things, watching more tutorials, taking more Creative Live classes, hacking and sawing some more amid wailing and gnashing of teeth ...

And then, one day, it just started to click.

I began layering things, adding on textures and pushing buttons and using brushes (I think that's what the swipey thing is called), creating clipping masks, adding and manipulating text, and, and, and ...

I also found that those long-distant semesters spent in Fine Arts school started to pay off.  I brushed up on my fairly decent understanding of shading, lighting, shadows, and two-dimensional depth, making the painting in of finer details an intuitive process.

SOOC on the left;  final Lightroom + Photo Shop edit on the right

SOOC on the left;  final Lightroom + Photo Shop edit on the right

As my confidence grew, my ideas started to gain some steady momentum, becoming more grandiose by the week.  Ranging from the dark and emotive, to the light and whimsical, one day it was fairy wings and solar flare, the next day it was head swaps and 19+ layer composites with excessive Gaussian blur.  It became a sort of game where I dared myself to see if "it" could be done (whatever "it" happened to be at the moment) -- and that creative spirit of mine, not one to back down from a dare, said to me, "Challenge accepted."

I have so much more to learn and so far to go -- but I can't wait to learn all the things and go all the places PS will take an eternally budding artist!  I've even got my sights set on Adobe Illustrator;  I hear it too does miraculous things -- and miraculous things, that's where it's at!  I love more than anything the process of creation, of plumbing the depths of a human heart and pulling forth beautiful and amazing worlds and emotions and stories.  They've been there all along, but the act of bringing life to it all.... this is why my creative spirit exists.

I can't wait to learn more and more and expand my body of artistic work!

SOOC on the left;  final Lightroom + Photo Shop edit on the right

SOOC on the left;  final Lightroom + Photo Shop edit on the right

Want to see how I do it?  Enjoy this warp speed video of an edit, below:

I now offer my clients the option of a custom, fine art edit, through HERstory.  Partnering together, you and I, we create something truly one-of-a-kind:  a blending of my imagination with your soul, story, and unique beauty.  It's a gorgeous process, one that yields gorgeous results.  If you think you'd like to join forces and create something amazing, let's chat together and see what kind of glorious magic we can dream up!  Working with you will be such a blessing!

Contact Lauren at:

lauren@laurenbee.com

(256)605-6722

Scottsboro & Huntsville AL Fine Art Portrait Photographer - "With Brave Wings She Flies"

Meet Jan: a brave, beautiful woman with a heart for God and for people.  Jan lost her husband a little over a year ago, and as with any loss, the grieving process has been an uphill climb.  But climb she does, and with such strength, reaching out as she does to other widows and souls experiencing unimaginable pain.

Jan requested a celebratory photography session for herself and for her daughter, Maria -- and I was so pleased she came to me.  The lighting was beautiful, the two women were gorgeous, and the Autumn air couldn't have been more perfect, there at the overlook in Section, Alabama.  Mother and daughter talked to me of heart things, shared their ups and downs, and enjoyed the discovery of common interests (traveling to Ireland and India -- and Doctor Who).  In between clicks of my shutter, we spoke of books, of faith, and I believe cake was also mentioned.  I know I had a lovely time photographing these two stunning ladies, and I couldn't be more pleased with the end result:  fine art portraiture highlighting love, light, and a feminine spirit.

Maria's ink is the loveliest thing:  a sweet message in her dad's handwriting.

Maria's ink is the loveliest thing:  a sweet message in her dad's handwriting.

The love they share was so apparent.  Jan is obviously an amazing mother -- and Maria is a pretty terrific daughter.

The love they share was so apparent.  Jan is obviously an amazing mother -- and Maria is a pretty terrific daughter.

Isn't Jan's watercolor tattoo the most gorgeous thing?

Isn't Jan's watercolor tattoo the most gorgeous thing?

"With brave wings, she flies."

"With brave wings, she flies."

Young Family -- Scottsboro AL lifestyle family photographer in Section Alabama

This family!  Seriously, if it was at all possible to fall head-over-heels in love with a sweet young family and wish you could adopt them into your own family, I choose this beautiful gathering of people.  Pair a totally smitten couple with their two absolutely adorable children -- dimpled smiles and dancing blue eyes -- with a gorgeous Autumn day, and what do you have?  You have the makings of a perfect lifestyle family photography session, that's what.  I love my job, I love this family, and I love the blessing of being able to capture this precious time in their lives together.  Such bliss!

Would you just look at that adorable little top knot of perfection???

Would you just look at that adorable little top knot of perfection???

I'm such a sucker for a daughter who's wrapper her daddy around her sweet l'il finger.

I'm such a sucker for a daughter who's wrapper her daddy around her sweet l'il finger.