Amanda's Photos

Location, Location, Location

2011-10-20T10:57:00.000-07:00

It's important to chose a good location for your pictures. What's good for you, might not be good for your neighbor or your grandma, but it's good for YOU! They are your pictures, you get to decide how they should look. Here are a few of my favorite locations around B'ham. They might not be your favorites, but that's what makes the world go round. ALSO still working on this silly blog layout, I can't stand it right now but maybe I'll work on it today.

These pictures are just more recent ones so I might include lots of the same person to show you different options:

Downtown B'ham down an ally way

Random downtown building in parking lot

another ally way down from cool window

across the street down another ally

behind the Viper room and parking garage

the abandoned GP building. might have to get around a fence or two :)

Hovander driveway area. trees are intense.

birch bay

Hovander again, they have lots of cool places

I already showed you these stairs but this is them from down below

There's a 'secret' beach with an abandoned boat

Semiahmoo Resort on the beach

Semihamoo resort over by the old buildings

A 'hidden' bridge on your way to Semihamoo

Tennet lake fields

Whatcom Falls

Whatcom Falls again

Green Acres Cemetery in Ferndale

Cool wall in Green Acres Cemetary

Another bridge in Green Acres

some fairhaven bookstore with a cool staircase

All these last ones were taken at Boulevard Park, my NEW favorite location!!

So there are some of my favorite places. Although there are many more!!

Under Construction

2011-10-08T18:07:00.000-07:00

I have been neglecting this blog for too long!! I plan on changing it around a bit so ignore the funky layout and things that aren't spaced correctly. Hopefully I can get it figured out in the next week.

Here are some pictures since this IS a photography blog. Hopefully by the time I'm done it will be more like a gallery instead of individual posts. There will (maybe) be categories for each subject ie: families, seniors, babies etc...

Baby {A}

2011-03-21T21:47:00.000-07:00

Maybe I'll have to try a reshoot and maybe she'll be asleep! haha she's SO cute!

Fix it Friday #86

2011-02-11T09:23:00.000-08:00

Fix it Friday original photo

My color edit

My black and white edit.

I don't have much time to process this morning but I at least wanted to do something. Check out I heart Faces to see other entries!

Fix it Friday #83

2011-01-21T10:54:00.000-08:00

It's fix it Friday again over at I heart Faces. Here are my edits

Original

My first edit

My second edit

Usually I spend a little more time but all I have today is ten minutes so that's what we get I guess haha. It's a bummer because I think there are some cool things that could be done with this photo. But I really have to go, so no recipe since that requires time!

Fix It Friday

2011-01-14T09:52:00.000-08:00

I haven't done a Fix it Friday for awhile, I was having photoshop issues for a little bit of time but I decided to do one today so here it is:

Original- SOOC shoot

just a few minor improvements to brighten up the photo


This one is a little warmer and a little funkier.

Head on over to I Heart Faces to see more edits of this photo

Instagram Fun!

2011-01-09T15:45:00.000-08:00

If anyone has an iPod or iPhone I would suggest this free app called Instagram. It's an app for your iPod's camera that allows you to edit your photos with some pretty cool effects instantly. Then you are able to save them in your device and upload them (if you choose) to Facebook or twitter etc... all with just a few clicks. I LOVE this app. and I have used it almost everyday since I got it a couple months ago. The last few years I've tried to do project 365, where you take a photo everyday and print them and journal about that day...well needless to say, I've never completed it, I got to May once but got too behind in my organizing to complete it. But this is a little different and WAY easier. I just take a photo with my ipod which is always with me and edit it right then and there, save it with the date and it uploads easily to my account where I can access it anytime. Usually I have too many photos from one day to chose which one I want for my photo of the day so I think I can actually complete project 365 in 2011! I'm really excited for this. To be able to look back on my year in photos will be pretty cool.

(The photo above is from last Thursday when I was at the Mt. Baker Theater for their production of Wizard of Oz, it's the cool ceiling above the theater seating)

{M} Graduates!

2010-11-17T21:56:00.000-08:00

My cousin Mariah is a senior this year so she needed some senior pics. We had decided to do them today but then the morning was just dumping rain so we thought we were gonna cancel. Then the rain stopped so it was back on. Then it started raining again....well by the time she got here it had stopped raining and the sun came out a little bit. PERFECT day for pictures. It was overcast for the most part and the sun down by the water was wonderful. The only downside...FREEZING cold. Poor Mariah wasn't dressed for warmth. But I think it was worth it we got some good shots in! Let's hope the weather forecast is wrong wrong wrong and it doesn't snow this week!

{M} Family

2010-10-07T15:37:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I got to take pictures for this cute family. We went all over downtown (which seems to be my go-to place) and Elizabeth Park. It was the PERFECT day, it was cloudy, not windy and not too cold. Plus their daughters are completely adorable and smiled the WHOLE TIME. such genuine smiles for every picture. I always take a lot of the same pose because people love to blink but there was probably only 2-3 photos where someone was blinking so I had a lot to choose from!

Thank you guys! I'm working on getting your CD done tonight!

If you would like to book a session it's the perfect time of year and the trees are amazing right now. Also if you chose one of my packages take $10 off your total price for the month of October! Just email me: amandapeckphotography at gmail dot com (spamming purposes it's typed like that).

Heading Out

2010-08-27T09:41:00.000-07:00

so I mentioned in my last post that I was packing. I am heading to Utah for a few weeks! My brother is going into the MTC for his mission to Santiago, Chile.

Now here are a few photos from the very quick photo shoot I did last night with some friends. Their family has this amazing barn that is my new favorite place to take pictures!

Fix it Friday #68

2010-08-27T09:18:00.000-07:00

I haven't done a fix it friday in a long time. i've been so busy so today before i start my packing and craziness I thought I'd do one last FIF for the next couple weeks (unless where i'm going has wireless? hopefully). so below is the original image:
here's my first edit:

and my second edit:

and just to compare i did the side by side thing. i love photoshop! and I Heart Faces!

JJ Squared

2010-08-05T10:40:00.000-07:00

So blogger has it out for me i swear! I've tried 4 different times to get these pics uploaded and they just don't work! so I was able to get 2 photos uploaded if you would like to see more you could head over to my facebook group page ;) i'm still trying to figure out how to use that group stuff but i'm getting there.

these are from my aunts wedding on bainbridge wedding a few weeks ago. the lighting was terrible but we made it work. sun isn't the best photography tool around.

Fix it Friday #64

2010-07-30T09:53:00.001-07:00

it's Fix it Friday time again!

the above is the original image and below are my two edits.

I heart Faces Purple Challange

2010-07-26T08:13:00.000-07:00

heres a picture from my aunts wedding on saturday. i usually don't do the selected color thing but i thought i liked it with this photo. that is her daughter putting her shoe on her.

Fix it Friday #63

2010-07-23T07:48:00.001-07:00

here's the fix it friday original photo for the week over on I heart Faces.

here's my first color edit

and my 2nd black and white edit.

Over my Head contest

2010-07-20T10:24:00.000-07:00

I Heart Faces is having another contest. i'm not sure if this really qualifies as "over my head" but i'm ok with that. i think it fits just right. i actually have some plans for photos this weekend that might better fit the theme but by then it will be too late :(.

Fix It Friday #62

2010-07-16T09:07:00.000-07:00

It's that time of week again! I just got back from camp and although I actually kind of miss it, it's nice to have my computer back ;). I might have to try the "unplugged" life more often though. the above photo is the before and these two are my afters:

i usually write out what i did but i'm way too exhausted to think about it. i meant to still be asleep right now but my body has other plans. i guess i'm getting ollllld....although today IS my birthday! happy 23rd bday to me!

can you say over the hill much?!

Fix it Friday teen edition #2

2010-07-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

It's time for Fix it Friday again! the above image is the before (i did not take this photo)

and below are my afters:

i love using color actions on black and white, i think it gives it a fun dimension. here's what i did for this one:

Boost 100%
Sunshine 16%
Seventies 74%
PW B&W 100%
Punch-Out! 100%

Burn out 5%
Punch-Out! 32%
Seventies 100%
Boost 100%
Pross Crossed #2 16%

Sunshine 34%

All Actions are PW or TRA

Making it Offical

2010-06-23T21:59:00.001-07:00

my new photography postcards came today (thanks Vistaprint!). They have my new prices and information on them. If anyone would like to "book a time" feel free to email my spankin' new email address: amandapeckphotography at gmail dot com (typed it like that for spamming purposes FYI).
Next month is filling up FAST. like in super fast. August is pretty open but September won't be open much at all since I'll be in Utah hopefully most of the month.
If you would like to request a postcard I am willing to send one to you just let me know your address (through email :)) and I'll get one out to you!

Senior Challenge

2010-06-21T07:59:00.000-07:00

another i heart faces challange. in about 2 weeks i'd would have a lot more to chose from though. haha.

Fix it Friday Baby edition

2010-06-18T09:35:00.000-07:00

this is my second week doing the I heart Faces fix it friday. i have a lot of fun doing them so you might see more through the weeks.

the above photo is the original photo i had to work with this week and here's my edit for it:

my process:

i added a grunge Polaroid texture with screen mode (sorry can't remember where i got it but it was free ;)) then masked her skin so the grunge wouldn't show up
PW's Seventies Action 100%
PW's Boost Action 100%
PW's Vintage Action 35%
TRA Calire-ify 25%
TRA Pross Crossed #2 15%
PW's bring out the eyes 32%

Before & After {B} Family

2010-06-17T14:03:00.000-07:00

I took photos of this cute family today. We met at Hovander Park Gardens and got a few good shots, even in the rain!
here are some before and after's.

and one more of baby {A} with his daddy :)

I Heart Faces baby challange

2010-06-14T15:08:00.000-07:00

here's my entry for the I Heart Faces baby contest. the sweet reagan and ember.

Fix It Friday

2010-06-11T10:11:00.000-07:00

I found this blog the other day and i LOVE it. They have a fix it Friday where they give you a SOOC photo that you have to edit. here's what I did. (kinda technical sorry)

original:

edit 1:

PW- Boost 100%

TRA- Claire-ify 86%

TRA- Big Blue 60% (only on top left corner)

Route 66- Crisp Chip- 14%

TRA- Punch-out 100%

TRA- Pross Crossed 2 36%

TRA- Get Faded (Summer) 32%

TRA- Burn-Out 40%

edit 2:

same as above except I add Boutwells Dirty Picture- Mercedes Diamond texture at 80% then erased the texture from their skin.

I hope I did this right, no idea though.

S&S

2010-06-09T09:46:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos from an engagement shoot I did this weekend. It was way to sunny (if there could be such a thing these days). Loved the weather except for the 2 hours i took photos haha.

I hate when I realize how little I actually know about photography so classes here i come!...again

if anyone is interested i used Totally Rad Actions by the Boutwells and their Dirty Pictures Texture plug-in. love them.

I'm a Big Kid Now!

2010-06-02T10:33:00.000-07:00

last night i got a wild hair to make some business postcards. i decided the front should be a picture and the back would have my prices and whatnot. i got a prettttty good deal on them too which is extra nice. these are the ones i chose not to use. I made 3 different ones thinking i could order 25 of each but then only ended up being able to print 100 of the same design. so i chose another one that i won't put up here yet, i want it to be a surprise!

these pictures of the pratt family are probably some of my favorite. and i think it's about time for another photo shoot since that little baby she's holding turns 2 today and there's another little baby now!!

i won't post the backside either yet, i'll wait until the real ones get here. i'm super excited. i hope they print fast!

Archives #2

2010-05-29T21:42:00.000-07:00

Into the Archives #1

2010-05-28T22:57:00.000-07:00

I took a lot of pictures before I started this blog so I thought it might be fun to go through all my old folders and post some old pictures that didn't make it on here. here are a few for today.

Camree gets Baptized!

2010-05-11T15:50:00.000-07:00

this is camree 6 or so years ago.

this is camree now:

she was so embarrassed to have her picture taken in front of "all these people" there was really only 2 people walking by but that didn't stop her from smiling. she was so happy to be getting baptized and kept saying how happy she was to get her picture taken and how she couldn't wait to do this again...i'm assuming "this" meant her own photo shoot.

i've been babysitting camree and her brother and sister since they were babies, that's about 10 years now. so she is used to my camera in her face from the time she was a baby. her mom wanted her to do a few serious photos with no smiling but every time she tried she just got a bigger smile on her face. she said she couldn't not smile while i was there haha. i guess i'm way too goofy. anyways here are a few more photos from her very own personal photo shoot!

we did get one or two serious ones. but you can kind of see the smile trying to get out.

this reminds me of a fairytale

it's so weird to see them so grown up. i am so glad she got baptized and she is too! thanks for letting me take your picture!

2010-05-06T21:27:00.000-07:00

technical difficulties. i have a fun post i'm trying to make work but it's not working. it's driving me nuts. so maybe i'll figure it out tomorrow. also i will hopefully have a price list posted soon!

Baby Ember

2010-04-01T10:53:00.000-07:00

congrats Wilson family! Ember is so stinkin' cute! here are a few favorites from the day.

Baby Jordyn, Deranged Goose & Alphabet Soup

2010-03-11T13:02:00.000-08:00

my cousin had a baby in January so one day i brought my camera over to take her pics but only got 4 because they had to leave early :( so this was pretty much the only one that turned out.

baby Jordyn yawning. awww

i took Shelley to the park yesterday to work on my new project and this goose attacked us. seriously it put it's head down and started running at us. hahaha i guess you had to be there but it freaked me out at the same time it was hilarious. They are not nice animals and they have TEETH. i never knew it. it followed us around the WHOLE park and to my car, he wouldn't leave us alone. i named him Aslan.

and finally this strange picture is the letter J in my alphabet project. i take photos of things "out in the wild" that look like letters then use it to make words. So far I have a J...that's it haha. I'll work on it and update later.

so this was random but i felt bad for not updating this blog for a long time.

Wilson Family

2010-01-24T21:28:00.000-08:00

we had some amazing weather yesterday. perfect timeing for my photoshoot with the Wilson family! today it's miserable and pouring so we got kinda lucky.here are a few of my favorites from the day:

love the W or A ;)

thanks guys for letting me practice on you!! i appreciate it! side note: still going strong on my 365 project. fingers crossed it gets done this year! i just need to remember to organize them as i go.

Progress

2010-01-12T10:33:00.000-08:00

if you can believe it i'm actually doing this one photo a day thing again. i haven't missed a day yet. when i did this in 2008 i skipped one day and i thought my life (project) was over so i just stopped. now i realize if i need to i can fudge a little bit but so far i haven't missed a day. some photos might look like the one above from my DSi but i'm ok with that. as long as it's a picture right!

Project 365 take 2

2010-01-04T22:04:00.000-08:00

in the year 2008 i decided to take one photo each day. i did REALLY well for the first several months then i got WAy behind on printing them and putting them in order so i only got jan-june done so this year i have made it my goal to start and finish project 365.
what i have to do is each day take a photo that either depicts what that day was like or try to take some "artistic" type photo just depending on the day i guess. last time i think i left it to the last minute too often so this year i plan on keeping track and making time for it.
i tried taking a photo every day in october...it didn't work out but i hope to make it work this year. only time will tell...on to 2010!

412 Excuses...

2009-11-09T19:45:00.000-08:00

well not really that many but you get the idea. october ended up being kind of a sucky month and my photo project was strong for the first 2 weeks or so then petered off. way too much stuff happened and i couldn't get caught up. now it's november (yikes!) and i'm sicker than a dog and sore so i don't want to post anything. ugggggghhhhh. so that's all you get. i'm only posting b/c i'm so boreeeed being in bed ALL DAY literally. so this pic is not from october but whatever.

10.8.09

2009-10-09T09:38:00.001-07:00

yesterdays photo of the day is from a photo shoot i did with a family in the morning. unfortunately yesterday was a very sunny day and that's not always best with photos so we made it work. i chose these pictures b/c this was some old weird statue we found on the WCC campus we were trying to figure out what it was but couldn't. oh well.

10.7.09

2009-10-09T09:32:00.001-07:00

i'm playing catch up today i suppose it's been a busy couple days. on wed. i had to come up with something to teach about photography...well i didn't really plan anything so i just had them ask questions and it ended up being pretty lame but in all that time i guess i forgot to take a real picture of the day. this was a practice picture to get my settings back on track but it's a picture right! whatever the 7th will just be a throwaway day i guess.

10.6.09

2009-10-07T10:22:00.000-07:00

i tired to post this last night but my internet went down right as i got on dangit. oh well it's not very cool. i need to start taking picture when there's daylight. maybe i'll try that today.

this is my CTR ring. i'm running out of things inside to take pictures of.

tonight i'm "teaching" about photography to the YW group at church...i have no idea what i'll say or do but that's what i'm going to figure out now. yikes. i don't know what to do!!!!!

10.5.09

2009-10-05T20:53:00.000-07:00

is this what i look like when i take pictures?! GOSH. look at that weirdo face i make. sorry to whoever has had to deal with that before. maybe since i don't wear mascara this is the earths way to make me make funny faces without meaning to. (you know how girls make weird faces when they put that stuff on their face? it's not intentional but you can't help it). anyways i decided to take a picture in the window reflection but that's not the picture of the day this is,

it's an old coke bottle crate my mom has. i ran a dirty picture texture on it for fun. weirddddd pictures i am taking for this project. whatever at least i'm following through with something.

10.4.09

2009-10-04T15:40:00.000-07:00

I love spiderwebs. a lot of people are creeped out by spiders but i don't mind them. of course i don't want it crawling on me but if i see one in the house i'll catch it and release it back to the "wild".

today i was going to pick shelley up and saw this on my deck so i grabbed my camera when i got home and took some pictures. there were bigger and better ones a few weeks ago but i didn't take pictures...:(

creepy

10.3.09

2009-10-03T21:49:00.001-07:00

Today's random image is of a blanket i'm knitting. that's what i get for waiting until late to take a picture...again. oh well. i just saw the movie whip it. it was pretty darn funny but i can't take pictures of a movie so this will have to do. i think i screwed up the settings on my camera yesterday so i'll have to figure it out before i take senior pics for a friend tomorrow :\

also, it's pretty cold around these parts (my house) since i guess it's against our religion to turn on the heat before Oct. 31st. so maybe i'll knit some arm/hand warmers to make knitting a little less cold.

p.s. sorry you have to put up with this random junk i won't be offended if you point and laugh at me.

10.2.09

2009-10-02T12:21:00.000-07:00

here's todays kinda creepy picture of the day. it's a half dead dill flower with a creepy ladybug hanging out on it. i'm doing good on this project so far. but it's only day 2.

Oct. Project

2009-10-01T22:29:00.000-07:00

SOOOOOOO i haven't posted in awhile that doesn't mean i haven't taken pictures though, quite the opposite actually i just don't have time to post the thousands of pics. i have taken but maybe I'll catch up eventually (longest run on sentence much?!). on to why i posted today. i decided 12 minutes ago to do a photo-a-day project for October since it's my favorite season. my plan is to take a picture everyday and post it here...some days i might not have time to post but I'll for sure take a pic. each day. i took two tonight b/c i wanted to. these aren't anything special AT ALL but it was what i could find at 10:30.

a random chalkboard....? ok this will be an interesting project i guess

and my 45 adapter necklace that kinda looks like the light fish from finding nemo a little bit.

well i kind of promise the other pictures will be better....?! hopefully.

Cattle Point Wedding

2009-07-16T20:50:00.001-07:00

on Monday I went to Cattle Pt. in Friday Harbor. I took pics for a very low key wedding. I'll tell you what, low key is my favorite and I don't think I ever want to go back! there were like 10 people there and it was so nice and special. here are a few pictures from their day, i have lots and lots more to edit. I may be going too funky for most people but hopefully they will like them. So far I've edited most of just the bride but i have a few with both of them.
Looking at these pics now I'm a little nervous that they are too over the top...maybe i'll stop experimenting and just do some normal ones. haha

Family Pictures!

2009-05-01T10:51:00.000-07:00

here are some pictures from a family shoot i did last weekend.

Fight the Shun take 2

2009-04-07T19:42:00.000-07:00

since all the boys in my brothers band are still in high school, we took advantage of spring break and went downtown for another photo shoot. they are kind goofy but that's ok. here are just a handful of pictures. i really don't want to upload any more although there are lots.

of course we had to do the abbey road imitation...but as soon as we got to the cross walk, 100 cars came so it was quick and nobody could decide who wanted to be paul mccartney and take their left shoe off so all shoes were left on. it didn't turn out too good so we are going to try finding a less busy crosswalk at another time. we spent lots of time in alleyways today. we went around 11...BAD TIME! it was an amazingly nice day...but in photography land it kinda sucked. oh well. there may be more coming of these guys.

Fight the Shun Album Shoot

2009-04-05T12:15:00.000-07:00

My brother is in a band with some friends and they are going to be recording an album next week. We decided they needed some real band pictures. Yesterday we were all down in Mt. Vernon for the Battle of the Bands they competed in (they were the youngest there. here is an article from the newspaper). Afterwards we stopped at a cool old bridge to take the pictures. We didn't have time for the more elaborate photos we were planning those will have to come next week maybe.

Adriana & Michael Engagement

2009-02-23T14:54:00.000-08:00

I was asked to take pictures for an old friend from High School. Adriana and Michael met their junior year (my senior yr) in English class. It was a joke between a few of us and Adriana that Michael was kinda goofy and a know-it-all but now we know he's a nice guy. So a couple "bathroom books" and scrabble games later they are engaged. In a few months time I'll have pictures from their wedding but for now here are some engagement photos:

In Honor of my New 50D

2009-02-08T21:29:00.000-08:00

I made this blog so I can post my pictures here instead of crowding my other blog with long picture-y posts. I don't know if I should just start from here on out or post old pictures. I might do a combo of both. We'll see.
I want to be a photographer when I "grown up" so any and all critiques are appreciated.