Giveaway by ColorInc

I have been eyeing up the Sweet Suite of Actions by Life Camera Actions for a couple months now...waiting patiently for the day that my savings account grows enough for me to splurge on such an awesome set of actions. I JUST found out that ColorInc Professional Photo Lab is hosting a giveaway of said actions. Anyways, please check out both ColorInc AND Life Camera Actions for more info on the giveaway and about their amazing products and services but I'm not gonna lie....lol...I hope I win!!!! (Yet I've never really had very good luck with giveaways, the lottery, etc etc...so realistically I'm going to have to continue to be patient until the day my bank account screams..."NOW! GO FOR IT!"...pretty sure that day is going to change my photography for ever! lol Sooooo looking forward to it!

PURELY Spoiled

I wanted to give a shout out to "Pure Photoshop Actions" (www.purephotoshopactions.com) tonight because I LOVE their actions and use them all the time and tonight they reached 5k fans and marked the occasion by giving away their newest action FREE! The ladies that have developed these actions are extremely talented and generous women and deserve so much credit in making so many photographers out there look good through helping us with our post processing. Tonight I did a quick before and after using soley PURE actions (mainly Brighten that Baby Up, Reduce that Red and then Spring Blush - their newest action that if you go quickly to their "Welcome" tab on Facebook you can enjoy as well)  besides a bit of  skin touchups with the handy clone tool.

THANK YOU to the ladies over at Pure Photoshop Actions and Congratulations on your 5k facebook fans! 

Laura + Ryan

I had the privilege of photographing this sweet couple on New Years Eve; it was a great shoot to end 2010 on and made me excited for what's to come in 2011. Laura originally got in contact with me about organizing this shoot because she was approaching an exciting change in her life and she wanted to leave her boyfriend with some nice photos of the two of them to keep her close to his heart despite the distance and time that they will be facing being apart. Tomorrow Laura is leaving on a jet plane for Australia where she is starting medical school this month. At this point in time Ryan is staying here in BC but those plans may possibly change as distance makes the heart grow fonder.  Although we had tons of fun on the shoot and there was LOTS of laughter there were also tender moments between this couple where I felt like I was photographing their goodbyes. They obviously have something very special and I wish this couple all the best.  Enjoy the sneak peak of the photos that I've done thus far of this couple. Thank you Laura and Ryan for ending my 2010 on a high note!

Santa Baby, Hurry Down the Chimney Tonight!

First of all let me wish you all a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope the holidays have been good to you! It was a memorable year for my family and I as we all ended up with a nasty flu bug that had most of us out of commission on Christmas day but still Santa came and went and was good to us all!

The month of December was an insanely busy month for me and as much as I adored the photos that came out of this shoot I couldn't even find a few spare moments to upload a few of the photos so these are a little late but I had to make sure they still got posted because they were just too cute! Obviously these are only a few of my faves. If you'd like to see more go by my facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nicole-Watts-Photography/125918994101071 where you can see the rest. I hope they bring a smile to your face the way they did to mine!

Blessings to you and yours in the New Year!

Florabella - CHOOSE ME! PICK ME!

Shana Rae from Florabella Collection makes some beautiful actions and textures for Photoshop users. I love her stuff and use it all the time in my post processing. Florabella is currently looking for testers for Shana's next set of textures coming out and I'd like to be chosen! What an honor that would be?!?! She's also doing a giveaway which would be amazing to win as well. Here's a couple of samples of some photos I've used Florabella Collection on as well as the recipe I used.

-in this image I used Actions from the Spring Set I; Wheat and Wisteria (both at 100%)

-I also used the "Little Blue Book (warm)" texture from Texture Set I

-in this image I used Florabella's B/W Mink (100%) from the Luxe Action Set & Champagne Texture from Texture Set I

-I used the Snap & Crackle Actions from MCP Actions on this image

-I also used the Florabella Merlot (bw) Texture at 100% from Forabella Texture Set II

Check out Florabella Collection on Facebook and on their website http://www.florabellacollection.com

An Afternoon at the Park

Little Ella - 11 Days old and Totally Alert

Today I had the opportunity of photographing another precious little newborn named Ella. She was so tiny at only 11 days old yet was bound and determined to stay awake and alert the whole hour and a half that I was photographing her for. She was completely adorable. 'Thank You's' go out to her mom and grandma for having patience with me and allowing me to intrude in their day and keep little Ella up (although not my intention ;) for the time that I was there photographing her. Enjoy the Sneak Peak. More of little Ella to come soon.