On that note, I have been getting a lot of inquiries where the first question is always, “where are you located?” I want to take a moment to clear up some confusion. I am located in the Bay Area, However, I also service San Diego. I know it is a little confusing but I spend most of my time in the Bay and I fly to San Diego every 3 months for shoots.

To get things rolling in the bay area I am offering a special (check out the flyer below).  This is for bay area clients only. To book your  session email ashley@ashleymcnamara.com

Our fabulous new mini accordion albums. Aren’t they adorable!?

Last but not least, as promised, there will be another giveaway next week from Yubo Lunch boxes. Topher has been using his lunchbox for the last 2 weeks and I am not kidding when I say they are freaking awesome!

Tamara is a brilliant jewelry designer located in Hudson, WI,  her pieces remind me of Anthropologie jewelry but way better quality. In her own words, Tamara’s “style in jewelry design consists of combining unique elements such as; pieces from old doors and mirrors for their ornate detail, original stamped molds from Paris for their depth and richness, and vintage crystals and ribbons to soften the bold design.”

I personally own two pieces of Sheer Addiction jewelry (you can see my latest goodie pictured below). What I love about her pieces is that they are not mass produced. You will not see someone in the mall with the same necklace.. it’s unique and personal. Tamara has been generous enough let me give away one of her new pieces!  I am soooo excited to share it.

Here’s how to win:

Follow @sheeraddiction on twitter and post

@ashleymcnamara is giving away a @sheeraddiction necklace! Go to http://www.ashleymcnamara.com/articles to win!

once you post leave a comment in the comment box below and we will pick a random winner . You must follow @sheeraddiction + leave a comment in the comment box to win. You may enter as many times as you would like but you must tweet every time you enter.

One lucky winner will be announced on Thursday, Feb, 18th @3pm

The Prize..

AND…. THE WINNER IS?? Comment #3! Congrats!

Thank you to all who participated. I can’t tell you enough how awesome Tamara’s jewelry is I have bought two pieces of my own and will buy many more in the future. Tamara is giving everyone a $20 discount! So everyone goes away with something.

type in coupon code sheeraddiction20 for your discount!

If you didn’t win this time, don’t worry. There will be many more giveaways next up is a giveaway from yubo lunchboxes and then Jamie Schultz Designs!

My latest pretty.

Stay tuned this month for some more awesome Giveaways.

Yubo Lunch boxes and Jamie Schultz designs!

My photographer friend Brianne just had a baby and I was so bummed because I thought I wasn’t going to be able make it to San Diego to photograph her.

I mean it wasn’t like she needed me  because she was in very good hands…  Little Marlowe has been photographed by some awesome photographers since her arrival just 3 weeks ago  luckily,  I was  able to hop on a flight with my husband for an overnight trip and I took the opportunity to crash Briannes place and photograph her little sweetie. Unfortunately, I got in super late and only had 45 Min’s but I was able to get a couple of keepers.

It literally does do everything. I have to tell you though, I wasn’t really digging the camera but who cares its a phone. I had a couple of photo apps that I would play around with but I wasn’t really impressed with the results but like I said, it’s a phone so I wasn’t expecting miracles or anything.

Well, two weeks ago my friend, Amy Boring was in town and I thought it would be fun to hang out in San Francisco. She had been taking pictures with this super cool iPhone app and of course I asked what it was, she tells me, “shake it photo” so I download it and start playing… it’s blowing my mind. Love it, love it, love it.

I brought my 5D Mark II to the city for some shots but the poor thing never left the bag because that app is addicting! Since then, I have taken no less than 300 photos, it’s quickly becoming a problem.. if you have me as a facebook friend you already know this and are thoroughly sick of seeing all of my mobile uploads. For those of you who are not sick of me… Here are some of my favorites.

Side note: there is this cool contest going by Adorama for iPhone photo’s if you’re as addicted as I am check it out.

Ok so SOME is a relative term… I couldn’t narrow it down. I love them all!

A couple of exciting things in the next couple of weeks. GIVEAWAYS by two super awesome companies.

1. Sheer Addiction by Tamara Lines – She makes some of the most beautiful necklaces EVER! Check her out and stay tuned for your chance to win.

2. Sticking to my green lifestyle a giveaway for kids! Yubo lunch boxes! Really rad company, completely new idea regarding lunch boxes. Check them out.

I just completed a baby plan with Miss Orousha when she found out she was pregnant again! I think she keeps getting pregnant to keep me around. Little does she know, she is stuck with me forever!!

I flew to San Diego a couple of weeks ago for Orousha’s maternity shoot and it was the rainiest week of the year.. my last day there was like a monsoon! We just hung out, we spent some time at the house, we spent some time at the park, and then we went downtown to my favorite staircase. If I looked half as cute pregnant I would be pregnant all the time.

Couple of Notes:: I wil be back in San Diego in March for another round of sessions — If you’re interested send me an email through my website.  Secondly I am looking for a couple of Maternity Model’s in the San Francisco area contact me with a photo for details. ashley@ashleymcnamara.com

My little peanut.. she is so petite. I just want to smoosh her face.

Anyways, my resolutions this year were to lose weight, blog more, and be greener. I am down 11lbs, I am blogging more, and…. Confession time–  we just started recycling this year. I feel so ashamed typing that, with all the “go green” in the media and even in technology — go apple! I just cannot believe it took me so long to get on board.

Living a greener lifestyle isn’t as hard as I thought it would be.. it might even be more stylish.

Last week my husband came home from work with two of the cutest reusable bags by a company called Mika&bu.  The thing that I love about these bags are that they are 1. cute 2. super durable and 3. they have a cute little pocket on the inside where you can put cards, coupons, or snotty tissues.. whatever you want… I just thought it was so clever.

Today my be green giveaway is a mika&bu bag! To enter just leave a comment in in the comment box and I will use a random number generator to select a winner tomorrow at 3pm. (I am stuffing a little something extra in the cute little pocket)

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED! This will not be the last giveaway. I am already planning a little something for next month.

TODAY’S WINNER IS SARAH LANE!

10 ways to live greener

1. DITCH GROCERY STORE BAGS!

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 380 billion plastic bags are used in the United States every year. Of those, approximately 100 billion are plastic shopping bags, which cost retailers about $4 billion annually.

Good for you: reusable is cool and now stylish.

2. Change a Light Bulb

Installing a compact fluorescent bulb (CFL) is the quickest, easiest way to save energy — and money.

3. Unplug Things That Glow

Anything that has an LED (light emitting diode) that glows even after you turn it off continues to draw power (that you pay for).

Good for You: Unplug appliances and electronics that glow and you could save $200 a year.

4. Support Local Farmers

Typical grocery store produce travels nearly 1,500 miles before it ends up on your plate. All this traveling burns fossil fuels and results in carbon emissions — a fancy term for pollution. Buying from local farmers means you’re not only getting the freshest food possible, you’re saving energy.

5.  Fix That Drip

When you next fill your water glass, think about this: We each use about 100 gallons a day, enough to fill 1,600 glasses. Household water consumption has increased by 200 percent since 1950.

6. Let Your Grass Grow

Spending less time tending to your lawn actually makes it greener — in every sense of the word. Most grass species fare best when they’re kept at least 2 1/2 inches tall. The length creates more surface area to absorb sunlight, which creates thicker turf and deeper roots, which means you won’t need to water as often.

7. Look for the Label

A household with Energy Star products uses about 30 percent less energy than the average household — an annual savings of about $570.

8. Do Full Loads

Whenever you wash just a few clothes or dishes at a time rather than waiting for a full load to accumulate, you’re wasting water, power, and money. The average American family of four washes about 540 loads of laundry a year, which consumes up to 21,000 gallons of water, and more than 150 loads of dishes, which uses about 1,500 gallons. Let’s face it.. who likes laundry anyway?

9. Audit Your Energy

It’s easier to save energy when you know exactly how much and where you’re using it.

Good for you: On average, an energy audit shows how to save up to 30 percent on utility bills.

10. Recycle Your Electronics

Americans tossed out a whopping 5.5 billion pounds of  electronics — TVs, stereos, cell phones, and computers.

Good for You: Sell unused cell phones to greenphone.com. You’ll receive about $35, and the phones will be refurbished and resold. If 1 million people recycled one cathode-ray tube TV this year, we’d keep 4 million pounds of lead out of the ground.

I was processing photos from my last session and I was having a tint issue. This is an issue I see a lot.. especially with white shirts. Sometimes it’s a blue tint, sometimes it’s a yellow tint, and sometimes it’s red.. whatever the case.. it isn’t cute so I thought I would make a tutorial on how to fix it.  I hope I didn’t go to fast.

Like always, if you have any questions or just want to show some love leave a comment in the comment box below and I will answer you the best I can.

For more tutorials go to the categories tab at the top of the blog and click on “photoshop tutorials”

As it turns out this Bay Area fogginess makes for the most perfect soft light. Here I was.. worried sick about change, I didn’t have my sunny San Diego sky, I didn’t have my normal locations, and I didn’t have the pier!  Here I was worried about the quality of light and all of this time spent worrying, I missed out on some pretty awesome stuff. I shot in one square blog about 3 mins from my house.. In San Diego it would have been at least 25mins of driving to get all of these cool textures. They say change is good, I think they’re right.

I have had a pretty awesome year.. I have made some new life long friends, I have had THE BEST clients ever this year, and we moved from the sunny south to the foggy north. I can’t wait to see what 2010 brings in my new city!  

As for my wonderful San Diego you will be seeing a lot of me in 2010. I will be in San Diego January 16th-18th and again at the begenning of March.  Inquire about special travel pricing.

The McNamara Family Resolutions

Colin – “Get another CCIE.”

Ashley – “Shed some pounds and blog more”

Kylie (11) - “Be true to myself.”

Topher (4) – “To bounce my ball into space.”

Step 1: Open Photo

Step 2: Select the Magnetic Lasso tool.

Step 3: In the “feather” box put in 5 or 10 pixels. This is going to soften the edges of your Lasso tool.

Step 4: Using the magnetic lasso outline the iris of each eye. Once you outline the first iris hold shift and outline the second iris.

Step 5: Once the iris of each eye is outlined right click and select “Layer via copy”

Step 6: On the eye layer go to filter, other, and high pass

Step 7: When the high pass box pops up, use the slider to select how sharp you want the iris. I have mine set to 34.5 pixels. Once you press OK the iris will look sort of weird but don’t worry. Move onto step 8.

Step 8: Once you select OK go to your layers pallet and make sure the eye layer is selected and select “soft light” in the drop down box.

Step 9: Once you have soft lighted the eye layer the eyes should be sharper/glassier. If you want to enhance the effect even more you can do a curves adjustment on the same eye layer.

Now you’re done! Easy Peasy! Here is the before and after.