My recent recovery from a Bunionectomy afforded me some downtime…time to address some NON life shattering but pressing issues…
Namely..improving the quality of the photos of my ARTWORK on my site (leslidevito.com) and UGALLERY.
The OVERHAUL has been LONG overdue …I knew I needed to take better photos and I kind of knew where to begin…and then… because life can be so crazy serendipitous…I stumbled upon a blog…with an artist..who did a post on photographing her work!!!
The lovely Kerry Steele, of Design Du Monde did a post entitled
I followed a link to
LimoStudio-Photography Photo Portrait Studio 600W Day Light Umbrella Continuous Lighting Kit
and then I went to another site, also suggested by Kerry…1000bulbs.com and bought the biggest light bulb (she calls it the Queen of all bulbs) I have ever seen! Of course, I prompty broke it, but not before I took some amazing shots….the difference is unbelievable…

This was the first photo I snapped, at night…no prep, I just set up the lights and snapped away…AND the HITS just kept coming !

……so after I broke the bulb I bought 2 more….lesson learned…the shipping is almost as much as the bulb…BUT stays the same for more than one bulb so buying more than one will help you save..especially because the lighting stands are very tipsy and I am relatively clumsy …and then there is…the puppy.
I spent yesterday afternoon doing retakes of all of my UGALLERY listings…and here is one of my newest…they should all be up on the site next week…what a difference some light make eh?????
for MY UGALLERY LISTINGS I NEED 4 SHOTS
1. FULL SHOT

2. SIDE VIEW

3. CLOSE UP

AND LASTLY AND MY FAVORITE TO COMPOSE…
4. ROOM VIEW (PAINTING IN A ROOM SETTING, NOT PHOTOSHOPPED)

…while I still have loads to learn, the simple addition of good lighting makes a world of difference…OH how I wish I had these lights when I took all my baby shots! There is an Art to where the lights are PLACED and aimed to prevent reflection and glare…and all sorts of tricks I can learn and do and plan to SHARE to enhance my photography …but this simple and affordable step (lighting $54.50 (3 bulbs included) and the Queen of all bulbs – $18.00) has been the best place to start for me..immediate results are always a confidence builder for me!!!
Many of the sites I read recommended Adobe photoshop for further editing, but I just use picmonkey.com…I pay a nominal fee (under $5) a month for the PRO package and it is really all I can handle!!!lol…Photoshop will come…later.
Here is one more NEW PAINTING…APRIL…PLEASE VISIT UGALLERY NEXT WEEK TO SEE ALL OF MY NEW PAINTINGS!!!

XOlesli
Did you ever find yr dog, i remember hearing it had ran off….sans collar?
i hope so —sorry in advance if that is not the case
I enjoy your blog
take care,
Mary
Hi Mary, No our dog Dash has never been found. Thank you for asking. We miss him every day…it is almost his birthday. We hope that he is safe…somewhere and pray that one day he will come home. xo