High School Senior Session featuring Haley

This was my 1st senior session of the year and a GREAT one at that! Haley was a pleasure to work with! Not only is she gorgeous on the outside but on the inside too. She has a love for her dogs who she says is graduating with her this year as she has had them since she was in 1st grade!

Haley is a Senior at Shikellamy High School and plans on attending Bloomsburg University after graduation.
She shows a flare for fashion and her hair is something to be jealous of!

Thank you Haley for choosing me to be your photographer. I enjoyed photographing you on our day out and I wish you the very best after high school!

Before and After Edit

Hello world! This would be my first time sharing a before and after edit and I am pretty excited! I am pretty new to photoshop. I have been using Adobe Lightroom (which is totally awesome and a MUST HAVE) and Corel Paint Shop Pro X & X4.

In Lightroom, I cropped my image,  I reduced the noise, and cloned out the food residue on his face. I then transferred my image over to photoshop and duplicated my image. From there I used the patch tool for under his eyes. I dodged and burned his eyes to make them pop. I burned his lips and also the grass behind him. I added a selective color mask to my image {REDS> cyan +70%, magenta +8% , yellow -13%, and black -20%)

I am not the greatest at writing a tutorial and if you don't know how to use photoshop I encourage you to try!

Senior Guide

Today I wrote up a senior guide for an upcoming client. I hope you find these tips helpful! Next week I hope to share a few images from the session!


1. Get plenty of rest the night before your session! While I enjoy watching "The Walking Dead" on AMC - I'm sure you don't want to act like it for your session!

2. Make sure to have a fresh coat of paint on your nails/toenails or even a nice manicure/pedicure. There will be times where your hands may be close to your face and you don't want the focus to be chipped nail polish.

3. Clothing choices! I suggest picking everything out and trying it on a day or two before your session to have everything planned out ahead of time. Keep your clothing visually simple. Don't bring outfits with words or designs, stripes or pictures, except possibly your school logo. You want your face, eyes, and expression to command attention, not the words on your shirt. Solid colors are recommended for most or all outfits. Group your outfits together on hangers (including accessories). Make sure items are ironed and ready to go. Please make sure the colors of your undergarments do not show through your clothing. Have a strapless bra on hand in case. Again, trying your clothes on ahead of time should help you!

4. Accessorize! Accessories come in many forms and can change the entire look in a photo. Accessories that can be easily put on or taken off are great things to bring to your session. This includes jean jackets, cardigans, blazers, hats, necklaces, scarves, bracelets, purses, and shoes!

5. Apply your makeup normally. While it is tempting to glam it up for photos, you still want to look like you. Bring your makeup along with you for little touch ups

6. Go with a practiced hair style. There is nothing like a bad hair day and there is nothing worse than a bad hair day during a session. I suggest wearing your hair like you normally do day to day.

7. Practice facial expressions in a mirror or with a friend or family member. The goal is to appear natural and upbeat. Full body photos are taken too. Standing, sitting, or crouching in a relaxed manner are some options to try out.

8. Personalize your photos with props! This means if you are a book worm, in sports, dance, your pet etc. - bring what describes you!

9. If you become sick or ill - call me right away to reschedule!

Low Key Lighting.

Lately I've been fascinated by low key photography. The low lighting is so gorgeous on a subject.While I typically shoot with 2-3 lights in my studio, for my first low key shoot I used just one main light. My son is my wonderful model in the photos below.

We did his session around 7pm. I have a very large bay window in my studio that lets in a lot of light. I wanted to wait until it was pretty dark outside so my studio wouldn't be as bright. 

I love the shadows low key shows.

Sweet Mini Session!

Spring is ALMOST here in PA! I can almost feel it! What better way to break out of those old sweatpants than to have a mini session! Mini sessions are 30 minutes of fun! You will receive 10 digital images, a print release, and an online gallery!* If you are looking to take family portraits, I suggest an outdoor session! If you are looking to take milestone photos of your little one, now would be a perfect time!

*Mini sessions do not include newborn or high school senior sessions.

See my work over on Facebook or visit my webpage!
Amber Gardner Photography

Thank you and see you soon!
Amber Gardner

Angry Bird Birthday Party!

I feel really OLD! My oldest son just turned the big double digit 10 this month! I seriously don't know where the time went or what happened to my baby! We decided to just have something small at our new home (those pictures will come later). Our house hold goods arrived on Friday before the party so I busted my butt to try to at least get our downstairs situated for all to see.

My son wanted to have an Angry Birds party theme. If you have never played it that may be a good thing as it's a bit addicting. I found a great 'cake lady' to make my special boy a one of a kind Angry Bird's cake. He thought it was so awesome and I did too!

We had an "egg hunt" outside. If you know the game, you know the piggies steal the birds eggs (which is why they are "angry".) Everyone had fun doing that. Sorry I don't have any photos of the egg hunt and I was guiding kids around the yard. 

We also played "Angry Birds" outside! I took some old cardboard boxes we had lying around and wrapped them in craft paper from the dollar tree.  Then I just took a sharpie marker to draw wood lines on them. 

I need the piggies to be much bigger for outdoors, so we blew up green balloons 

and drew the pig faces on them. 

Totally loved it! And I cannot wait for the weather to make up its mind and bring SPRING weather here again! Then we can do it outside again!

Senior Rep - Coming Soon!

{I'll be looking for 2014 High School Seniors soon!}