A couple people have asked me how I did the profile pictures of my kids. So I decided to do a little tutorial because if you are anything like me you like to see pictures along with instructions.

This is very easy. It just takes a little bit of time and patience.

First get a profile picture of your subject. Ryan's was easy to get. Sarah on the other hand was a little more difficult. I just followed her around and took lots and lots of pictures. I should have had Ryan get her attention (he's really good at making her laugh) and that would have saved some time for sure.

Next I used my photo editing program. I know there are lot's out there. I wish I could say I had Photoshop but I can't stomach spending that kind of money...maybe someday...{sigh}. Anyway, I use Corel Paint Shop Pro X2. I've really liked it. The only down side is that it isn't compatible to our Mac laptop so I get stuck in the office editing photos :(.

All I did was erase everything I didn't want included in the photo with the Background Eraser Tool.

I started off with a large circumference and then got smaller as I got closer to the face and hair. The more you zoom in on the image the cleaner the resulting silhouette will be.

Once you've got the background erased you then adjust all the settings.

In this program I go to Enhance Photo --> Smart Photo Fix.

Next darken everything. You'll be able to easily spot any areas you may have missed erasing. I also added some text with their names and year.

And there you have it. I absolutely love the results!

Let me know if you try it and how they turn out. I'd love to know!