Last Friday I told you guys about Loralee‘s great idea to have you sweet peeps submit photos for me to edit/give tips on. My plan was (is) to talk about separate photo topic, and also take one (or two) of your photos and tell you what I would do to edit them.
Then Loralee went and sent me a swack of SWEET PHOTOS from her EUROPE TRIP.
So?
For today I will use all of her photos and tell you what I normally do in my whole editing process.
A little background first, for those who care.
I use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to do the bulk of my editing. It is AMAZING. And also? Not cheap. I have just been wading around in it and trying out the occasional random Internet tutorial. Christy ordered me a guide about Lightroom for my birthday and it should get here today. Squee!
I then plunk my photos into Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0 (It is the scaled down version of Adobe Photoshop CS3 (which I downloaded the trial of, and was scared poopless overwhelmed by)) (Holy brackets, Batman!) to add my watermark to photos.
I know that there is so. much. MORE. that I can do with Elements, but the unlimited number of Internet tutorials is a little overwhelming. Where to start?
Yesterday I took the plunge and ordered the Photoshop Elements 6.0 book by Scott Kelby, because The Pioneer Woman recommends his books. She is hands-down one of the best photographers on the planet. If she recommends him? I trust her.
The book will be released (and shipped!) February 4th. Squee!
Onwards!
I would like you to meet Loralee. Here is her SOOC (Straight Out Of The Camera) shot of her beauteous self.
Isn’t she purty?
I plunked her into Lightroom.
Photos SOOC are often flat. I start with bumping up the contrast a bit. If it is not a photo of a person, I will often increase the “clarity” or “sharpness”. For people (especially for people of the geriatric age of Loralee and I) “clarity” can often mean “harsh and old-looking”.
So I just bumped up the contrast. Easy, and simple. Just like I like it.
Here is a photo that Loralee took of Big Ben.
A good shot, composition-wise, in my humble opinion. Once I had it in Photoshop, I bumped up the contrast and the clarity.
Just a little better.
She also took this sweet shot.
Loralee? You told me that your composition sucks. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?
You are making this too easy for me.
All I did with this one was bump up the contrast and clarity. Yawn.
I am hoping the rest of you can give me a challenge.
She also took this cute shot of a storefront.
I played with clarity and contrast…and a little cropping. But the cropping? Made it BORING. S0 I undid the crop.
To make it better…I might have zoomed out a bit to get more detail of the stores on either side. I have seen tutorials available to straighten crooked photos but I am too lazy busy to actually try one.
This last shot is a pretty water/sunlight shot.
One thing that would have been good to use in this situation is a lens hood. A lens hood prevents glare and lens flare. Yes, you can edit the glare out if you have made Photoshop skillz…but it is much easier to just use a lens hood. My lens came with a lens hood and I was all, “WTH?” and fired it into my photography cabinet (Yes, I have an entire cabinet dedicated to photography) until I took some sunlit shots one day and was bombarded by sunlight orbs.
Aha!
Preventing the orbs/glare is what the lens hood is for. It is also a good tool to let your toddler chew on play with so you can get some blogging work done.
I did what I could with Loralee’s photo, but did not edit the glare out.
I just bumped up the contrast, the clarity, and the recovery. Again? I think the composition was stellar. Maybe Loralee should be the one giving the lessons.
If there are any of you out there who really DO need help, leave me a comment. I’ll email you back and then you can send me ONE or TWO photos…so that I can spend some quality time telling y’all what else I have been learning.
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In other non-Foto Friday news…remember that bed set that I was all tormented about, because I wanted the matching sheets?
I went and ordered the complete set.
Yes. Yes, I did.
And it arrived yesterday! Woot!
It is EVEN BETTER THAN THE PICTURES PORTRAY.
My sister offered to buy the extra quilt and sham for my niece. So the cousins? Will be all matchy-poo.
Emily seems to have taken a liking to the set.
Our joint excitement almost makes me want to put her in a Big Girl Bed already.
That is crazy talk, I know. I plan on keeping her in her crib as long as humanly possible. I am thinking that five is a great age.
What?
Happy Friday everyone. Let me know if you want some photo help. Or just tell me HOW EXCITED YOU ARE that I got that set for Emily.
I really need to get a life. This I know.
HEE.
I probably should have sent you one of the photos I took of my nostrils on that trip.
I will say how happy I am that you are using this idea. AND that I saw it before I took the plunge i my feed reader and hit “Mark all as read”
It only took me two days to work up the courage, but I did it. Now someone needs to come pry me away from watching episode after episode of “The Gilmore Girls”. Sigh.
Loralee’s last blog post..Neglect and Blah, blah, blahbitty blah?
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PLEEEASE FIX MY PHOTOS.
Heather B.’s last blog post..The 50MM Story
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Great photo-editing skills Angella. I edit my photo’s too, but I never quite know if I’m doing it right. I have lightroom, and CS3, and even though I am a big time computer nerdynerd that can program, design databases and write stored procedures, photoshop totally intimates me. SO COMPLICATED.
I end up eyeballing everything until I “think” it’s ok, but I definetely want to get in there and feel confident that what I’m doing is actually producing good results.
Karla’s last blog post..A Choose Your Own Adventure in Bedroom Decor Story
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Karla, I hear ya. I’m continually amused by the fact that I can write in multiple computer languages, use a bunch of different scientific computing programs, and even handle myself in a linux environment (that one took awhile), but Photoshop confuses the crap out of me.
Angella, for easy straightening (and some other easy & quick tools), you might want to look into Picasa. It’s very user-friendly and a great way to keep photos organized. (And free!)
Loralee, your photos are gorgeous! I especially love that last one.
Emily, you are the cutest. Tell your mommy you want that big-girl bed, and you want it soon! =)
ashpags’s last blog post..Spontaneous Combustion
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ME! ME!
It’s going to be tough to pick just one or two of my crappy photos, but I’d love the shot.
Thanks
She Likes Purple’s last blog post..FAQ (or, once-asked questions)
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Yeah… Loralee’s nostrils with more clarity and contrast! Just what we all need!
Those are great edits though, the depth added to the photo of Loralee was so simple yet so effective. Nice work!
Jill – GlossyVeneer’s last blog post..Signs of the Season
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Good job on the editting. Can you do me a fave and check out those pics I had editted and posted onmy blog and see what you think about what I did. I plan on taking a bunch more this weekend and playing, I’ll post when I’m done those ones too and see what you think. Oh, and I’m glad that you got the whole set…now I can the quilt and sham…hehehe
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Me me! I want help with a photo.
I have Photoshop and have no clue how to use it. It’s so so sad.
Kristie’s last blog post..How to get fab abs.
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Oh those are gorgeous shots and you made them better! Go you!
I’ll send you my 500 from our trip
What? Too many? What you mean you don’t have that kind of time?
Tee hee!
Kami’s last blog post..The other side of the coin
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those are some great pictures. Maybe I shouldn’t be too lazy to edit mine…
Elizabeth’s last blog post..I reached into the toilet bowl?
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pottery barn…*drool*
ali’s last blog post..the beach for the beach
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I am SO excited that you got that set for Emily! As I was scrolling through ebay yesterday I came across what I thought was the set that you had ordered – and it came with EMILY embroidered on it. I was gonna tell you about it, but then forgot … but you already have it so WOOT!
I love your Foto Fridays – I totally like this one – I’m going to use it as soon as I get home! (I mean of course I don’t read blogs at work! hehe)
Jen’s last blog post..This post has no title
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Sweet the sheets came!
Having to wait to use them is a bummer, but it will be exciting all over again when Emily dose go into a big girl bed!
Kristin’s last blog post..Larry Boy.
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That bed set is adorable, girls are so fun! (So are boys, in a blue and green sorta way.)
Ashley’s last blog post..Mini Magoo
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I am sensing a repeat of “Hair Thursday”, with pictures, but equally long wait times.
I would LOVE to submit some photos to you!
Also, I think, because we are submitting pictures to someone who knows how to use a camera, we are all going to submit our best pictures, to impress you. Which doesn’t give much room for improvement, ya know? But that’s just me.
Alexandria’s last blog post..Its me!
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Okay. Clarity and Contrast..Clarity and Contrast…my new mantra. (Although it’s a shame to replace Cheetos and Cabernet…Cheetos and Cabernet with anything.)
Thank you for the recommendations!
And a friend passing by my computer said, “Hubba Hubba” to the Loralee’s picture.
Happy Friday! Wheeeeee!
The Over-Thinker’s last blog post..Kickin’ It Old School….Andy Rooney Style
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Angella, you can straighten in Lightroom… very easily. In Develop, when you open the crop tool and the bounding box shows… just point your cursor to the corner of the bounding box (not over top the corner, but just outside). The cursor will change to an icon that has two back and forth arrows. Click down on the corner and slightly rotate the photo. When you do this a grid should appear to help you eyeball it up so your main line in the photo is straight.
Plus, I’ve been meaning to tell you… I am a Photoshop Queen (in my mind). No, I just know quite a bit about the program. You can email me anytime if you have a question.
reddirtroad’s last blog post..From Irregular to Regular
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I would take a liking to that bed set pretty quick too! It’s amazing what editing can do to a photo…I’m going to go see if I have any pics to send! (Well, I know I have them but it’s a matter of picking!)
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I just got The Missing Manual (book) for Elements 6.0. I’ll tell you how mine goes if you share your experience with yours:) I love Foto Friday, though it’s made me realize my non SLR little camera with its manual options is not quite as capable as I thought it was…but it’s all good. I have elements to play with:)
Erin’s last blog post..I want, I want, I want!
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Like Erin, I also got the Missing Manual (book) for Elements 6.0. It looks really easy to understand and user friendly, but I haven’t actually USED it yet, so I hope it is.
And your friends pictures are beautiful to begin with..but with those edits, well, they just pop. You have educated me once again. I just don’t know how you find the time to do it all!!!
Thanks for the advice. I need all the help I can get.
Dana’s last blog post..Real Quick
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