Are you ready for the next fab post in my series about Makin' It Work?
Of course you are!
Head on over to Texas Chicks Blogs and Pics and I'll tell you all about the shooting situation that absolutely gives me nightmares and how I've just had to Make It Work and ended up with some beautiful artwork...like this lovely portrait...
And in case you missed the first posts you can find them here...
I've had so much fun this summer getting to photograph lots of High School Seniors!
I like to get all the fun poses with my Seniors but it's great to get a little bit Glam too with the girls!
Here's a portrait from a recent session that I just thought was lovely and it was very easy to edit.
First, I opened up my image in my brand new Lightroom 3!! I've just started working with this program and it's quickly becoming part of my regular workflow. The white balance adjustment is wonderful but so far my absolute favorite tool is the CROP tool! It Rocks! ...you know I love me some good cropping ~
I would never have been able to figure out this program though near as quickly if I hadn't taken Erin's online LR classes...they were incredible! I learned in 2 nights what I'm sure it would have taken me months to figure out. Run quickly and sign up for those classes!
I adjusted the white balance in LR on my original photo...
Then I added a Jessica Drossin texture at about 65% to add some dimension to the background. But I didn't want it on my girl at all so I lassoed around her entire body and chose Filter - Blur - Gaussian Blur to keep the coloring but blur the texture on her skin. The coloring was a little too much still so I erased lightly part of the texture off completely...that's what the gray part is on the layer mask:
Next I wanted to add some contrast so I ran a new *fab* action by Patti Brown...Oil Painting. It's thebomb for portraits! I reduced the opacity of the Oil Painting layer to 25% and erased even more off the eyes so they stayed somewhat sharp...
Finally for just that extra pop I ran the Coffeeshop Vivid 2 action and chose the Soft layer for a little extra brightness...
And here's my final ~ lovliness ~
Honestly every image of Kayla was pure perfection with or without any editing I may have done...she's just such an incredible girl and WOW! what a fantastic model!
You can check out below her cool little video I made that shows more of her lovliness:) Enjoy!
Warning: the music on this one will stay in your head ALL DAY!
So after 2 years of debating and agonizing and fretting I finally got some new editing software, Adobe Lightroom 3.
Actually, it really wasn't that hard of a decision. My oldie but goodie Photoshop Elements 6 is still doing a fabulous job but I was wanting something with more of an organizer. And I wanted a little more control over the basic editing processes like white balance, clarity, and all the other practical stuff. Plus after seeing that a whole slew of photographers I admire use LR3 as their beginning editor it was a no-brainer to go ahead and upgrade from Elements.
I actually got a *fantastic* deal on the upgrade from Amazon.com! If you have any Adobe products make sure you register themand you will get discount offers all the time from Amazon and Adobe to upgrade!
So a few days after I got the disc I installed all the software, opened it up and was ready to Jump....Right...In! NOT!! Within seconds I realized that unlike Photoshop and Elements, which have the same interface, Lightroom and Photoshop look nothing alike. Yikes. Which is exactly why I headed over to Texas Chicks Blogs & Pics and signed up for her Lightroom online classes.
If you're new to Lightroom or just want to utilize every little feature, you need to check out these classes. Erin knows all the ins and outs of Lightroom and Elements and she generously shares awesome tips every week on her blog. What I enjoy most about Erin's teaching style is that she breaks down every step and really gives details. She often includes helpful screen shots in her posts like this one...
I can't wait to actually do a live online class with her! I'm doing both the beginning and advanced classes and they're coming up THIS WEEK so check them out and sign up now!
CLICK HEREto link to all the info about her classes and see what we'll be learning at each one.
They last about 1.5 hours each and they're cheap! Be sure to tell her wayoutnumbered sent you!
...and if you've got any fab Lightroom tips I'd love to hear them....share your wisdom and Wish Me Luck in my new venture ~ We'll see if this old dog can learn new software!
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