Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Tips for Better Photographs - Part 4


Post Photo Editing

Perhaps I should save this post for last, because it's what we do last, but because this post also involves Father's Day, I didn't want to wait too long.

To me, this is one of the most fun parts of photography. This is where a person's creativity can really shine through. Let me take you through a step-by-step process of how I edited the photo I framed for John on Father's Day...

A few days ago, I came across this scene in our bedroom...

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While this is a really cute photo, I knew it needed a lot of work. The first thing I did was to open it with the basic Microsoft Office Picture Manager and remove the color saturation to make it black and white.

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Next, I cropped it. After all, I really didn't want John's breathing machine in the background...

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Next, because I removed the color, which can often leave a photo too dark and monotone, I brightened it...

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...then adjusted the contrast...

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The next step was to load it up into my blog photo server, Photobucket. Here, I softened the faces...

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...then added a dark, faded border around the frame to really highlight the faces and remove more of the clutter in the background, including the pillows...

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Okay, done!

The next step was to print it out, let it dry overnight, frame it, clean John's office, which hadn't been organized since we moved in nearly two years ago...

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...and set it up on his desk...

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Incidentally, we also organized and cleaned his closet, where I had been storing 7 trash bags of baby clothes, various plastic boxes that he been opened and dumped out by unnamed children, 20 pairs of unorganized shoes, and who knows what else...

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Nice!

So what are some of your favorite photo edits? If you have a link to one of your posts, I'd love to see. Leave the link in the comments! Here are some more of my faves...

Before...

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After...

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Before...

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After...

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Before...

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After...

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Thanks for listening.

Today on 365 Days of TV-Free Toddler Time: Rolling Sprinkler Time!

Today on life in mexico {and other places} a picture a day: {gladiolas}

8 comments:

Emily Heizer Photography said...

Ok, I'm not sure if this counts as cheating since I actually do this for a living, LOL, but I do have a post I wrote a couple of months ago about how I got to my editing style and that has a couple of examples too. I love looking at before and after photos, so fun!

Here is the post:

http://eheizerphotography.blogspot.com/2010/03/before-after-and-little-faq.html

But actually, I have another one you might like to look at as well- it's just an example of all the different ways I can edit an image, I like that one too!

http://eheizerphotography.blogspot.com/2008/12/howd-ya-do-that-editing.html

Emily Heizer Photography said...

I have ONE more editing post. Is this what you were looking for?

Just pictures in this one though:

http://eheizerphotography.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-many-ways-can-you-skin-cat.html

:)

The people throwing leaves on them, LOL dude, totally random people walking down the sidewalk who were all, "Hey, you want us to throw leaves on you?!" LOL LOL LOL It was great!

The Farmer's Wife said...

Love your pictures Jen! I have been wondering about Connor and his mission call...has it come?
Hope all is well with you! Hugs!

Lynn said...

WOw! Those were nice Father's Day gifts for John. What was his reaction? How did you get him to notice? OR did you just take him to each spot to show him?

Mom2my10 @ 11th Heaven said...

FW, no, he has not received his call yet. Any day now!

Mom2my10 @ 11th Heaven said...

Lynn, he very much liked his gifts! As for the closet, he noticed on his own, but since he never went into his office, because it was completely unusable what with all the packing boxes, I took him to see. Definitely worth the effort!

Jb said...

Wow! That sleepy picture is so beautiful! You could go pro any day now!

Expat Mom said...

What a great gift!

I have this picture which is my favorite of my youngest son: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4056/4677927641_f8214c0e6d.jpg

I like to play on Photoshop, though, so I go a little overboard sometimes. You can see all the crazy experiments I do here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/16989534@N02/sets/72157605056410105/