The Wonderful World of Photoshop

This is the SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera) picture, which I think is a rather nice shot, but I wanted to see if I can get a little more *WOW* out of it in Photo-shop.

I thought a little soft focus (Gaussian Blur) would make a more dreamy setting, I also found the excessive reflections in the eyes to be a little distracting. If you look closely in the left eye (your left, not his) you will see my camera lens (the large circular blob), a sliver of my head sticking out above it, my elbows stuck out like I'm doing the chicken dance, Calvin's play gym (the long arcs around the pupil), the blue sky behind that, and oh look, I can even see some clouds. This is what I would call, too much detail. So, I took the paintbrush, set it to black, dissolve, and an opacity less than 50% and brushed over certain areas; eliminating the "excessive" detail, but still leaving enough to incite interest.

While I was at it, I also enhanced the colors by minor tweaks here and there.

Now, I truly love this rendering but I also wanted to see what else I could do with it. So, I tried Black & White (84%).

Now, what about a full Black & White make-over?

Breath-taking...but what about Sephia? (less than 50 %)

What about a little more? (84%)

Oooh...love that vintage look.

Now what if...instead of softening the eyes I sharpen them using a tip I learned off The Pioneer Woman?

Interesting...which one is your favorite?

It's All in the Eyes

As I said in my last post, the eyes should be the center of focus in most portraits. Follow the eyes, consider where they are looking and what they reflecting. There is a story within every eye because the eyes contain emotion, depth and inner thoughts. I find this especially intriguing with babies. The photos below were taken outdoors in the soft, evening light (Only the first one is edited) and I think they do well in capturing the wonder of creation through the fresh, new eyes of a baby.

Beautiful Eyes

Have you ever noticed how striking babies' eyes are? In portraits, the eyes should typically be the focus of the photograph, especially when it's of babies. I just never get tired of those big, beautiful eyes.

The picture below is mostly unedited other than just a hint of Gaussian Blur.

A Gentle Touch

These are the photos I started with:

Then I added a soft focus.

I have tried before to create this effect in photoshop but I could never get it quite right. After using several brushes, blurs, and combinations, it looked rather nice but it was not "the" soft focus I was looking for. Well, that has changed. After doing some basic research online I have at last discovered the technique, and it is surprisingly simple.


Follow these 5 easy steps and you can do it too!

1. Open your photo in Photoshop and duplicate the background. (You should now have 2 identical layers)

2. Select "Gaussian Blur" from the Effects panel and add to the top layer.

3. A window will pop us asking you to pick a radius. Select a radius of 4-10. (4.0 for low resolution photos and 10.0 for high resolution.)

4.Look like an out of focus picture? Good.

5. Make sure the top layer is selected and reduce the opacity to 50%
When I did this my jaw dropped open. This was exactly what I have been looking for! It was beautiful!!!!

Now, Experiment. Try different radius levels and different opacity levels to obtain precisely the look you desire.

On the Photo below I added one more finishing touch. I took the paintbrush, selected "dissolve", the color white, and a lower opacity. I then painted around the border of the image to lighten the shadows and bring the focus back to Calvin's face.

Now Compare:

Improvement?


I have used black and white photos for examples but of course, you can also do this on color photos, here are some more examples:











Soft Focus does not "fit" all photos but it is another tool in your toolbox for the ones that do.

Baby Photography

"There's a baby in our house..."

Cute New Baby=Endless Photo Opportunities

Here are some tips I've learned over the last couple of weeks:

1. As much as possible try to avoid using the flash (unless you have an exterior flash that you can bounce off of another object) use natural light instead.

2. Try Black and White, it's more forgiving, and adds such a gentle touch.

3. Try Photographing them in a car-seat or stroller so they are in an upright position.

4. Be ready to catch those ever-changing expressions.

6. Use colorful blankets as backdrops.

7. Get Close.

8. Be Creative. A baby's face is not the only subject worth noticing.

8. Someone holding the baby? Great, even better.

9. Remember, they don't have to be awake.

10. Think, Contrast. Cute outfits do help. :)

Now go find a cute baby...sorry this one's already taken. :)