Thursday, February 16, 2012

A little editing fun

It's no secret I have a lot to learn when it comes to editing. I've been forbidding myself from using actions... not that I think actions are bad... it's just that I want to concentrate, force myself even, to learn how to actually use photoshop on my own. I want to apply changes to select areas verses an overall effect ,which most actions do.
So here is an image I've been playing with... let me know which is your favorite edit. They are somewhat subtle differences. I really find myself drawn to cream and dreamy looking photos so that is what I'm attempting here.

SOOC- original image (a bit underexposed):
Photobucket

"Clean" edit- cropped, stray hairs removed, under eye circles (thank you asthma) diminished, chapped lips somewhat smoothed, brightened a tad, white balance warmed a tad, added a flush to her cheeks:

Photobucket

Creamy Edit 1- applied to background only:
Photobucket

Creamy Edit 2- applied to everything but subject's eyes:
Photobucket

I actually enjoy the editing process... in the world of digital photography, half of the process takes place after you have set you camera down. Ideally, the completed look of the image is already envisioned before the shutter is clicked and the editing simply follows suit. In this example, I did (unfortunately) underexposed in camera. My excuse was that is was 35* out and we were both cold! I'm learning though that underexposure really costs you something when it come to nice skin tones.... no amount of tweaking in photoshop can make up for a well exposed image from the start.


Love,

1 comment:

Lorena said...

I had to keep looking at them all over and over again to try to decide.

I think I finally made a decision!!

The last picture is my fave.