Entertain me

written 14 weeks, 2 days

I know I'm due for my 14 week update....I'll get to that soon. First, I wanted to talk about pictures. It's not much of a secret that I love them. My friends call me Paparazzi after all. When Joe got me my DSLR for our first anniversary, I was hooked. I started reading everything I could about my camera and photography. It's nothing more than a really fun hobby for me though. Shortly after learning all I could about my camera, I got Photoshop (CS4 edition). Editing became a big part of my photo process. I spent hours upon hours watching videos on YouTube and reading blogs for step by step instructions on how to improve a picture. You will never see a picture from me that hasn't been edited in some way in CS4. (Except for in this post!)

Here are some examples of my editing. (Sidenote: I can't believe I'm actually showing you these. I feel like I'm standing naked in front of a thousand people, which just so happens to be a reoccuring nightmare of mine...but I digress.) Also, most of these are pretty drastic to give you an idea of what can be done to make an okay picture really great. The "snapshots" that I take on an average day are usually not processed this much.


Example 1: Cutie pie, Alaina! As you can see in the original, the blanket didn't cover the screen and I had to keep the exposure (or light) low in order to not blow out her shirt and make it "glow." Whites are one of the hardest things to photograph because the exposure can be easily blown.

Edited version: I fixed the blanket dilemma by cropping the picture a bit so that you couldn't see the carpet, but I also did a trick in photoshop called cloning where I basically copy an image of the blanket and extend it to cover the rest of the canvas. Obviously, I was also able to bring up the exposure as well. You can see her eyes so much better!


Example 2: Reese and Raya! The original had a bit of a blue tint to it which can happen when you don't manually set your white balance in camera. It was also dark so as not to blow out the girls white shirts.

Edited version: I edited the blue out by manually adjusting the white balance, upped the exposure and also did a color boost to the leaves. They were really dead looking and not pretty so I just brushed on some color to make the leaves pop.


Example 3: I had Rachel take these for our Christmas card last year and I wanted to make the process simple so I set all the settings before she started snapping away. As you can see in the original, exposure was great for us but the sky in the background is overexposed and bright. If the settings had been correct, you should see blue sky and green grass.

Edited version: I decided to crop the overexposed sky out along with the not so pretty dirt road. I also added a black and white to this because I wasn't sure how much I liked the red barn with our outfits.


I wouldn't call any of these super fantastic but I think there is at least improvement to the originals by a little bit of editing. I know I have so much more to learn and with no plans to make this anything but a hobby, I'm happy with the direction I'm going.


With that said, let's get to the "entertain me" part of this post. I have a secret. A confession, if you will. When I'm bored, I "borrow" pictures from google and edit them. It's mostly for practice when I'm not taking pictures as much as I should (read: the winter time). But I also really love it. It's entertaining for me so I usually get a little Photoshop time in while I'm watching Gossip Girl or Secret Life of an American Teenager (yes, I watch this awful show..thankyouverymuch).

This is where you guys come in. (And by you guys, I mean the 5 readers that I have! HA!) Would you like me to edit a picture of yours? It can be any snapshot, past or present, that you like but want improved. All you have to do is email me the jpeg (tatjlt@gmail.com). I will edit away and email you the new jpeg back. Done and done. I can't guarentee that the edit will be spectacular but I'll do my best. The only catch is that you have to be okay with me posting the before and after here for my other 4 readers to enjoy! :) You can tell me what you want done, what you like or don't like about the picture, or just let me "work my magic" so to speak. If you have photoshop but don't know how to use it, I can even send you play by play instructions on what I did so you can practice yourself. I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures!

In ending, even if you don't have a fancy camera or editing software or whatever, TAKE PICTURES! My biggest philosophy is "A bad picture is better than no picture at all!" So keeping snapping away! You will thank yourself later.