Fun Baby Book Idea

I got this great idea from one of my favorite sites- younghouselove.com. I wanted to make a fun baby book for Eli marking his first year (Derek and I are really trying to do this for each year for all of our children- we're a few years behind with the girls!) Anyway- on YHL, they take a picture of their daughter, Clara, every on a piece of fun material dressed only in a onesie. Then, John (the dad), uses photoshop to put the week on the onesie so it looks like it was silkscreened on there. Check it out his handiwork here. I loved the idea but didn't think I'd be able to do it weekly (having 3 kiddos and all) so I opted to do it monthly. A few weeks ago, Kaitlin and I set up our first photoshoot with the boy while our boys were off doing manly stuff (they may of actually been at the store buying stuff for supper...can't really remember...but they came back with beer so that makes it manly, right??) Anyway- check out some of the great shots we got that day. Eli was being super cute (as always) so it was easy! The plan is to do a iPhoto book and have 16 shots on the left page from that month then the monthly picture taking up the entire right page. I'm really excited about it!

Happy Boy!

Pop!

On my quest to improve my photography, I've been spending a lot of time on different photography blogs and forums, reading everything I can on techniques, post production, lighting and equipment to achieve different effects, as well as skimming through photos on Flickr that other people have taken trying to identify what I like about different styles.  Recently, I read a little piece on Digital Photography School about taking photos with color that pops, and this is definitely something I wanted out of my photos.  I feel like the colors I see in some things are so bright and vivid, and then as soon as I snap the picture a haze settles over it on my LCD screen.  It's very frustrating knowing what the photo was SUPPOSED to look like, and seeing what it actually looks like.

The gist of the article, which you can read here says that while choosing a subject and background correctly, for vibrant colors, post processing is almost always necessary.  I equate minor work in Photoshop to what a film photographer would do in the developing process.  I've been making an effort to work with my pictures to see what they could become with a little post processing, and while this might not be the best example, I think it gets my point across. 

Here's my Straight Out Of Camera shot, blah, flat, boring.

This is just changing a couple settings in RAW.  Exposure: Reduced, Sharpness: Increased, Contrast: Increased, Color Booster: Increased

That was less than 5 minutes of processing.  I'll probably work on this one more round before I'm finished, and may do what the article said about separating the foreground (child on bike) from the background (everything else) so that she pops, and everything else fades away.  My digital SLR came with the RAW software, Nikon's ViewNX, so I could get to this result without Photoshop (I did for this one).  I've heard you can do some of these edits in Picasa too if you don't have a RAW editor, or don't shoot in RAW, or have a point and shoot, and I know there are other options out there.  As far as my subject matter goes, to get a picture that pops, I would have been better off showing some spring flowers,

but I've been practicing panning, which is a topic for another time.

Instant Gratification

I think one of the reasons I love photography, is because of the instant gratification of creating a piece of art. I also paint, draw, and have worked with clay before, but those can be painfully slow for me. I have a tendency to get frustrated knowing that with my schedule, a painting very well could take a month or more, and at the end of it I might not even be happy with the result.

I got my first film SLR camera when I was 15, and promptly enrolled in a summer photography class at the Cleveland Institue of Art. Class was for 4 hours a day on weekdays for a month, and I LOVED it. We would spend an hour or two first thing going out and shooting, and then would head back to the classroom to develop our film in the dark rooms. The following day, we would take our dry, developed film and head back into the dark room to develop our photographs, playing with chemicals and dodging and burning to get just the right exposure onto our final product. It was a huge eye-opener when I discovered how quickly I could get from seeing something I wanted to capture, to having a finished product that could go in a frame.

Now with Digital Photography, that process is even faster. I do miss the dark rooms and developing my film to see what was coming out of my camera, and the delicacy of developing a photo without an undo button (and that Ilford paper isn't cheap), but I love my Photoshop, and the endless possibilities of what I can do with my pictures, all for the cost of my time. One of my most recent experiments is almost like a giclee, but I used colored pencils to overlay a photograph instead of oils or acrylics.

I was able to take this photograph from my trip to Naples, FL

and turn it into this.

I almost don't want to admit how easy this was. First, I brought my photograph into Photoshop, then reduced the opacity to about 50%, and then printed it. With the opacity turned down halfway, the color wasn't as strong and saturated on the print, and made it easy for me to go over it with colored pencil, color matching as I went.

I won't lie, I do have almost 150 colored pencils, so this probably wouldn't be a job for the trusty 12 pack of Crayolas, but it was immensly easier than looking at the photo, sketching it and trying to color it in. After a semi-decent sunset photograph and 3 or 4 hours with my colored pencils, I have a finished product that looks more like artwork than photography!

Vertoramas!

Lake Eola Swan Boats, originally uploaded by MishMoshK.

Back from Florida with over 400 RAW files! I don't think I've ever taken that many photos on one trip, but with 8 GB of memory and a rapid shot function, it was difficult to take less. Here's my first try at a Vertorama. I want more contrast in the sky between the clouds, so I'm sure I'll be revisiting this one, but without too much work I must say I'm happy with it.

Something I do differently than Panorama Paul talked about in his tutorial is use the Photomerge tool in Adobe Bridge. I love this tool, and it almost feels like cheating, but it works so well for me 95% of the time, that I prefer to spend my time on color retouching instead of trying to align buildings or natural elements in my pics. More to come, I'm sure!

My Current Craze...

It has been a great week for me! I was finally able to purchase my LONG awaited digital SLR, and I couldn't be happier. N and I are leaving for Florida in the morning for a mini vacation in Orlando, and a family visit in Naples. I've spent my week this week learning about my new camera, and looking for new techniques to try out while we're on our trip.

Cobbles (Panorama), originally uploaded by Panorama Paul.

I came across a photographer this morning on Flickr, who lays out a Photoshop technique I'm dying to try out. Check Out Panorama Paul's tutorial and discussion on Flickr about Vertoramas. I'm anticipating taking some sunset pics while we're in Naples and trying out this technique when I get home!

FYI - I came across the link for the Vertoramas on my latest favorite photo blog - Photojojo, they have fun tips, plus a great store full of unique camera gear!