A before and after post is due! I haven’t done one in a while.
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I like to show the difference between an edited and non-edited image. I pride myself in not doing any crazy editing but more of just enhancing the photo.
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So these next two shots, for instance. The first shot looks great, but I wanted to lighten it up a little bit. I just used the curves setting in photoshop to lighten it up a bit, smoothed out her skin just a tiny bit using a Photoshop mask action I purchased from MCP Actions. You can create your own action to smooth out skin but I thought it was cheaper and easier to purchase my own.
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The next shot was exposed the way I liked, but was too “cool” for my taste. I may have BARELY adjusted the curves but almost unnoticeably so. I wanted to make it look much warmer. I attempted to fix it during the shoot by changing my white balance but because it was during sunset in the middle of January I didn’t have much of an option. So that is where photoshop comes in handy. To neutralize the magenta I used the color balance tool in photoshop and slid it over to the green side. That will help fade out some of the magenta look. Then, I used TRA’s Warm it Up Chris at 50% opacity to really make the yellow/orange pop. Afterwards I used the same skin smoothing action I mentioned above to smooth out a few blemishes. And that’s it!
Feel free to send me any questions!
Thank you for the before and afters!! It is sooo easy to get bogged down in what my pictures look like compared to other’s. The step by step is awesome to know, I love your editing because it is pretty minimal, which is how I like to roll. Your photos are beautiful as always!!
Love, Love, Love this! Thanks for sharing. It turns out the key to a great photo is . . .. well, starting with a great photo. ; )
Wow!!! I’m so amazed at how your awesome knowledge of the coloring and tones can make SUCH a difference in the “user-friendliness” of the photo: the eyes look SO much prettier when they are brightened a bit, and the change of tint from magenta to more orange – while so minimal – was SO much prettier and lovelier. You didn’t change the reality of the subject at all – just make the whole thing such a happier experience to view!!! I’m impressed! And I LOVE that the backgrounds were almost erased so mostly what I saw was the person: THAT’s what I really cared about – not some ‘clever’ background!!!
Wow, that is a really simple way to warm those photos up! Thank you for sharing!