make it fabulous! *removing a chapped lip ring*

When you have a lot to work with, it’s easy to make a picture look fabulous! Look at this sweet little angelic face!  Gorgeous complexion, sparkling blue eyes and sweet ruby red lips.   

OH! WAIT!  Look at that chapped area under his lip!  AHHH!  How do we get rid of that? 

Select the Patch Tool (located in the drop down of the spot healing brush tool menu) it’s the one that looks like a little patch.

Then I drew around part of his chapped skin under his lip, then dragged the selection down to a clear patch of skin.  The Patch Tool will magically turn that chapped area into nice, smooth clear skin – just like the area I dragged it to!

I continued doing this until I cleaned up the entire red, chapped area.  I also used the patch tool to eliminate the food crusties in the corner of his lip and the little white spots on his chin.

Next, I used the Spot Healing brush to eliminate that tiny little scab by the corner of his eye.

Now that his small blemishes have been removed, I want to soften his skin just a little bit, so I use TRA’s ProRetouch on his cheeks and a little bit on his chin at about 45% opacity.

Then I use the Eye Bump (part of ProRetouch) and with a really small brush size, at 100% opacity, I highlight the catch lights in his eyes.  Then I reduce the opacity to 25% and lighten the whites of his eyes, and then reduce it to 10% opacity and lighten the irises of his eyes.

Next I run a Curves action (Curves Midtone Lighter at 60% from the Phaunt Fun Pack) to give it a bit more dimension and pop.

At this point I think the right side (my right) of his face is still just a tad dark, so I use TRA’s Yin/Yang tool, and first I use Yin (lighter) at 10% and with a larger brush, I brush over his eye and side of his face, just to lighten it a bit.

Then I use Yang at 20% with a large brush to darken the right side of the image, just brush back and forth around the corners and edges to darken it a bit.

Now, I think I need to tweak the color just a bit, it seems too red to me.  So, I go to Image>Adjustments>Color Balance.  Keep Midtones selected and slide the top bar over to the Cyan side to -5.  Then slide the bottom bar over to the Yellow side at -5.  Then select Highlights and slide the bottom bar over to the Yellow side at -2.  I usually uncheck and check the “preview” box a few times to make sure I like the result.

Even after adjusting the colors, I still feel like it needs to be a bit softer…so I use an action called “Seventies” from Pioneer Woman, at 15% -- This gives it a slightly yellowish tint and adds the softness I’m looking for. 

Then, I use TRA’s Boutwell’s Magic Glasses at 50% and save my final image.

Voila!  We have a FABULOUS image! Compare the before and after!

Have a fabulous weekend!

make it fabulous!

wow, i can't believe a whole week has gone by since my last post!  i have been meaning to post more frequently, but time just keeps slipping away from me!

however, i have my 2nd Make It Fabulous post ready to share with you today...and hopefully some of what i share will help you out!

this image was shot in my tiny little apartment, using the light from the window, and a black blanket as a backdrop...

I used a 50mm prime lens, at f1.4, 1/80 and ISO 800 (it was actually quite dark b/c it was late afternoon, that is why i used a higher ISO)

After opening the image in Camera Raw, this is what I adjusted:

Bump up contrast to +40

Bump up clarity to +15

Bump up vibrance to +5

Adjust curves to “Strong contrast”

Then, open in Photoshop.

To get rid of that bluish spot at the top, I Used the Clone Stamp Tool at 100% opacity and sampled a spot that was completely black (alt + click on the area you want to sample) 

and then I brush over the bluish spot and turn it black.

OR

Just crop it – I personally like how it looks cropped better anyway.  

 There was just too much black at top and bottom before. 

 

I already knew I wanted this in black and white, so I then I go to Image>Adustments>Black and White.  Then I adjust the reds to 10% and yellows to 75% -- this darkens the reds a bit and lightens the yellows, making his skintone more even and less splotchy in black and white.

TRA Boring Sepia at 25%

Flatten, sharpen and save!

make it fabulous!

I've been wanting to describe how I edit for a while...for any of you out there who wonder how I get to my final product...there's a lot that goes on behind the scenes once I stop shooting and you go home from your session.

I'm usually so excited to see the images that I browse through them on the LCD screen on my camera before I even make it home! Then once I'm home, I upload them to my hard drive and then I select my favorite images to edit.

I don't always get it exactly right IN CAMERA, so thankfully I have an amazing tool for post-processing called Photoshop CS5. :) I also shoot in RAW which allows me a bit more wiggle room as well.

So, every Friday I am going to post a "Make It Fabulous" image from start to finish to show you how I edit. I am NOT a photoshop expert, however, I have learned a lot in the past few years and would love to be help any of you if I can! I learned a TON from all of the friendly photogs out there who take the time to share their knowledge online...and I hope that I can give back, even just a little bit!

So, here's how I took this underexposed (but still beautiful!) image to it's final edit:

1. In Camera Raw I adjust a few of the sliders...

exposure: +0.50
fill light: 10
blacks: 5
brightness: +45
contrast: +50
clarity: +15
vibrance: +12

I also warmed up the temperature a little bit.

2. Next, I open the image in Photoshop. I usually adjust my levels first. Go to the Image menu, then choose Adjustments, then Levels. Here I just very slightly lightened the midtones and darkened the the shadows.

3. I use a lot of Totally Rad Actions so from now on I will just refer to them as TRA + the name of the action.  TRA Yin/Yang -- Yin=lighter, Yang=darker. I used Yin with a soft brush on a very low opacity (about 10) under her eyes and then even lower at about 2 over her entire face and neck. Then I used Yang at about 25% opacity to darken the grass/weeds around her so that she would pop out a bit more as the focus in the image.

4. TRA ProRetouch -- I try really hard not to make people look like they have plastic skin or alien-sharp eyes...so I use pro-retouch sparingly. I put it on about 10% opacity and used it to smooth out her skin and then used the eye bump to highlight ONLY the highlighted areas in the iris of her eye...I think this gives the eyes just enough light to make them sparkle!

5. I'm done! Sharpen and save!!! At this point I will usually convert to black and white when I'm editing a gallery....so, here's the black and white + a hint of sepia...

Are there any shooting or editing tips you'd like to hear about?  I will do my best to answer any and all questions you have!  Or at least point you in the right direction!

xoxo!  Happy Friday!