Sleeping Dog Macro

I miss my DSLR terribly but I am impressed with the macro lens on the little point-n-shoot that has been getting me by these last few weeks.  Check it out.

Buster sleeps most of the day.  It is probably may favorite time of the day….because it is peaceful.

But who doesn’t love the little hairs on the tip of a dog’s muzzle?

And little dog lips.

And doggie noses.

Oh…..no…..the peace and quiet is over.

Doggie Bokeh

Buster gets very excited when we go to the dog park.   When Buster is excited there is really no way to contain his excitement.  He is bouncing off the walls and does this high pitched whine that could be used as a torture tactic.

You know that scene in Dumb and Dumber where Jim Carrey asks if you want to hear the most annoying sound in the world?  That sound is nothing compared to the ear percing whining that this little mutt can put out.

Seriously dude when we are in the car I would love a little less of this…

..and more of this.  Zip it pal, your making my ears bleed.

Exposure: 0.013 sec (1/80)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 250

Just a Few of My Favorites

Here a small sample of my favorite photos that I have taken in the past year.

No Phototshop? No Worries!

Would you like to do some editing on your pictures but don’t have the dough to by a Photoshop program right now?  No worries! There are several online photo editing programs that you can use that do pretty great, at a fraction of the price.

I do most of my of my photo editing in Photoshop Elements but if I am away from my computer and in a bind I will use Picnik.  It’s a great program and it can pull your photos to your Flickr, Facebook, Photobucket, MySpace and Picasa accounts.  As long as you have your images loaded into one of these accounts you can pull your photos from anywhere and edit them. 

Picnik is free and you can upgrade to a premium account for under $27.oo a year.  With the premium account you can make curve adjustments, level adjustments, clone and have access too several portrait touch-up tools. 

Earlier this week I was at a music festival and this little girl was there with her new puppy.  I asked her mother if it was ok for me to take a few pictures.  I always ask parents before I take pictures of their children.  I don’t want them to get weirded out.   It was an over cast day and although she looks adorable with her puppy in the picture I wanted to brighten it up a bit.

I uploaded the pictures into Flickr and decided to do some editing in Picnik.   All I did with her photo was brighten it up by making some exposure adjustments and I did some whitening of her teeth.  I think when photography children it is best to keep it simple so they keep that soft look of innocence.

I also got a few shots of the husband figure.  Obed of course is a manly man but with age we can all use a bit of tweaking.  With this picture I used several editing tools. 

First I made some exposure adjustments.  When you are in the exposure tab you can also click on the “advanced” button.  A window will pop up, check off the “Local Contrast” and you will notice the image suddenly pop.  Use the slider to adjust the local contrast, I usually keep it under 25%.  Do not over use this tool because it can create a harsh look to your photos.  I use it sparenly on portraits of women and I rarely use it on children. If I do I keep it under 10% because you want to maintain the soft innocent look of a child.

Then in the “Create” mode under “Touch Ups” I used the “blemish” tool I zoomed in really close and did a little eyebrow plucking.  He was on the verge of a uni-brow so I decided to clean that up a bit.  I then used the same tool to clean up a few skin blemishes.    When using this tool be sure to zoom in really close.

I also used a wrinkle tool to soften some of the creases around his eyes.  When you use this tool you will want to adjust  the “Fade” slider to create a more natural look. 

Finally I clicked on the “Spray Tan” tool.  Don’t be scared when you first start to “Spray Tan” you can still make adjustments after you spray.  You can change the tone, make it darker and fade it.  After I finished with his skin, I found the background to be a little too bright, so I applied the “Spray Tan” and then used the same tool to darken the back ground.   That is right I “Spray Tanned” the background.  You don’t always have to use the tool for what it is “made” for.  Using the spray tan on the background I was able to brighten it up separately from Obed.

Oh and I did a little crop too. 

TA-DA!  See great photo editing for a quarter of the price and on the fly.  These kind of programs are great for someone who is just starting to play around with photo editing.   It also makes collages, framing and before and after super easy.  It is very user friendly and great for anyone that gets a little overwhelmed or confused with image layering.  This in no way replaces Photoshop but it is a great tool to hold you over. 

This here….this is just a puppy that wants to love you you.    Isn’t he cute!

There are other photo editing services that you can use.  Do a Google search or try these out.

Pixlr - Free editing with layering capabilities like Photoshop

Gimp - Free download image manipulator.

 

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Need a Third Hand?

This is short, quick and easy.  Ever wished you had that third had to take a picture of a bite of food on a fork or spoon?  Run out to Wal-mart and pick up an alligator clip, they are about $2.  Clip it to the end of your fork or spoon and rest it on a glass.  TA-DA you have a third hand and your food in securely in place for its photo op.  If you want to adjust the height just get a taller or shorter glass.

No shaky hand issues or guessing how close or far to hold it from the lens.  Sweet!

Local Contrast

Ok so I recently discovered this “recipe” for local contrast on Photoshop.  I am absolutely in LOVE with this!  It just makes the photo pop.  It is almost 3-D!  Maybe you will think I am exaggerating but I am truly loving it!  I must share this with the world! Too many exclamation points?  I don’t care!  I LOVE this!  Ha ha ha ha……

I happened upon this technique while flipping through an old photoshop textbook.  How is it that  I’d never seen it before?  Well I guess the professor didn’t cover it.   

Basically local contrast increases the the appearance of small-scale edges.  If local contrast is done right the image will “pop” and almost creates a three-dimensional effect.  Am I repeating myself?  This is an especially great technique, I think, for food photos.  It makes the image just jump off the screen, which makes your pictures more yummy.  

This is a picture of my nephew Julien when we were on vacation in FL.  I really need to sit down and finish editing the 100’s of photos I took that week.  I am sure my mother-in-law is wondering where they are.  Fam, you can let her know I am still working on them. I need more time in the day!  Anyone else need some, or better yet find some?  I will buy it from you.

Well let’s proceed with this new “recipe”.

Here is the image SOOC (Straight out of Camera).  It was late in the day on the beach, which creates the most beautiful light.  It is the “magic” hour.

  

First as always duplicate your background.  Right click on the background layer, select “Duplicate Layer”, name layer and click ok.

 

Then go to the main menu bar and select Enhance–>Unsharp Mask.

This window will pop up.  Adjust to the following settings:

Amount: 20% – Radius: 50.0 – Threshold: 0

Click OK!

That’s it your done!  SO stinking easy it is ridiculous!

Do you see it?  Do you see the difference?  I know I did!

Ok here is a side-by-side before and after.  I think it is most noticeable with his hair.  You see how much more defined the lines are?  If for some reason you still don’t “see” it, go back and forth with the “Undo” and “Redo”.  You will definitely see it then.  I only say this because Hubby said he doesn’t see the difference.  I think she just can see.

There is suppose to be a before and after side-by-side, but the link has broke and I can’t fix it till I get back home.  UGH!   Bear with me.

 

Go forth and locally contrast!  Try it on your food, I know you will be hooked!

Jumping Riveras: My First Photoshop Tutorial

Some of you will remember that I was in Florida for a week not so long ago.  It was a great time with family and we had a lot of fun.  Of course I had my camera with me and I got my brother-in-law & sister-in-law to act like jumping beans for my camera.  If you can’t tell from the picture my in-laws are freaks(wink, wink, love you), but not my nephews they are just precious. 

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Brothers

These photos are a great example of the quality of light that you can get during that magic hour.  The hour before the sun sets.   I photographed my nephews walking towards the water wanting to get a silhouette image of them and I am very happy with the results.

Yeah you will remember the time your little brother hit you with his fisher price bat…..

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How to Bracket Exposure

Have you ever been in a tricky lighting situation and can’t seem to figure out what is the best exposure? Either the subject is dark and the background is blown out or vise-versa.

Bracketing your exposure is a technique that many photographers use in challenging lighting situations.  If you pull out your camera manual you will probably find an AEB feature, which is Auto Exposure Bracketing. 

What is bracketing exactly? Exposure bracketing means that you take two more pictures: one slightly under-exposed (usually by dialing in a negative exposure compensation, say -1/3EV), and the second one slightly over-exposed (usually by dialing in a positive exposure compensation, say +1/3EV), again according to your camera’s light meter.  I am telling you open up your manual because your camera may have a feature that can do this for you automatically.

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Vacation Landscape Photos

Here are just a few photos of the landscape around Beaver Bend.

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