An image editing tutorial (in Photoshop CS6)

I’ve received some inquiries about how I am editing my photos and I’d love nothing more than to share my process with those that are interested.  Of course, this was my first time recording a video on my computer so it was quite the experience. And can I be totally honest?  I sort of hate the sound of my own voice on video.  I feel like it doesn’t even sound like me.  Also, I apologize in advance for the background noise.  I recorded in complete silence but for some reason my video contains a little white noise.  I’m not really sure what it is.  All I can think of is that it may have been caused by the microphone.  It is also a whoppin’ 30 minutes long.  I know what you are thinking.  Boy what a snooze fest.  I didn’t mean to go on and on and on but let me just tell you how easy it was.  Seriously, I had more to say.  Thank heavens I chose to leave some things out.  I also tend to be a little repetitive, but I wasn’t sure how familiar with Photoshop my audience would be so I wanted to be sure to be thorough.  Anyhow, here are few pointers to view the video at its best quality.

Which edit are you digging?

So here’s the scoop.  I need some help.  If you follow me, you’ll remember seeing this picture of my hubby already.  I've decided to print it but not sure which edit I like better.  I thought you guys could help me choose.  Please, however, do not take #2’s crop into consideration when you are choosing.  It’s really not cropped like this; I just wanted to fit it into the same size box as the rest of the photos and I was working with a collage template.  In my original crop, his chin is not cut off and you can see more of his hair.

Old Edits vs. New Edits Part II

This is part two of the Old Edits vs. New Edits post.  I'd like to document my editing style changes.  So let me jump right into it and rip my photograph edits apart!

This first collage contains one of my favorite pictures of Livvy.  You can see from the original that it is a bit dark, but otherwise a good picture.  It has good composition, color, and contrast.  The middle version is my old edit.  I adjusted the exposure to brighten it up.  I also used a blurring tool to blur everything but her face which I felt at the time was just about the coolest action ever.  I've since changed my mind about this action.  Now, looking back, it just seems silly.  The last version is my current edit.  I adjusted the exposure and brightened it up.  Once brightened, it lost some of it's contrast so I boosted the contrast a little.  I used a skin smoothing action from Paint the Moon to smooth out, ever so slightly, some of the lines from under her eyes.  I adjusted the color and saturated some of the yellows as I felt it was a little too warm for my taste.  I also sharpened her face and added a subtle vignette.

Old Edits vs. New Edits

This post is to note the difference in my editing.  When I first began, and like many newbies so I've heard, I over-edited my photographs.  I used to think that it wasn't that I didn't like my original photograph it was more because I had such fun with the different editing software/programs.  It allowed me to be creative.  Taking the picture just wasn't enough for me.  Then it donned on me, and I mean only about 10 minutes ago, that I wasn't satisfied with my original (untouched) shots.  When I take a great photograph, I have a difficult time trying to figure out what it needs.  I almost don't want to touch it at all.  While it is exciting to see myself improving, it's a bit frustrating also.  So I stopped thinking about how to change the picture and I started focusing on ways to improve it!   Maybe a little color balance, contrast boost, sharpen around the eyes, etc.?  I just want to enhance what I've already captured so beautifully.  Anyhow, now my edits are clean and simple.  I don't really edit my pictures at all.  I process them. 

So here's the deal.  Below, I've attached some old photographs taken last year.  The first one from each collage is the SOOC/orignal untouched version.  The second one is the edited, in some cases over-edited, version.  The third is my processed version.  Clean & simple.  Okay so I added vignettes.  I have to have a little fun!  Also I tested out my new watermark. 

Fix-It Friday over at IHF

I'm excited!  I joined the ihf Community on I Heart Faces and this will be the first time participating in their Fix-It Friday photo challenge.  In a nutshell, they provide a photograph to be fixed/edited.  This week's photograph was provided by Angie Arthur Photography.  It's difficult to fix a photograph that is already gorgeous straight out of the camera.  Gorgeous picture!  Gorgeous girl!  My editing efforts are below.  I hope you like them!