Behind the Edit | Before & After

There are two things that I have been screaming in my own head the past few days. 1- I LOVE photoshop! ( I know all of my non-photoshop loving photographer colleagues are cringing & I'm cool with that btw.) 2- Florabella completes me! - If you don't have Florabella actions.... please STOP READING & go buy some, I promise your workflow will thank you. Of course, come back to this when you are done;)  So with that finally out of my head, let me break this edit down for you.

What you need to know about the shot: I had another shoot scheduled this day that was to be outside. Of course the rain & mud squashed that, but instead of just giving up & going home, I thought it would be best to do a completely different shoot that I had planned, but didn't expect to shoot until summer. The shoot took place indoors with nice windows, but the bedroom(where this was shot) is in a fairly shady area. This along with a late call time & storms led to a difficult lighting situation. No amount of beautiful model, hair/makeup & vision can get past poor light. This was the first set up we did & because I wanted her on the floor it was even darker as she was lower than most of the window. I wanted to keep as much 'noise' out of the image as possible & didn't want to blow out her skin. So I opted to keep my ISO at a fairly low 640( knowing I had to up it in other areas of the apt) with a 1/100 sec shutter speed & F 1.6. I also couldn't reposition her as the space was so small with only a bit of  bare wall to work with. So in my head I went for it & knew I could fix in PS. I try to not think that way too often, because as much as I love PS I don't want to be working on an image that long. This situation was slightly different though as I already knew what I wanted the final product to look like & I knew there was no way I was going to get it digitally or without processing. So I clicked away & moved along:)

What you need to know about the editing process: I went through at least 12 edits of this image. I knew they weren't what I had in my head, but I couldn't seem to execute it & get the result I saw in my brain. I sent out edits to my 'creative council' a couple of close friends whose opinions I value so much & I know they will be honest at all times (you should get you some of those people btw).  They came back with words that certainly didn't make me feel better, but confirmed that I wasn't getting across what I wanted to. With their help & advice I got steered in the right direction. When it was done... I KNEW it was done.

THE PROCESS

- pulled raw image straight into PHOTOSHOP no adjustments made in ACR.
- used lens correction filter to get rid of vignette from light & camera
- curves- adjusted each red,blue,green curve- usually to the opposite color & just a tish- then lowered overall opacity of adjustment layer to around 50% **I don't usually have to do this, just for this image it needed it**
- ran Classic Film action from Florabella's Classic Workflow set- group opacity 75%
         - turned soft & peachy layer on around 10% opacity
         - turned up lighten layer a little( not too much as I knew I was running other actions after this)
         - masked off sharpening layer from her hair
         - upped brighten shadows layer just a tish
- ran 1968 from Florabella's Classic Workflow Set - low opacity under 30%
- ran Pastel Haze from Florabella's Classic Workflow Set - low opacity under 30%
- ran Rosy Cream from Florabella's Classic Workflow Set- Opacity around 50%
- Flattened layers-
- ran Vintage Summer II from Florabella's Vintage Set- over all opacity between 20%-30%
         - turned off sunlight layer
         - tunred off summer wash layer
         - turned off vignette
         - upped lighten layer between 70%-80%
- ran peaches & cream haze from Florabella's Color & Haze set- opacity around 10%
- cleaned up skin & hair with clone/patch tools
- ran Natural Skin Smoother from Florabella's Retouch & Makeover set- lower opacity around 40%
- ran quick eye sparkle- very low around 15%
- ran noise reduction from Florabella's Classic Workflow set - around 30% opacity
- used the light & dark brushes from Florabella's Retouch & Makeover set to even out skin, light & to burn features & lines.
- used the Yellow Out brush from Florabella's Retouch & Makeover set on her hair to match the look of the image. Around 50% opacity.

All actions used above can be found HERE:)

This is WAY more that I usually do to any photo, but sometimes it just has to happen:) I hope you have enjoyed this Behind the Edit! Please feel free to PIN & SHARE this link. Also, if you want to see more of these in the future please take a moment to follow my FACEBOOK PAGE where I will announce & post my before & afters before they hit the blog:)

Apartment Girl {SNEAK PEEK} | Franklin Tn Photographer

 Some more sneak peeks from my shoot last week:)

MODEL: Aviona with Elzymeyer Talent Agency 

HAIR/MAKEUP: Sara Thomas aka scooterknits 

{For the techies: Shot on 5d mkII w/ 50mm 1.2L & edited using Classic Workflow from Florabella Actions}

Romantic Glam { SNEAK PEEK }

 Some sneak peeks from my shoot this week:)

MODEL: Aviona with Elzymeyer Talent Agency 

HAIR/MAKEUP: Sara Thomas aka scooterknits 

One of these has become my second most popular photo on my FACEBOOK! 

(scope the one in the lead HERE)


{For the techies: Shot on 5d mkII w/ 50mm 1.2L & edited using Classic Workflow from Florabella Actions}

Happy HEART Day | Franklin Tn Child Photographer

So here we are Feb 14th... a day loved/loathed by many. For me, it's a sweet day... but nothing to big is made of it. These days I'm just about getting something for Harrison. As a child everything is so big & magical. I want it to be something he remembers and something he can do for his children as well. I had planned to do a Valentine's photo of him this year, but it just snuck up a bit too fast & I wasn't prepared. This is from last year, but still one of my favorite images of him. So I hope you all have a great day no matter your relationship status, child status, or if you love/loathe this day. Let's just all love ourselves & be kind to others:)

{For the techies: Shot on 50D w/ 24-70mm 2.8L & edited using Luxe II & Texture Set III from Florabella Actions}

Taking us back a few years.. but this my favorite song about Valentine's Day/cupid ;)

Before & After | Photoshop | Photographers

This is an image from one of my favorite shoots of 2011. This before & after was submitted to the Evoking You blog & got featured this week..yay!! I'm loving posting all these before & afters.. I hope you guys are enjoying them too:)

{For the techies: Shot on 50D w/ 24-70mm 2.8L & edited using Florabella Actions}

Like the before and after? Wanna see more? Make sure you follow my FACEBOOK:)








currently listening to:

 

 This is a cover of a Talk Talk song which I love as well, but getting myself pumped for the new ND album this year!

Florabella Retouch & Makeover Review

It's that time again!! Florabella time! If you follow me you know how I love me some Florabella. This release is the PERFECT addition to your Florabella lineup. Retouch & Makeover can be used on a variety of images & has the ability to be super quick & simple for light retouching OR get more detailed to do a more dramatic retouch. I love the variety in this set & all the options it offers. This is a PERFECT companion set to Classic Workflow & is a must for every photographer who uses photoshop.

What's in it???

An 'All-in-One Retouch' action... for when you know you have to do a serious retouch + for a limited time you get two BONUS ACTIONS( Clean Color & Clean B&W) <---- this allows you to edit a whole photo with just this set if you want! Now, we all know I can't resist the other sets so I will have to use them in unison, but having the option is great!

Several skin actions... I love this because if you need just a tish you don't have to run a long action or use things you don't need. Some of my faves are the 'Simple Skin Smoother' & 'Instant Skin Perfector' ... these are great to run for simple jobs & natural results. I also love the 'Spot Wrinkle Eraser' for wrinkles, under eye circles & smile lines. I don't photograph newborns but there is a GREAT action for babies!! All of the skin actions are awesome & you learn to use which ones will work best for certain types of images.

Eyes, teeth, lips & cheek actions... this is my favorite section! Honestly the main reason I love these is that I have seen some pretty scary eye actions from other vendors before & I find these to be the most versatile, easy to use & adjustable. We don't want frightening eyes... we want pretty eyes & sometimes when the light doesn't get to the eyes in camera we need some help:) I also love the 'lip balm' action.. GENIUS!!! Of course I am thankful to have the teeth whitening action as it will go on every photo I do of myself;)

Color Correction & Adjustment Brushes... Other than the variety & advanced actions above, this part of the set really makes it stand out. It gives you soo many tools to perfect your images... from adjusting color to the whole image or brushing on/off color (perfect to fix skin tones!!) to brushing on selective sharpening, saturation, & adjusting shadows. It truly allows you to retouch your image & not just focus on skin, eyes & teeth.


SOoooo... what I am trying to say is this really is the most comprehensive retouch set I have seen on the market & you will be beyond thrilled with having it into your workflow. I've tested it extensively & used it on every session from the last few months. Ready to have your turn to play?

Below are some quick examples I did of images edited with ONLY Florabella Retouch & Makeover.Click here to visit Florabella Collection.

Did you find this review helpful? Want to see more before & afters? Please take a moment to check out my FACEBOOK PAGE!

Some Etsy LOVE | Fine Art Prints for Valentine's Day

My Etsy shop is kinda pathetic as it gets no attention from me whatsoever... I checked in this week & saw that one of my favorite LOVE prints was very popular. It was featured in multiple treasuries.. of course it's the time of year for it, but still fun to see the collections people put together! I also have cards available of this print, so please check out the shop & see if there is anything you like! Use code HEART25 to save 25% off for Valentine's Day :)



{For the techies: Shot on 50D w/ 24-70mm 2.8L & edited using Luxe II & Texture Set III from Florabella Collection}

Like this? Make sure you follow my FACEBOOK:)
Currently Listening to: Bad SNL performance or not.. I dig her.

Before & After | Photoshop | For Photographers

Another Before & After for you. This one was a super easy edit. I liked the before picture(top-straight out of the camera)but the pose screamed B&W to me. I usually know what or how I will edit the image as I take it... and in this case I feel it made a huge difference.

 {For the techies: Shot on 5d mkII w/ 50mm 1.2L & edited using Classic Workflow from Florabella Actions}

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currently listening to: 

Feeling Frisky... errr Friskies? | Franklin Tn Pet Photographer

 Ran across this image again today as I was submitting images to Getty. I just love this photograph.. I am so glad this kitty's mother has this in a HUGE canvas on her wall. I honestly wish I could hang it on my wall.. every time I see it I just want to pet her... I feel like its along the same lines as those awesome books from the 80's that had a cat as the character but when you touched the cat it was 'fuzzy'.. are you with me???

{For the techies: Shot on 50D w/ 24-70mm 2.8L & edited using Luxe II & Texture Set III from Florabella Collection}

Like this? Make sure you follow my FACEBOOK:)
currently listening to:

Before & After | Photoshop | Florabella

I posted this on my facebook today. It ended up being really popular... actually kind of shocking considering ever since I rebranded & had to change facebook pages & lost about 2,000 fans it's been pretty quiet. I figured I would post it over here for all the blog readers as well:)Something else interesting & hilarious(to me anyway) is that if you actually look hard at the picture you will notice it isn't the same image. It didn't get pointed out until halfway through the day & when someone noticed I died laughing.. yes there was a slight gasp once I looked at it, but I just thought it was so funny that went away quickly. I label my final edits different that the RAW files so when I went back to pull the RAW from my hard drive I just clicked on a thumbnail pulled it in & fixed the dippy. I of course had accidentally pulled the frame before the one I edited! haha Oh well... it's still the same exact image just a slightly varied pose & expression.

 {For the techies: Shot on 5d mkII w/ 50mm 1.2L & edited using Classic Workflow from Florabella Actions}

Like the before and after? Wanna see more? Make sure you follow my FACEBOOK:)

Currently listening to: