First and foremost, a picture just isn't a picture until it is edited. :-) I know, a real true photographer should get it right the first time-in the cameras-without any help, right? Wrong. Unless you have a camera that is worth more than your car, you will have to do some editiing to bring the best out of that photo (and even then, magazine ads and professional photos are edited before going to print). So for many of us, the question becomes, HOW? Well, there are expensive programs like Photoshop that not only cost an arm and a leg, but also take QUITE a bit of learning to really use correctly. There are so many tools that even a professional has endless capabilities! Most people using this program have gone to school for years just to learn it. Yes, there are other options such as Photoshop Elements, which cost a lot less and therefore have less to offer BUT one could be perfectly happy with this program to completely edit a photo and create a masterpiece.
How easy is it? Well, it's easier...but you should still take at least one (maybe more) class on it to really know what you are working with. What do I recommend for the newest beginner with no experience and that wants to be able to get editing right away without even taking a class?? Picnik. It's SOOO fun, SUPER easy and yes, Google just acquired it to its mini collection of the world wide web ;-) so those guys must find it fun, too!
What can you do with Picnik?! Alot, really. Not only can you apply pre-prepared effect (layers/masks) to your pics, you can also retouch photos, remove wrinkles (yes!), airbrush your skin to be flawless (totally flawless!), give yourself a suntan...heck they even have something called "Insta-thin" that will make you look skinnier (yes, it works!)! That makes it worth the $25 annual membership fee alone!! You can also PLAY...which is really, really fun. You can make cute little hearts and flowers around your photos, make frames for them or round the corners (my favorite). You can doodle around them, you can stretch out faces into hilarious carictatures and you can even turn yourself into a "Cullen" with an amber eye color or a blood thirsty vampire with red eyes! Or you can make yourself into a total zombie or ghost just for fun and giggles! You can bet that myself and my 9 year old son have done a lot of just that!! I'm not trying to sell a membership here...I get no kickbacks or anything like that. I just think it was a very well designed, user friendly FUN program that I get alot of use out of. But if you don't want to shell out the cash right away, many of their features are FREE! Try them out and see if you think it's user friendly enough for you. If it is, I think you should try out the premium services, but if nothing else take full advantage of the FREE ones!
After many months of editing photos I have learned that just the editing portion itself is an art. It takes time, talent and a good eye. I've learned that by taking these steps, not only are you a photographer...but you are a PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTIST. The cool thing about that is you don't always have to be a great photographer, have an expensive camera or go to school to learn how to produce such grand images...you can be a Photographic Artist if you prefer or, even better...you can be BOTH! :-)
Recently, I have edited some friends photos that I have not taken, but wanted to see what kind of "magic" my editing/art could create. Here are some examples...see what you think!
This family picture was really nice on the left, but lacked the "oomph" I was able to give it with a few clicks on "vibrance", then did some color correction to the dad in the photo's face because he had a "racoon mask" from sunglasses and a sunburn to even his skin tone out. Then I did a "Cine-Scape" mask/layer over the entire photo and got this cool vintage feel to the photo. Now the photo is really worthy to be framed. The editing changed the photo from "nice family vacation photo" to "family portrait session photo" and this was taken with a point and shoot Canon. Editing a point and shoot photo can make a home/family photo become a professional photo just like that (and she didn't have to spend $200 on a photographer!~LOL)
This one was an assignment a friend of mine took in an Advanced Photography Class at Uniersity of Louisville with me. She was shooting in low lighting conditions with a Canon Rebel EOS SLR camera. I loved the water drops that sat on the flowers in the pic, but yearned to see more detail in the flowers in the foreground. I used "Vibrance" to brighten the colors (the blue came out really nice) and used the lightening tool (Dodging or Highlights) on the front petals. Now I can see exactly what I wanted. Not any major changes needed, just tweeked the color and lighting for detail and what a difference it made. I rounded the corners as well because I like most pics that way for web viewing (not print).
I loved this photo of a friend of mine's little one. I didn't take this shot...another talented friend of ours did and she did a beautiful job. She looked like an angel to me in this photo and I wanted it to be even more ethereal (this is where that Photograpic Artist thing comes in). I applied a "Lomo-ish" mask/layer to it because I knew that gives a very bright focal point and a vingette around the edges. Now it looks like heaven's light is shining down on this sweet little angel. I also decided to add her first name to it by the "add text" feature. I like to do that to personlize photos as an "introductory character" piece. Totally optional to do so...makes the picture more fun, but can be removed if you prefer it to be more serious.
This picture was funny to our family because we knew what we were looking for when we saw the stairs, but on film it didn't translate to the cool edgy feel we were envisioning in our minds. The photographer is a brilliantly talented man that did everything right when taking this photo, but his camera alone (a super divine Canon SLR) could create what we were really looking for. Before I knew how to really edit, I thought this was an "unusable picture". The guys look tough, but the stairs and surrounding atmosphere looks weak. It needed a grittier feel to it to make it more masculine and urban feeling. After months of toying with Picnik, I went back to this and was able to do exactly what I had envisioned the day of this shoot. Los Chiccos de Clifford...translation, The Clifford Boys (just a personal artistic choice that I thought added to the urban feel we were aiming for). I applied the "gritty" mask/layer, cropped in for a closer shot and found the perfect tough guy text for the words I chose (they have lots of great fonts to choose from). My boys love it! I also added some fake tattoos for fun because I didn't like the Lagoon Amusement Park stamp on my step-son's hand and thought this was much cooler for this shot! The one I added to his arm just balanced it out (what can I say, I have WAY too much fun editing!)
Some photos have many possibilities and it really depends on the personal preference which is best. I shot my neighbor's child holding our new bunny and loved the sweet look of the photo. I played with it at home and really can't pick a favorite. The first is straight out of the camera, which is quite nice, but a little soft or dull in color for my taste. The second shot I applied a "Black & White" layer/mask and added a "Vingette" which gives it a very classic, touching quality. The last shot is a layer called "Cross-Process" which I quite like on many photo's that gives it a cross processed "feel" that if chosen on the right picture, can be especially beautiful. If I really had to choose, I would most likely choose the third...I really like how it brings out her eyelashes and the skin tone makes her look "porcelain" and actually makes the picture "softer" without taking away (actually adding to) the color in the picture, but I would be happy with any one of them. This is an example of how subjective editing can be because many people choose the B/W one and some prefer the untouched original. Remember, just because I am a huge fan of editing, that does not mean that every photo has to be edited.
Another great example of the subjectiveness is my Snow Faerie photo I shot for my Punk n Posh fashion line webstore. I actually took this as one of my first "real" photos with my Nikon D3000 I was given for Christmas. I didn't have any schooling in Photography at the time and didn't really know how to achieve all of what I was looking for in a photo at the time so I simply shot on "Auto". I was very pleased with the pictures that came out, but wanted more from them. I knew I loved the "blurry background" effect (Bokeh), but I didn't know how to achieve it through my camera lens at the time. I played around with the tools on picnik and was able to simulate the Bokeh on the bushes in the background. Look at the bushes in the B & W example and you will see how they were before I blurred them in the other 3 edits (if you are interested in more on Bokeh, I plan to do a blog on it very soon!) I also really wished I was able to catch the photo of her while the snow was falling, but we missed it! Lucky me, I found a "snowfall" layer in picnik that made it look like she was out in the snow (I told you this stuff was fun!). I came up with several pleasing edits and still can't decide which one I like most. I put it up for discussion on my facebook page and got mixed results...everybody loved them and each had their own favorites for different reasons. It's all subjective...some people like super bright colors, some like black and whites, others like soft, muted tones. So it really depends on if you are editing for yourself or if you are editing for others. If you are editing for others, it's nice to provide them with a couple of artistic options and let them choose what style they like.
Here is another example of options. My friend took this artisitic photo of her son while on vacation. It's an amazing picture with many artistic qualities to the pose, style and composition. It needed more to bring out it's full potential. I played with several different layers, techniques and masques and decided these two were the best. I gave both edits to her so she could choose which style she liked best. Especially since I wasn't the one taking the image, I don't know exactly what she was going for with the photo when she took it. These are simply my interpretations of it once I saw it. One is a gritty, artsy feel that you might see at an exibit while the other has a gauzy, glowy feel to it that pronouces the light and shadow beautifully that you would probably see on mom's wall :-). Options. Have FUN with them! 
I LOVE this photo. After the editing of course. I can't really explain what I love most about it. I guess it's the bright colors, the joy of seeing a baby with a big ball for the first time, the spring air I can practically breath in when I look at it. I just love it! The initial pic on the left is just an "OK" photo. But after editing, it became something magical. The was also a VERY simple edit. I used a "Boost" layer and then rounded the corners. Voila! Done. 'Nough said! :-)
This is just a handful of edits I have done that I am really pleased with. I'll post another editing piece soon about how to make a person look perfected i.e; airbrush discolorations, blemish repair, wrinkle removal, fixing double chins and even making you look like you've lost weight if you'd like! Hope you learned a thing or two...till next time!
LAST BUT NOT LEAST, THE GEEK TIP OF THE WEEK:
Control + Shift + Escape
Try it next time your computer locks up on you (mine did twice just while writing this blog!) No, it doesn't re-start your computer, that is Control+Alt+Delete. It pulls up your Task Manager to show you everything you have open and what might not be responding and causing the "lock-up". You can choose the "end" the portion that is not responding, or you can just select "switch To", highlight the other window/program you would like to work on, and give the piece that is "not responding" some more time..sometimes it is just slow and will work itself out. Got it?
Control + Shift + Escape!
Hope that helps you from having to do a total restart on a lock up when you don't have to! GOOD LUCK!
Much Love from The Geek and The Sheek!
