We had a great weekend and I hope to get an entry up about it soon, but before that I want to write up an entry for a new photographic bloghop I found, Touch Up Tuesday on The Bonnie 5! It’s a great blog I heartily recommend you subscribe to! There are lots of bloghops going on today! For more inspiration, please check out my Be Inspired page.
This is the result I was happiest with out of this weekend’s batch of photos. Here’s the SOOC:
Mark took this shot of our friend’s gorgeous little red-headed daughter, Emme. She’s a week younger than Boa, but already walking!
First, I straightened the shot using the ruler tool, though I’ve recently discovered that there is a straightener tool in ACR which works very well too!
Next: the crop. I tried to keep the rule of thirds in mind to recompose the photograph via the crop, which is actually something I do way too much. I used 5×7 inch dimensions.
A Note On Cropping…
Until recently I’ve just been cropping my photos willy-nilly using no specific dimensions just until it looked good to me. Then I watched Don’t Lose Your Head When Cropping over at MCP Actions Photoshop Video Tutorials and it got me thinking that I really should start using frame dimensions when cropping. I didn’t realize how easy it was to do with Photoshop’s crop tool. You simply plug in the dimensions into the toolbar and you can crop away while keeping those proportions. I highly recommend carving out some time to watch her videos. I pick up several awesome tips every time I do!
Another great pointer in that video was to set the opacity to 100% when cropping so the part of the photo you’re discarding in preview is completely black. (After you draw the crop, the toolbar will change and you’ll be able to set the opacity.) This has helped me so much as it is annoying to try to visualize what the photo is going to look like when the discarded section is opaque.
After cropping, I decided I wanted more of a faded look, so I applied Pioneer Woman’s Soft and Faded and customized the layers until I was happy with the appearance. Then I added Pioneer Woman’s Quick Edge Burn (one of my very favorite actions!) and lowered the opacity and fill for a soft vignetting effect.
Here is the final result!
This post was inspired by the bloghop, Touch Up Tuesday @ The Bonnie 5. Click on the icon to the left to view all the great entries this week!
Twitter: @AshleyRSisk
I really like the crop and color on your edit. Great work.
Oh and thanks for your be inspired page…I have a few more blog hops to pay attention to now.
Twitter: @PhotoLynda
Thank you and you’re welcome! I want to collect all the photographic blog hops I can, but there are SO MANY of them!
Aww… she’s a cutie!
Great tip about cropping. I’ve never thought about it before.. I’ve always cropped it how I think it should look. I’m going to start taking the time to do it properly!
Twitter: @PhotoLynda
She is quite adorable! You should see her in motion. lol.
I don’t know if this is cropping “properly”. Jodi at MCP Actions also recommends keeping the original edited photo so you can crop it into a variety of proportions for printing purposes. I don’t print a lot of my photos though and those I do are usually 5×7 so that’s what I’ve been cropping to.
Lovely edit! Thank you for the tips on cropping & for the inspiration page. I will definitely look at cropping differently now.
Twitter: @PhotoLynda
Thank you Courtney!
GREAT edit… it was a cute photo before, but now it is beautiful. And thanks for the cropping tips! I always have trouble deciding where to crop.
Twitter: @PhotoLynda
Thank you so much Amy. I wrote in the comments above about another cropping tip I learned from Jodi at MPC Actions.
Since I viewed this video though, I’ve found it easy to pick either 8×10 or 5×7 and crop to those dimensions.
I use the ‘rule of thirds’ when setting up photos or trying to crop.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds
I don’t always get things perfect, but I do find photos are more visually interesting if everything isn’t dead center.
Also, how do you pronounce Emme’s name? Is it Eh-MEE or Eh-MAY? Or more like Eh-MEH (like Emma).
Twitter: @PhotoLynda
The first way you wrote it, Eh-MEE. Her full first name is Emelia.
Twitter: @PhotoLynda
I try to use the rule of thirds too, but I admit I don’t use it for every photograph. And when kids are running all over the place, I’m just trying to get them in focus. I do crop into the rule of thirds way too often though.
Lynda~ OK, this is WONDERFUL. I love it! The cropping, the processing…you took it from a snapshot to a portrait. Wonderful job!
We just got back in from a nightmarisly long van ride – ugh! – and I had to laugh at your comment!! Jumping right from the van to the internet…WHEE!
I can’t wait to look thru your blog this week when I have more time and my house resembles some type of order. You have so many awesome tips and tricks that I can’t wait to learn from.
I love your edit – completely awesome – and I hope to see you again next week! Great job!
Twitter: @PhotoLynda
Thanks so much! I hope you can recover from your vacation quickly.
I like the way you processed it. I never thought about my crops either, I guess I should pay attention next time:)
BTW, thanks for visiting and commenting on my blog.
I’ve tried to comment here before but have had issues since I was browsing your page on the IPhone. I guess I just couldn’t find the comment section on the little screen!
Twitter: @PhotoLynda
Hmm. The comment section when you’re viewing on the iPhone should be at the bottom of the page. Thanks for coming back though!
Twitter: @dishwaterdreams
She is so beautiful! I love the finished product. I didn’t know Pioneer Woman had her own actions. Where can I download those?
Twitter: @PhotoLynda
Lindsey, thanks! You can download the Pioneer Woman actions at the URL below. I’m going to be featuring her actions in a post on Monday, so it will give you an idea of how powerful her stuff is!
http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/2010/03/actions-update-2/
Twitter: @dishwaterdreams
Thanks for such a fast reply! I downloaded the actions and will wait impatiently for your post Monday.
Love the cropping hint. I usually eyeball it, but that’s a much better idea. I’ll give it a try.
Stopping by from SITS and LOVED your seven links.
Twitter: @PhotoLynda
Thanks so much Jamie!