Baskets and bowls are always fun, especialy with newborns! For so long I have stuck with the traditional wicker, wood or plain old brown basket. Until I found these!!

Also available in white and pink! And did we mention CHEAP! Each runs about $15 (includes shipping) but right now there is a 20% deal going on (checkou the code listed on the website!)

Head over to ihome.com and add some color to your basket/bucket collection!

Quick Link HERE!

There has been a TON of talk these days regarding newborn portraits, taking it to the max and keeping safety first. Although there are many awesome photogs out there that can capture amazing newborn portraits of babies in what are considered “wild” setups or unique poses  without composite shooting, there are many things to remember! Many (if not all) of these shooters have assistants and will sometimes even ask for a hand from mom and/or dad.

We need to remeber that in every session, whether it be a newborn or child, or even a senior hanging out on the railroad tracks, safety is the most important part of a shot. We never want to put a subject in harms way and sometimes, not always, we need to work a composite shot to get what our creative minds are thinking onto film.

Many have asked “What exactly is a comp shot”? It simple terms it is taking two pictures of one setup and combining the two to look like one.

Today we will walk you through a basic comp shot and how it can be perfected after captured in camera. (P.S.- this is the same technique that I use when I need a head swap, or two, something we should all get ready for with the big holiday/family season right in front of us!)

99% of the time I can get this shot in camera with the help of an assistant waiting only inches away from my perfectly balanced babe. But this little booger wasn’t having it..she would fall to her right EVERY time we CAREFULLY pulled away and would drop her head like it weighed 200 bs. So we resorted to a comp shot.

Step 1: Setup the shot. You will need to keep in mind that you will be combining the shots so make sure you do a true 50/50 split in your mind when snapping the two pictures. I knew my assistant would have to keep her hands on the babe in both shots and I need to make sure there was a center portion of the babe without any assistant interference or this wont work.

Step 2: Snap your two shots. Here are the two shots I took side by side.

Step 3: Drag one of the shot over and ontop of the other. (Just drag that layer over).

Step 4: Lower the opacity of your top layer so that you can see what lies underneath. When taking a comp you may not get back into the exact spot you were in for the first, maybe a hair further away, etc. I always find a focal point that I want to match, and I almost ALWAYS use the eyes of my subject. With the opacity lowered I can cake sure my eyes in each picture are exactly overlaying each other. I have to to tilt my top shot just a bit to make sure the eyes line up and when they look perfect I can move on.

Step 5: Add a layer mask to your top layer (see pic below on where to click to add a quick layer mask) You will want to use a mask not just your eraser tool to ensure the ability to go back and paint on minor mistakes.

Step 6: Bring back the opacity of your top layer. Make sure your layer mask is selected and grab a black, soft airbrush at 100% opacity and start removing the assistant interference in your photo.

You will end up with something like this.

Step 7:  Edit away. This is where I put the finishing touches and final edits on my photo…POOF ready for print!

Go. Shoot. Be Safe.

(P.S. – this is of course just how I have come to do my comp shots, if you have tips and tricks, please share them here!)

THEN COME PLAY WITH US!!!

I would explain it all to you myself…  but Photoshop Essentials has done quite a FANTASTIC job doing it HERE.

And in just a few easy steps… you can give a fun flair background to your images!!!

Here’s my before and after!

I’ve always enjoyed starbursts… so I thought I’d share this fun lil trick’ola with all of you!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

There is not much more we can say about Jodi and her actions except that they ROCK!

Every action is better than the next and takes your pictures from great to AWESOME with easy clicks.

Here is a shot I took recently at a sunset session on the beach.

Cute.
But I will be honest, as I was shooting I already knew in my mind that I was going to pop these pics with some MCP action!
I knew I wanted that gorgeous late evening sky to pop and my subject to be perfectly displayed.

Here is what I did:

I used  a combination of actions from the Bag of Tricks set and some of my favorite MCP actions to finish up.

I started with Magic Light on this little guys face right under the bar he is hanging from that caused a wee bit of shadowing. I grabbed Magic Dark on the sky in the background to give it some depth.

I wanted the sky to sparkle shine and be bright as can be so I ran Magic Color Finder {Intense}, set my brush to 100% and painted away.

I ran Magic Midtone Lifter to brighten the shadows. I finished off with Eye Doctor and Magic Skin (it was a little chilly and my little guy was a bit on the cool side on the skin, Magic Skin lightens, brightens and smooths all in one fun action.)

And here is the finished product.

Of course finishing up with MCP’s Finish It set makes blogging a post like this SUPER easy!

Just follow this link MCP Actions
or this banner, and check out MCP for yourself!

Do you LOVE AWB (auto white balance) as much as I do? I NEVER change that setting in my camera (I lied, only when I shoot with studio lights do I ever even touch that dial and when I do, it goes from flash to auto and back again). I have never used any other of those pretty little symbols before and custom, yikes that sounds kinda scary!

Although Photoshop and Lightroom, even Elements, are great tools for correcting white balance, I am continuing my mission to make life easy (or easIER). I had tossed around the idea of using a gray card, or some sort of custom white balance tool, for a while. I would edit in PS and get what I thought was the perfect “balance” but would always question how accurate it really was. So I bit the $40 bullet and purchased this.

There are a couple ways you can use this little tool of goodness.

Here’s how!

My first set of shots looked like this (these are all SOOC) and shot with AWB (auto white balance)

VERY cool! (and I don’t mean awesome, or cold) Easily fixable? Sure. Messing with some sliders in LR and I would be good to go and would get pretty close.

Instead I used my gray card. I took this shot of the card itself.

There is a super cool WB tool in Lightroom (and ACR) and here is how it works.

When you click on this dropper tool in either of these programs, you use a  perfectly 18% gray piece of goodness that, when clicked, will change everything about your pictures white balance. Now, there is not always something perfectly gray in your shot, enter the gray card.

When I pull up my gray card shot and click right there in the center, my picture changes in an instant! I copy the settings I have just applied and paste them (to these three pictures in particular) and check out the difference with once click of a button.

Cool right? Well warm and White Balance perfect.

Now there is another way you can use this tool, in a way that eleviates the whole copy paste functions.

Let’s check it out!

I snapped this picture.

Again easily fixable but I want to eleviate steps so I break out the gray card.

Here is where you need to pay attention. Don’t get intimidated. I am going to make you use the CUSTOM function but its ok, I promise!

All you have to do is quick take a picture of your gray card (like this).

Now, go into your cameras functions (this is how it looks on my Canon 5D Mark II) and select Custom White Balance.

Your camera will automatically take you into your picture previews. Select the picture of your gray card and click ok. Go back into your functions and make sure you change your white balance selection from auto to custom, and your done. And SHOOT!

(she just LOVES when Momma pics up a new gadget…bwwwaaahh)

Every shot that follows will use those tiny bits of white balance information. You don’t need to do the process again until you change to a new location with different lighting conditions.

Get to working out your gray matters!

With the summer here I am itching to get some newborns outside but I don’t always have the chance. I shoot most of my newborn session in my studio and after 6 p.m. Although it is still light out, by the time we get babe to sleep and comfortable I tend to miss the window of opportunity.

I have made it my mission to bring the outside to me! I started with one setup that was SUPER easy and cost very little mulla!

I purchased two rolls of dried moss from Michaels craft store. Be warned, it stinks like nothing else, but once I laid this beauty down, wrapped in a gorgeous cocoon (handcrafted by the lovely and fabulous Heather of Joco Couture), I knew I would have to suck it up because I loved the outcome.

Of course this has all been done before. From the hanging branch shot to tree bark laying babes, it has become something I am trying to add to every session. It’s cheap and just takes some thought and it sure helps to change up a session from time to time.

Hmmmm…maybe some hanging ivy, or some fresh flowers.

How do you bring the outside in!? Show us!

Do you offer custom cards to your clients? Whether it be a birth announcement or a cute little birthday thank you? We KNOW you spend most of the fall creating holiday cards! I do and I know how time consuming it can be! I cut my time in half by purchased some super cool templates from places like Uniquely You Designs, Album Cafe, and more BUT I was spending WAY too much time proofing for customers.

Design the card. Resize, drag and drop onto a blank page in PS type out all the obvious crop marks, fold lines, etc. It takes just as much time to proof the darn thing than it does to create it. And during the holidays…FORGET about it! SO much wasted time!

Not any more. We have created a Prop Insanity Time EZ Card Proofing Action for all you card creators.

In just seconds, you can take those individual files and make one easy to read client proof with all the fixin’s. The action will take care of all the text, gridlines in watermarking. You push play, select your files and PRESTO!

Action set includes:

4×6/5×7 Flat Card Proofing

5×5 Flat Card Proofing

4×6/5×7 Folded Card Proofing (both Horizontal and Vertical Layouts)

5×5 Folded Card Proofing (both Horizontal and Vertical Layouts)

5×5 Trifold Proofing Layout

Of course we will be giving away one free set!!! Just leave us a comment telling us what you PERFECT action would be. Is there something you would love to speed up with an action? Let us know!

Can’t Wait and want to start saving time right away?! Click here to purchase the PI – EZ Proofing Action Set for only $15! (Buy it now and if you are the winner we will refund your purchase!)

(Actions will be delivered within 24 hours of purchase. Actions are created to work in conjunction with WHCC print specifications, guides have not yet been tested with additional printers. Action uses Front, Back and Inside Spread layouts.)

If you enjoyed our Hot Spot Tutorial on Tuesday, then you will really love our wuickie hot spot fixer action!!

Grab it here and go from this:

to this:

in seconds!

So you have a newborn session and you are super excited. You picked up the PERFECT blanket to lay that precious bambino on. It’s crisp, clean and pure white (or maybe even cream). It’s such a great little reflector of that natural light just bellowing through the bay window or even when working with a studio setup.

You run home, sync up and start browsing your pics. And then you see it…a hot spot!!!!!! Also know as a blinding piece of blarring whiteness that seems to take over just a small of your photo’s canvas. Most clients probably won’t notice, but to your trained eye, it’s all you can see!!

Now this may not be the best way to fix it, nor the fastest but its how i work it when it comes up.

Let’s start with our picture and its horrendous blown out white corner (see bottom left).

Hello Mr. Hot Spot! Please go AWAY! Couple easy step s to help you reduce if not make that spot disappear!

Step 1: With your picture opened in PS, lets create a Curves Layer Adjustment. Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Curves.

When your dialog box pops up click the Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask.

When your Curves Adjustment dialog box appears you are going to grab the upper right hand node at the tip top of the grid.

Drag it down just a bit. You will see that your bright spot begins to fade, as will your entire photo…but no worries, were going to fix that!!

Click ok once you are happy with your itty bitty curves adjustment. You will now have two layers in your palette. Your original picture and a curves layer adjustment on top. Go ahead and grab your black brush at 80-100% opacity, make sure your mask is selected and paint back your original photo.

When you are done, go ahead and flatten. You should have just your background layer. Now we are going to repeat creating a Curves Adjustment Layer. (Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Curves)

This time we will adjust the overall brightness and contrast of the photo as you would with a photo that did not have this troublesome hot spot.

You can see I made an o-so-minor bump in my curves, just adding back some “umph”. No we created an Adjustment Layer with a mask again, and for a reason. Once you are happy with your curves adjustment click ok.

Grab that black brush again at 80-100% opacity and paint over the hot spot (chances are with your second curves adjustment you probably brought back some of that brightness).

Done. Hot Spot is no more!

Before:

After:

Now that you have a nice clean, hot spot free photo to work with, have some fun.

Go with a classic Black and White:

or maybe a little Honey:

Either way…MUCH better without the spot!!

Today we visit the last tip of the exposure triangle. ISO.  The noise maker.

What is ISO? ISO measures the sensitivity of the image sensor, the lower the number the less sensitive your camera is to light and the finer the grain and vice versa.

Depending on your camera’s make and model will play a HUGE roll in how high you can go and still remain “safe”. When I started out with my Canon Digital Rebel, I couldn’t even think about going over 400ISO without grain. My 40D worked well up to about 600ISO, and my 5D Mark II rocks ISO safely at 1200 ISO and I can sometimes (with the right combination of my 3 points of the exposure triangle) push it to 3200 ISO and still have very little grain (small enough that a noiseware program can easily fix).

Play with your camera and find your “max”.

There are of course instances when you will have no choice but to go above what you are happy with. Indoor sporting events, a wedding perhaps, maybe even a dim clients home.

Because ISO is part of that little triangle of light, changing your ISO greatly effects the two other key points, as will adjusting any or all of the points Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO.

Let’s setup a mental situation with poor light. Your local high school has asked you to shoot the Championship Basketball  game Friday night. You know that the lighting is pretty poor and there is going to be a ton of quick moving action. Let’s determine which point of the triangle will be most important to us. I’m going to go with shutter speed. We are not going to want Jim Three Pointers to be blurry as he take that game winning shot. We want to capture that moment in time. Freeze it to be remembered for always. Let’s bump the shutter speed to 1/500, maybe even 1/1000. You haven’t touched your aperture yet, it’s set at f/7 and your ISO is at 100 (haven’t touch that yet either). Shoot. WAY to underexposed. Remember that we want to leave ISO as our last ditch ever, so lets bump the Aperture down a whole lot. We can take that down to f/4 or even f/2.8 Wow! What a difference. MUCH more light coming in to the camera but still not perfectly exposed. Last resort, ISO…bump the ISO from 100 to 400. HUGE difference. Now shoot away!!

If you are in a low light situation that does not require a super fast shutter speed, get yourself a tripod! I know, its yet ANOTHER piece of equipment that you just don’t feel like lugging around, but you will be so thankful you did! Situation: Maternity session, clients home little light coming through the small itty bitty windows on a dark, stormy day. Mom is laying on a gorgeous, green velour couch (I have been dreaming of one of those). That small bit of light is hitting mom’s belly just right. Camera settings: Shutter Speed: 1/125 Aperture: f2.8 ISO: 200. You need just a bit more light coming into your camera. First thought, bump the ISO to 400 or higher, say a prayer and hope for no noise. IF you had your trusty tripod, you could easily break the hand held shutter speed rule (remember never put your shutter speed less than your aperture length or you risk some nasty shake blur).  Hook that bad boy up to your tripod and you can drop the shutter speed down to 1/30 without any shake (as long as mom-to-be is a good listener and can sit still) ISO remains at a safe no-noise level.

The only way to get the hang of these tips and tricks is to get out the camera and play. Eat, Sleep, Breathe the triangle. When you get on location, take a big deep breath, review your surroundings, set your camera settings, check your settings, check ‘em again and start shooting, making adjustments as you go.

Aperture, Shutter Speed ISO. Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO. Just keep saying it, out loud if you have to. You’ll be shooting manual in no time…with PERFECT exposure!

Next week we will visit a couple of other adjustments you may not of know you could control when working in manual mode. Take this week to practice your manual shooting and nail that exposure!