Friday, December 21, 2012 at 07:01AM 
I know it's already almost Christmas, but it's not too late to get some great photos of holiday light displays - most of them run through New Year's so you still have time to go a-photographing. Here are some tips for getting the very best holiday lights photos with your digital SLR:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 06:00AM 
A few weeks ago I showed you how to set up a DIY photography studio in your garage to take advantage of natural light, and I recommended you use black stretch velvet for an easy and fairly inexpensive backdrop. But what if you don't want a black backdrop? One option for small children is my DIY photography backdrop board, which you can see in action in this post. Another option is to simply grab a sheet or blanket in any solid color and use it for a backdrop - simple and super versatile. However, unless you iron the heck out of it beforehand, a portrait taken with a sheet/blanket background is going to end up with lots of wrinkles in the background:
There are a few things you can do to combat this on the front end - the first is to stretch the blanket/sheet out and clamp it tightly (assuming there is something you can clamp it to) to minimize wrinkles. Another is to grab an iron/steamer and steam it once it's hanging in place. The third is to decide you'll take care of the wrinkles after the fact using Photoshop Elements. Here's how:
Tuesday, July 31, 2012 at 08:00AM 
It's been a few weeks since I posted part one of "How to Create a Photo Collage in Photoshop Elements" and I finally have part two ready for you. Part one explained what clipping masks are and how to use them. Part two uses the same process to show you how to create a more complex collage. Once you've viewed both videos, you should be able to create a photo collage in any size and with as many photos as you wish. You'll be able to make collages like the ones I have up on my gallery photo wall.
This video is a little longer, because I show the technique a few different times to make sure you understand the process. I hope you enjoy it!
linked up at:
My Romatic Home Tatertots and Jello Ladybug Blessings Tip Junkie Blackberry Vine Sugarbee Crafts Hope Studios The Inspiration Board Not Just a Housewife Momnivores Dilemma Yesterday on Tuesday Fireflies and Jellybeans Chic on a Shoestring Decorating 504 Main At The Picket Fence It's a Hodgepodge Life The Shabby Nest
Monday, July 2, 2012 at 09:24AM 
Photoshop Elements is a pretty nifty application that allows you to do a tremendous amount of editing and playing around with your photos. In fact, it can do so much stuff that many people buy Elements (it's pretty reasonably priced), open it up once, get overwhelmed, and never open it again. If you really want to learn Photoshop Elements, I recommend taking an online class (I loved the classes I took from Jessica Sprague). But if you're not up for a class, check back here regularly because I'm going to start sharing screencasts and tutorials for Photoshop Elements.
This is the first of a two part (maybe three part?) series that will teach you how to make a photo collage, such as the ones on my gallery photo wall.
Most people who are unfamiliar with PSE (Photoshop Elements) approach making a photo collage the same way they'd do it with real, printed photos: they crop each photo into the size they think they want, then drop all those cropped photos onto a new blank file in PSE, then move them around until they look ok. But I'm here to tell you there's a much better way: clipping masks. Clipping masks let you constrain your photos down to a smaller size without actually cropping or cutting off any parts of the photo. That means you can create a photo collage, but change the sizes of each photo as well as what portions of each photo you can see as you go along. This is lots easier to understand when you see it in action, so let's bring on the screencast!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012 at 10:35AM 
I hope you've been following along with this five part newborn photography series geared toward teaching you how to take great photos of your newborn. In case you're just joining us now, here's my photography disclaimer and links to each blog post in the series:
I don't claim to be a pro, and following the steps I'm outlining here isn't going to make you a pro either. There's a lot more to photography than props and poses. If you want amazing portraits of your newborn, your best bet is to invest in professional photos.
However, if you don't have hundreds of dollars to spend on a newborn photo session, there are things YOU can do to get great photos of your newborn, and that's the point of this blog series. Here's what you can look forward to in the next few weeks:
Part 1: the basics | Part 2: posing | Part 3: posing baby with family members | Part 4: editing | Part 5: how to get this shot (setup to post processing)
How to get this shot
Do you ever see a photograph and wish you knew exactly how to get that shot?
Friday, June 22, 2012 at 08:00AM 
I hope you've been enjoying the first three parts of this newborn photography series. If you've missed them, here's the rundown:
I don't claim to be a pro, and following the steps I'm outlining here isn't going to make you a pro either. There's a lot more to photography than props and poses. If you want amazing portraits of your newborn, your best bet is to invest in professional photos.
However, if you don't have hundreds of dollars to spend on a newborn photo session, there are things YOU can do to get great photos of your newborn, and that's the point of this blog series. Here's what you can look forward to in the next few weeks:
Part 1: the basics | Part 2: posing | Part 3: posing baby with family members | Part 4: editing | Part 5: how to get this shot (setup to post processing)
Today I just thought I'd show you how I usually edit newborn photos. Newborn photos can usually use a fair bit of editing because it's normal to see scratches, red splotches, dry skin, etc., on those new babies' little faces. What sort of editing and how much editing to do is really a matter of preference - my goal is generally to remove distractions and help the baby's skin look it's best while maintaining a realistic photo that doesn't "look photoshopped." I generally edit using Photoshop Elements.
I've made a screencast for you today taking you through my usual process.
Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 08:00AM 
Trying to get a picture of all my children together where they are all looking fairly normal is a nightmare. I think it just might be statistically impossible, what with all the possible grimaces, cries, chokeholds, etc. that have a tendency to pop up in our photos. But sometimes I'm crazy enough to try anyway. A few months ago I decided I wanted a new picture of all five kids together, and I wanted to use my white backdrop board (see this post for instructions on how to make one of your own). Two problems: 1. the 4'x4' board was really two small to act as a background for all five kids, and 2. see the aforementioned photographing five kids at one time nightmare.
But I still really wanted the picture. So I decided to figure it out, using a little planning beforehand and a little photoshop magic after the fact. I decided to take two different photos and merge them together. Here's how:
Thursday, April 19, 2012 at 08:00AM 
So, say you took a couple pictures of your son blowing bubbles, and you really like these two:
But you're bummed because you like the close-up picture better, but there aren't enough bubbles in it. What's a girl to do? Well, you steal the bubbles from the right picture to put onto the left picture, of course:
Want to know how I did it?
It's actually fairly simple if you have Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.
