Fall Facebook Timeline Cover Freebies!

Just a little Fall happy for you all today!

I hope you enjoy it! 

Let me know if you use it. 

click to download psd file.

click to download psd file
this text is customizable! 

To personalize in photoshop drag and drop your photos above the photo layer. Then "ctrl alt g" if the photo does not insert into the circle. Then "crtl t" to resize to fit! 

You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or my Blog!  -Stephanie

A Clean Edit {PicMonkey Tutorial}

I know there are many many people using PicMonkey these days for editing photos, especially bloggers. So, I thought I'd give a little tutorial on how to do just a basic "clean" edit using this FREE online photo editor. There are a lot of features that may eventually be features that you have to register and pay for, but much of what I'm going to use are basic and will hopefully always be free.

1. Open your photo for editing. 
2. I initially resized my photo because I shoot in RAW and the file is HUGE! So you can do this by just going to Resize at the bottom of the left hand column and typing about 3200px for the long side of the photo. This will allow you to safely print up to an 8x10. 
3. I start with correcting my White Balance (sometimes I crop first, but didn't for this photo).  Choose Colors > Neutral Picker> take the eye dropper and click on a neutral/white area in your photo. You may have to do this a couple of times to get the right balance. Then you can warm it up if you feel like it needs it but sliding the Saturation bar to the right. Click Apply (this will be for every part of the edit, so I will not actually say that for each step). If at some point you've applied an edit and decide you want to go back there is an undo button just above your photo as you can see in the screen shot below.

4. Once I have my colors corrected, I begin correcting the skin (if needed). Choose the Lipstick to reveal the Touch up tools. You are going to want to be VERY careful here as it can get out of hand fast! (especially if you are editing yourself) ;) You don't want it to look too fake or "touched up". What I wanted to accomplish here is to remove unwanted blemishes or shadows causing an unnatural appearance. 

5. Skin Correction: 

• Airbrush tool set to natural, adjust brush size, and fade to between 70 and 90 percent. Brush cheeks, under eyes, and other areas of bare skin if needed. You can always fade it more after, but if you need two different settings you'll have to "apply" then start again. 
• Choose the Blush Boost tool. I used this here only because after getting rid of the shadow made her look a little washed out and it was a very overcast, dreary evening. I brushed a very light peach/pink onto her cheeks and faded to my liking. 

7. Teeth Whitening: I use this tool for well teeth whitening, but in this case I used it for eye whitening. In many photos you will find that an overcast or shadow may cause the whites of the eyes to look a little grey or blue. I am not a big fan of PicMonkey's Eye Brightening tool. So, I use a combo of teeth whitening and Dodge in the Effects section. Zoom in and brush the whites of the eyes desaturating the tint.  

8. Effects: For a clean edit, we won't use any of the real effects that are offered here, but the Advanced editing tools found at the bottom of that section. 

• First, I chose Dodge. Her eyes, especially the irises, are pretty dark so we want to lighten them up a little. I set it to mid tones and just began to brush. I had to redo this several times to get a look that I liked. Remember natural is best for  a clean edit (you can add effect later). 
• Next, I chose Burn and made my brush pretty small. I went over the outline of her face, hair, and dress around the neck. This I used it on her lashes and lips to add a little depth.

9. Crop, Resize for Blog, Watermark using the "P", Save!

That's it! I hope this was helpful. Please let me know if you use it. You can find how I used PicMonkey to do a Black and White conversion here. You can find my model here. And you can find me here, here, and here.

XO
Stephanie Clark

Creating Silhouettes

There are so many creative and fun ways to experiment with your photography. Creating silhouettes is one of my favorite ways to throw some creative in the mix. Whether its with your own children or during a portrait session, silhouettes are beautiful for any age and any number of subjects. Best of all, you really don't need a fancy camera or extensive knowledge of an editing program to get great silhouettes. 

Here are a few tips I've learned along with way while experimenting with silhouettes.

• Picking a location: An open space where you can capture your subject without too many distractions. An open sky backdrop works best. The beach is an awesome location for silhouettes, but if you aren't near the beach a nice little hill or open field will work great. 
• Lighting: The best time of day for natural light silhouettes is late in the evening when the sun is just about to go down or at least pretty low in the sky.
• Positioning your subject: You'll want your subject to be between you and the sun, but you don't have to shooting directly into the sun, but you definitely can. I love a great sun flare! YOU will want to be down low as to make sure most of your subject is against the sky. You want to get as little of the horizon as possible.
• Camera Settings: You really want to expose your background. If the background/sky is correctly exposed your subject will be dark. You can accomplish this by focusing on the sky without your subject in the frame, then zoom out and bring your subject into the frame Or use spot metering mode (if your camera has that option) and focus on the sky centered in your frame.
•  I actually used Aperture Priority mode to shoot these photos. I was shooting other photos and just used my current settings adjusted just slightly. Kind of an on the fly decision to see what I could get of this VERY active toddler I was shooting. Below you can see my settings. To make this photo a little better straight out of the camera I could have definitely gone up an f/stop or three. My photo was slightly noisy and had a light post in it that I cropped out. 

Shot with Canon 7D and Tamron 17 - 50mm Zoom

• In Photoshop (or any photo editing program): bump up your blacks and contrast. Adjust brightness to your liking. If you want to go a few more steps you can try adding a little haze or running some of your favorite actions for a little oomph! 

Get creative and never stop trying new things! 

xo Stephanie of Behind the Camera and Dreaming

Backlighting: Natural Light Photography

Backlighting has become one of my favorites lighting styles and I've practiced it often. Earlier this week I set out into the backyard in hopes of capturing some backlit photos of my son, Jonah and I was not disappointed! 

Backlighting refers to the practice of placing your subject between you and the light source. This means you are facing the light. While this technique can be applied to artificial lighting, for our purposes, the light is the sun. 

Timing: The best time of day for back lit photos is going to be of course in the coveted golden hour (an hour or so before the sun goes down) but really as long as the sun is ascending or descending and you can position your subject between your lens and the sun you're set. 

Positioning: Try different angles and positions. While you are pointing your camera towards the light, you don't have to be shooting directly into it. Position your subject so that you can move around freely, zoom in close and pull it back a little. You can use an open sky or filter the light by positioning you subject with something in between your subject and the light, such as a tree line.

Bouncing the Light: With your subject's back to the sun you'll still want to make sure there is enough light to not create dark shadows or raccoon eyes. Deep shadows can be beautiful for really artistic photography, but if you are going for something a little less dramatic, I recommend using something to reflect light back into your subject's eyes. In this case I used a reflector for some photos, but I also had our white house behind me - it works as a natural light reflector. You can also use something as simple as white poster board or foam board that you can get for a few bucks at any big box or office supply store.

Technicalities: While back lighting creates a beautiful glow and often a slightly warm haze. It can also be very easy to get blown out areas and lots of noise. So keep your ISO low and make sure you are metering on your subject. Shooting during the golden hour often means the light is fading fast, which can really mess with your settings. So, check your work often, but don't obsess. This is a non traditional style of lighting, so you have more room to be a little artistic. 

Beautiful light can take an ordinary setting and turn it into something magical. Once you've mastered the basics of backlighting, you'll easily be able to capture those beautiful sun flares and get creative with silhouettes!

Stephanie of Behind the Camera and Dreaming