You’ve now taken the time to shoot manually, and you are rewarded with photographs that are beautifully composed, well lit, and a happy reflection of your little one’s unique personality. But maybe, that last shot was a little too dark, maybe the background in the previous shot is too bright? Do you leave all these photographs on your hard drive? What in the world do you do next? In this chapter we will review a few simple edits you can make to your photographs and make recommendations on how to print, store, and share your photographs as well.
Editing, or what’s commonly referred to in photography as post-processing is, in simplest terms, ensuring your photo files are print ready. Photographers have varying views on this. Some shoot with the intention of heavy post-process later. When you shoot like this, you’re not looking for perfection in-camera, but in your editing software. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this work structure, but I’m inclined to think of those people not as photographers, but as digital artists. Some strikingly gorgeous post-processing applications can transform the most mundane photograph into a work of art. Some use color and texture filters to replicate vintage cameras. Some have strong lighting and contrast applications to make it seem that the photograph was shot with a commercial camera. When the process of specific edits and filters has been saved to use on multiple photographs, these saved steps are called “actions.” If you are interested in applying these types of actions to your photographs, simply google “photoshop actions” and you will find hundreds of free and for-purchase.
I’m of the school that likes to get it right in-camera. If I want the image to look like it’s shot with a vintage camera, I will shoot film in a vintage camera. The choice is personal and is really determined by where you are more comfortable spending your time, behind a camera or a computer. Though I shoot for perfection, it is rarely 100 percent realized. In most cases, I will have to at least boost the contrast or heal a stray mark. The most commonly used tool for editing photographs is Adobe Photoshop. If you do not have it, I suggest starting with Adobe Photoshop Elements, the baby brother to the traditional software. The type of editing we discuss in this chapter can be achieved with Photoshop Elements. You’ll find more detailed information in Adobe’s own publications and tutorials on the Internet, but we will quickly look at the most commonly used applications in the software. You will find most of what you need in your toolbar and top menu.
» Cropping Tool: This tool allows you to crop your image. For example, if you photograph your child and want to remove something from the background or perhaps create a tighter facial shot, this is the tool you’ll use.
» Spot Healing Brush Tool: This tool, whose size you can change in the control panel, allows you to clean up stray marks in your photograph.
» Blur and Sharpen Tools: This tool allows you to blur sections of your photograph or sharpen them. Avoid using the sharpen tool too much, as it tends to create “noise” to achieve its task. The blur can come in especially handy when you are shooting with a point and shoot camera. As we discussed in the first chapter, while you are able to achieve a natural blur by shooting at a lower f-stop on a DSLR, you cannot achieve this look on a point and shoot. By carefully blurring the background in Photoshop, you can create that look post-process. Be mindful of the strength of the blur tool (you can control this in its menu); you want the impression to look as natural as possible.
» Dodge Tool: The dodge tool is used to lighten or highlight areas of your photograph. As with the spot heal brush, you can control the size of the tool for the area you are working on.
» Burn Tool: The burn tool darkens areas of your photograph and is controlled the same way as the dodge tool.
In the top menu of the software, you will also find helpful tools to aid you. Start under “Image,” scroll down to “Adjustments,” and play with both the curves tool and the color balance and brightness/contrast tools; all will help you fix any lighting issues you may have had when shooting.
As an illustration of how subtle editing can be, look at the original photograph in figure 14, and the edited shot in figure 15. Can you tell what small changes were made?
fig. 14
fig. 15
1. I cropped the photograph so my daughter was tighter within the frame.
2. I brightened the image overall just a little with the curves tool.
3. I adjusted the color balancing with additions of cyan and blue.
4. I darkened the background with the burn tool.
5. I erased a few stray marks in the background with the spot heal brush.
6. And last, I used the dodge tool to brighten her hair, flower, and arm.
Entire tomes are dedicated to this software, and I encourage you to start simply. You will probably find that just these few steps are enough to add that extra punch to your photograph. If you want to delve deeper, check the Resource section of this book for some recommendations on what books are most helpful in explaining how to use Photoshop.
If you are like a lot of digital photographers, in time you may find yourself with thousands of photographs and really nothing tangible to show for your efforts. One of the greatest differences between film and digital photography is how photographs are stored. We no longer have negatives to file and copious numbers of prints to sift through. Now our hard drives are strained under the weight of full-size, unedited files.
I have a rule for myself that as soon as I’ve shot something, whether personal or professional, I sit down and pull everything I plan to edit into a single folder on my computer. All unedited files will then find their way to an external back-up hard drive. But I do save them. I have found myself on many occasions going back through files to find images I missed, and I often see an old photograph with a new eye. Some shots are obviously problematic; they are blown out or overexposed, way too dark, too blurry, maybe a really unflattering expression was captured—delete these, there is no reason to let these files take up room on your hard drive.
You can also choose to store your photographs online. Many Internet providers and online vendors offer storage space in what’s called “the cloud”—think of it as a virtual filing cabinet. Most of these vendors provide ample space for a low monthly fee.
Also! Check and then double check that your files are backed up on your computer and external hard drive before formatting your memory card (deleting data), because once you have, the images are gone forever!
On your computer, create a filing system that makes sense to you. Some people like to file and store photographs by date, maybe one folder for 2013, then separate folders for each month. You could even segregate your photographs further by child’s name or by event within those months. Whatever system you create, it needs to make sense to you and be easy to maintain. I also create folders under specific events labeled “Unedited,” “To Edit,” and “Edited,” keeping all the photographs in that group together. Once I have had the chance to pull everything I want to edit into “To Edit,” I then move the “Unedited” to my external back-up drive.
And don’t forget to print! The advances in technology have made high-quality home printing devices affordable, and they give you the luxury of printing on demand. Paper is important. You will find that better quality paper will give you results that mirror what you see on your computer screen. There is also a list of exceptional printers in the back of this book if you would rather outsource. When using a printing lab, do remember the following:
» Save files at at least 300dpi (dots per inch) and the actual size you want to print. You can print smaller, but will have difficulty printing larger if the file does not reflect the correct dimensions.
» Save your files in RGB color space, as that is what most printers require for correct color calibration.
» Most printers will ask for jpg files. These files tend to be smaller than tiff or psd files. However, for the longevity and health of your image files, save edited images as tiff or psd as well, because they retain more image information with use.
» Some printers may ask you to calibrate your monitor to ensure the colors are correct. You can easily find instructions online to walk you through this process for your specific computer.
» Be sure NOT to select the option to have your files color-corrected. Often this results in strange color shifts that you are not expecting.
The most popular way to share photographs now is on the Internet. There are many platforms for you to do this: Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, even your own blog. The advent of social media allows you to share images literally with the push of a button. It offers a wonderful way to keep friends and relatives up to date on your little one’s progress and your own as a photographer. Flickr and other online photography communities are also wonderful places to find like-minded photographers, ask questions, and learn to shoot better. You will find a list of the most popular photo communities in the Resources section.
You can also use these resources as learning tools without sharing your own work. Social media is a brilliant way to share our lives, but you have to feel comfortable with the boundaries, and in social media, there are few. Sadly, the reality of the situation is that when you put your child’s photograph online, even if you’ve protected it, it could end up anywhere. Be aware of this when you decide which types of photographs you share online, and do take precautions to prevent others from downloading your work without your permission. Many online sharing sites, such as Flickr, have privacy options that allow you to block those you’ve not approved from seeing your photographs.
While the potential is nearly limitless, here are a few simple project ideas to take your photographs one step further.
A Year in the Life Book: I LOVE books. And really love photography books. Every year, I create a book of photographs for the girls’ grandparents. Not only is it a wonderful gift idea, but I can’t tell you how much fun I have going through the photographs and reliving our last year. It’s almost therapeutic, and is an acute reminder of how blessed we are. There are so many approaches to putting a book like this together, here are a few ideas to get you started:
» The Resource section of this book lists some of the companies that can print your photo books. Most have easy-to-use software that you download to your computer. You then select a template for your book design, upload your images, and place your order, and you have a book. Yes, it’s really that simple. If you are Photoshop savvy, you can layer text over some of your images to introduce new sections.
» Consider how you want to lay your book out. Chronologically makes sense, but there are many ways to do it—by major events that year, by child, and so on. Play with a few options until it makes sense to you and will to others as well.
» We talked about the fact that capturing your children’s lives is more than just their beautiful little faces. Scan or take photographs of drawings or notes and include them in the book as well.
» Make a mini handheld book out of your camera phone shots.
If you are feeling really creative, you can make the book by hand. There are some great online tutorials for hand binding books, and your children can help decorate the pages. Use prints of photographs from your home printer or a professional printing lab.
We are a blogging family. I created Nectar & Light in 2007 to document our “sweet life” through Polaroid photographs. While other types of photography trickle onto the site now and then, this blog allows me to keep focused on the goal of continuing to shoot instant film. My two eldest daughters both have blogs as well. Adie Fey takes instant images for her blog, Adie Loves Polly, and I take photographs of the creative ensembles that Ayla Eve creates for herself on All About Eve.
If you are interested in starting a photography blog, think about what parts of your children’s lives and your lives together you want to share with others. Find focus and shoot with your heart, and you cannot go wrong. Although blog readers love well-shot photos and blogs with beautiful photography tend to really stand out, readers love to well . . . read. Do not be afraid of writing. Embrace it. You do not have to be poetic, but you do need to be authentic. Keep in mind, however, how accessible what you write is. Share only what you are comfortable sharing.
If your child is old enough to take an interest, involving them can be a wonderful experience for you both. Adie, now nine, wanted to start shooting Polaroids with me when she was four. So I found her an older camera (she named it Polly) and bought her some film. When Polaroid stopped making the film, I moved on to film created by The Impossible Project and Adie moved on to a Fuji Instax (that she, of course, calls Polly). As Adie’s little sister Ayla got older, she wanted a blog, too. An idea formed naturally when Ayla began dressing herself. She has a shockingly mature eye for color and proportion and was coming up with the most wonderful outfits, and I started to photograph them. I don’t force my girls to blog; I want to keep it fun for them. When they’ve decided they don’t want to do it anymore, we won’t.
If you want to start a photography blog centered around your child, focus on their passions and do not set unattainable goals for yourself (like posting every day), as you are at the mercy of their always flitting interests. Keep it fun, light, and fresh, and you might be surprised at what you gain in return. Check out Blogger, Typepad, and Wordpress for easy-to-use blogging platforms.
This is a fun and easy project and one of the most amazing gifts you can give grandparents—they will LOVE it. Traditionally, silhouettes were paper cutouts, and the craft is still practiced today. The subject would sit behind a lit screen, and the artist would trace the outline of their shape on paper, and then carefully cut out the shape, preserving every little curl. It is a fascinating art form. This project cheats a bit, okay a lot, but you end up with a beautiful finished project.
Start by photographing your child. Position them in front of a white or very light background, turned to the side so that you view their profile through your viewfinder. Ensure that the profile is strong. If the child turns just a touch toward or away from you, you are at risk of losing their nose! Once you have the photograph, upload it into Photoshop and convert it to black and white. (Note: Do not change the image size at this point, as you will then be restricted to that print size when you have finished.) Figure 16 shows the original photograph.
Add a bit of contrast so that the edges of your child’s form become more prominent. Then, using the burn tool, darken the shape of the child, paying particular attention to all of the edges. (See figure 17.)
Now you can do one of two things. Figure 18 shows the contrast boosted to a full 100 percent.
Figure 19 used the stamp tool (under the Filter menu > select Sketch > then Stamp).
Finally, use the brush tool in the toolbar to fill in any white spaces with black. You can see in figure 20 that I filled in a part of her bun as well.
fig. 16
fig. 17
fig. 18
fig. 19
Flatten the file and save it at 300dpi and as large as you want to print! You can also have the image silkscreened on a pillow or canvas tote bag as a fun alternative.
fig. 20
» Yes 8” × 10” and 11” × 14” are respectable print sizes—but go big! Printers can print your photographs quite large (we have a 40” × 60” print in our home), and they make quite a wall statement.
» Print photos on copy paper at home to create homemade gift wrap or gift tags.
» Remember the sequencing shooting we talked about in chapter three? You can string those shots together in a program like iMovie to create a short stop-motion movie. There is a great tutorial at http://content.photojojo.com/tutorials/stop-motion-digital-camera/.
» If your child shows interest in photography (or simply your camera!), spend a few dollars for a disposable film camera and let them shoot their heart out. You may be surprised with the results.
» Your photos don’t always need to be framed. Try printing some of your favorites and arranging them directly on your wall in a fun shape like a heart or arrow.
By Deb Schwedhelm
