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This week’s Fix it Friday is one I loved immediately!  It has great bones!

ORIGINAL:

It’s hard when shooting in a lot of sun to get everything properly exposed.  If you expose for the sky, the person is in shadow.  If you expose for the highlights, the shadows will be too dark.  If you expose for the shadows, the highlights will be blown out.  Sometimes, you just take the shot anyway.  This is one you just take anyway!  She’s so beautiful and it’s just a simple, sweet photo….timeless!

Edit #1

For my first edit, I wanted to give those with Elements or those just learning Photoshop, some easy fixes.  I opened up levels first and brightened up her face watching the highlights to make sure I wasn’t making them worse, then darkened the shadows just a hair to keep the contrast high.  (Levels is found under IMAGE>ADJUSTMENTS>LEVELS.  Then you slide the little arrows under MIDTONES to the left, and the SHADOWS to the right.)  Then I used my unsharp mask (aka USM) to sharpen the photo, settings:  80/1.5/0.  Quick and easy fix.

Edit #2

Then I opened up my little bag of tricks to play.  I used Florabella’s Luxe “Glam” action, and then ran “Mademoiselle” and then adjusted the contrast of it so it wasn’t so bright.  Then I used Sharpen/defog from the same set.   Then I decided to change the slant.  Slants can work in SOME photos, but not all the time, and not with all photos, so just for a different option I unslanted it.  (And it wasn’t as easy as I thought! LOL)  I went into IMAGE>IMAGE ROTATION>ARBITRARY and then did an 8 going counter-clockwise.  When you do this however, you are left with either a very small image canvas or lots of places that you need to clone to fill it.  So that was my plan of action:  clone.

Edit #3

I wanted to try my new B/W Mink action from Florabella’s Luxe collection because I had heard it does well with overexposed areas.  I was not disappointed!  I thought it really gave the photo a more timeless feel!  Then, again, I wanted to change the crop of the photo.  I knew I didn’t want the slant, but I also wanted more empty space to the right of the photo.  When you have your subject looking INTO a photo (in this case, at the right), it’s a good idea to have more space in that direction (just what I learned, remember, all the “rules” are subjective though!).  So I cropped the photo giving more room on the right, and then used my clone tool to add foliage to all of the open spaces.

Edit #4

My final edit, I used Edit #3 (with the slant) to do a digital scrapbook page.  Because of the slant, I used a coordinating paper with diagonal lines going in the opposite direction of the slant.  This helps her to stay “in” the photo and not appear to be falling out of it, also why I kept all the heavier elements on the opposite side of the photo.

Dana-My photographic journey began in July in 2007 where I assumed I would purchase the expensive camera, and all my photos would be breathtaking, and I’d make a kajillion dollars. People would throw their wallets at me….I’d be famous and stuff….

I learned very quickly the error in my thinking.

It meant late late nights studying all I could and practice practice PRACTICE! Because I am later in life discovering this God-given talent, I am now a wife of 18+ years, mother of 3 (15, 12, and 4), and a full-time+ job-holder who could not go to school to learn photography.  So, I am mainly self-taught with a photography group online that has been amazing to me!

I’m not the best. I’m not the worst. I am learning, and I think it’s pretty acceptable to camp out there for awhile….maybe the rest of my life. For when I have reached perfection, what more is there to do?

Dana’s Photography Facebook fanpage

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