This Fix it Friday is my own little pumpkin!  😀  The original photo was just uninspiring to me, and I knew it needed a little help.  I liked the backlighting, but it just needed some help.

Original photo:

So my first fix, I did a boost on it, and reduced that layer to 65% so it wasn’t so bright.  Then I used levels to brighten it up just a touch more and darkened the shadows.   She had eaten a red popsicle on the way to the pumpkin patch, so I knew I had to fix the red on cheeks and mouth.  I used Essential Kit action “reduce red in skin tones” from Marta loves simple and that did the trick!  Then I dodged her little allergy under eye circles, and softened her skin SLIGHTLY!  (Opacity 20%)  I ran a high pass filter to sharpen a touch (opacity 13.9, then reduced that layer to 55%)  I bumped the curves slightly and then ran USM (60/1/0), and that was my BASE for the photo.

When I had all my basic fixes done, I ran Florabella action “Musette” from the Florabella Luxe set. I tried several other ones, but this one made the most POP for me, and I loved the undertones of blue in the photo!   Then I cropped to a horizontal 5×7 and that was it!

Second Edit:

I will be the FIRST to admit, this one was a COMPLETE accident.  I wasn’t going to do a black and white just because the pumpkins were so beautiful and the colors popped so well in the original, I thought a black and white would be sacrilegious.  But, I wasn’t paying attention when I was editing, and I hit Florabella’s B/W Mink action from her Florabella Luxe collection and was instantly taken with the result!   I reduced the action to 55% and then bumped the levels and curves to give it a little more drama, and I really liked the result!  It was just so unexpected, like your eyes LOOK for the color that isn’t there.  Is that a hint of orange on the pumpkins?  Is that a hint of green in that grass?  It was just something totally different.  Then (because let’s be honest here, I wanted to figure out my new actions from Essential Kits) I ran Bring the Texture out in Marta loves it simple just to see what it did.   (Yes, I’m like a little kid at Christmas…..don’t hate!)  I brushed it over the pumpkins and over Brooklyn and the results were STUNNING!  It was like brushing away clouds to reveal little hidden treasures in the photo!  I have NO idea what I did, or even if I could do it again, but I LOVED the results!

And I’m not too big for my britches to admit it!  😀

So, just experiment and have FUN!

Dana

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip that started from this tropic port aboard this tiny ship.  The mate was a mighty sailing man, the skipper brave and sure.   Five passengers set sail that day for a three hour tour, a three hour tour.

(Who’s paying attention here…..and who’s still singing that song?  HAHAHAHA)

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!

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 (Feel free to LIKE me!  I’d be honored!  And a little giddy….I might do a little dance of joy!)

Dana’s website:  Dana’s Photography (Click on that a few times so my ratings will go up!  LOL  Wait…..does that work?)