Touch of Light Touch of Darkness

We are always looking for and creating new actions to speed things up and creatively improve our photographs. I came across these today via the 'Digital photography School'.

Jodi also has an interesting Blog full of creative ideas, news, tutorials, actions, tips, etc. http://mcpactions.com/blog/

Check our her simple but very effective tutorial on layers http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/understanding-layers-in-photoshop/

This is what Jodi writes "Have you ever wanted to just lighten the face in your photo? Have you ever wanted to just lighten a part of a photo you did not expose properly? Have you ever wanted to add emphasis to part of the photo by darkening the surround area but leaving the subject lighter? If so, I have a special treat for you. It is an action called “Touch of Light Touch of Darkness.” It will help you achieve this look! I have been getting requests to make and sell an action like this for months. But I have decided as a gift to my loyal MCP Actions Blog Readers to make this a FREE action. In exchange for the free action, I would love for you to spread the word about my blog -tell your photographer friends to come get the action here too. This is a Blog EXCLUSIVE. This one will NOT be going on my regular website.

Here are four before and after photographs using her Touch of Light Touch of Darkness actions.

Peyton before Touch of Light Touch of Darkness

Peyton After Touch of Light Touch of Darkness

Peyton after Touch of Light Touch of Darkness, with a portrait filter

With a 'Scott Kelby frame' via an action I created after his seminar

Socrates and Leonardo "Before"

Socrates and Leonardo "After" Touch of Light Touch of Darkness

Beautiful Sydney "Before"

"After" Touch of Light Touch of Darkness

with portrait enhancement too

"Before"

"After" Touch of Light Touch of Darkness

with Painter

The Scott Kelby No Bobble Head Seminar

We are always learning new and faster techniques, both in the camera and in Photoshop. Tuesday I went to an all day Photoshop seminar by Scott Kelby (http://www.scottkelby.com/). I LOVE his books, enjoy his blog, etc. but truthfully I was a little worried about staying awake for an entire day of sitting on my butt. As a professor I am used to lecturing, less so to sitting and listening all day. And since I am used to going and going and going like the energizer bunny sometimes when I finally have a chance to sit down in a dark room I become a "bobble-head" regardless of how much I am interested. I was very pleased to leave there without a sore neck from bobble-heading ;-)

However my fears were unfounded as Scott was entertaining, lively, and full of jokes as he combined this humor with LOTS of useful tips and ways to speed things up. The first part of the day I knew how to do almost everything he showed us -- but not necessarily as fast as he did it (and time is important so that we can (a) get the photos back to all of you as quickly as possible and (b) so that Tom & I can enjoy some times without a keyboard/wacom.

At the end of the seminar Scott showed us some neat gallery/presentation type effects. Immediately upon coming home I went through these and made actions for them. Here are 5 photos "beforeSK" and "afterSK". Thank you Scott! I would happily go to another of his seminars!!

Some people walked out stating that "their brains were full" or that there was too much information but I disagreed! He had something for everyone and ALL of the information was in a very thorough booklet that came with the seminar. Personally I think that he could have easily made money selling the booklet because it had almost as much information in it as some of his books. It was the best $79 I've spent.

Lisa's Bleeding Hearts -- "BeforeSK"

Lisa's Bleeding Hearts -- "AfterSK"

I just love this filtered edge technique -- and the possibilities are endless!

Watercolor of Daffodils -- "BeforeSK"

Watercolor of Daffodils -- "AfterSK"

Tom's Bleeding Heart -- "BeforeSK"

Tom's Bleeding Heart -- "AfterSK"

Sunflowers, orton effect -- "BeforeSK"

Sunflowers, orton effect -- "AfterSK"

I really liked his concept for the "movable picture frame". I can definitely see us using this for our weddings! Like many of his lessons I made an action for this one because I know that we will use it a lot.

Daffodils from a chipmunk's point of view -- "BeforeSK"

Daffodils from a chipmunk's point of view -- "AfterSK"

Peyton @ Two Years Old -- "BeforeSK"

Peyton @ Two Years Old "AfterSK" -- Hollywood effect

Socrates (our cat) "BeforeSK"

Socrates (our cat) "AfterSK" -- Hollywood effect

Tulips in the morning light "BeforeSK"

Tulips in the morning light "AfterSK"

-- Painting "in" your photos

This technique reminded me of when I was a kid where you would color using red, gree, blue, etc. crayons and then cover everything with the BLACK crayon and then take a paper clip and remove the black from certain areas to uncover waht was underneath and make a colorful picture as the end result. Except it is easier and quicker (I make an action that has one Black layer and one white layer so I can choose which to paint in from) with photoshop.

Tulips in the morning light "AfterSK"

-- Painting "in" your photos

White layer on top, flowers painted back in

Grow with me -- Two years

Here is a composite of Peyton's first two years...

Grow with me...At no time in your child's life will physical changes occur so rapidly. In what seems like the blink of an eye, a tiny, helpless bundle is transformed into an active, robust and inquisitive youngster.

Plan to visit us, your photographer, at least three times during your baby's first year. The first visit preferably should be when you baby is sleeping, all curled up. The littler the better. Then again when they are crawling, and then again when they are walking. At Six Months . . . babies are so loveable! Cuddly and responsive, yet still dependent. Strengthened muscles let them sit up and take part in the world around them. Often happy-go-lucky, they crave attention and delight in having an audience. Portraits at this age are a perfect time to reveal chubby little arms and legs and even backsides!

At Nine Months . . . Many babies begin to strike out on their own. Still dependent on their parents, but starting to explore an ever-expanding world . . .well on the way to becoming a real little person and letting everyone know . . . "You won't hold on to me for long!"

One Year . . . The permanent facial characteristics begin to reveal a family likeness and individual character . . . still a baby, yet emerging as a robust and inquisitive child who is ready to meet the world. For the child who is now walking, the perfect message of the portrait is "I'm free!"


Around the second birthday, a major milestone is achieved. The toddler now responds to reason, humor, and action. Totally unpredictable, but always adorable... expect them to be loveable, shy, rowdy, or reserved as they begin to explore the world around them... here one minute and gone the next!


Still toddlers, most three-year-olds have discovered how to entertain themselves.
The world of toddlers is filled with portrait opportunities that capture the mystery and fantasy that are so much a part of these joyful days of discovery and make-believe that fade so soon.


A Birthday cake session also makes for great first birthday 'Thank You' cards.

Peyton Turns Two

As much as I love color, when it comes to people I think that Black and White photographs are superior because they allow the person's personality, their soul, to shine through. Here are some of my favorite photographs taken of Peyton as he turned two years old. You can view our website to see more, or better yet, send us an email and set up your own photo session.





From sleeping like an angel in his crib to crawling and then walking around, Peyton has changed so much in two years. These milestones of childhood can never be repeated. But we did captured some in these portraits that tell the story of a child's growing up ... as he passes through a series of stages... moving ever closer to adulthood.


















A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove...but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a boy.

Peyton in color

We have been photographing Peyton since he was 3 months old. He just turned two. Tom went alone to photograph him because I was in the midst of grading final exams and wrapping up the semester. He really captured the essence of an adorable two year old boy!
Here are a few of my favorite color photographs from May 1oth.

Lisa's Daffodils

These are some of my daffodil photographs. I used two lenses, a Sigma 180mm macro lens and then my Canon 28-300mm IS lens for these images. I used my knee pads to enable me to get low and then diffusers or reflectors to adjust the light.



I swear that it looks like Tom and I photographed the same daffodil. Tens of thousands of flowers, we did not see each other all morning, but we came home and a half an hour apart Tom and I both captured this flower from behind. I was was isolated, but if you had challenged us to both come home with the same image I am sure that it would not have happened.



I just loved the soft light in this photograph.

I kept trying to get different perspectives, down low and including different backgrounds.

This photograph is the one that weatherman Geoff Fox held the reflector for. IO just loved the way that the leaf popped up thru the flower, but the right side was in the shadows, hence I was using the reflector to bounce light into that side.

Getting down on my belly brought a few strange looks from the other visitors, but I knew that it was worth it. I saw the blue sky that could become the background by lying on the ground and knew that it would work well.

Tom's Daffodils

Tom really got into the daffodils, getting down low, trying different compositions, etc. This first one and the last one in this series were amongst my favorites of his from the day.


I stood over Tom's shoulder to take this photo of him taking landscape photographs of the daffodils.