Photoshop tutorial for portrait photography

Rob & Lauren over at Photography Concentrate have done it again. Those two are seriously the photography tutorial ninjas, and they have finally provided an incredible Photoshop tutorial. (Where was this two years ago when I first started learning Photoshop?!!).

You've heard me talk about Extremely Essential Camera Skills, Super Photo Editing Skills, and Incredibly Important Composition Skills. The first two were a huge part of my education before I started up my business, and I thank goodness for those and the way they helped me learn my camera and Lightroom so quickly and so easily. LIFE (and money) SAVER.

I went through their newest tutorial, Really Easy Retouching with Adobe Photoshop, and even though I've been using Photoshop retouching techniques for two years now, I still learned so much I didn't know before. For example, HEAD SWAPPING. When you're photographing families with young children, it is damn near impossible to get everyone looking at the camera at the same time. One of the videos in this tutorial explains how to seamlessly bring a head over from one photo to another, to complete that happy, smiling picture where all family members at least APPEAR to have been fully cooperating. ;) No more throwing out otherwise perfectly good shots because I don't know how to head swap!

Other techniques addressed in the tutorial are as follows:
+ Photoshop skin retouching such as brightening undereye circles and smoothing skin/removing blemishes & shine
+ Brightening eyes and whitening teeth
+ Removing distracting elements in your background
+ Slim down chins, arms, waistlines, etc
+ Composite images (head swaps!)
+ Photoshop shortcuts and other tips on layers, masks, and panels

This tutorial is worth every penny and absolutely perfect for the new portrait photographer looking to save time and money on their photography education. Check out all Photography Concentrate tutorials here, and go here for more info on Really Easy Retouching.  It is currently 30% off through June 30th only (this coming Monday), which makes IT UNDER TWENTY DOLLARS! That is insane, you guys.

GOOD LUCK! :)

PS - Did you know you can download a free 30 day trial of the latest version of Photoshop HERE? (top right, blue button!)

You can also download a free 30 day trial of Lightroom HERE (again, top right, blue button!) My favorite editing software is Lightroom, and I use it for about 90% of my editing, however, Photoshop IS necessary for certain types of retouching, unfortunately!

Lifestyle Revolution

I have been quiet lately. In some ways I’ve been aching to get back to this space and express again, and yet there is so much keeping me busy and fulfilled in the other parts of my life, that I don’t need it here like I used to.  There are seaons and this is just one of mine.

In this particular season I am undergoing a strange transformation and I think it’s called maturing into full adulthood. Maturing into full adulthood for me, though, has had interesting side effects, and I can honestly say that I am happier in this time of my life than I’ve ever been before. So much of it has to do with opening my eyes and educating myself about nutrition and health, oddly enough, and I’ve hesitated to really express it here lest this blog turn into post after post about, well, FOOD.

I’m not really sure how it happend. I guess it all started with some food documentaries we watched several months back. One was about Veganism (called Vegucated), and I can’t remember the other one but it was about farming and the importance of supporting local farms and really getting aquainted with your food - making it personal. Now, I don’t really have plans to go Vegan, but YOU GUYS. I beg you to educate yourself, TODAY, THIS WEEK about the common factory-farming meat practices in this country and our world. Ignorance of it is not OK and it’s not an excuse. It is absolutely discpicable what we do to animals raised for food, and I was forever changed after aquiring this knowledge. After watching Vegucated, I cried. Hard. And didn't sleep well for days. I was devastated by what I learned, because my heart is for animals. I was sickened and horrified and so sad that I’d been ignorantly buying in to this system my whole life - as are so many others of us who simply don’t want to know. It’s a system that will only be perpetuated unless as many of us as possible do what we can to make a difference (and the simplest, easiest way is with our dollars - the products we buy at the grocery store).

Yes, this maturing into adulthood I mentioned has had a great deal to do with opening my eyes to the world I live in and not simply being a blind consumer. As I’ve inched away from my old, disengaged way of being, it’s as if blinders have come off and I can suddenly see the way I used to fumble around in the dark along with most other Americans, feeding my body absolute shit that contributed to my terrible PMS and bad skin, as well as supported a system that tortures animals and treats them like machines that feel no pain, suffering, or fear. There are tears rolling down my cheeks as I write this, because that’s how passionately I feel about it and that’s how glad I am to no longer be feeding my body with FEAR.

Besides what I’ve learned about animal cruelty in food production, I’ve learned other interesting and helpful things, about gardening and farmer’s markets and bees and healthy, whole foods straight from the Earth. We’ve had decent luck with our first organic backyard garden, and food has become so much more personal to me, versus this soul-less thing you buy at the grocery store and often let go to rot in your veggie drawer because there’s just no connection there. We waste so much less now because A) we can’t afford it due to the new way we grocery-shop, B) we’ve developed a taste for fresh, healthy food, and C) much of it is coming from our own garden and that’s just cool.

I’d like to talk more about all of this - I have so much to say about it, but I felt like I needed to generally introduce this topic first, then tackle smaller topics down the road. Basically, when something changes my life in such a positve way, I want to spread the word! I want you to experience this too!  But obviously I can’t force anyone to care, I can’t make it be magically the time in your life when you’re open and available for this information and the eventual lifestyle change that follows. But I can plant the seed, and I can tell you it’s really nice on the other side. I’m nowhere near where I want to be in my knowledge of living a healthy life and supporting humane practices, but it’s this thing I’m pursuing every day and learning a little more and a little more about.

I encourage you to watch documentaries like Vegucated, Earthlings, and Food Inc. I haven’t seen the latter two yet, but I’ve heard they are very compelling. Those will give you a push in the right direction. Just watching THIS TRAILER might be all you need to make a serious change.  Like us, you may not be willing to go full vegan or even vegetarian, but rest assured there ARE ways to remain a meat-eater but not buy into cruelty that exists in the meat industry. I’m compiling a list of things I’m now doing to help make a difference, and will post about it ASAP.  Stay tuned…

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Summer Orzo Salad AKA An Explosion of Delicious

Every now and then I make a really share-worthy meal, and this is one of them. I wanted to find a yummy, cold summer salad, and this is an adaptation of one I found and changed around a bit. Matthew and I are completely obsessed with it. It may look un-assuming, but believe me it's not. One bite, and you'll get it.

This recipe can be served as a side dish or a complete meal. We like it as a complete meal, and leftovers for lunch the next day are just as delicious. Hope you try it! :)

Summer Orzo Salad

Ingredients for the dressing:

1/4 cup White Wine Vinegar

2 TBS Fresh Lemon Juice

1 tsp Honey

1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Sea Salt and Fresh Cracked Pepper

Ingredients for the salad:

12 oz Orzo Pasta

6 cups Chicken Broth

3-4 medium chicken breasts, seasoned with salt and pepper (may be omitted)

1 TBS Olive Oil

2 cups Grape or Cherry Tomatoes, halved

3 TBS Chopped Fresh Basil

1 cup Baby Spinach or Arugula, chopped

1 cup Crumbled Feta Cheese

1/2 cup Pine Nuts, toasted in a dry skillet (toss often, they burn quickly!)

Directions:

- Cook the orzo in chicken broth until tender, according to package directions (I don't add any extra salt).

- Dice your uncooked chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces, sprinkle with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper, and sauté on medium heat with a tablespoon of olive oil.

- While orzo and chicken cooks, dice up your tomatoes, basil, and spinach or arugula. Set aside. 

- Toast your pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium-high heat, watching them carefully and tossing often. Set aside to cool.

- Mix all dressing ingredients and set aside. 

- When orzo is done cooking, drain it and allow to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally so it doesn't stick together - this is important!

- When orzo and chicken has cooled, you may mix everything up, but wait until just before serving to add the pine nuts.  

-May be served at room temperature or cold

Enjoy!

Serves about 8 as a side dish or 4 as an entree 

Then & Now

This morning I decided to do a little "then & now" exercise in regard to my photography, just kind of for the heck of it and to see how far I've come. Even I was a little surprised - it's been so long since I revisited my very first photo shoots.  I was surprised, and then I was humbled.

I SUCKED. The composition was bad, the editing was bad effing horrible, I was shooting in an automatic mode with a crappy kit lens, and I basically just had no clue whatsoever what I was doing. And this was just two and a half years ago!

Exhibit A:



I know. The "then" is pretty ghastly (not the adorable family - just my terrible photograph!). The funny thing, though, is that I received SO much praise and encouragement from family on those first photos. I remember setting up a slideshow to show off my first photo shoot (the session in the "then" photo above, which was with gracious family members, thank God!), and my family ooh-ed and ahh-ed and told me how beautiful the photos were and how much potential I had. I was absolutely beaming and so proud of myself.

And now I look back at those photos and basically want to scratch my eyeballs out.

But like I said, it's so, so humbling. It's easy to forget our beginnings. It's easy to forget that we ALL start somewhere, and it's not at a place of perfection. It's a place of amateur fumbling, guessing, making all the wrong choices, making mistakes, displaying our weaknesses. And constantly pushing to learn, grow, and get better. That's the key.

Exhibit B:



I am so guilty of judging beginners too harshly, and this morning's little "exercise" pushed me right back in my place. If friends and family had been completely honest with me instead of so damn encouraging, I would probably not be where I am today. I would have shriveled up into a little ball of shame and embarrassment and lack of confidence in my amateur abilities, and I never would have grown. But the wonderful, kind, uplifting people in my life saw a glimmer of talent in me, and more importantly passion for the work, and they grasped on to that and propelled me forward with their kindness and words of affirmation.

And we all need to do the same. When someone in our life is just beginning something, even if we know better and know they suck right now, it's our job to lift them up, not tear them down. Because everyone starts somewhere, and it's not always very pretty.



In two more years, I bet I'll look back at my work now and notice all the flaws. The things I hadn't learned yet, the things I could have done better. But right now, wherever we are in our journey, it's important to be proud of what we're doing, how far we've come, and how much we've learned. Your only real competitor is the person you used to be.

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Things to do in Austin: McKinney Falls State Park

The other day I met a high school senior client at McKinney Falls State Park for her session, and I was totally blown away by the location. I vowed to head back ASAP to explore, and last weekend Matthew, my mom, and I spent a morning there hiking. Matt always makes fun of me for over-using the term "heavenly," but in this case, I feel it's quite a fitting adjective. This park is just gorgeous and so much fun to explore - featuring everything from the ruins of an old homestead, to Indian Rock shelters, to 500 year old trees, and that's not to mention all the general gorgeous wildlife and, this time of year, an explosion of spring flowers. If you're in Austin, I highly recommend making a trip out there. Bring $6 per person for the park entrance fee, plenty of water, bug spray, comfortable shoes, and maybe a picnic. Lots of people swim in various places, too, so you might want to bring your suit!

Here's a few more photos from our outing...

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Life, in Bullet Point Form

--Remember Blog Every Day in May? This year I am doing Blog No Days in May. It's awesome, you should try it.
--I feel the need to ease back into this. Hence, the bullet points.
--I think I may have forgotten how to write. All creative energies have been channelled elsewhere. (See what I've been up to here, if you're curious).
--[Insert grunting noises and poor grammar.]
--Matthew is officially an attorney. He received his bar results, and he passed! Was sworn in by the Texas Supreme Court Justice he interned for over the fall. Pretty sweet.

--Yay Matthew! :)
--On another note, I have been feeling so unhealthy lately. I haven't really gained any weight, but all I do is sit on my computer and work work work. I am brainstorming ways to whip myself back into shape. I don't like feeling this way.
--Easter was nice.
--Mother's Day was nice.
--Spring has been nice.
--Matthew got a summer clerkship/job that pays real money... we are excited and confused by this concept.
--That is all.

Congratulations on reading the most boring and ridiculous blog post of all time. I'll try to be better next time.... ;)

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Spring Things To Do In Austin - Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center

I posted about the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center way back when in 2011 (incidentally, it's also very interesting to see how much my photography has changed since then! ha!), but it was worth another post this year. My dear friend Kristin was in town all week, and I knew she would love this gorgeous place. It's in full bloom right now, and I highly recommend making it over there sometime in the next month or so. The trails are really beautiful to walk too, so bring some comfy shoes, some water, and your camera, and maybe make a little morning or afternoon of it. We ate at the Wildflower Cafe there for the first time last week, too, and it was so sweet and adorable and delicious. Would love to go back during a slower day when people are at work and kids are at school, and just sit and read or write with a cup of tea or coffee. 

Happy Thursday, my friends!

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