this year is all about giving back.  and along with giving a wedding away for free, boudoir sessions away to cancer fighters, pet sessions away for rescued animals, and discounts for being environmentally friendly, i thought i should give something back to my fellow photographers out there!  that means YOU.  if you’ve got a camera phone, a small point and shoot, a DSLR, a video camera, a computer with a camera, ANY TYPE of device that takes a picture, this post is for you.  A lot of photographers wont tell you their “tricks” or their “secrets”,  but really, what’s that doing to the population of pictures?  it’s making the majority of them yucky.  lets share the knowledge that we have, help each other out, and raise the level of photography all over.  i know there are a lot of brides out there who cant afford to hire a professional photographer, it just isn’t a possibility.  that doesnt mean there shouldnt be pictures of your wedding- that is one of the most important days of your life.  so this post is for all those friends of the bride who have a camera and are going to capture their day.  this is for those pregnant mama’s, or new mama’s who are saving every penny so they can afford to feed, cloth, and send their babies to good schools and give them the life they deserve instead of spending it on photography.   i know, i get it.  and i want to help you out.  we dont need any of these wedding pictures floating around:

ten years from now you’re not going to think that picture is that pretty,  and photos of your wedding day are not something you want to mess up.  Sorry linds!  i took one of her beautiful wedding photos and totally just trashed it in photoshop. I’m hoping she’ll be ok with me sacrificing her to the photography gods. a steadfast rule: white vingnettes are NEVER (i repeat!) never a good idea. as well as any other type of shapes (heart, diamond, oval) that you want to put around your photographs.

there is so much photography out there these days that makes me cringe.  and a lot of it has to do with the revolution of the digital age.  it seems anyone can now grab a photo filter, throw it on their picture, and BAM- sepia toned picture.  or how about this super cool thing! lets turn the entire picture black and white except for one area of color … say… in the eyes.  no. i beg you.  please dont.

and let me tell you why.

remember (this is to my ladies) when you first started wearing make-up?  you wanted people to know you were wearing makeup.  2cm thick liquid eyeliner does NOT look natural.  and it very very very rarely enhances the natural beauty of an eye.  but people do it, because they think that maybe by outlining the eye intensely, it will help.  I’m only using that example because i WAS that girl.  and then someone told me something that changed my entire view of make-up: you want the viewer to think that you are NATURALLY that beautiful.  the make-up should enhance your natural features, not overpower or hide them. aka… they dont want to even know you’re wearing make-up.  there are exceptions to this rule (like all rules) of course…  i wont lie and tell you i dont love a good deep red lip every once in a while…. but that’s what it is. every.once.in.a.while.

and that, my dear photographers, is the exact same theory you should apply to your photographs.  filters, actions, re-touching, ANY type of post processing should be done with careful thought.  ask yourself WHY are you doing what you’re doing?  what are you trying to say?  why do you want to make the eyes a different color?  because you want to draw attention to them?  great answer!  wrong way of going about doing it.  it looks un-natural and… well…. scary.

YIKES!   need i say more?

but i haven’t solved your dilema.  you want your pictures to be “cool”.  to be “different”, and, you still want to draw attention to the eyes.   well, lets try composing so that the eyes are naturally the main focal point. get in close to your subject.  make sure the eyes are in focus.  if you cant get in close, the crop down close.  make sure there is nothing extraneous going on in the background that would take away from where you want the attention (the eyes!).

where did you first look when you saw this photograph?  the eyes!  and it pretty much stayed there because… well… there’s not a lot else going on in this picture.  so it is sucessfull, and hey (!) i didnt even have to do any black and white/ selective color work!  yay for no work!  i like doing non-work things with my time, how about you?

it is also successful because it is properly exposed. meaning, there are very little (optimally, there would be no) clipping of highlights or shadows.  when you clip a highlight or shadow it means it is 100% white, or 100% black- there is no detail in that area.  properly exposing your picture is the number 1 rule to a decent photograph, along with getting what you want in focus actually in focus.  if you’re not sure how to do this, definitely go read your camera manual.  i know it may sound boring but it will shed some serious light on this subject (haha! no pun intended! i’m just that funny). do my photographs clip the highlights and shadows? sure. some of them do. sometimes you just can’t get around it without some SERIOUS time and effort. but, lets try to do it as very little as possible.  Since i know most people dont own a DSLR, and just have a point and shoot (or camera phone) i’m going to use an example i took with my point and shoot.

this was a quick snapshot i took of my son, Tavish when he was just a couple months old.  it’s not meant to be a professional photograph, it’s just a quick snapshot.  but, lets say i wanted to try to make it better.  often times people want to make their photographs “pop” and they run right to the contrast tool to make it happen.  let me show you why you shouldnt do this:

see all that white area and black area?  it’s clipping.  meaning  it kind of looks like there is a gapping hole where all that white is. it’s empty and it makes people feel uncomfortable when there are holes in your picture, or where they cant tell where the edge is.  and see the color distortion in the face?  that shocking yellow is not a pleasant skin tone.  imagine if you woke up tomorrow morning, looked at your reflection in the mirror and saw it was bright yellow like that.  would you freak or be like “wow… i look amazing today. i really ‘pop’ “.   you’d freak? yeah, that’s what i thought.

so all the red areas are holes in your photograph, and the blue areas are the parts where it is just a black ink blob.  not so good.  you’ve now ruined any of the detail in those areas, and we love detail! having detail doesnt mean that your photo has to be all grayed out and washed out.  actually, it means the opposite. the more detail you have, the more color range you can have. so what should you do? there are a lot of advanced things you can do, but since we’re keeping this 101, here’s a quick super easy fix.  if you have photoshop, you can use the dodge and burn tool.  BAM! detail, AND pop, AND no clipping!  yes! you’re totally on your way.  you are now better than 70% of photographers out there by fixing this one thing about your pictures.

so lets say you want to make a black and white picture from a color picture.  i could get into really advanced techniques of black and white conversion stuff, because it is a bit trickier than it seems.  but as a rule of thumb, in it’s most simple and basic form, i take my color picture, desaturate it to black and white, add a little more contrast, and then give it a tiny warming filter.  WHOA!  a lot to take in?  not really. check it out. This is my straight up black and white picture from that silly little snapshot from before.  it’s a bit… “cool” (as in color tone) for me.  i dont like my black and white prints looking blueish because it’s just not a very natural skin color.  unless you’re at blue man group.  then it’s cool by me.

so lets add a little filter (image, adjustments, photo filter, warming filter at 10% strength) to help make this baby seem a bit more alive and healthy.

holy.man.  you’ve just learned black and white toning… a little tiny detail that gives your black and white photos depth, warmth, and a human quality to them.   you are now better than 90% of the photographers out there.  heck, you dont even need me!  i am putting myself out of business as we speak.

but dont get carried away!  just because your photo editing software CAN do things, it doesnt mean it should.  just because you HAVE photo filters, doesnt mean you should use them at full strength (or even at all).  check this one out:

YIIIIKKKKEEESSS!!!!!  here’s that same exact photo filter at like, 80% strength.  that’s not even full power!  i couldnt bare the sight of it, and i didnt want to torture you too much with it at full strength. it’s burning my eyes.  just because photoshop (or whatever software you’re using) allows you to do this type of thing doesn’t mean this is what it was meant for.  Photoshop developers give you all the resources you could ever possibly use, but its up to you, the photographer and image editor to use sense and moderation in how you use them.

in this age, when everyone has a camera, and anyone can edit their photos in image software, we have to be mindful about the filters we put on our photographs.  just because it’s cool and different doesnt mean it makes a good picture that people are going to like looking at.  being creative, and making creative photography isn’t about what wild filter you can put on your picture.  it’s about how you compose the picture. the care you take in exposure. the message you’re trying to get across. the story you’re telling. the emotion you’re conveying. the interesting lighting situation (window light? filtered light? sunset? shooting when the sun is coming through the blinds and creating pattern and texture?).

lastly, if you really do want your pictures to have a vintage look, and you’re not a photoshop expert, why not actually take pictures with a vintage style camera with… (GASP!) film? there are so many cool things out there that are artistic and authentic. this isn’t a photoshop trick, this is the real deal hollyfield.  it was taken with a Holga camera with medium format color film.  you can do this.  and the best part is…. no photoshop.  no editing time.  just pure and simple.

so trust yourself, have confidence in your image and dont cake too much make-up on it.  if you originally thought it was beautiful, it probably is….  just the way it is.

love yourself, love your photography.

look! it’s almost like we’re saving the world!  :)