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One of the most useful tools in a photographers arsenal is the ability to mask in photoshop so I thought I would give a brief description as to how we do it.

Typically it takes about 3 minutes to get one just right.

Makes for happy clients.

For information on how we can do this for you and your family feel free to give us a call and we can sit down and make sure we get you and yours in our books.

Daniel

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Earlier today I came across this article off a colleagues Tweet and I thought I would share the contents of what  I read. I don’t know if ever there was given such good advice to aspiring photographers but my inbox is hit weekly with people asking me advice about style and where it comes from.

Since I myself am not able to articulate it in this way…. I pass it on to all of you.

What Every Aspiring Photographer Should Know

These are my thoughts, nothing more and nothing less.

I get asked all the time, during workshops, in e-mails, in private messages, what words of wisdom I would give to a new and aspiring photographer. Here’s my answer.

- Style is a voice, not a prop or an action. If you can buy it, borrow it, download it, or steal it, it is not a style. Don’t look outward for your style; look inward.

- Know your stuff. Luck is a nice thing, but a terrifying thing to rely on. It’s like money; you only have it when you don’t need it.

- Never apologize for your own sense of beauty. Nobody can tell you what you should love. Do what you do brazenly and unapologetically. You cannot build your sense of aesthetics on a concensus.

- Say no. Say it often. It may be difficult, but you owe it to yourself and your clients. Turn down jobs that don’t fit you, say no to overbooking yourself. You are no good to anyone when you’re stressed and anxious.

- Learn to say “I’m a photographer” out loud with a straight face. If you can’t say it and believe it, you can’t expect anyone else to, either.

- You cannot specialize in everything.

- You don’t have to go into business just because people tell you you should! And you don’t have to be full time and making an executive income to be successful. If you decide you want to be in business, set your limits before you begin.

- Know your style before you hang out your shingle. If you don’t, your clients will dictate your style to you. That makes you nothing more than a picture taker. Changing your style later will force you to start all over again, and that’s tough.

- Accept critique, but don’t apply it blindly. Just because someone said it does not make it so. Critiques are opinions, nothing more. Consider the advice, consider the perspective of the advice giver, consider your style and what you want to convey in your work. Implement only what makes sense to implement. That doesn’t not make you ungrateful, it makes you independent.

- Leave room for yourself to grow and evolve. It may seem like a good idea to call your business “Precious Chubby Tootsies”….but what happens when you decide you love to photograph seniors? Or boudoir?

- Remember that if your work looks like everyone else’s, there’s no reason for a client to book you instead of someone else. Unless you’re cheaper. And nobody wants to be known as “the cheaper photographer”.

- Gimmicks and merchandise will come and go, but honest photography is never outdated.

- It’s easier to focus on buying that next piece of equipment than it is to accept that you should be able to create great work with what you’ve got. Buying stuff is a convenient and expensive distraction. You need a decent camera, a decent lens, and a light meter. Until you can use those tools consistently and masterfully, don’t spend another dime. Spend money on equipment ONLY when you’ve outgrown your current equipment and you’re being limited by it. There are no magic bullets.

- Learn that people photography is about people, not about photography. Great portraits are a side effect of a strong human connection.

- Never forget why you started taking pictures in the first place. Excellent technique is a great tool, but a terrible end product. The best thing your technique can do is not call attention to itself. Never let your technique upstage your subject.

- Never compare your journey with someone else’s. It’s a marathon with no finish line. Someone else may start out faster than you, may seem to progress more quickly than you, but every runner has his own pace. Your journey is your journey, not a competition. You will never “arrive”. No one ever does.

- Embrace frustration. It pushes you to learn and grow, broadens your horizons, and lights a fire under you when your work has gone cold. Nothing is more dangerous to an artist than complacency.

Author Unknown

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I apologize for posting some non wedding related stuff on this blog but I just couldn’t help posting some pictures I took a few minutes ago in my back yard. I love everything related to photography and although I love wedding photography truth be told I am just as happy roaming the woods with my camera and tripod. That’s right, I admit it, I just don’t take pictures of brides on their wedding day. My love of capturing images does not know any boundaries. Canon has asked me to review the 180mm 3.5L series Macro and although this lens needs to get a little more use before I give the low down.

Wow… 

Get your happy scroll finger in action and take a look see.  

Screensavers anyone….

Feel free to email at Dlanton@Darkershadesofbrown.com with the one you want and I will email it to you for free.

~Daniel~

Working with textures has become a new trend these days with the progression of digital photography. Just about every photographer who understands where photography is heading is scrambling to learn how to work with them so I thought I would make a basic tutorial on how to use a simple texture overlay to enhance an image.

The first thing you need to do is post process on image that you really like and look for a texture that you think will suit your image. With a little work you will begin to see what works with what…

I can’t seem to remember if I made this texture in photoshop or found it online somewhere but, I know this texture will work well with this image as I have used it many times before. Textures can be found anywhere….. For a quick and easy texture to use just start taking pictures of sidewalks and old rusty cars and you will soon have an arsenal of awesome that can be used for a variety of purposes.

The first thing you need to do is make sure the two images are of the same size.

Step 1) In photoshop hit Ctrl Alt I and make sure that both images have a width of 3888 and a height of 2592. Size will vary with particular image.

Step 2) Once that is done you will need to copy and paste the texture on top of your edited image. Then head on over to your layers palate and adjust your blending mode to multiply. After you have done these steps you wil start to have a pretty cool image.

One of the biggest mistakes I see with people using textures is that they don’t clean up the image after adjusting the blending mode and skin tones get all dirty and messy looking.  To clean up the image you will need to follow a few more steps.

Step 3) With the lasso tool start to draw an outline around the part of the picture that you want to clean up. This whole process is easier if you use a pen tool but, if you don’t have one your mouse will work just fine.

Step 4) After you have your outline right click somewhere inside your circle and feather the image 20%. This will smooth out the circle a bit and make a softer outline.

Step 5) Go to Image/Filter/Blur/Gaussian blur and blur the circle to taste to get rid of the texture you don’t want in the picture and……

Instant Eyegasm…….

Feel free to stop in every now and then and check out the stuff for photographers section located on the top of this blog.

Photoshop classes by Darkershadesofbrown Photography coming to the Scranton area in 2010.

If you would like a free copy of this texture email me at Dlanton@Darkershadesofbrown.com and I will send it to you.

~Daniel~