Everyone wants a quick fix and sometimes applying a preset can do just that. Often times though, the preset is just a starting point to getting a certain look. We thought we would share a simple technique to using presets to their fullest potential. While it involves using both Lightroom and Photoshop, it really is not that long or complicated of a process once you get started.

Since Rachel is the one who uses presets the most and she happened to have a bunch of personal photos she was editing for her blog, we thought we would share a quick run through of the process on this photo of… her feet!
Oh come on, we ALL have taken photos of our feet before.

Backstory:  This is an image from the day she used her D200 with her Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens as a point and shoot.  Because this was just a fun day out with friends, the images were shot in jpeg only.  You don’t need to shoot RAW to use Lightroom.  She wanted the images to have a sort of “lomo” look to them.

Here is one quick way to make a normal image

more funky in less than the time it takes to make another coffee and without having to use actions.

1) Process an image in Lightroom to get correct exposure and color. We prefer to use Lightroom over Adobe Camera Raw for working with presets as it is so easy to visualize the changes that will be made to your shot with the preview window. No guessing if a certain preset will work on that particular image or trying to remember what look a preset will give your image just from the name in a list.

2) Export that file as a jpeg. (example: base-image.jpg)

3) Open that image in Lightroom and apply a preset (this one is “on holiday” from Rachel’s Round Two set.)

4) Export that file as a new jpeg. (example: preset1-image.jpg)

5) Open the base file again in Lightroom and apply a different preset (this one is “the 70′s” from Rachel’s First Stop set.)

6) Export that file as a new jpeg. (example: preset2-image.jpg)

You can do this as many times as you would like to get the most options as you are just creating “layers” for your Photoshop file that you will create next.

7) Open all copies of the file in Photoshop.

8 ) Using “base-image.jpg” as your background layer, copy and paste the preset images onto that file.

9) Now here is where the playing part happens…reduce the opacity of the preset layers, change the blending modes, mask out parts of the image…it is up to you.

With these preset layers in Photoshop, you have the most control over the total look of your image.

In this case, the “preset2-image.jpg” layer was set to soft light for contrast but the jeans were painted back as they got too dark.  The “preset1-image.jpg” layer was left as a normal top layer at 47% but the mask was inverted so that the effect was painted on to the image with a white brush on the black mask.  Rachel did it that way so that she could control the look of photo as she worked letting the legs and feet and surrounding pavement come through from the lower layers.

Just another way to edit and use all those presets that you have just sitting there.

With the birth of a new baby often comes a new camera or a sudden spark in the interest in taking great photos of kids.  The birth of a new baby also brings hormones and a lot of stress.  The sheer exhaustion of it all can suck the energy from that new photography spark and certainly makes the thought of reading your camera manual about as appealing as, well, reading a camera manual.

That is why many of you find yourselves reading this blog.

It is a great time to hire a professional photographer that specializes in newborns.  Newborn photographers are a rare and patient breed.

Despite being in the middle of new parent torpor, you deserve to also be able to take beautiful photos of your own baby in your own home.  They are only little babies for such a short time.

Here are a few of our tips:

Take a lot of photographs.  Daily.  They grow overnight and one morning you will walk into their room and find that they are almost a different child.

Make the most of your baby being stationary…the only time your child will stay where you want them to stay.*
*make sure they are ALWAYS safe, don’t put them somewhere they could fall because if they are anything like Clover, they will fall just to scare the crap out of you.

That said, create a window light studio…make a cozy spot for them in front of a window by moving a bed or bassinet right up to the light source.

While little babies are rarely easy to photograph, it does help your chances of getting their cooperation when they have full tummies and clean diapers.

Use special ‘newborn’ things in the photos, heirloom blankets, knitted hats, gifted toys, favorite binkies.  All things they will soon grow out of (unless they are one of Rachel’s children who will apparently be going to college with their transitional objects) and will bring back memories.

Get close and show all the details.  Tiny fingernails, beautiful lips, the lashes…

Keep scale in mind.  Step back and show just how tiny they are in the world.

Also, don’t forget to celebrate the days after those first few weeks.  They may not sleep through the sessions anymore, but their personalities begin to emerge and they really connect with their eyes.

And then, despite all your planning, chances are things will go horribly wrong.  And it will be awesome.  You will end up with something better than you could have imagined.

Embrace the chaos…

If you follow Rachel’s blog, you may have seen that she is looking for a good wide prime lens and finding the choice a bit difficult.  There is a lot to consider (price, brand, maximum aperture, etc…) when choosing a lens, so we thought we would touch on one of the most important aspects, focal length, as it does greatly affect the look of your shot.

With a DSLR, you have a choice of lenses. Primes or zooms; There are some pretty great advantages to both. Good primes are amazingly sharp and crisp, and generally have higher maximum apertures, allowing for low light shooting and creamy smooth depth of focus (that background blur) whereas zooms, while usually giving up a bit of the sharpness, allow you to get a variety of different looks with one lens.

The range is:

fish-eye (10mm – 16mm)
wide (20mm – 35mm)
normal (50mm – 60mm)
portrait (85mm – 105mm)
telephoto (120mm – 210mm)
long telephoto (anything from 250mm on up)

Although terribly unflattering to adult (and even baby) faces, wide angles give a degree of distortion, which can be a lot of fun when used well.

In the below examples, the top two shots are taken with the 24mm end of a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L zoom lens. The left one is taken from a bit further back, and the right one is taken by stepping forward and shooting from a slightly lower angle, making for a more interesting composition, and also putting the distortion into greater effect.

The bottom pair are shot with the Nikon 28-105mm 3.5-4.5 D. Where the top two were taken at the same focal length, by moving around to get a different look (as you would with a prime), the bottom pair are different in that they take advantage of the zoom capabilities. They were taken one after the other, from the same position, first using 105mm, then switching directly afterwards to 28mm, the widest end of the range.

Rachel tends to shoot with a variety of prime lenses as she tends to plan her photographs with certain looks in mind.  The zoom she used for these images is not considered a pro lens and is not one she uses often.  Peta shoots the majority of her work with the one zoom lens that was used above.  She likes the flexibility. Both cameras are full frame (FX) sensors, digital sensors (DX) change the stated focal legnth of the lens, unless that lens is specifically made for the DX sensor, in which case they wont work on FX sensors. See?… so much to think about!

Have you found a focal length that fits your style?  Or do you change it up?  Tell us in the comments below as it just may help another person make their choice.

Something we do not think gets talked about to beginning photographers enough is managing expectations.

So many times have we heard “your camera takes great photos.”  We don’t take offence to that.  We both shoot with amazing cameras that do have the ability to take some really amazing photographs even on auto.  People buy a DSLR and expect it read their mind.  What sets it all apart is that we know how to control that camera to produce consistent results and then how to shape our vision in post processing.  You can too.

Neither of us share unedited images.  It is not that we spend all of our time fixing images, it is just that even images from fancy cameras need a little love.  The point is not to rely on editing to save bad photos, but to use it to make good photos great.

Sure, you can point, shoot, print and skip the processing, but you are here to learn so we are here to show you what can be done.

We both use Photoshop to edit our photos (Rachel also does some RAW processing in Lightroom when shooting RAW files). Photoshop takes a lot of time to learn, but the control it gives you over the editing is huge. However, if Photoshop isn’t in your budget, there are other programs out there that will help you achieve some good results. Elements is the best program for beginners, iPhoto comes standard on Mac computers, and Google’s Picassa is a good free option.

So much can be done in processing, but the main areas we tend to for every shot are contrast and brightness, color balance and saturation (a light hand is best here), sharpening and often some ‘cloning’ of distracting bits.

To illustrate how we ‘eyeball’ an edit, we will walk you through what we would do with this shot of Rachel’s

- A little too dark – We would brighten the midtones in levels
- A bit too cool (common in open shade) – What makes an image too cool is too much blue/cyan in color balance. To counteract this we would add some red/yellow, the opposite end of the spectrums, in color balance in Photoshop
- A little dull - If the image is lacking contrast (almost all Straight out of Camera images need a bump in contrast) an ‘S curve’ will usually combat this. In the curves adjustment in photoshop, you make a slight S by dragging at two points on the line. A light touch is best here. It’s better to go in and add more if it’s still too dull, than to overdo the contrast.
- Color still needs a bit more of a “pop” – Add a tiny bit of saturation. To avoid making skin tones too orange it is often best to adjust these separately for each color. Photoshop allows you to do this in the Hue/Saturation adjustment panel. Where it says Master, is a drop down menu of each of the different colors it takes to make up an image.

A little sharpening, maybe some cloning, and you’re done.

A little peek at a few more of our before and afters. As you can see, the editing isn’t a ‘miracle worker’ the images didn’t need a whole lot of work, but the small amount that is done really takes them up a level.

It may be a smart little camera that you have, but you are smarter and when you learn the controls, you can take even better photos.

We will be releasing details on our online course and in person workshops soon.  Those are the forums where we will be able to answer your questions and go into more detail.

All light can be your friend, it is merely a matter of learning how to use it and use it well.

In this case it is one huge window.  It could be a flash though.  Available light does not mean only natural or ambient light.

The same light source can be used to create totally different moods, as evidenced in these photos Rachel took of Gemma, same spot, same time, two totally different approaches.

image information: Nikon D3 with Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens
{Left} ISO 800 ~  1/160s ~ f/1.6  {Right} ISO 800 ~ 1/200s ~ f/1.6

Last week we asked if you could identify the images where flash was used.  Some picked one or the other, but no one got the correct answer for both…

Both of these images above were shot with bounced flash.

Flash does not have to be harsh…it can be soft and full of light.

If you have a flash, there is light available to you whenever you need it.

Captive subjects.

Good light, natural reflectors of tile walls and glossy tubs filled with white suds.

Fun, even with a tired baby, most kids like baths.

Post bath cuddles with baby wrapped in a towel are the perfect time to grab a self portrait with your child in the bathroom mirror.

You can even pass it all off as a task but get to take great photos at the same time.  Tell your partner that you’ll bathe the kids and they can do the dishes…it really sounds like a good deal.

rachel’s note: Be safe!  As fun as it is, the bath can be a dangerous spot.  Make sure you take your camera bag into the bathroom and get set up first before you ever put the kids in the water…you never want to take your eyes off of them.  I always have my camera bag within reach and an extra towel to toss over the top of it so I can switch from being a photographer back to mom in an instant.  Oh and make sure you have a UV filter on your lens…that front glass element is going to get wet.

tech tips: The best bath photos seem to be a balance of shallow depth of field to render the faucet and taps inconspicuous and a fast shutter speed to catch the splashed water droplets.  If you have enough light from the windows (try a morning or late afternoon bath) then you should be fine shooting around 1/200s and f/3.2 and larger (ie: the smaller numbers).  You may have to raise your ISO to get that fast of a shutter speed.  If it is too late for window light and you have  a flash*, put it on, set it to TTL, turn the head around and bounce it off of the wall behind you (IF and only if that wall is white, you do not want to have a color cast to deal with).

*We will get into flash photography tips later on and cover it well in the classes.  For now just know that flash is not the enemy it is rumored to be.  Two of the photos in the montage above were taken with flash…can you guess which ones?