Tutorial: How I Edit My Photos, 2.

One of the questions I was asked in our little Q&A session was how I edit my photos.

I actually made a very simple photo editing tutorial back in May - gosh, only six days after I started the blog! I really went all in straight away, it seems.

Anyway, since I rarely get that beautiful backlight anymore (one of the few things I don't like about this season), the editing of my photos is - if possible - even simpler now. OK, it might be exactly the same, come to think of it. Nevermind, I'll make a new one anyway, just to show you how easy it is!

I use Photoshop for all of my editing, but these things can be done in most editing programs. The only free software I've tried is Gimp, and I found it worked just fine, as long as you don't attempt to do anything too advanced.

Now, let's edit a photo in two quick steps!

So, we have our original. It doesn't look too bad, but when we have all these beautiful colors - the red of the sweater and lips, the navy blue blazer and the green surroundings - why not make them pop?

Step 1 - I'm using Curves to make the photo a bit lighter. Not because it's too dark, but because it will keep those barely noticeable lines and shadows in the face from suddenly becoming much more visible once we get to step 2. It also helps bring out the colors, as well as make sure we don't lose all the texture of the clothes and hair.

Step 2 - I choose "Brightness/Contrast" and just crank the contrast up to a 100%. Because we started by brightening the image, we can use this much contrast without making the photo appear too dark.

...and we're done!

If I was to spend more than two minutes on the editing of this photo, I would probably make my neck a little less dark, and bring out the texture of the pants, since they are now nothing but a black mass. I could also use "Hue/Saturation" to make the colors even more vibrant. Should we try it? Well, why not.

First, we need to make sure we have the layer with the brighter version of the original underneath the new layer with all the contrast on. Then let's choose the eraser tool, set the opacity to around 20%, and start working on the pants! We want to bring out the feel of the fabric, without making them look grey.

There we go!

Okay. Now we're going to make a copy of the background layer and then merge down the top (contrasted) layer. We then use the eraser tool again, this time on the neck. Then we make the brighter, bottom layer a little bit more bright, using Curves.

And then a ton of contrast to even everything out.

And why not add a bit more saturation, while we're at it?

I made a new layer first, then erased the lower part of the face from the saturated layer, because the lipstick popped a bit too much. Then I used the clone stamp tool to even out the neck, since it looked a bit spotty.

So, now we have the old finished version to the left, and our more advanced result on the right. Not that much of a difference - which is why I very rarely take the time to make those extra touches (unless I'm working on paid assignments where the photos are going to be printed, obviously) - but they do claim God is in the details...

Last but not least, I decided to use the clone stamp tool to make myself superdupermegaextra pretty, like a supermodel! Like a SUPERDUPERMODEL! (Those are even more beautiful than supermodels, unless you didn't get that.)

Enough with the fun and games - I have to leave for Stockholm in, well, I should have left ten minutes ago. My sister Amanda and I are going to the Blog Awards gala and we're meeting in an hour to get all dolled up and ready to mingle! I have made peace with the fact that I haven't got even the slightest chance of winning - no hard feelings, this blog is still a baby and I haven't got very many Swedish readers - but that sure won't stop me from looking like a winner... Tomorrow it will be up to you to decide if I succeeded!

PS. I'm hoping that the wonderful photographer Elin "Nevnarien" Kero wins the award in my category. She seems like the sweetest girl and her photos are truly magnificent. Check out her blog - sure, it's in Swedish, but a picture says more than a thousand words and so on! DS.