I Heart Faces Fix it Friday # 99


                                 ORIGINAL                                                    MY EDIT

I recently found this great website- I Heart Faces- that offers some great tutorials and tips for photoshop as well as hosting weekly "fix-it-friday" events. Basically for fix-it-friday they let users download an un-edited image of theirs and try their hand and fixing it up in post processing. You then post a link to your edits on their website & see what others did with the same image.

 It really help keep the juices going & is a great way to get some practice in on editing portraits (not really my strong point!). My big discovery with this editing? High pass filters on eyes look amazing ONLY when the blend mode is set to color dodge (and only the colored part of the eye is selected). 

HOW I DID IT:
- Opened in Camera RAW & added Strong S Curve- opened in Photoshop
-LAYER 1:  Background Copy- used smudge tool to soften hair and skin blemishes (w layer mask over skin fixes)
- LAYER 2: Background Copy of Layer 1- disabled layer mask over skin fixes, adjusted opacity to 68% & fill to 57%
- LAYER 3: Background Copy- blur filter applied to gray background only
- LAYER 4: layer via copy (only eyes selected)- high pass filter, blend mode color dodge, added brightness/contrast adjustment layer (32 Brightness, 27 Contrast)
- LAYER 5: color fill layer (orange/sepia tone), blend mode overlay, adjusted opacity to 43%
- LAYER 6: applied red photo filter at 35% density, then layer mask to show only red areas of image (candy & shirt)
- LAYER 7: The Pioneer Woman action Quick Edge Burn, blend mode linear burn, at 65% opacity

Creative Self-Portraits

I am thinking about trying out some self-portraits lately. I recently read an article about how practicing with self-portraits can help increase both your portrait knowledge and confidence so I figured I'd give it a go...

I just wanted to make a quick post with some creative and inspiring self-portraits to help get my juices goin!

- Multiple Exposure (showing a domestic action, showing pole positioning, self interacting with self, etc.)

/\ /\ Axisgrind has disabled their photo downloading so it's just a link - but it is an amazing photo!


- Reflections (mirrors, building glass, items that mean something special to me, opposite mirror personalities, etc.)



/\ /\ I used to have a really old pic of myself putting on makeup as well & I loved it! Unfortunately I think it was on my laptop which was stolen a few years back =( Time for a new one!!


- Get Dirty! (paint, dirt, smeared makeup, etc...)


- Light Painting (using x-mas lights, flaslights, glowsticks- shapes, words, and highlighting objects or body parts)

- Body Part focusing (specific parts only- legs, feet, eyes, hands, back)


- Favorite activites as props (books, photography, etc.)




Techniques/ Things to try not pictured: 
- Skin overlay (tattoos, textures, colors, cracking, peeling, words, etc.)
- Artsy Fartsy (partial nudes, selective coloring, natural light portrait)
- Diptych/Triptych
- Jumping/ Floating

It's Summatime!!!

"Well the summers here and the time is right -- for _________ (insert favorite summer activity here)"

Rock Stacks- Mad River by Becky Simmons

I had such a good time relaxing at the Mad River this past Sunday. It was a wonderful day for our first river trip of the year- a bit chilly for swimming but I really needed to beef up my base tan anyway. I love playing with the rocks at the river - there are so many & they are all so different- so I made a few rock stacks next to my inner tube (btw, much harder said then done thanks to all my ripples) - and proceeded to snap some right before the sun's glorious warmth left us behind the tree line... 

Edits: Strong S cuve; 8x10 crop; minor vibrance & clarity; layered with two images- hand aligned (one of back rocks in focus, other of front rocks in focus) with layer mask to reveal the in-focus points of the back image (the farthest rocks); The Pioneer Woman action seventies @ 60% opacity...

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