IDIOMS!

To be honest I wasn't too excited about this project at first, but once I got one done I was wanting to do more. I just decided to have fun and I'm really liking my results.

*I got ideas for idioms from http://idiomsite.com/

"Apple of my eye"

Because of the fact that I did so many, I'm only going to explain what I did to one of the pictures, and leave the rest for your viewing pleasures :D
SO in this picture it's pretty obvious i cut the apple out and put it over the eye. I lowered the apple layer's opacity just a bit and also made some bite marks with the eraser tool just to make it more apple-ish i guess. I used a dark lens vingette and added a sepia photo filter.

"Charlie horse"

"Stick out like a sore thumb"

"Put your money where your mouth is"

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch"

COLOR!

So one specific project I was assigned was to take pictures focusing on color. I decided to go with variations of color and the effects they have on the entire picture. For this picture, I went around in my backyard, trying to find something I could shoot that would be flexible as far as changing the mood of the picture.

After experimenting with random things in my yard, I decided on a flower because the colors in the picture already stood out to me before editing.

Original

Warm effect

In this, i increased the red and decreased blue to give the picture a warmer look. I also fixed the levels just a bit. I'm not too crazy about the warm look on this particular picture so after doing this I decided I'd try the opposite and see how that turned out.
Cool effect

For this one i increased blue and green mid tones. I increased the contrast a bit as well. I really like how this one turned out vs. the warmer look. I think the cooling effect gave the picture a really dramatic look.

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I seem to be behind on projects I did two projects in one week in order to get caught up
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Basic Studio Shots

Original // Edit

This is a picture I took last week and edited this week. I changed levels, burnt around the edges, and touched up his face.
*contact sheet for this on last post

Original // Edit

I think this one is more of a classic professional looking portrait. Unlike the first one, his body is at an angle, which I've found really does change the entire picture. In this i fixed the levels, touched up his face (gaussian blurred his face, toned down his 5:00 shadow and whitened his teeth) and also burnt around the edges to make him pop more. I really like how this one turned out.
*This is a picture i just took today, and didn't have time to get a contact sheet

AHH

I'm definitely no photoshop genius, so this week I decided I'd try something new to teach me some of the effects I can do on photoshop. I found a zombie tutorial (http://www.imarc.net/communique/view/42/freakish_zombie_in_11_steps) and followed it on a picture of my boyfriend. I did do a couple of steps different just because I didn't like how they looked on this particular picture.
I think it turned out pretty freaky :)

Some of the effects that i learned included the different brush styles i could use and also blending modes like overlay and multiply. I also learned how do color variations.

Once again

This week I had to take some more portraits for my friend Sam's senior pictures. I'm way happier with the way these turned out vs. Will's. The weather had a big part in it as well though.

Original, Edit

This is the picture she actually decided to use in the yearbook. I fixed the levels, burnt around her to make her face pop more. I edited her eyes and also bumped the saturation of the picture up just a little.


In this one I didn't quite get the exposure right, it came out way too bright. I tried to darken the highlights a little bit which fixed it a little. I also sharpened it and adjusted the levels.


In this one i got rid of the yellow reflection on the rock, i thought it took attention away from her face a little. I edited her eyes and fixed the levels. I got rid of some stray hairs as well.

Before I went to take her pictures, I was looking at this site http://digital-photography-school.com/6-tips-for-perfect-composition-in-portrait-photography for some advise. I found it helped a bit