Skip to main content

Canon Rebel Series: No Fancy Software Required

I got a great response from the last Canon tips blog entry and thank you to everyone that commented! (I love getting comments, they make me smile!)

I have several photographers working on some future guest posts for this series, so look for those soon, but today I'm going to talk a little about editing. Most, if not all, of the photos you see from professional photographers have been manipulated by what are called Photoshop Actions. These are mostly custom, sometimes purchased actions that make photos look pretty much however you want them to look. You can sharpen images, adjust colors, convert to black and white, add or adjust shading, take off 10 lbs, smooth baby skin...the options are endless.

You've probably heard about Photoshop, and LightRoom and tons of different photo editing software packages, and some can get pretty pricey. I am lucky enough to have copies of several packages on my computer, but when I'm quick editing, I use the Microsoft Picture Editor, which you probably already have on your computer.

Below I've explained a couple of ways you can make just an ok picture really pop through different adjustments and features in the picture editor. First, open your picture with the picture editor. On my machine, all jpgs are set to open with the Microsoft Picture Editor. Here's the photo I'm gonna work with, in it's original form, pre-editing:


This is a cute photo of my little guy, but I don't like the oil spot on the concrete and I'd like to focus in more on his tongue touching the donuts, so I decided to crop it a little, using the crop option under the picture menu. I'd also like to make it a vertical photo vs. its current horizontal layout.


Then I decided to keep cropping it a bit more to get that blue cooler out of the back, so just play with it until you get it like you want. Always keep the original so you can go back and start over if you want.

To make the colors pop a bit more, I go to the picture menu again, and click on color to play with the saturation (this is one of the tips I stole from Mckmama). In this option, I increased it by 12. So not a huge difference, but just makes the colors a bit more vibrant.

Then, the final adjustment I make is in the brightness and contrast section under the picture menu. Just play with the brightness, contrast and midtones until you get something you like. In this case, I decreased the brightness by 4, increased the contrast by 22 and increased the midtones by 36.

Which, together, gives me this:



Do remember that to zoom in on a photo like this, you have to keep it as a high resolution file, or it will get fuzzy when you crop in. Hope you guys learned something! Let me know if you have any questions and send me your results! I'd love to see them!

Comments

  1. wow, what a cute pic! great tips! can't wait to try them! that picture is adorable!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. very cute! is that ketchup? or bbq sauce? or maybe chocolate?

    sandy toe

    ReplyDelete
  3. Totally saving this as I'm currently trying to talk the hubs into a Rebel!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I love to hear what you all think! Thanks for visiting and let me know you were here!

Popular posts from this blog

Star Wars Gift Bag Tags

Two years ago, for Walker's Star Wars birthday, I created Yoda tags to attach to the gift bags for the party. Little did I know these bag tags would become so popular on Pinterest! To date, these tags have been repinned almost 500 times!!! So I thought since there's so much interest, I'd add them to my Etsy shop . So now, for just $8.00 - you can receive the file electronically and print them for yourself! I jazzed them up a bit with some sliver glitter puff paint on the light saber and some silver ribbon to attach to the dollar store bags. Print as many or as few as you want! So, if you are planning a Star Wars party, check them out ! And may the force be with you!

Baby Shower Inspiration Boards

I got all excited about the baby shower inspiration board contest over at Sippycups Are for Chardonnay , but only ended up submitting this first one on time. I managed to pull the second together this weekend just for kicks and loved the colors, so thought I'd share here. The first board is call "Nesting Instincts" and the second is "Over the Rainbow". I think I could get addicted to creating these things.

Giveaway - Free Headers!

Hi everyone! Since I didn't even realize I passed my 200th post until now, I've decided to host a giveaway! Here's the deal...I'm giving away two free blog headers to two lucky readers. If you've just had a blog makeover or don't need a new header, leave a comment on behalf of one of your other blog friends and I'll add another entry for them! I'll announce the winners next Wednesday, 18 February. Here are the rules: 1. Leave a comment and be entered once. 2. Leave a comment and become a follower to be entered twice . If you become a follower or if you're already a follower make sure you let me know in your comment. 3. Leave a comment, become a follower, and do a post about my giveaway on your blog to be entered three times. Here's my latest satisfied client: The Pink Clutch