Typical Basic Edits

March 6, 2016 by Debra 2 Comments

Hi, have you ever wondered why the pictures you take are not as vivid or bright as other photographer’s images? Simple basic edits can make a tremendous difference.

Typical Basic Edits

Many people when starting photography get very lost when it comes to editing. When looking at a picture you just took on a nice camera, it’s really easy to look at it and think “wow, that looks great! what is there to fix?” Or maybe “I’ve got a nice camera that I figured out how to use, but I can NOT get my pictures to look like everybody else’s!” Well don’t stress it, because we’ve got some good ways to help you get started with some basic edits.

The 2 main things that photographers look at with each image is the tone and the exposure. Many cameras shoot pictures where the skin tone ends up looking too orange, too red or even too blue. Fixing the image so that the skin tones look natural and like the color of the actual skin can make a dramatic difference. The other major fix is the exposure. Is the picture too light? Is the picture too dark? Even with professional cameras, pictures can come out with the exposure off. The best way to judge if the exposure is correct is to look at the skin again. It’s very important to adjust the image until the exposure is correct. Even if it means making the sky extra bright, it’s more important to have the skin be the correct amount of exposure over everything else in the image.

The two software programs I use to make these basic edits is Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop. If you have used other programs to make such adjustments, please share in the comments section below.

For more information about image editing click here.

Best Wishes,

The Secrets to Using a Flash

February 28, 2016 by Debra 2 Comments

Do you ever find yourself trying to decide if you should use flash or not? There are a million similar situations you can find yourself in where you would consider using flash, but it sometimes seems the flash actually takes away from the image, rather than helping it. Here is some quick advice on how to use your best judgment with flash, and some tricks on how to make it look the best!

To Flash or Not to Flash

The best times to use flash are night, and anytime a good amount of natural light is not available. A lot of times this means indoors in a poorly lit environment! Flash was created to help the camera have enough light available to make the subject more visible, but it can also create a flat look to your images and create an extremely dark background. So anytime you are considering whether or not to use it, keep this in mind. You can also take a test shot without it on and see how you like it. The flash will create a better quality picture as far as clarity, but it may sacrifice too much beautiful and natural lighting and can completely hide the back ground.

Some tricks to help you use the flash more efficiently: A camera’s flash is not programmed to make it long distance, so get closer to your subject so they can be actually lit up by the flash going off. Also, until you feel proficient in determining when a good time to use flash would be, keep it on auto. It will go off, and sometimes clue you in to a good time to use it, when you yourself wouldn’t have thought to. Flash is ultimately an awesome tool to have when light isn’t available, and should be used accordingly!

Best Wishes,

5 Ways to Help Someone With Cancer

August 22, 2015 by Debra 4 Comments

Hi, this one truly hits home for me. Have you ever known someone who was diagnosed with cancer? Did you ever wonder how you could offer help but just didn’t know what to do? Chances are at some point in your life, you will know someone- a loved one, family member, a friend, co-worker or even yourself who will be diagnosed with that “C” word. June 2003 I was told I had cancer.

Let me tell you, this was a very difficult time in my life for me and my family. What was normal, was normal no more. So many emotions are running through my mind as I am typing. Family, friends and the community were asking how they could help. At the beginning I had no answers. Now looking back I have many suggestions from the kindness I received. Here are just five things one can do that will mean a great deal.

Send Cards

When I say send cards, I mean the old fashioned way- via USPS, snail mail. Oh how I loved these. Spiritual, funny, just a note to say hi- anything at all would brighten my day. There were times during my chemo cycle I literally had zero energy. It was nice reading and rereading these cards and notes. It also allowed me to cry in private when you gave me words of encouragement. Yes, cards- these were cherished greatly.

Frozen Dinners

Yes, frozen dinners. When neighbors brought meals to the house I was so thankful. My children were still in school and active. This just helped tremendously. Keep in mind Chemo destroys bad cells and good cells. When your body has limited white blood cells, food not heated to the right temperature causes food poising. A nuisance for the healthy but deadly for a cancer patient with a weakened autoimmune system. I was not allowed to eat leftovers during certain days in my chemo cycle. Frozen foods could be popped into the oven and monitored for the correct temperature and cooking length. I highly recommend this one!

Prepaid Phone Card

Okay, this idea was more specific to me during my treatments. I would have a treatment every three weeks. One treatment consisted of two days. Each day lasting approx 8-12 hours each. Cell phones were not allowed. Anyone I would need to call was long distance. I had mentioned this to a friend and the next treatment she gave me a prepaid phone card. Wow- this made me do the happy cry. I appreciated this a lot.

Helping Hand

This is a rather wide suggestion. A helping hand can be a simple as picking up a gallon of milk from the grocery store. Does the cancer patient have children that need a ride to or from school? My goal was to try keeping daily routine as normal as I possibly could. For example, I had to do two loads of laundry a day just to maintain. I always use the clothesline weather permitting. Well carrying the basket out to the line was heavy and drained the little energy I had. I still did the laundry, but had my son carry the basket to the line where I hung the clothes. I was not sleeping 8 hours. It was more like small naps throughout the night and day. One friend worked in a bakery, which bakers go in really really early in the morning. Many time I called her just to talk. With that said, anything that may seem small to you, would be very helpful to the cancer patient.

Power of Prayer

I have posted this one at the end for a reason. In my opinion this is the most important of the five. It is not my intention to push my faith onto someone. However, after going through my cancer treatments and witnessing the daily miracles just confirmed my faith even more so. Say a prayer for the cancer patient and their family to be strong for the daily challenges they each will face. Prayer is very powerful- Amen!

Do you have any suggestions you would like to add of helpful things you have done for a person with cancer? Or if you experienced cancer, what did your family and friends do to help that you most appreciated?

Take care-

Best Wishes,