Get the Goods: Two new must attend classes!

I'm psyched about some new classes being offered this month through Illuminate Photography Workshops.

Camera RAW: The Basics (followed by Camera RAW 2) taught by Master Retoucher, Photoshop Guru and Adobe Certified Expert, Armando Martinez is first on the list. Running Sept. 13, the three hour workshop will help me learn some tips to quickly process RAW files using Adobe Photoshop. I gave up a long time ago on including Lightroom in my post-production workflow. I work exclusively in Photoshop now and end up spending most of my time in Camera RAW -- only opening up Photoshop proper for some specific edits. I KNOW Mando will hook me up with some new tricks that will help speed up my editing even more.

Meanwhile, Event Photography, on Sept. 21 and 29, taught by Illuminate director Efrain Cruz and Photographer Jim Turley, will build on my own growing foundation on event coverage experience. Denver's central location and amazing outdoor activities continues to draw events ranging from concerts to conferences. My event photography coverage has grown so much this year alone that I even thought about specializing in it over portraiture. I have been the official photographer for the National Brotherhood of Skiers summits held in Colorado for the last three years. And this year, I was the official photographer for the Council on Foundation's Annual Conference held in Denver featuring numerous keynote speakers including Former Vice Pres. Al Gore. Check out my COF photos featured on this wrap-up page.



White House adviser Valerie Jarrett talks to philanthropists in Denver.

I went from shooting during mid-day on a snow-capped mountain to deep inside a dark and cavernous dance hall during this year's NBS coverage in Winter Park. Dealing with security, quick uploads and an insane pace during the COF conference left me exhausted for days afterwards. Instructors will give students techniques for overcoming challenges such as shooting in low light, scouting difficult venues, and satisfying organizations. Plus, we will get some hands-on training when we are invited to shoot alongside our instructors at a real event for a local non-profit!

Class sizes are kept small, so sign up today here! Would love to meet some of you.

Get Connected: Free night photo session with Illuminate Workshops

It's been several months since my hectic work schedule has allowed me the chance to attend a free night photo session with Illuminate Workshops. The shoot is a great way to connect with other photographers and experience Denver at night. It's a good way to be introduced to the talented staff of Illuminate Workshops because several of the instructors are regular night shoot attendees, including executive director Efrain Cruz and Photoshop guru Armando Martinez. Here are some examples of a my favorite shots I took while out with my buddies in downtown Denver last year. Plus, come on....you know you can't beat FREE!



Here are the details for the event Saturday, May 9, 2009

RSVP: If you have RSVP'd you're confirmed for tomorrow. If you have not yet called/emailed, please let us know to expect you.



Weather: 54°, 40% chance of precipitation.

Time: 8:00 pm.

Location: Illuminate Workshops/Mark Hayes Studio, 23 Lincoln Street, Denver, CO - click here for directions
Parking: you can park in the church lot just 1/4 block north of Ellsworth/Lincoln, (left lane).

Moon Phase: Moon will be one-day past Full.

Plan:
We will meet in the church parking lot.
From the lot, we will walk and shoot through the alley between Lincoln and Broadway, traveling 2-blocks south to Maple Ave. I thought that this could be a good opportunity/location to play with creative flash and portraiture.
We'll cross over to Broadway and walk north getting photos of neon signs along the way, up to the Mayan Theater.


End time: 11:00-ish, depending on the group's energy level.



Notice: Not everyone will make it for the duration, in fact, depending on group-exhaustion, we may end earlier. Please note that some will become tired earlier. If you would like to end the night early, please find someone with whom you walk back to the car. Additionally, please let me know if you leave early. This helps us keep track of everyone.
Due to the nature of this outing and the number of adults attending, Illuminate Workshops cannot be responsible for your safety.


Contact Information:
During the evening we may have to keep in touch with one another, please keep my cell phone number on-hand in the event that you may need directions or get separated. Efrain Cruz (720) 324-0111.
If you haven't already, please submit your cell phone number.


What to Expect:
Our night shooting event is an opportunity for photographers to get together, meet and share in their passion. This is a community event, where anyone can be comfortable no matter what their level of experience. If you have no experience in night photography all you need is a camera, tripod, a self timer (or other shutter release for your camera), Instructors will be available for basic instruction.

Samples from previous night outings and night photography in general: http://bit.ly/h9rlb

We are all looking forward a great evening. Feel free to email with any questions.


Happy Shooting,
Efrain


Efrain Cruz
Director
__________________________________________
Illuminate Workshops
P.O. Box 6023
Denver, CO 80206

website: http://illuminateworkshops.com
email: efrain@illuminateworkshops.com

720.324.0111
__________________________________________

Get Out There: My business logo, part 2

After giving it some thought, I've decided to hire a trusted colleague and amazing Photoshop guru to design my business logo -- Armando Martinez! I've blogged often about Martinez since I took two of his photoshop classes hosted through Illuminate Workshops and was convinced that I love the detail-oriented editing and processing of my photos nearly as much as I love taking them. Mando-matic, Martinez's creative photo retouching business just blows my mind every time I check out new before and after images on his site because looking at his work lets me know I've only barely scratched the surface with Photoshop, not to mention what I have yet to learn about Lightroom.

Last month, I talked about possibly having an online company such as logomojo create my logo. Then it hit me: why not work with someone I know who is infinitely talented and accessible right here in Denver?! I agreed with his assessment that while the projects on logomojo were indeed flashy, several of them seemed disconnected from the business. Here are sample's of Martinez's previous logos. Not only has Martinez been my instructor, but I've also photographed cityscapes with him before during an Illuminate Workshop monthly night shoot. I think he already has a good idea of who I am, and his willingness to find out more for the benefit of my business is great. And it's an investment that is long overdue.

Here's some examples of effective company logos:


Business logos can be:

Your business name and initials designed through a text font
An illustrative logo that is representative of your business
An abstract logo that will create a brand for your company

There are pros and cons to each. A hard to read font can render a business name with initials useless, while an abstract logo too far out in left field might just confuse potential clients. I've been studying logos where ever I see them, on sides of buildings, on delivery trucks and in advertisements. I think I would most like an illustrative logo that represents Picture Your World Photography do my market will have an immediate visual understanding of what my business is about. It provides more design freedom for Martinez.

Now that I've decided to work with him, the hard part begins. Martinez's homework assignment is pretty difficult. But if I can answer these questions, not only will it make it easier for him to create my logo, but it will give me a better understanding of who I am and what I want my business identity to be. Ask yourself these questions; what would your answers be? If you have a business plan, Martinez says some of the info could be found there:

1) Descriptions of the impression you would like from your logo.

2) List describing your business and what separates it from others or your specialties.

3) Samples of any logos you do like.

4) List of you competitors (websites are good)

Get the Job Done: Creative Post Processing with Photoshop

I recently posted about getting more adventurous in my photo post processing now that I've got several Photoshop classes under my belt. Here is the final composite of the family portrait shot I took of the Newell Family at the South Platte River in Denver. I want to thank Armando Martinez, owner of the Mando-Matic retouching studio, for walking me through the steps to correct some issues I had with the original image, including a distracting background element (a bridge) and faces turned the wrong direction when I pushed the shutter.



Here is the BEFORE, RAW unprocessed image. After I carefully posed the family on the rocks near the river, Tristan got distracted and turned his head:


Here is the MID-AFTER processed shot where I copied a portion of Tristan's face from another photo looking straight ahead at me and placed it on top of the other image. This shot also includes some normal curve adjustments and portrait glamour work to even out the skin tones, brighten eyes and whiten teeth.



I carefully selected a portion of Tristan's face that included his eyes, his noise, lips and rosy cheeks, feathering the selection so the edges would blend in seamlessly and copied it. Then I dragged that selection onto the other original photo, which automatically created a new layer.

As it turned out, the new image of Tristan's face was much larger than the original, so I had to use the Free Transform mode (under "Edit") to reshape the face and fit it smoothly over the original. I combined the layers and healed the edges of the new selected face to make sure it blended with the existing head. I also replaced the bridge in the upper left hand frame with more autumn leaves.



As I thought, I still wasn't done with the image. I needed to get rid of that bridge and the more I looked at Liam's face, the more I realized that I wanted his eyes looking at me. I used the same steps to replace Liam's face. I "pulled down" Tristan's pants, so to speak using the clone and heal tool. Then I used some of the techniques I learned during Armando's Photoshop 2 class to blend aspects of images using quick mask selections and the darken mode.

Armando allowed me to use this image he took of a blue sky with puffy clouds:


1) In a new layer, I selected the background behind the family with a quick mask. I tried using the magic wand at first, but it was too difficult to select around hair. Using the brush in the quick mask mode gives you more control. I used the clone tool to copy portions of the sky into my image. Then I used the "darken mode" on the entire layer to help the sky blend in more.

2) To keep the sky in perspective to distance from the subjects, I used guassian blur to fade the sky a little bit, making it appear further away from the subjects.

I am glad I put so much effort into this image because as it turns out that is the one they want for their holiday cards! :)
To learn more about how to use Photoshop to enhance your pictures, take a class with Armando at Illuminate Workshops.

Get the Job Done: Creative Post Processing with Photoshop

I have grown more adventurous in my photo processing now that I have had several Photoshop classes under my belt, including two offered at Illuminate Photography Workshops by instructors Nat Coalson and Armando Martinez. I decided to try some creative retouching with some of the photos I took during a family portrait session earlier this month.

Overall the photos I took of the Newell family were very successful. However, I had a devil of a time making sure that both boys were always looking at me during the posed shots. Their attention spans were very short, since they are only 4- and 2-years old, and one or both would often look away right as I pressed the shutter.
Thank goodness there were plenty of other images where both boys are looking straight ahead. I was able to combine success aspects of one photo with another to create a new photo composite.

Here is the BEFORE, RAW unprocess image. After I carefully posed the family on the rocks near the South Platte River and took a few steps back to compose my image, something caught little Tristan's eye, and he looked to the side right as I shot the photo.


and here is the AFTER, processed. I copied a portion of Tristan's smiling face (in the looking straight ahead at me) from another photo and placed it on top of the other image where he is looking off to the side.


The first step in my photo processing in Camera Raw included cropping the image, and making some color balance and curve adjustments. Once the image was called up into Photoshop, I used some glamour processing to whiten teeth and eyes, heal out wrinkles, and balance out overblown skin tones. I also used "Clone" to take out the distracting orange markers in the river in the upper right hand corner of the frame. I saved that image as a TIFF keeping all the adjustment layers intact and opened this new image that had Tristan looking directly into camera.




I carefully selected a portion of Tristan's face that included his eyes, his noise, lips and rosy cheeks, feathering the selection so the edges would blend in seamlessly and copied it. Then I dragged that selection onto the other original photo, which automatically created a new layer.

As it turned out, the new image of Tristan's face was much larger than the original, so I had to use the Free Transform mode (under "Edit") to reshape the face and fit it smoothly over the original. I combined the layers and healed the edges of the new selected face to make sure it blended with the existing head.

I don't think I'm done with this image yet. I like Liam's smile in the second image better as well, so I may try to replace his face in the main image. That featureless white sky is bothersome to me, so I may add a new blue sky with some puffy clouds into the photo. And I don't like the bottom of the bridge at the top of the frame. Does the post processing ever end? Only when I get it right in camera the first time like I'm supposed too, I guess! ;)