Weddings, Corporate Portraiture & what not to wear....

Another busy week lays behind me which is fab news as another one also stands in front.  What scares me is my busy as a bumble bee schedule has left little time for that all important CRM so am looking forward to getting back on it and as a result hopefully filling more of that diary as Christmas (yes I said it) approaches.

Still to come also is the rebrand...new name, new logo, new site and new blog.  Very excited and just tying a few final ends before it all goes live, late predictably but it will happen so please - watch this space!

Last Sunday I got together with some old Uni friends and we worked on our first shoot together in 5 years!  Vintage themed images coming soon and to appear in 'Frock &Roll' Readings new, exclusive Vintage boutique.

My wedding portfolio (as a second shooter) is getting ever fuller which is great so thinking I will put some of those up in the coming weeks (a few above to get you started) plus my corporate portrait skills are being tested with an abundance of requests, must be that time of year which is fantastic.  I always like to learn more and more and more and....well you get it but came across some great sites for portraiture so have put below in the hope you find them useful.  Good for tog or sitter, enjoy.

Photography Posing

Digital photo school (includes lighting set up diagrams)

Mansurvos

What not to wear

Ehow

Photo Tips

PS: Coming soon - downloadable Bright Ideas guides including Tog Talk explained, Understanding imagery; In front of the camera, having your corporate portrait done; Knowing what to ask for, getting the best bang for your buck... plus many more!

Thrifty Thursday....to pro or not to pro?

Thrifty Thursday again and I have been doing various research on using professional photographers and how images effect things like visitor experience of web pages and receipt of marketing material etc.  Not only does this help me to understand my services and products better but also the views of my potential target markets.  

I found some of this research interesting and for those of you rebuilding websites and thinking about using images this might give you some tips.

 - Commissioning a photographer rather than using stock images...are there advantages?
 - Why use a pro?  Everyone (almost) has a digital camera these days so why can't it be done without.  Well everyone has excel and access to some accounting packages, it doesn't mean doing your accounts yourself is a good idea. Kelly Gillam in this article asks one to think about the benefits before writing a pro off.  
 - Here the AOP a professional Association of Photographers writes a short piece on the False Economies of using Maureen in the office who owns an SLR, but also includes some useful pointers on copyright.
 - Getting your text right in your marketing material is vital so complimenting this with effective imagery can make those words resonate.  Download this blueprint for 5 effective tips for marketing material and how to get those images right.
Cliche but true...a picture paints a thousand words.  How many words would you have to write to say what that one image portrays in under a second?
 - Research in psychology and communication show that a visual display has many advantages in comparison to typical language...this is a detailed study completed in 2009 of the case for Graphic representations.  Read this if you have some time...interesting though!

(Image courtesy of loyalkng)

Wild hair, book clubs & the CS3 patch tool...

I am not doing well at this new schedule i realize, there I go setting myself goals & fail at the first hurdle!  It has been a busy week with only Friday afternoon actually in the office and believe it or not rather long electricity failures over 2 days. Almost two days without electricity, well it was interesting much like my hair.  (The perils of not being able to dry it or straighten it!)

I have been trying to absorb as much knowledge as possible this week (and as part of that actually attended my first book club meeting last night....in did involve G&T and a 2am bedtime mind) in terms of marketing and have unfortunately not picked up my camera once!  Royal Windsor horse show pics will follow next week alongside hopefully an interview with a couple of clients, Balmlane Events and Rouge Media.  

For now some tips that I failed to post yesterday......Foto Tip Friday reborn.....

- Using adjustment layers in PS is invaluable.  Concentrate on only the area you are adjusting then select the layer and depending on how large the area is your changing brush back in the original, or invert and brush in the amendments.  Want more?

- The patch tool: I know many of you will know how to use this but essentially this is for correcting areas that you may otherwise correct with the clone stamp or the healing brush.  This does so by using a defined area selected by you.  Find the area you need to cover and select it using the patch tool.  Make sure that it is in 'Source' mode and then move the selection to a new point to select pixels that will cover up the original.  So your dragging the bad selection to a good selection, or the source.  Just remember that PS will blend the areas itself so be careful using sources with too much contrast. Get further guidance thanks to Livedocs.

- Now i have actually heard less about CS5 than I expected...is there anyone out there using it?  I still use CS3 and am happy with it for now but knowing the advantages CS4 offers (I like the adjustment layers new menu layout option) I wondered what other developments had been made bar the apparently amazing selection tool.  Check out Adobe to cast your own view and let me know if you use it yet and how your getting on.

Foto Tip Friday....Portraits...

At the moment I am trying to improve my portraiture knowledge and execution.  Practically everything taken in terms of photography which isn't still life is portraiture so why I didn't think to give it more attention in the past I don't know.  Its about capturing an emotion, an expression, a moment, even a brand image all in one persons face or eye, arm, leg or shoulder.  Sounds odd but who said portraiture had to be a head and shoulders passport style image and is essentially the 2d version of a very 3d subject matter!  Anyway, the tips and tricks this week are some of my own, some given to me and some from the net.  There are some amazingly talented portrait photographers out there so research and be inspired! 

• Minimize a round face by using some back lighting and having the sitter straight onto the camera
• Make the person laugh - everyone looks beautiful when they laugh
• Capture movement - weather it be a smile, a laugh, get the sitter to relax and move. This 'movement' and energy is reflected in the images
• Be a sitter yourself and understand how it feels to be the other side of the camera
• Shoot with the head turned slightly to one side, not full profile
• Create a stronger, taller image by having the person lift their chin slightly
• Cover any scars or areas the sitter may not like by using lighting and having these areas in the shadow
• Pull shoulders and arms back
• A long narrow face - Get the sitter to look down ever so slightly
• Tell a story
• If cropping tight, don't concentrate on putting the eyes in the middle of the viewfinder, have them in the top third of the frame
• Play with eye contact
• Look at other peoples portraits, what do you like and what don't you like? What makes it a strong image? How can you be different?
• And of course, last but not least....experiment.

Some Portrait Photographers I admire (various disciplines).....Martin Sholler, Cindy Sherman, Cecil Beaton, Ansel Adams, Herb Ritts, Linus Ricard, Charles Freger, Tina Barney, Mary Ellen Mark, Alistair Guy, David LaChapelle,Annie Leibovitz - the list goes on! 

Straight to your door (OK inbox)....

You may have seen the fab new addition to the site...an Ideas page.  This like the blog gives you tips and tricks and instead of focussing on photography technique or editing it offers everyone some ideas on getting better pictures to use for Marketing, PR or advertising purposes.  Really it gives those clients the option to have a go themselves and be armed with a little bit of information before braving the realms of promotional imagery.  Budgets do not always allow for a photographer or you may just fancy giving it a bash, either way these should help you or your clients.  They will also give you key things to think about when commissioning a photographer or planning your brief.

Take a look at my site.  Visit the 'More' tab and go to Ideas. 

Do you have a question?  Let me know and have it feature in the Ideas section alongside a link to your site.

Want to receive some light up light bulb ideas via email?  Just drop me a 'yes please' to hello@carli-art.co.uk.  

(The Light up email is sent on a monthly basis with every 3rd edition accompanying my newsletter)

(Image courtesy of weblogcartoons.com)

Eye Eye Captain...

Foto Tip Friday actually on a Friday....what is the world coming to!

So just a quick one this week but essentially its about improving skin in your photograph.  I only tend to really work on skin for fashion or beauty images but you can go overboard and that clone stamp can create a lot of softness.  This is purely what I do to improve texture, remove blemishes and so forth so take what you will out of it.

• One you have messed with exposure and colour balance etc I would then start any skin work.  
• Keep editing bits and then look at what you have as a whole, its seriously easy to get carried away and not realize the difference being made.
• Take regular snap shots to see your progress
• I use quite a high opacity brush for skin cloning (between 11 - 22) and do all the work on a separate layer, i then lower the opacity of that layer if needed.
• Use a bigger brush on the forehead, cheeks and chin and then get smaller around the mouth and the eyes.
• The eyes are particularly important hence the image.  Using too much cloning can really make them soft and  you lose the impact.  It is also important to not go overboard on removing dark circles or wrinkles as these all add expression.  
• Work slowly, adding more as you go.
• I use a harder clone brush around the eyes so things aren't quite as soft and in areas where feasible i use the spot healing brush.  Again on around 11-22 and the larger the better.
• Use your history brush on 'Multiply' to accentuate the lashes and the eyebrows.  I also use it like an eyeliner to create some definition if needed.
• Use a high pass sharpen action if you want more sharpness but remember this will bring out pores and lines Don't remove all the pores in the skin, this is not realistic.  Fade some and even ger rid of some but dont remove entirley otherwise the model will look like a doll.

Got your own tips? Know a great way to improve pics...get in touch and show people what you've got!