Back before the days of subscribing to podcasts and blogs, people used to read stacks of paper bound together at one side. They called them books.
I just had to put in my two cents about a fantastic book I recently stumbled on. It is entitled "Masters of Design Logos & Identity" and is written by Sean Adams. Released just this year, the book is a compilation of "the most inspiring logo designers in the world". It showcases thirty of the most successful and well known logo designers the world has ever seen, displays there work, and dives into their creative processes. What a find! It's an absolute inspiration to anyone going into graphic design or any other creative field. Read it today!
You can't just sit waiting for someone else to pat you on the back. If you do, you may wait a very long time. -Peter Griffiths
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In light of the ideology taught above, I would like to take this moment to "pat my self on the back". You'll notice that a month or so ago, I posted my entry to a logo contest hosted by the Southeast Idaho chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management.
This week I received an email notifying me that two of the four logos I entered tied for first place in the contest! Not only does my logo get splattered all over all the official things they will be making, but there was also a cash prize involved. Incase you missed the previous post, check out the entries below and I will update you on the logos that they decided on.
Critiques or comments on these logos are more than welcome as always. I would love to do creative work for your business or organization! Contact me.
Let me know which one you like best...
Recently, I have created a lot of new pieces that I am very proud of. Some of them have even won awards. I've compiled a small and simple Online Portfolio website to show off some of my most recent work. Most of these projects can be seen in earlier posts on my blog but some are exclusive to this site. So go ahead...check it out! You know you want to. You can click the cheesily obvious link above or the image to the left.
Hello all you photographers! Below you’ll find a few photoshop secrets that the pros don’t want you to know about: three tips on how to make your portraiture look more professional and appealing. My portraits have improved dramatically ever since I started to apply these simple tips. Good luck to all who want to give them a try!
1. Adjust the saturation:
Our brains tend to automatically adjust what we see to make it more vivid. Depending on what camera you are shooting with, the lighting, or the quality of sensors or lenses you are using, your portraiture can often turn out flat and boring compared to what you saw through your viewfinder.
There are two principle tools that you can use to adjust the saturation in your portraiture.
a. The Sponge tool is a well kept secret in Photoshop. By using the sponge tool (found under the same tab as the burn/dodge tools) you can adjust the saturation of specific area in your photos. You want to avoid drastic saturation on any skintone areas. Use the sponge tool like you would use a brush tool to increase the saturation on the background other elements of the photgraph.
b. The saturation adjustment layer will allow you to adjust the saturation levels of the entire photo. Adjustments layers, however, come with a layer mask which allows you to hids certain saturation adjustments in specific areas of your photo. Simply paint with black paint on the layer mask to erase the over-saturation on the face and other areas where it doesn’t work.
Check out the difference between the two photographs below. The first image is the original shot taken with my Digital SLR camera. In the second image, I adjusted the saturation to make the background and other elements of the image more vivid.
2. Focus on the Eyes:
The most important part of a portrait is often the focus and attention given to the eyes. Everything in the Photograph should lead your audience to the face and especially the eyes. This is where the persons story is told. There are various things you can do to really make the eyes a central focus of your shot.
a. Get rid of the bags under their eyes. There’s nothing worse than a tired looking portrait. Portraits usually should be lively and youthful so unless you are taking shots of older people, you will want to try to get rid of the bags under their eyes. This can best be achieved by using the stamp tool and healing brush (s and j on your keyboard respectively). This leaves no distraction from the eyes and ads luster and youthfulness to a subjects face.
b. Darken the rim of the iris. The iris is the colorful part of the eye that surrounds the pupil. One secret most photographers don’t want you to know about is that healthy people tend to have a dark rim around their pupils. If you’re a carrot eater, your eyes will be not only healthier but prettier as well. Darkening the rim of the Iris can be achieved in various different ways. Those with Wacom Tablets or steady hands can simply use a miniscule brush on the multiply setting to draw a small circle around the iris. I prefer to use a custom brush that I have created to create an equal value and intensity on each iris. Search the internet for ways to make and use custom brushes or leave a question/comment below to find out how.
Check out the difference between the two shots below- the first being the original and the second being the one in which I edited the eyes by getting rid of the bags and outlining the iris.
3. Add a vignette: I know what you are thinking: “A vignette? Like on my grandmas old family pictures? Those are tacky.” Don’t worry, there are millions of different styles of vignettes you can create that will make your images more creative, attractive and professional. The vignette I am talking about is made by using a low opacity brush with a very soft edge to darken the parts of the photo that are of less importance. This can be done by painting with a brush set to “multiply” on the blending option, by using the dodge tool, or through other means. Check online to find other effective ways to create nice vignettes. This adds empahisis to the most important part your portraiture: the subject. The eyes of the viewer will be attracted to the ligher parts of the image and will really help your portrait pop.
Check out the images below to see what I mean. Again, the first is the unedited image and the second includes the vignette to add emphasis to the subject’s face.
Hopefully these tips will be helpful to anyone who is looking to improve your portraiture. Let us all know what other things you have found to really help your portraits pop by commenting below!
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5 Photoshop shortcuts any photographer should know
Hey everyone, just a quick posting here to promote the blog of a good friend of mine: Stacey Gold. She's an awesome photographer/designer and has some great pieces to check out. Her blog is www.goldphotography.blogspot.com.
Happy blogging to all!
Recently I created this 8 minute video podcast to help others
understand the basics of podcasting. Clicking the image to the left or this link will navigate you away from this page and take you to an independent page on my personal site to view the video. Please be patient as it loads if you have a slow connection and make sure your volume is turned up enough to hear well. (You will also need the latest version of Quicktime to view this project.) Be sure to come back here and let me know what you think of it! Enjoy!
Below is my entry for the Vision Conference Poster Contest here at BYU-Idaho. Winners will be selected later in the month. Wish me luck! Any critiques or comments are welcome as well.
Hello to all those aspiring photographers out there. I have loved photography for a long time but, honestly, it used to take me a really long time to edit photos and make them look professional. Below is a short and very non-inclusive list of shortcuts that will speed up the process as you edit your photos. Keep coming back for more articles similar to this one on how to become a better photoshop-ist.
1. Shift + [ or ] changes the size your brush incrementally. Shift + [ will downsize your brush while Shift + ] will make it grow. This useful shortcut can also be used with the stamp tools, healing brushes, history brushes, and other tools! Saves you the hassle of opening extra windows to drag sliders to the desired size.
2. Typing C will give you the crop tool. Most people have no idea of the potential ease and user-friendliness of the crop tool. Have you ever gone to the “Image Size” prompt and been confused by all the numbers? You find yourself asking things like, “Do I check the resample box or not?” The cropping tool makes all of this hassle disappear. Simply type in the desired image measurements (followed by in for inches, px for pixels, etc.) and resolution at the top of the window. Click and drag until you like what you see, then double click or press enter. Now your image is exactly the size and shape you need it.
3. Pressing the spacebar will enable you to click and drag the document when you are zoomed in. This eliminates having to use the mouse scrolling wheel or the scroll bars on the side and bottom of your window to move around while editing. Simply hold the spacebar down, click anywhere on the image, and move to the next spot you need to manipulate.
4. Command + D will deselect any selection you currently have on screen. Whether you are using the magic wand tool, marquee selection tool, lasso tool, or any other, command + D (Ctrl + D on a PC) will deselect any selection you have made. This saves the time it would take to choose the same option from the menu screen. I know it sounds like a little thing, but if you’re working to try and get the right selection by trial and error, it can save you loads of time.
5. Typing any number 1-9 will adjust the opacity of whatever you happen to be working with/on. For example, if you are using a layer mask to blend two photographs together and want to make the opacity (density) of the brush lighter, type “3”. This will change your opacity to 30% and you can continue to paint. This eliminates the need to select the field from above and type in 3-0. When you are constantly changing opacities on layers, brushes, stamps, etc. it will speed up your time significantly. Hint: typing wo numbers in rapid succession also works. For example 3-9 would give me 39% opacity.
Explore new territory to find great shortcuts to increase effectiveness in your personal Photoshop workflow as well. Good Luck!
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Three secrets to make your portraits pop
This is one of my most recent projects: a self portrait design for Photographics Society at Brigham Young University-Idaho. Constructive criticism is encouraged.
To see another Self Portrait Collage I created a year ago (2007), visit my site.
The Southeast Idaho chapter of SHRM recently had a logo contest. The following are my entries. Let me know what you think of them and cross your fingers that I win! Winners will be announced later in the month and I'll be sure to let you know. Critiques are also very welcome!
The Following is a post I created for the BYU-Idaho Photographic Society blog.
PLUS! To see how I achieved this effect, watch my screencast.
I know, I know. We see countless shots of the temple all over the place. I wanted to find one that was unique and creative. Hopefully this one is original enough to not fall into the stereoptypical "temple photos" category. Enjoy.
If you'd like to see more of my stuff visit my site.
-Preston
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