The first thing I had to do was fix mom’s eyes – it looks like she was just about to blink! So I cloned better eyes from another shot (one where the baby was hiding her face!). To do this, I used the clone tool. At the same time I decided the dead treetops were distracting so I cloned those out too. Then I went on to my regular editing steps.

Senior Photography: Tips and Tricks on Posing, Locations and More

With Fall coming, photographers are getting ready for photograph high school seniors again.  This style of photography is very popular in the United States and is starting to gain presence in other countries.

I’m back with another compilation of links to great MCP Actions Blog articles.  My name is Jeanine and, as Jodi wrote in my first post, I’ll be writing ‘flashback’ posts that compile links on certain topics.  I often find myself searching Jodi’s blog on topics of my current interests, or pertaining to a certain shoot, or a technique that I want to practice.  I hope these posts come in handy for you and that you can put to use my time searching and utilize all the links gathered in my posts.  This time I went to my favorite resource for help on Senior Photography.  As always, feel free to comment with topics for compilation posts that you would like to see.

I shot my first Senior this week, and it didn’t hurt a bit!  I read up on everything here on the MCP Actions Blog.  Actually I had shot one before but that was a quick mini-session with a girl on her way to prom.  This one involved multiple locations and clothing changes.  You gotta love photographing someone that doesn’t chase after squirrels and has the ability to stay just where you want them.  Working with seniors comes with it’s own challenges.  I was truly lucky that my client was very comfortable in front of the camera.  I credit these MCP Actions Blog articles with getting me more comfortable behind the camera as I break into this new market area.  Now is a great time for Senior sessions as they begin that special school year.

To get you started, or freshen up your routine with Senior Photography, try these articles.

Breaking into the Senior Photography Market

Senior Photography: How to Find Great Locations

How to Pose Seniors

Photographing Seniors {An interview with Photography by Natalie B}

What to Wear:  How to Dress Teens and Seniors for a Portrait Session

Using Photoshop Actions to Enhance a Blue Sky and a Rainbow

As photographers, we have no control over the weather conditions. Sometimes we get rained on and other times we get lucky enough to get beautiful light or even to cross paths with a rainbow.

This photo was sent in by Crystal Smith of Envision Image Photography. She wrote, “Saturday night, after a short cloudburst on their outdoor reception, Robin and Jeremy were lucky to be the beneficiaries of a beautiful full-arc rainbow on their wedding day.  It was a photographer’s dream!
When I got the pictures home that night and chose what shot I was using as my ‘sneak peek,’ the sky was a very overpowering gray do to the weather, which made the rainbow almost imperceptible. I knew the only Photoshop action I had in my arsenal that would bring out both the color of the sky and the the colors of the rainbow was color explosion from the Complete Workflow Action set for both Photoshop and Elements.  Here is what I did to this photo, step by step.”

1. I masked off the house in the background and cloned it out.
2. I ran PW’s “cooler” action from her Set 2 to bring some blue into the sky.  I had it at 100%.
3. I flattened the image.
4. I ran MCP’s Color Explosion to bring out vivid blue colors in the sky and all of colors of the rainbow. I was very careful to make sure Robin and Jeremy did not get brushed over with that powerful color action…her hair is already a fiery red!  This brought out the blue sky and the rainbow to perfection.
5.  I finished up with PW’s “boost” action from her set1, at about 50%.