Simple Days » Editing

Fix-It-Friday #63

Erica Lea — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:16:27 +0000

This week’s photo for Fix-It-Friday is brought to us by Angie Arthur. See the original here.

I used Pixler to edit this photo.

The original was quite good, but the contrast needed a little boost. Also, the color was a little grey, so I added an orange and purple overlay. I lightened the edges slightly and sharpened.

To see many more fun edits of this photo, make sure to stop by I Heart Faces.

Fix-It Friday ~ #48

Erica Lea — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:26:24 +0000

This week’s Fix-It Friday photo was provided by Natalie P from And Then There Were Three.

Here is the original photo. I like the composition and the little girl is adorable; however, the exposure is a bit dull.

For my first edit, I simply boosted the contrast, corrected the color in curves, added some warmth, brightened the eyes, and sharpened the photo. I didn’t like the sharpness on the hat, so I created a layer mask and erased the sharpness in that area.

For my second edit, I gave the photo a more “retro” feel. I added some layers of colors (first orange, then purple, then brown), sharpened the photo a bit more, and finished with a light vignette.

To see many more fun edits of this photo, stop by I ♥ Faces.

Fix-It-Friday ~ #44

Erica Lea — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:56:50 +0000

This week’s photo for Fix-it-Friday was provided by Keli Hoskins. It is a photo of her daughter, Emma. Click here to see the original photo.

My Edit: For my edit, I used Corel Paint Shop Pro. First, I cropped the photo closer, duplicated the layer, created a layer mask, and brightened the photo. The background was very bright so I erased that part of the photo using a soft black brush and merged the layers. I then turned the photo black & white and duplicated the layer. On the new layer, I ran a preset called Albumen, turned down the opacity and merged the layers. Next, I placed a texture called concrete over the photo, turned down the opacity, created a layer mask, and erased the texture on the girl with a soft black brush. I then merged the layers and placed a slight purple tinge over the photo. Lastly, I sharpened the image and made her pants, hair, and eyes especially sharp.

The End!

To see how others chose to edit this photo, please stop by I ♥ Faces

Fix-It-Friday #31 ~ October 9th

Erica Lea — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 23:59:22 +0000

Have you ever heard of I Heart Faces? It is a blog devoted to the beauty of capturing faces and helping readers to improve their photography. Every week they have a photo contest and every Friday they host a fun event call Fix-It-Friday. Every week a new photo is uploaded for anyone who wishes to edit and share. This week, I decided to play along!

For my editing, I used Corel Paint Shop Pro XI.

Click the photo to view the full-sized image.

For edit #1 (center): First, I used the blemish fixer to erase some dirty spots around this young man’s nose, mouth, and cheeks. Then I boosted the contrast and changed the color balance to a warmer tone. Next, I brightened the whites and highlights of the eyes and desaturated the whites and his teeth. Finally, I sharpened the image using unsharp mask and vignetted the edges.

For edit #2 (far right): Using the image from edit #1, I undid the sharpening and vignetting actions and turned the photo black & white. I then duplicated the layer, filled it with a deep brown, set the blend mode to color, and turned down the opacity of the new layer.

I really enjoyed this challenge and can’t wait to “play” again!