It’s Labor Day Weekend here in the States and, except for lingering thoughts about how amazing…and hard working…farmers are, I can’t say I have labor on the brain much.
Well, that’s not entirely true. My good friend Aubrey went into labor the other day and gave birth to an exquisite little girl. And I am spending this evening laboring over boatloads of photographs I’ve taken in the past two days. Yes, boats are on my mind, too. Why is that, MckMama? Why, I’m so very glad you asked!! Our family is away for Labor Day Weekend, roughing it in a log cabin, the only thing on a tiny island in the middle of a big lake. To get anywhere, we have to boat to “the mainland.” But we’re not going anywhere. That was the whole point of coming to this island!
More about our trip later, trust me. But since Labor Day is upon us, and I’ve been spending time at night around the fire relaxing with my favorite fellow (my husband) and laboring on my favorite hobby (photography), I figured I should share with you! And since I won’t share my husband and can’t share my S’mores, I’m going to share with you another little nugget of how I work on my photographs.
Please keep in mind as you look at what I’m about to share with you that I am a self taught photographer. And I edit my pictures in much the same fashion as I cook: without recipes and just by mixing things together until I am pleased with the outcome. All that to say, truly trained photographers (you know, the kind who actually understand what all the dials on their fancy cameras are supposed to do and don’t just adjust things willy nilly until the photos start coming out correctly) may well roll over in their graves if they read my rudimentary photography lessons. That is, if they were, you know, dead.
Oh dear, I’d better just get on with it, hadn’t I!?
So anyway, yesterday here at this quaint little cabin on this picturesque island I took about 12 zillion photographs of our sweet little cherubs as they frolicked outside during what is sometimes referred to as the golden hour. Yes, photographs taken during the last hour of sunlight on any given day are likely to be so breathtakingly well lit, gorgeously colored and deliciously warm that even a hobbyist photographer might be mistaken as a professional one. The light was so amazing that there was little that would have stopped me from using that time to capture some casual portraits of our children.
Like this one of Stellan, seen on the left as it looked straight out of my camera and on the right as it ended up after I labored on it for a half hour, tweaking this and that until I loved the outcome.
How did I do it? The following is photographer geek stuff that will likely not interest you if you’re not a, well, photography geek. When I see pictures I love on the internet, I often develop a deep longing to know how the photo was taken and edited. So, as my little Labor Day gift to you, here’s the scoop:
I took this shot of Stellan with my Canon 40D. I had the setting sun at his back for a few spectacular shots earlier, but for this one he was facing the sun. He was in the shade of some pine tress, though, so the light was not direct. I had my Canon 24-70 f2.8 L series lens on. My ISO was set to 500, my f-stop at 2.8 and the shutter speed was 1/1000.
I was super pleased with the SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera) shot. And when I capture a doozy of a photograph, I’m always excited to play around with it afterwords, to see what kind of even more unique work of art I can turn it into.
So, I opened up the photograph in Lightroom (photo editing software that for me is synonymous with air) and had a field day. Here’s where I ended up:
I moved the temperature up to +8. Both the brightness and contrast were upped to +25. the entire photo was softened when I changed the clarity to -30. I added crispness back in, though, in a few areas when I used the brush tool set to a high clarity level on spots like Stellan’s mouth, eyes and hair.
I just nudged the saturation of all the colors in the photograph up to +5 this time, but I pumped the vibrance up to a kickin’ +70. His skin and hair were turning out too golden, so I downed the saturations of just the oranges and yellows a bit. I further boosted the saturation and luminescence of my favorites: blues and aquas, moving them and the greens up for a dramatic punch of color. And lastly, I did some vignetting, moving the amount all the way down to -100 while leaving the midpoint at just 25.
Whew! And I wasn’t for a moment going to let that editing time go to use only on one photograph. I copied that exact edit and pasted it onto a handful of photos of the big boys chasing (and catching!) each other. This one was my favorite.
Oh, I just love how warm and glowy this edit makes this photograph, too!! If I do say so myself, that was some labor well spent.
Happy Labor Day!!!!
Jennifer,
Do you recommend Lightroom without an expensive camera? Do you think it will give good results –or is it more related to the camera lens?
Also, do you keep the originals (before editing) saved as well? How do you organize your pics?
Thanks for any info you can offer!
~Janelle
Jennifer – beautiful pictures, as always.
Question though – how do you copy and paste the exact same edit for use in other photos? I spend way too much time doing the exact same things over and over and over again…. That’d be a great lesson for me (and maybe/hopefully some other Lightroom fans!)
I’m no MckMama and definitely not a pro but I do know how to save an edit! Once you get it how you like it, click on the + to the right of “presets” which is on the far left. Something will pop up and you can name the preset then click Create. Then it will appear under user presets and you can click on it for your other photos. Hope that helps!
Love, love LOVE the framing on the picture of the older boys. I’m lusting after lightroom…but I don’t think I have the time to learn it in the middle of a homeschooling year.
Just wanted to say thank for the Lightroom lesson the other day. I just got Lightroom 3 and Photoshop Elements 8, and I have so much learning to do. I took some of your settings from the Stellan picture and made a few adjustments of my own, and I was SO please with the results. Thanks for teaching me a thing or two.
You can see my edited photo and the original here….
http://nothingbutreallife.blogspot.com/2010/09/learning-lightroom-3.html
Awesome fish pictures by the way.
It’s so funny – I always used to click past your photography posts, and since I just bought a DSLR (Nikon D5000) I am now reading them word for word and taking notes. Now as soon as I win the lottery & buy a few more lenses and Lightroom, I’ll be set
Glad you are liking them now! And good luck on the lottery.
I love your photos. I am very jealous of your talents. I sometimes get some great photos but I have no skills to “photo shop” them to give them the warmth and glow you can. Congrats on being a great self taught photographer.
I just followed your edits step by step in Lightroom and love the results! My question is: How do you copy and paste the exact edit to reuse again and again??? PLEASE answer this! Thanks!
)
Beautiful edit!
I am going to get lightroom, what an awesome edit, but great photo to begin with!
I have always loved your pictures! Thank you for sharing all that you’ve discovered and learned with us. I’m a self-taught mommy photographer too
and spreading my wings hoping to make it a business. I have a few questions for you….1. Do you shoot your images raw or jpeg? I’ve heard that editing jpeg pics damages the file each and everytime you edit and save….have you found this to be true? 2. I use Photoshop Elements and am still learning everyday how to use it. Do you use Photoshop Elements too? Or strictly lightroom? And which do you like better? Finally, 3. I’m constantly blown away by the clarity of your pics!! I’ve seen your tutorial on focusing and understand all of that. I have alot of the same lenses you do, as well, but I don’t alway achieve the beautiful clarity in my pics. Any thoughts or tips you could offer? Maybe a tutorial post on this, if possible? Thanks again….so, so much…..for sharing your knowledge. In this highly competitive field of photography, I find few fellow photogs willing to share and help others. I’m so glad you’re not one of them:)
Love reading your photography posts!!! How do you copy and paste and edit?
Thank you for this! Beautiful!!!
mckmama … thanks so much for your willingness to share SO much with us. from sharing your family to sharing your photo tips! i do have a question though … is there a potentially less expensive/free (besides iphoto or something generic like that) that you would recommend? i have this great camera (nikon d3000) that i got for christmas last year but we’re not at a place to buy photo editing software and i need something to hold me over since i’m planning on taking a million pics of our first little one who is due in november!
thanks again for sharing. lots of love and prayers.
Love the photos. I would really like to be able to say that I took great pictures but they never turn out like yours. I have a Canon Rebel and I think I need to get out the instruction book to understand ISO/AP.
Is there a certain Lightroom you use? I don’t know if there are more than one. Maybe I will add this to my Christmas list, also.
This photography geek thanks you! I am a big lover of bright, contrasty colors……unless I’m having a black n white day that is. I took my 1 1/2 yr old dog out at the golden hour last night without nearly as much success! Ha! He was not interested in the lighting one little bit
THANK YOU!!! I LOVE it when you post stuff like this!!!
I have photoshop elements, but I think I should definitely look into lightroom. Do you ever shoot in raw? It’s addicting…
Please give a tutorial on Lachlan’s post (http://mycharmingkids.net/2010/08/sleepy/)…it’s breathtaking!
What is a s’more?????
you roast the marshmellows over the campfire and sandwich it between 2 graham crackers with some hershey’s chocolate in the middle too
Delicious!!! Cracker+choclolate+marshmellow+chocolate
It’s a mallow not mellow. That is a state of being as opposed to a food. I guess you could shove the chocolate in the middle, most likely you would burn your fingers doing that with the toasted and gooey mallow.
Easiest way to explain a S’more:
Roast a mallow on a stick over a fire. Let it get as gooey and burnt according to your taste buds. Take two graham cracker halves with a chocolate bar on the bottom. Slide the mallow off the stick that you have been toasting it on over the fire and put it on top of the chocolate that is on top of the graham cracker. Put the other half of the graham cracker on the top. Smoosh the two sides together. Key is to let it cool a tiny bit. Having a burnt top of your mouth is not fun.
Love that pic of Stellan! He’s just so big! I started reading your blog when he was 4 mos. old and it doesn’t seem possible that he’s a big boy now! But love the before & after shots of both him and his older and oldest brothers.
Enjoy your little getaway! 
Your log cabin vacation sounds delightful! Your photo edits are wonderful.
neat neat! I love to hear your “recipes” for your photography!! you know, the ISO and “junk”
I love the photo of the big boys, too.. They look like such best friends, and I know they are!
I just wanted to say thank you for sharing what you know! I’m a photography student (self taught and taking classes) and I find so often that other photographers don’t want to share what they know. Thanks for being so willing to help and share and teach! I’m planning (hoping) to get Lightroom soon and your tutorials have given me a few great places to start once I do! Thanks again!
You’re welcome!!
mckmama… do you have a lightscoop?!?! if not, you must get one… i’m a fan of your photography & editing, and know you’ve posted several times about “avoiding the flash” and using natural light… but the lightscoop helps TREMEDOUSLY when you have to use a flash…
you can see some pictures that i took here:
http://leeandhannah.blogspot.com/
and see the lightscoop website here:
http://lightscoop.com/
thanks for all the tips
Beautiful! Great tutorial
I have yet to get Lightroom, but I’d love to!
Well, I have the same camera as you, so I feel pretty cool now.
But, I have no idea what you just said. So, needless to say, my pictures don’t look anything like yours. I keep teling myself “MckMama has the same camera, so your pictures CAN look like hers.” 
I think Lightroom will be added to my Christmas list. God bless!!
I didn’t always know all that gibberish, either! You CAN learn it…And yes, Lightroom helps!! Good luck with the Christmas list!
Wow, another trip….you guys sure are living frugally.
Love how you have edited them! And thanks for explaining what you have done. I know I recently asked for another tutoral. Love them!
Thanks for the breakdown of what you did to your photos. I am a “photography geek” and love messing around with my photos too. I too would not know what to do with Lightroom. I LOVE IT!! I use it all the time and love trying new and interesting things with my photos. Many times I like the SOOC shot but I always love them more with a little tweaking. I am anxious to try some of the things you suggested that I never thought of trying before. I am especially anxious to try using the brush tool to up the clarity of parts of the photo. I have softened my photos before but never thought to use the brush tool to up the clarity on the subject in the photo. Thanks for the tips! Please keep them coming!!
Fantastic photos! I would LOVE to see the whole photo because they are very good!
Love the photos and cant wait to hear about the rest of your trip!
WOW, I love the outcome of your photos….. makes me want to get a better camera!!