buoy oh boy - Montreal's South Shore newborn photographer nourisson rive sud

Special requests. I'm up for the challenge...

How this and this:

became:

You know, sometimes I don't know how I'm going to make something work. But from the hat to the babe asleep in a bucket, to a lot of time in front of the screen, wondering how in the world I will piece it all together, I just love seeing it finally done.

Wall colour - Corel Paint Shop Pro tutorial - Montreal's South Shore family photographer

Colouring walls is a fun trend right now. I'll be honest: I'm not sure how I feel about it. When I know something has been changed drastically in my image, I have a hard time shaking the idea that it looks fake. Truth is, though, I often like it in others' images. Sometimes I can't tell whether the wall has been coloured in post or not.

So I tried it myself. And I'm offering you the easiest step-by-step on Corel Paint Shop Pro. Not too complicated. Basic tool use. Keeping it real, guys.

Step 1:
Duplicate your layer...

A little o' this, a little o' that - Montreal's South Shore newborn photographer

Sometimes that little baby is a teensy bit restless. And in a moment like that. I'm not about to take the time to switch up my lens and miss the moment. So here's what I shoot:

And with a little help from Corel Paint Shop Pro (yep, that's my dirty little secret) I end up with this:

Before and After: "Trouvez les différences" - Montreal's South Shore baby photographer

I've been running these since yesterday on my Facebook Page. But this time, mixing it up a little. Running it from my blog. Find the differences! *** Trouvez les différences! (until 3pm EST, today)

Point out 3 of the 4 differences between these 2 images (not including basic colour and contrast adjustments). I know which 4 I'm looking for. The first one to contact me (via my website or by email) and list 3 of the 4 differences I'm looking for will win a promotional gift certificate of $25.

*****

Ces 2 images contiennent 4 différences (sans comprendre simples ajustements de couleur et contraste). Soyer le premier a me contacter (via mon site web or par courriel) et m'énumérer 3 des 4 différences dont je cherche pour gagnez un certificat cadeau promotionel de $25.

I'll be doing these games all week, heading up to the details about my gift certificate promo this Christmas!

Bringing the boys together - Montreal's South Shore maternity photographer

Little boys are fast. I'd need a hammer and nails to keep them in one place at times.

So I'm really glad I captured this...

Oh, right, but only because I used these...

(Took care of all the stuff plastered in the door-window while I was at it. Love this location in Chambly.)

Starting from somewhere - Montreal's South Shore child photographer

I love this image of my little girl...

And it all started from here...

Well, actually, it all started by me coaxing her to lay down in a wettish field peppered with perfect, yellow flowers. That's my good sport...

Back from vacay - Montreal's South Shore child photographer

A week away does anyone good. A peek of my little one to tide you over until I catch up on some serious editing!

This & that: Ceci et cela - Montreal('s) South Shore famil(le)(y) photographe(r) Rive Sud

There's a right way and a wrong way to take many bits & pieces and make them all work together.

The wrong way? My blog post title.

The right way? And you get this:

They got this way using this & that...

Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X5 - Montreal's South Shore child photographer

My first taste of Corel PSP version 15. Getting used to the new layout, and trying to remember how I customized my set up previously. But basically, I'm happy not too much has been moved around from before.

There are a few more bells and whistles now (which I'm starting to play around with and decide how relevant they are to how I like to edit my photos) but what I love about this program has remained relatively unchanged. Good.

So if you have an older version of this program, here's a basic step-by-step tut you'll be able to follow no problem.

Here's my BEFORE image:

First things first. The shadows are pretty harsh for this impromptu shot. An initial adjustment of the curves helps me focus on making everything else better.

This plus this: between the trees - Montreal's South Shore family photographer

What to do when I love the angle and framing of one shot, but the tender moment captured from another?

This is the best of both worlds...

But it didn't come easy. I created a composite using two different shots...

This plus this - Montreal's South Shore family photographer

A sneak peek from a recent session...

Cuties, all of them!

The toughie about getting these natural looking smiles on everyone is that they don't all smile their best in the same shot. Most of the time.

SO...I often do a little magic.

Golden - Montreal's South Shore photographer

There's the golden rule:

So then, whatever you desire that others would do to and for you, even so do also to and for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. ~Matthew 7:12

And silence is golden:

But that's not what I'm talking about today. I wanted to share with you about the Golden Mean (or Golden Ratio), explained here:

Ratio refers to how one measurement relates to another. The ratio formed of 1:1.618 is called the Golden mean - the ratio of bc to ab is the same as ab to ad. If you divide each smaller window again with the same ratio and join their corners you end up with a logarithmic spiral. This spiral is a motif found frequently throughout nature in shells, horns, flowers, etc.

In  other words, visual art requires math. (Something you can tell you 12 year old.) And that math can look a little something like this:

Why am I telling you this? Good question. Besides the fact that I think this is all super cool and I'm glad I was paying close attention in college when they explained it, I wanted to let you into my universe.

As many of you may know from your sessions with me, I may take about 200 shots during our time together, but you only get to see about 30 of them. No, I don't actually overlay the optical collimator (that snail-looking doohickey shown above) onto all my shots. But this is the math behind why I like one shot over another. And you'll get to see the one I like most.

Here's an example:

The black & white dilemma - Montreal's South Shore newborn photographer

If you've had a session experience with me, you may know the feeling. You receive your contact sheet and it's time to choose your digital images. You work on your selections, and fret for a moment about whether you should go for any in monochrome (or black & white, if you will).

That's all up to you.

But here's what I don't recommend.

You select all our shots in colour, and tell yourself, "No worries. If I want any in black & white, I'll just order them like that from the Photo Lab."

Don't do it.

And here's why.

This is a shot I've edited in full colour (yummy baby, by the way):

If you order it in colour only and then check the "black & white" box while ordering your shots from your Photo Lab, you can end up with something like this:

A little PSP how-to - Montreal's South Shore photographer

Here's a little step by step with Corel Paint Shop Pro, this photographer's editing software of choice.

Here's my original image, with one of my very fave little models.

Typically, I start by adjusting the curves. I wanted this backlit, golden-hour shot to feel a bit blown out (as is the case with most of my work). Most of the time that means nudging the very top of that curve down vertically some. This keeps the hot-spots to a minimum as I lighten the entire image.

The focal point of this image is this lovely lady's profiled face. Selecting my burn tool. I emphasize the darkest parts of the eyes and just add a bit more contrast to the lashes and brow.

Us four; no more - Montreal's South Shore family photographer

Gorgeous late October day. Perfect sunset session for this happy family...

The before-and-after drought is over - Montreal's South Shore child photographer

I haven't walked you through a before & after for a while now. So sorry 'bout that. Hope this makes up for it some.

I took this shot during one of the recent 20/20 summer miniSessions. I'm big on back-lighting (when your light source is behind your subject) at sunset because I'm a huge lover of the dreamy, swoony, warm feeling it can give a shot. But it's not for the faint of heart...

How did this all happen? Well, Jesus loves me, so the wind gusted up and styled her hair just as this beautiful model gave me the look. THE look. (You know, the Tigre/Magnum/Blue Steel.) I knew my exposure was about right but since I'm shooting back-lit, I'm using a large aperture. (If you're bored or lost, feel free to skip to the part with the pretty pictures, hee hee.) So guess what? I'm out of focus on her face. GASP! Yup, it's true. PLUS? Unattractive magenta light flare.

A year or two ago, I'd have made my peace with it and cast this shot aside. But today i knew I could make those two problems help each other out.

Everyday miracles - Montreal's South Shore maternity photographer

Details are everything. So when expectant mom and client saw her proofs and sweetly mentioned, "I usually do have my feet crossed..." I went to work on finding a solution.

And sometimes, I can pull one of these out of a hat.

More before & after - Montreal's South Shore couples photographer

Scroll over the image to see the before. (Yeah, I did just learn how to do that.)

More editing with Corel PSP - Montreal's South Shore photographer

We established way back when that I have a dirty little secret.

And judging by the amount of hits that post got, many of you found it helpful, or at least interesting.

This time I'll jump right from an image straight out of camera (SOOC) to the finished product in colour, then walk you through one of my methods for going monochrome.

So here goes.

I knew I wanted to get rid of some background elements. I wasn't wild about the framing once I did that, so I fixed that. And as always, I adjusted the skin, and tweaked overall colour and contrast.

Before & after baby - Montreal's South Shore newborn photographer

Very fond of my brand-new wool cocoon which I used for the first time with this cute brand-new baby. Thanks also to the clients' monochromatic textured bedding and tufted headboard, I loved this series of shots even before any edits.