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...

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.

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.

Dirty little secret - Montreal South Shore photographer

Well, it could be considered a dirty little secret. While other photographers edit away using prestigious programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, I use...wait for it...Corel Paint Shop Pro. To some, it's like buying Fruity-O's and hiding it in the Fruit Loops box. Especially since I do use such lingo as "I can Photoshop that out." 
But aren't we all guilty of that sort of thing, really? I mean, do you buy Scotties and then ask for the "Kleenex?" Or buy the generic cotton swabs and call them Q-Tips?
Alright, I am being a little satirical. But fact is, since I started telling the inquisitive which editing software I use, I have started getting requests for help. 
So here's a start to finish edit:


Starting with this image straight out of camera (SOOC)...

I almost always start by adjusting the contrast. (Go to "Adjust", "Brightness and Contrast", "Curves.")

This image needs a bit of sharpening. I use the lasso tool and sharpen just where I need it. (To sharpen, go to "Adjust", "Sharpness", "High Pass Sharpen" to perform this with the most control.)

It's really bothering me that the hot spot on the subject's forehead is melting into the white sky. So I want to add some corn to the background behind her face. I lasso tool one portion of the corn background, and copy-past (as new layer) it over the spot where I want more corn.

Now having a spot of corn over her face, I need to do some erasing. To see what I'm doing, I always adjust the properties of my new layer, taking it to about 40%.

Erase...

And bring the layer properties back to 100%.

Now that the hot-spot isn't getting on my nerves anymore, I adjust my curves again.

I'm ready to add a bit of interest, and see where this image is taking me. i know many would wait until everything is perfect and then add some effects, but my creative process has its own order. So I duplicate my Background, and adjust the new layer properties, this time to 20%.

Heading over to "Time Machine" (under "Effect", "Photo Effects") I select the Albumen setting. Then I flatten all my layers.

Again with the lasso tool. This time, I select some of the edges of the image, and use curves to darken them. I like to frame out the subject this way.

I apply one of my own actions as a layer, and adjust the layer properties to 25%. The I create a mask layer (going to "Layers", "New Mask Layer", "From Image").

I create the mask from source luminance. (Basically, the software will decide where the bright spots are, and allow the action to do its magic specifically in those spots. Handy dandy.)

Time to clean up the skin on the face. I lasso tool where I want to smooth out the skin, and perform a digital camera noise removal. I even isolate some specific skin imperfections, allowing the program to smooth it out for me.

A little perspective adjustment. If you try to pull this off when you're overtired, it can go so wrong... Once I get it to where I want it, I crop and smudge to get it all to a 4x6 proportion again.

And done. Not to mention there'll be more form his session coming soon. It's just a snippet of one sweet couple celebrating 10 years of marriage by renewing their vows and frolicking in corn fields.

Hope that was helpful to anyone using Corel Paint Shop Pro.

Linking this post up to Show Off Your Shot,  Pixel Perfect: Before and After as well as Ramblings and Photos: Shoot and Edit.