Big Bear Lake Mist

Just this last week I won first and third place in the San Bernardino (California) photo contest for their 2010 calendar!   I am so inspired by the beauty of this land we have here in the mountains that I am proud to represent the Land Trust in helping to preserve the pristine beauty that we enjoy here.  I have put up a small folder on my portfolio site that features the winning images from this and years past. Check it out by clicking on the picture above.  San Bernardino Land Trust Calendar.

Beach Boy Play

My portfolio site is based in Montreal, Quebec Canada. They are a wonderful hosting site for stock and event photos and I have been with them for three years now. The front page of their site - www.photostockplus.com periodically features a photographer’s image and my “Beach Boy Play” got top billing this month!  This site hosts thousands of photographers from all over the world and I feel very privileged that my image was chosen. If you click on the image you can explore the rest of the images as well, but be warned there are hundreds of images in my portfolio.

The Long Run - Eagles Tribute Band

Last Saturday night in Big Bear Lake California the Eagles tribute band - The Long Run - played at the Discovery Center. I have always adored the Eagles and sitting there experiencing the full rock band sound of the songs of the Eagles took me back to the days of  my youth. I took photos of course so check them out by clicking on the above picture.

This is the next in a series of simple fixes for your photos.

Are your photos off color? Example would be, you took a picture indoors with a tungsten light and they are all very yellow or reddish. Or you have a yellow or orange tinge to an image.  Sometimes this can be a cool effect and makes the atmosphere very warm and inviting.  But if you want to correct the color to a more real rendition of the scene, then here are a couple of  simple ways to do it.

Open the image in Photoshop. For example if the image is too red, go up to the “Image” tab. Scroll to and click on “Adjustments”.  In that pull down menu is a tab “Auto Color”. Click on it and your photo will automatically change to a more pleasing and realistic color rendition. In some cases, this does not handle the off -color cast.

The next thing to try is to go back to the “Image” tab and scroll down to the “Adjustments” tab again. Now click on the “Hue/Saturation” tab. There you will see three sliders. Take the top slider and move it back and forth until you get the color or hue that is most realistic. The second slider is “saturation”.  More saturation magnifies the colors and at a certain point they become cartoonish. Pull back from that, even past the minus saturation area if it looks better to the eye. Then slide the “lightness” tab to get the best light to show off the scene.  The main way this function will handle the bad color cast is by using the “hue” to push the image to a more pleasing and realistic color.

Example of Orange Color Cast

Image Color Cast Corrected

This blog is the first in a series of teaching you simple ways to correct, restore and retouch your own photographs!

Are your pictures too light?  In this blog I will show you how to simply and easily correct over-exposed or too light pictures using Photoshop Elements or higher.  First, open your image in your Photoshop program. Go up to the menu bar across the top and click on “Image” and scroll down to “Adjustments”. Click on “Brightness/Contrast” and it will open a small window with two sliders in it. First use the top slider to darken the image for best exposure. Then slide the bottom one to the left for less contrast, which will bring out more detail in the whitest areas. Keep tweaking each slider until you are satisfied with the result, bringing out the best possible image adjustment. Now save the image by going up to “File” on the menu bar and clicking on ”Save As” and save your work with a new name. This will keep your original intact in case you want to go back and start over again with new adjustments. 

Check out some of the artistic adjustments and manipulations samples at www.sharons.photostockplus.com. If you want super photo artistic renditions of YOUR photos send me an email with your request!

Sunbeams