Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Internet- I need some technical advice. I'm having some flash issues. (Not flasher-issues.... gutter mind.) I like to use the macro setting but if I use the flash I get this: And if I DON'T use the flash I get this:

Where's the happy medium between over-exposed & too rosy?? (And OH MY GOD can you not just fall in love with those blue-blue eyes & that adorable smile??)

7 comments:

Unknown said...

I hate using the flash and very rarely do so.

On my camera I have a lot of different settings for natural light, and the camera kind of filters based on that. And then if THAT doesn't work, I just photoshop the shit out of the picture.

Here, I did my photoshop trickery with picture of baby girl here.

Joseph said...

Nice work s.

I was going to suggest just the same thing, only you can get a lot for your money with PhotoShop Elements 4.0.

Flash photography is harsh and I'm trying to learn more about using natural light, settings etc.

Kind of hard to do with a subject that can't do a whole lot on their own. She's totally cute and love the eyes.

Homestead said...

s.- I love that! How, exactly, did you do that? I've been planning to fool with it on the computer but haven't had time.

gopher- For "good" photos we go outside but these were taken on her brother's bed..... after taking a bunch of photos in the crib with goofy shadows.... argh.

mary p.- yes, I do think she is adorable.... and the laughingest, chatty baby I've ever met....

Unknown said...

I'll do a comment later and go through it step by step... (On my laptop right now, which doesn't have PhotoShop). If you want me to fix up the fullsize version of rosy baby girl, just email it to me, I'd be happy to do it. my3monkeys at gmail dot com.

PSUMommy said...

If you have an 'advanced' point & shoot I can help...do you have a 'P' setting? If so, switch it to that (rather than 'auto') and you can usually change the speed of your flash (on my camera, the scale is from -2 to +2). Play around with it & you'll find a happy medium!

If you don't have that option...put a single sheet of white tissue (Kleenex) over your flash. That'll dim the light just enough to get more natural coloring.

Unknown said...

OK, this is how to adjust the colors in a photo using PhotoShop 8.

On the top navigation bar choose "Image", then "Adjustments". You'll want to adjust 3 things -- Auto Levels, Auto Contrast, and Auto Color. If the picture still looks a little off after doing all that it's time for some manual fiddling. I usually end up playing with Brightness/Contrast the most, but you can also change the hue/saturation and color balance. Neat trick: choose "desaturate" to change a photo to black and white.

I hope this helps a little.

Homestead said...

Oh thank you all for your ideas!

I do have a "p" setting. (I have a Cannon G2... she's old but reliable.)

I'm still learning all of the software stuff. Ya'll should see the adorable baby announcements I made....

Another neat trick.... desaturate a copy of a photo to a "hand colored" level of color... then put a copy of the picture over the top and desat. all the way to b&w. Then use the eraser to take out some of the b&w pic so you can create a "hand-colored" photo....