FAQ Friday: Skin Retouching + Style

Face it, fashion editorials look so flawless right?

The girls are glamorous, their clothing is spectacular, and their shoes,

oh my... they are to die for!

Although, I wish I could show you a cool fashion shot like that, we will be talking about

skin retouching. I know when I first started, literally softening the skin

with a blur was the best invention ever, right?!

Ok, all jokes aside, when I look at my old work,

I think... Wow, I have come a long way.

And to be perfectly honest, I know that in a couple months, I'll be

like whoa... what was a thinking 2 months ago?

We grow within our craft every single day, right!

And, I'm not saying that this technique is the same one the fashion editors use,

but it still helps to make the skin look natural and smooth.

To all of those who have been asking me about skin, here it is.

I hope this little tip helps. It does help to create a flawless look :)

I use Photoshop, just so you know, in case your menu looks different than mine.

I received a couple questions from Teresa.

Q: How do you go about editing with actions?

A: I do use actions, but I also tweak them to create my own style.

Creating your very own style is so crucial to helping to build your brand and it helps to set you apart from other photographers. When I do use my actions, I mix them with others and bring down the opacity to my liking :)

Q: Do you completely edit before showing your clients their photos?

A: Yes, I always edit before I show my clients. This goes back to style

and after all, your client hired you because of the style you have.

This last question is from Kelsey.

Q: How do you sharpen/save your images?

A: When I go out and photograph, I make sure that they [the photographs] are in focus, to ensure sharpness. Of course, I do sharpen them a tad more through photoshop to add clarity

and that crisp look. I wish the camera would have it that sharp to begin with.

As far as saving, when I save my images, I do them under JPEG and/or TIFF.

Happy Friday everyone!

-Diana

FAQ Friday: Lighting + Lens

We have a few anonymous questions to answer today!

Q: how do you find the perfecting lighting for your photos to make them look soft

and have no harsh shadow on their face?

A: I know it's really tough to find shade during the day, so the best time to photograph, right now, is anywhere between 4pm and 6pm. Those are honestly the best times to go out. Unless of course, you are in a very shady area. The only time that you can photograph at anytime during the day is when it is cloudy. I say cloudy, because I photograph in the shade and even if you have small piece of shade, just photographing in the shade will change your photograph from being in the harsh sun. Plus, it's a lot nicer to be in the shade versus the harsh sun! When you are in the shade, if you have your clients facing the sun, they will have the gorgeous catchlights in their eyes, so it's always great to practice, practice, practice! I know that I'm still practicing every single day to try and perfect my style!

So KEY points: Photograph in shade or on cloudy days. During the harsh sunny days, photograph between 4pm-6pm. I have had a similar question and here is a wonderful post from Michelle Moore!

And, again, I am not saying I know everything, because I don't. I just want to answer your questions in the way that I do things. Each and every photographer has their own niche, if you will. So, I just want to help out those who ask! :)

Q: Do you feel like your 28mm 1.8 is very sharp?

A: Yes, it makes the image very sharp. I will have my aperture down to 1.8 and it helps to solely concentrate on what you allow your camera to focus.

Q: Approximately how close can you get to your subject using the 28/2.8 and still have auto-focus work for you?

A: The closest I can get is about 2 feet and than the auto focus will struggle of course. If you want to get closer than you should, you can try getting a zoom lens! :)

Q: I checked out the link you posted about back button focusing. I set my camera up according to the directions, but I’m not really finding a difference between using it vs. pressing the shutter once….what am I missing?

A: When I did start using back button focusing, it made a huge difference for me, because

I had to constantly focus and re-focus my clients even when I shouldn't have to. I kept refocusing to make sure my photograph is sharp and clear. Once I switched over to the back button focusing, if I wanted to have my clients in one pose and they just moved within that same area they were in, than I didn't have to keep refocusing.

I hope these answers and questions help out! Seems like lighting

is a very popular question and my advice is just to put yourself out there

and practice as much as you can!

Happy Friday!

-Diana

Leave any feedback or comments or questions in the comment

box below! Or you can always leave any feedback or questions on

my facebook wall!

FAQ: Getting Uncomfortable + Lenses

Courtney asks:

What's in your camera bag?

I'm a huge fan of fixed lenses, they have changed the look, feel, and style of my photography an I believe everyone should try a fixed lens sometime during their photo career.

- 50mm 1.8

-28mm 1.8

-55mm-200mm 3.5-4.6

- 18mm-55mm 3.5 (kit lens)

Personally, I don't use my telephoto lens or my kit lens anymore.

I'm looking to sell them, if anyone wants the telephoto. email me for more details!

info@simplydphoto.com

Anyways, currently, I have been using my 28mm for everything. I adore it

and the quality of sharpness it gives me! When I started out, I used my kit lens than bought the telephoto and I was like, "yes, seriously! This is amazing, I can be 100 feet away from my clients and photograph them, and hope they don't hear me!" Andrew would tell me, "no, Diana, you don't want that, trust me." Did I listen? Nope, I showed up to photograph him from 100 feet away and was like check out my amazing new lens!

Jasmine Star always says, get uncomfortable and that will get you far. When I did get my 50mm, I felt so weird, I couldn't zoom in on my clients, I had to talk to them? I was so shy! Beyond belief and it was quite sad. With my 50mm, I was forced to engage with my clients, oh yes, the horror.

I am totally kidding, it is not horrible, but it was at the moment, because it made me feel so uncomfortable and shy.

Having that lens did change everything, now I am all up on everyone's business, you know. Getting way too close for comfort and asking, is this too close? ha!

I know you didn't ask for a backstory, but I went through this and many others have too, so I hope this helps if you are in that situation.

Kelsey asks:

How do you get your clients to be so comfortable in front

of you and look natural?

This refers back to my first answer on here, kinda. Personally, I am naturally a dorky person and I love making people laugh, so when I do pose them I show them how I want to pose them, so they have a visual for what they should be doing and they understand what I am saying. Sometimes, I talk so fast that I am so incoherent at times. I believe, that showing your client and giving them clear directions gives you and your client the best results. As far as having them look natural, well like I said before I am fairly dorky and I say dumb things sometimes that gets me a few laughs here and a few giggles there and it's so much fun! My goal is to make them feel as comfortable as they can be. When I meet with them, I feel like I am hanging with my best friends and it helps me to be at ease with my clients. If you go in thinking the photo shoot will turn out bad, it most likely will.

Kelsey Asks:

When in the shade, do you face the subject towards the light or

have the sun behind them?

When I photograph in the shade, it does help to face them toward the sun, if the setting and situation is right. I try to make sure my background is shaded as well, so my background doesn't get blown out, with the settings I have. (I will talk about setting your camera in Manuel in a later post)! When you do have your clients in the shade and you have them face toward the sun, you will have gorgeous catchlights in their eyes and it makes every photo a lot more appealing.

After all, we all love looking at the eyes first, at least that's where our eyes land first when we look at a photograph. If you want to have a flare in your shot, than make sure you have your client facing you with their back to the sun. Sun flares can be very gorgeous and tons of fun!

Alicia Asks:

When you shoot in the shade, do you use flash?

The answer is no, but that is just my style and it doesn't mean it's right or wrong, it's just the style I prefer. When I photograph in the shade, I have the best possible lighting and don't need a flash. To be honest, the only time I use a flash is for wedding receptions and wedding ceremonies if they are during the night or the church is a tad too dark.

I would love to hear from you and know what you think of the posts, if they are helpful or not. I know I blab alot, so if you want a short answer, let me know. I just talk too much, so I like to write alot. So let me know what I can change or if you have other questions you want answered, I would love to help out in any way! You can send me questions through the comment box below, or through my facebook wall, or through email.

Have a happy Friday!

-Diana

FAQ Friday

I'm wanting to really help out as much as I can and I often get asked a few of the same questions, so I want to make this a weekly thing, so we can all learn as much as we can! I know I still always have questions, so I hope to get all of them answered

throughout my photographic journey. I do have an FAQ section within this blog.

It's above and it's called "For Photographers" just in case

this is your first visit!

I am wanting to move to a new blog, but I don't think that will happen

until the end of the year.

We did have a couple questions from the

last post and they were anonymous, so I want to

get to those in next week!

I want to limit each post to 2 questions, just so

I can you know, be detailed and what not.

The first couple questions come from

Courtney, from Precious Photography

by Courtney McIntosh.

1. How do you light your sessions?

I don't consider myself an expert at all, in fact I took a workshop with

Trevor Dayley and that's where I learned how to shoot in Manuel

and how I learned to start photographing in the shade.

Whaaaat? The shade? YES! It's quite extraordinary

and beautiful. The lighting is quite exquisite.

The reason to photograph in the shade is to actually

take away those harsh shadows from your subject

or having them half-lit. This is huge!

I remember when I learned this technique, I became obsessed with it and well,

all I did was photograph just about every single day

until I felt comfortable with it. It really changes your images for the better.

Just look for shade whenever you are out and about

with your clients! Oh and Also, CLOUDY days are amazing,

it's literally like a huge softbox just expanding itself for free!

When it's cloudy you don't have to worry about finding

shaded spots, so it's pretty neat.

Michelle Moore, actually wrote a wonderful article and you can find it here.

2. What's your typical workflow like for each session?

From the time I leave my session til the end of the night, I start editing

each session and normally get half way done, because I enjoy showing sneak peeks

from the session and I know my clients love seeing a few photos from their session.

After I do that sneak peek, I go ahead and blog about it and than put my favorite images on my website. Anyways... once I am actually done editing the entire session, which for me can take up to 2-3 days, I make sure to back it up on my hard drive and organize it in the folder it should go. I'm a total nerd when it comes to organizing. I have categories, dates, names, etc... for every single session, so I can find it quickly whenever I need to get it back.

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Thanks everyone again for asking questions, I really appreciate

all the feedback and do hope to get more questions for future posts! We have

some wonderful questions that are waiting to be answered!

That's all for today!

Happy Friday!

-Diana

If you guys can just leave me any feedback on here or my facebook wall,

I would greatly appreciate it! I want to make sure I'm being detailed enough, or if you have other questions you want on here! Hope it helps!! Let me know :D