Makeover Monday: Basic Tools

I’m going to walk you through how to do a quick edit using the tools provided in Lightroom 4. (LR4)

Let’s start with our SOOC (straight out of camera) image.

The first thing we’re going to do is use our crop tool.

Located on the top right corner.

It looks like a grid.

We’re going to hold down the mouse & move it to the right, to get the image to rotate.

SIDEBAR:

See the small photo on the top left of my screen shot.

That’s the navigate window.

You can hoover over a choice (like convert to B&W) & it will show you what it would look like.

In this case it’s showing what our final rotated image would look like, once we let go of our mouse.

You can see in my history (located to the left of the screen shot, the last grey block)

that I’ve rotated it a few times to get the look I want

Now, if I had any red eyes, I would correct it here.

Using the circle with the dot in the middle.

You can either click on the image itself to zoom in.

Or, above your navigator window select 1:1 or 3:1 to get the amount a zoom you need.

Click & drag on the box in the navigator window to choose the area you want to zoom in on.

Just move the circle over the red area & click your mouse. It’s very simple & removes the red eye for you.

Un-zoom your photo.

Now, I’ll move over to the presets column.

Remember, presets are set edits, like a filter.

Or the “one size fits all” t-shirt.

You click on button & it automatically edits your photo.

You can see that Lightroom comes with 7 different B&W presets.

I hoover on a few & view them in the navigation window to see which works best.

I settle with B&W look 5

Lightroom offers several different presets. Not just B&W presets.

You can also purchase additional presets.

You need to usually select if you want them for Lightroom or Photoshop.

Here you can see the progress we made.

The original. The LR b&W edit. An edit done with purchased presets.

I will go over in a later blog how to get the preset results, without the presets.

For now, know that you can get a lovely image using solely whatever preset is on the editing software you have.

If you’ve enjoyed this post please take a minute to view & like my Facebook page by clocking {HERE}

Oct 27

Makeover Monday: Spot Removal Tool

A good photographer looks around the area before beginning their session.

Trash under the bench your subject is sitting on;

It doesn’t seem like a big deal now.

When that photograph is blown up & hung on the wall,

that nasty trash isn’t going to look as inconspicuous.

Look behind. Above. Under. Around.

Sometimes you miss something. The object can’t be moved. Or, you don’t feel like puling all those weeds!

I’m going to show you step by step what I did to “clean up” this photo.

Sometimes “clean up” style edits are easier to do in Photoshop (PS) or Photoshop Elements. (PSE)

However, Lightroom is capable & what I had on hand to edit on this photo.

The first thing I did was my use a “All in One Clean Edit” preset that I have.

Next, I used the crop overlay tool to straighten the image.

Then the soften image preset.

Presets & crop overly I went over on a previous post, “Basic Tools”.

I’m going to introduce a new tool: Spot Removal.

In Lightroom 4 my spot removal is shown on the top right.

It’s the the circle with the arrow pointing to the side, next to our crop overlay tool.

This tool works as a clone.

You choose the spot that you want to remove.

But, then you need a new a spot to “clone” into it’s place.

I used the other side of her, to replace the spot where the weed was growing.

The same with the next large weed

and so on…

The next part is trickier. Because there is grass on her shoe.

I have to blow the photo up & move small piece by small piece.

Remember this is a clone. So, for every piece I remove I need to find a new piece to replace it.

I continue to work my way around the shoe.

It takes time finding the best replacement pieces so that it’s not obvious that it’s been touched up.

Zooming in & out to make sure it’s looking cohesive still.

Sometimes when you zoom out you’ll find a piece you thought was good, is actually much brighter or darker & is obvious that it’s touched up.

You’ve checked to make sure everything looks good both zoomed in & zoomed out.

Now, a final look over.

I decide I want to add a color punch preset, increasing the vibrance & saturation to add a pop of color.

Here’s my final results…

I hear a lot of rumblings about why photographs charge so much.

It’s because edits like this take time. This one photo took about 15 minutes.

The details around the shoe was a majority of that time.

Most of my clients receive at least 15-20 images in their gallery.

Ideally, I am finding locations & knowing how to take a good SOOC photo, so that I don’t have to spend 15+ minutes editing one photo.

In general most photographers do at least some editing to the photos that you purchase.

Hopefully, these last couple of weeks my “Makeover Mondays” have helped you to learn something new about editing.

If you’re attempting to learn more about photography continue to practice, practice, practice.

If you’re just following along & viewing my work….Keep in mind how much goes into making each your photos perfect!

There’s more to photography than just clicking a button on your fancy camera.

If you’ve enjoyed this post please take a minute to view & like my Facebook page by clicking {HERE}

Sep 16

TUTU Maria- Vendor Review

I’ve been wanting to do a princess themed session for quite some time.

A friend of mine told me about a vendor named Tutu Maria.

According to her Facebook page she makes:

Handcrafted custom made tutus & hair accessories for your little lady! TUTU MARIA will design a tutu in the color tulle, ribbons, rhinestones & flowers of your little girls choice!

I looked through her album and immediately fell in love with several of her designs.

I contacted her & let her know my vision.

She quickly put together 2 gorgeous princess inspired tutus

& 1 princess inspired tutu dress.

Meanwhile I had gathered some beautiful models excited to be a princess for the afternoon.

The first design was inspired by Tiana: The Princess & the Frog

This beautiful dress was made of light greens, yellows & cremes.

With the satin halter we were able to adjust the neck & back to fit her perfectly!

The shabby flowers in the front were a delightful detail.

The coordinating piece clipped effortlessly into her hair. However, you could easily clip it onto the dress as well.

The next design was inspired by Elsa: Frozen

Can you guess what both models asked to do during this session?

Yup, they both were very excited to sing to me “Let it Go!”

Of course I couldn’t say no.

This fabulous tutu wouldn’t be truly Elsa inspired without inspiring someone to belt out that tune!

The beautiful blues & whites in this tutu made it look as if it glimmered in the sunlight.

Paired with a white top & cape you have a perfect princess Elsa.

Our final outfit was inspired by Belle: Beauty & the Beast.

Belle means beauty or lovely. This gorgeous outfit held true to it’s name!

The red flower & ribbon looked stunning against the bright yellow.

My little model had a wonderful time twirling & running in this voluminous tutu.

The lace one-piece romper underneath is perfect for little princesses on the go.

Other than the speedy turnaround time, between placing my order & receiving my product,

I was most impressed with the quality of the work!

The details were impeccable.

The tutus themselves were light. Yet, the stitching felt very durable!

Making me feel confident that it would last through many dress up days.

I was thoroughly impressed with each of these designs.

They definitely had the approval of my little models as well!

Good news for you!

TUTU Maria has agreed to offer a 10% discount for anyone who makes a purchase in the next 30 days.

(and mentions Christal Gavin Photography)

Click {HERE} to access her Etsy page

With Halloween just around the corner, a customized tutu or tutu dress is a great way to go!

For even more motivation:

I will be offering a costume mini session Oct. 25th.

Come get fun, customized photos of your little one(s) in their costumes.

Click {HERE} to find more details on my Facebook page.

Nov 25

Baby Girl

I’ve been waiting for a chance to photograph a baby girl. I have lots of cute newborn headbands (from some fabulous vendors) that I’ve been anxious to try. Lucky for me this sweet baby girl was born into my neighborhood this month

She’s so perfectly tiny, at 11 days young, that she fit cozily into the hands of her daddy

Her parents we so thankful that he was able to be here for the birth. Being that he’s a soldier, it’s not always possible.

One great thing about newborn photos is being able to incorporate something special into the session. This blanket belonged to her mamma when she was a baby