Using Photoshop CS6: The "Content Aware" Feature

Recently, I had the pleasure of capturing some of my Panama Mama friends for my next book, the Mamatography™ Capture Calendar.

This colorful pic was just so full of life and joy! BUT WAIT! There's a pole in Olga's head : (

A common question that I get asked is "How do I remove a ________ from a photo?". How you ask? With the NIFTY Content Aware feature available in Photoshop CS6!

If you have just a little bit of know how about Photoshop (using it's tools, and specifically it's Selection Tools) then you can manage to remove an unwanted object by means of Content Aware deletion.

So first off, open up your picture file and duplicate the original layer by dragging it to the little page icon on the bottom right of the layers pallet. ALWAYS DO THIS! With any project.

Next, I used the Polygonal lasso tool to make a general selection of the pole behind her head. You will see "Marching Ants" where you have made your selection.

I prefer to add a bit of "feathering" to my selection areas for a more natural result. I feathered my selection by a radius of 20 pixels. Click OK.

With the area selected, simply click delete and the below option will appear. Click OK.

See the "Marching Ants" in the image below.

Next, it's time to perfect your retouching skills by adding some reality to the deleted area.

What I noticed about my background is that it had a TON of bokeh (that lit, circular effect that is a result of shallow depth of field by using a WIDE aperture on your lens).

This was going to make my life SOMEWHAT easy. To start, I decided to brush the remaining outline area w/ the colors making up the area around it.

For this, I used my "Go To" retouching tools, the Eyedropper and the Brush.

So I brushed in the green areas and then proceeded to FAKE the bokeh sampling different yellow, green, blue and red areas of the background.

I adjusted the hardness of my brush where it was needed as I went along.

Once the general background was complete, I repeated all of these steps for the area underneath and between them where the poll remained. Minor adjustment was due to how much I feathered the selection.

And that 's the gist of Content Aware Fill (and deletion).

If you enjoyed this tutorial but NEED to learn more, leave a comment below or sign up for a  webinar with me! The full menu of classes can me found here on the Mamatography site: http://store.mamatographylessons.com/

Happy Snapping, Vicky

Travel Photography for Mamatographers

This year we've been on the move quite a bit. I'm thankful for this because I feel more creative when traveling outside of my element. Don't we all?

It turns out that we will be living in Panama a great deal of this year. After returning home after a 9 week trip down there, I've found my self feeling slightly strangled by the amount of personal photos I shot without time to output them. It took a great deal of trouble, shopping in the allies of Casco Viejo, to find a "Pollera" for Safi. Then there was this shoot at "Mi Pueblito" Indian Village in the equater-ish heat, she was not a happy camper 20 minutes in! But out of the 400 FAST shots I took, I've never been more pleased with Safi's modeling skills. 

It was also nice to have a new friend joined us with her 3 girls-made for a fun shoot! So with the effort that comes with being a Mamatographer, I'm pleased to have the chance this week to phlog these photos and send them off to the printer! I use Nations Photo Lab by the way-excellent quality.

A Pollera is the National Costume of Panama.

What's your plan of action for shooting while you're traveling? Do you have both an SLR and a point and shoot? "What to take, what to leave behind?" That's a question we all have to ask our selves before venturing on a plane with our kiddos. After you've rounded the car seat, the stroller, the sanitizing devices, and iPad (that you're not allowed to use), where does that leave the camera gear? Before, all I had to think about was what was I taking to shoot with. Now a little life rests in my hands. 

Here's some tips that have helped me to shoot when traveling:

• Determine WHAT you'll be shooting, do you need multiple lenses?
• Use a durable gear bag that has compartments, you can always pack diapers, snacks, etc. in the bag separate from your electronic gear I'm really into this Lowepro Pro Roller Attache Bag cause it has wheels, NO SHOULDER STRAINING!

• Bring MANY memory cards! You're gonna need them.
• Pack BOTH a DSLR and Point and Shoot, if you have them
• Use the point and shoot more for snap shots, like restaurant outings or by the pool and the DSLR more for scenery, those really special places that should reflect the highest quality

View of Panama City from Casco Viejo

A fun pool shot w/ my Point and Shoot-I retouched a bit for a Kodakrome look

Down on Rio Mar beach with my Point and Shoot. My Leica snaps sharp B+W's, no Photoshop on this one!

Ahhhhh...I've sent my travel photos out into the universe and it feels GOOD!

Happy Shooting, Vicky

Mamatography in the News & a NEW Workshop

Read the Mamatography feature HERE 

I am behind on tutorials because so many exciting things have been happening! Traveling, SLEEPING, cleaning house-not so exciting-planing workshops, etc. 

There's a vigorous list of Mamatography techniques to blog about if I EVER get a chance to edit my photos! I see a late night on the horizon...good thing I caught up on the zzz's. Anyway, fruitful, FREE photography techniques are coming right up! Until then, here's some news I'd like to share...

After returning to the states last week, I was pleased to get an email from a kind lady writer from MomsMiami.com. That's the ALL THINGS MOM site for the Miami Herald. I was to be featured in their monthly Mom, Inc. article as a self-business starter inspired by motherhood. 

The structure of these features are very helpful to moms starting their business from scratch! 

Next, on the share list, I am teaming up with one of my favorite South FL photographers, Tricia Krefetz of Click. Capture. Create. Photography for a workshop of SPECTACULAR proportions! On Sunday, Aug. 26th we'll be gathering at The Palms Birth House in Delray Beach, Florida for "Photography 101" just for mommies who CLICK!

Seats are limited and can be reserved by emailing Tricia, tricia@clickcapturecreate.com. 

Stay tuned in the coming weeks! I'll be summing up Summer Shooting tips and so much MORE!

Happy Shooting,

Vicky

Mamatographer to Admire, Leslie of May Faith Photography :: Mamatography Photo Workshops

Recently, I've been paying great notice to my current and past students in their dynamic growth as photographers. This post is no self pat on the back but a shout out to one particular Mamatographer that has knocking my socks off with every shoot she posts via Facebook.

She is Leslie Carpenter of May Faith Photography.

Last year, Leslie and I met when she took one of my webinars just as I was getting Mamatography off the ground, when Safi was just 2 months old. 

I thought I had my hands full but Leslie not only had an infant herself at the time but 2 more little ones AND she was striving to start a photography business. 

Over a year later, this mom of 3 is kicking ass and taking names! 

She's shooting every chance she gets, building her portfolio and fan base to a pro level that is awe inspiring. I seriously don't know how she does it, my brain is mush most days from toddler tantrums!

Located in Vancouver, Washington, Leslie has no shortage of lush, Pacific landscapes where she coordinates test shoots with make up artists, florists, H&M-TEAMS OF PEOPLE! 

These "productions" result in stunning imagery that is turning heads within the photography community and beyond.

I especially love her composition and retouching techniques. She always seems to be paying attention to detail! But most of all, her work is FRESH and original! 

May Faith Photography is: Natural light Photographic Artistry, specializing in making your dream portraits a reality.

Hear how Leslie describes her business and her FAV piece of equipment:

"I do a wide range of types of photography...everything from family portraits, outdoor,pets, events, boudior, location shoots and enjoys doing new things! I love capturing moments to tell a story. My main goal is bringing a professional, fun atmosphere with quality photos that you will rave about for years to come."

This Lens is Available in the Mamatography Store

"My favorite piece of equip right now is the 28-75 Tamron Canon mount. It's amazing because of the range for portraits, and also fast with it's 2.8 aperture. I haven't taken it off my camera since I purchased it. I would recommend this lens or the Canon lens which is the 24-70 2.8. It's perfect for the work that I specialize in. My next lens I will be getting is the 85mm 1.8."

Thank you Leslie for sharing your artistry with fellow Mamatographers!

Happy Shooting, Vicky

"Retro Safi Takes Panama" Photoshoot and Lightroom Tutorial:: Mamatography Photography Lessons for Moms

 For a while now I've been holding onto a vintage toddler
dress that my mom gave me. Safi's Daddy and I thought that sunny Panama was the best spot to finally shoot some photos of her wearing it before she outgrew it...any day now. So on a HOT morning in Rio Mar we suited her up, I grabbed my gear and off we went to the beach side pool at our home away from home.

This day I chose to shoot with my long zoom lens, a 70-200mm. I like the background blur, a.k.a. bokeh, the longer lens gives my images compared to lenses with shorter focal lengths. These days I almost always have to shoot with a zoom to take shots of Safi. She's just too damn fast for a prime/fixed focal length lens (i.e. a 50mm-very popular for portraits).

Luckily, Daddy was around this day to spot Safi while I was shooting. Considering we were on the pool deck, this was a must! He also was able to put her hat back on EVERY TIME she threw it to the ground...grrrr.

If I were to improve upon my images I would've had a third person hold a reflector to fill shadows, but I was short a person and reflector which I left home in Florida...we make do!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, when shooting young children you MUST keep snapping! Make sure that your camera is set for continuous and not single shot mode. Hold down the shutter release button and don't let go as long as your little subject is in your frame. Same goes for all portraiture. If you want to catch moments as they happen, keep snapping and you'll find that you'll turn out natural "candids" rather that traditional poses...posed has it's place in photography too however.

For this series of shots, I knew that I wanted not only the clothing to be vintage but the style of the photos to be so as well. THINK 1960'S KODAK PRINTS.

To Post Shoot Process my images I always start with using Adobe Lightroom 4.

I don't often use actions and presets that I haven't my self created but the new version of Lightroom offers a few default presets that I find very helpful including their General Auto Tone.
For this retro series, I knew I wanted to simulate an old color photo or Polaroid. For this effect, I started with the Old Polar default preset and then made fine tune adjustments using the Develop panel (see screenshot 2). A few qualities that make Polaroids recognizable are 1. Color Warmth-each photo has a yellowish tint 2. Color desaturation-see the lack of green on the leaves and 3. Over exposure..BRIGHTNESS!
Note: If you DON'T have Lightroom, you can use any photo editing software such as iPhote or Picassa to creat a similar effect. Just use the steps above in your software's tool panel. 
Lastly, I added rounded white borders as a Polaroid would have but with a modern touch.

{Notice how flat the image is on the left. This is from shooting in RAW format. If you don't want to have to make color and exposure corrections, I don't recommend shooting in RAW-stick to JPG}

Check out this video clip and see how I'm constantly AND literally always on my toes when shooting my 18 month old! If you've perfected the art of "posing" a toddler will you let PLEEEEASE let me know?!

I hope you enjoyed another Summer photo tutorial. More to come!
Happy Shooting, Vicky

Sunrise Photo Session Lesson & Contest :: Showcase Your Mamatography

Happy Saturday Mamas! I took this shot this morning overlooking Panama City and thought, hmmm? I'd like to see what others see at sunrise! If you dare to wake up before your kids, I promise you it's kind've refreshing, then PLEASE SHARE your point of view at sunrise.

HOW TO SHOOT A SUNRISE:

(This technique calls for shooting in Manual Mode-"M" on most camera models)

First, as with all shoots, set your cameras ISO. I recommend a low ISO i.e. 200 so that you do not have any visual "digital noise" or "grain". You want a nice smooth, sharp image.

Next, use a tripod!

When you are capturing a sunrise or later sunset you will likely want to use a photographic technique called a "long exposure". To do so, you must have a tripod to stabilized your camera so that shake is not visible, which occurs by hand holding your camera. A long exposure is when you adjust your camera settings to shoot at a long Shutter Speed.  With a fast shutter speed, you likely would have an image that is too dark (under exposed). This is because the shutter did not stay open long enough to capture what little natural/ambient light exists at these tranquil times of day. I recommend starting at a shutter speed of around 1" (that's 1 second).

After you've set your ISO, put your camera on the tripod and choose a long shutter speed, you'll have to follow your camera's internal light meter to guide you in choosing the correct aperture for this "exposure". Ideally, you'll want a very small aperture if you are shooting a land or cityscape as I was above. By using a small aperture, i.e. f11, f16 or "smaller" you'll retain the detail of all the subject matter in the frame giving you a professional touch! (Think Ansel Adams) Be sure to follow your light meeter while adjusting your aperture until you reach what looks like +/- 0.

Now that you know how to shoot a sunrise...Let's make it a contest! 

Here it goes:

First, Upload your Sunrise Shots to your Facebook, Flickr, Pinterest, etc. pages. Then share a link to your image by commenting below to this post with a short description of your location and technique for capturing your early morning images, plus your first name and last initial. If you have a blog where the image is posted, share that too!

Next, Follow this Blog by email (on the right of this page) to track other's submissions and stay afloat to the winner announcement which will be at random on June 1st. With the winner's permission, your image will be displayed on this blog with credit to you.

WHAT YOU'LL WIN?

2-LIVE 1 hour Photography Webinars with a copy of the Mamatography Photo Basics & Beyond ebook!

I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Happy Shooting, Vicky

Mamatography Newborn Tutorial: Part II

In continuing my demonstrations of DIY newborn photography for Mamatographers I present to you Baby Kimberly.

She is an absolute doll baby!

She slept for 98% of this shoot. But, though baby Kim was on her best behavior, the weather wasn't.

I had dreamt up quite a few outdoor scenes which had to be scrapped due to rain and cloudy skies. We did get to sneak out for a few and Mama, Jessica of Moore Memories Photography, had a chance to capture her newbie sleeping plushly inside a "cloud". UNTIL SHE WOKE UP!

Then we moved inside and worked with lights a bit in Safi's room. My light kit allows me to use them as strobes (meaning they flash when my camera fires) or as constants, they remain on by a switch.


Flash is balanced for daylight so it produces a bright white light. Whereas constants use tungsten bulbs so they produce a bit of a yellow tint if you don't tell your camera to shoot as "tungsten" which typically has a lightbulb icon within your camera settings. Nikon calls this type of light "incandescent" they are the same definition. 


With that, if I'm shooting flash or outside under daylight I keep my WB on Auto. If I'm using constant lights, I change to Tungsten/Incandescent. So for this shoot, Mama Jessica set her white balance to Tungsten because she was shooting using the constant lights (see the video below). I was shooting with the lights as strobes so I stayed on Auto WB.


We took turns being that we were working off the same light kit.


You can see a bit of the setup on the video, but here's another example.

Here's some video from the shoot to get an idea of the Mamatography newborn experience.

Another baby girl and Mamatography model is on the way so stay tuned for Part 3 of the Mamatography Newborn Tutorial Series.

Happy Shooting, Vicky

Mamatography Newborn Tutorial: Part I

This past weekend I attempted to document a newborn shoot as a tutorial for all you Mamatographers. Things didn't exactly go as planned, they never really do with babies, huh?

Baby boy was only 4 days old and just 6lbs 9ozs. He was a precious little peanut! But he was still sore from the trials of birth : ( He wasn't sleepy at all and was VERY strong so he was able to push his way out of many of the poses we attempted. I WAS STUNNED!

For future demonstrations such as this, I'm going to line up a few babies within a certain time slot. This is often the case on modeling jobs. 

So this project is a work in progress, which I'm okay with. I think it's an important topic and it's my goal to try to help Mamas document their own baby photos in the days following birth. This is not an easy task but POSSIBLE.

Here's a few tips:

1. Refresh your knowledge of your camera settings while baby is napping so you can have a clearer mind frame

2. Set up a scene with your choice props*keep pads and cloths near for potty accidents (I chose to shoot in my garden because I was shooting a cute carrot suit as a prop)

3. Prepare to shoot outdoors for easy lighting scenarios either early in the AM or around 5pm in the afternoon when the sun is setting

4. FEED THE BABY! BURP THE BABY! ROCK THE BABY! Try to put them to sleep if at all possible.

5. Undress baby gently

6. Pose them in a way that their face is most exposed and light is filling in any shadows*Use a Reflector or Flash just to fill if you know how

7. Shoot using a wide aperture i.e. f3.5 or 1.8 for very shallow depth of field

8. Use spot focusing on the baby's face to selectively focus on this area

9. Work quickly but move the baby around gently between poses and scenes

10. Keep baby warm and comfortable between poses especially if you are doing nudie shots!

BIG thanks to New Mama Danielle Hart, Lisa Della Bella Photography for her help with setup and props and Kristy Tompkins of Willows Garden for the adorable crochet carrot suit that she hand made!

Mamatography ebook: NEW AND IMPROVED

Pick up a copy of the NEW & IMPROVED Photo Basics & Beyond ebook HERE to keep in your camera bag!

Topics include: Camera Settings, Lenses & Focal Length, Flash Basics & MORE!

NEXT UP in Mamatography BOOKS: Composition for Portraiture & MORE

Stay tuned...

Photos with Texture

This weekend I had the pleasure of teaching the Mamatography Photo Basics II Workshop Retreat at Butterfly World here in South Florida. It was a HOT but lovely day.
I asked my Mamatographers to share their images in the new Mamatography Facebook Group, Mamatography Photo Sharing & Critique, to see what we came up with on this collaborative shoot.


Here's an example of a shot I took at the end of the workshop. The day's light was getting dimmer and the flower garden had corner's of moodiness. I liked how this shot depicted a cool tone. Not so exciting at first glance..but I could see the potential.

The image reminded me of a Georgia O'keeffe painting, a style I spent sometime on reflecting back in college when I was shooting film.

So with the painterly effect in mind, I decided to impose a watercolor texture to my piece.

I love to create and scan textures but my time these days is VERY limited since I'm busy mothering a 1 year old! I did a quick search on paper textures and found this awesome site, www.lostandtaken.com .

I gratefully donated $4 to the site for the wide array of textures this artist has created and shares for free!

I knew I wanted a watercolor undertone w/ a subtle pop of color so this is the texture I chose:

Credit: Lost & Taken

In Photoshop, I created multiple layers of the original image changing the exposure and opacity of each layer to create a kind of High Definition Range (aka HDR) effect. Then I did the same with the water color image placing those on top of my photo. (For more info on Photoshop and using layers, check out my Photoshop Webinars HERE)

Here is my final image combining multiple copies of my photo and the watercolor image.

If you would like to join the Mamatography Facebook Group, click HERE

Happy Shooting!

My First Book is NOW AVAILABLE!

I'm so excited to present my FIRST BOOK: 
Photo Basics and Beyond; A Camera Bag Companion


This has been a project that has really taken years of accumulating information and editing all my knowledge down to one basic principle:
What do I wish someone would have told me as a new shooter?


There is a cluster of information overload on the web and in the many photo books that have been published over the years.
I wanted mine to be as quick, direct and colorful as possible because I know as a Mom our time is sacred..who has time to read a textbook these days? NOT ME!


But I did once. Many of them! So, I tried to lend a favor to all my fellow Mamatographer's that didn't start shooting as a single college girl. I BALLED up all the basics of an SLR camera (Fstops, Shutter Speeds, Iso), lenses, some stuff on flash and also talk about digital photo files and editing software to bring readers into the present.


Here's some images from the book, now available on my website,
mamatographylessons.com


It is FULL COLOR and measures 7x7"
I have a Self-Print ebook and iPad version which will be posted shortly...stay tuned!

For orders outside the US please email me: vicky@mamatographylessons.com