What to Wear for your Next Photoshoot

Worrying about what to wear for your next photo shoot can be exhausting and hard! The truth is, what you wear really does make a huge difference in your photos!  I have written a few things here to consider:

Patterns and layers

Patterns and layers add interest and cohesion to your images. Vests, scarves, necklaces, jackets, boots and socks all can add layering that will add pops of color and cohesion with others in your photograph.  You want to be coordinated but not matchy matchy.  Don’t have everyone wear the same color.  Especially all black or all white. Add some other soft neutrals.  Neutrals are always very timeless. Think about timeless clothing and try not to mix eras.  If you are wearing something from the 80’s, but the rest of your family is wearing something very modern you are going to stick out and look like you really don’t belong with the rest of your family.  You should opt for a subtle pattern that will look good with solid colors and other family member’s outfits.  Your outfit shouldn’t be the loudest but look in place with the other outfits.  Cohesion without being matchy is the key!     

From your head to your feet

Some things to consider is any accessories and how they look together.  Think about hats and shoes. They can add interest to a photo, or they can take it over.  Sometimes with little kids, bare feet are best.  Necklaces and scarves can add a pop of color.   

Movement

Think about how things will photograph.  For girls a twirly dress can add amazing movement to a photo! Think about fabrics that move well and consider a dress from Alice + Ames. They are so very twirly. Don’t wear a stiff fabric that will not move well.  Also think about what you can comfortably move around in.  If your dress is so short, it keeps you from bending over you might want to rethink it!

Comfortable and fitted

Find an outfit that you like, that speaks to your style. It’s important to pick something that is waist defining. It must flatter your body and be comfortable.  No one is going to photograph well in a tuxedo unless they are actually very comfortable in it!  It needs to suit you! Not too tight and not too loose. You don’t want to wear sweatpants, or baggy frumpy clothing either! If a tie doesn’t suit your husband, then don’t make him wear one! His face will look miserable, and your photos will remind you of the power struggle over clothing instead of a fun time and beautiful memories.  

Be kind to your photographer and avoid neon and large brand logos

Neon will leave color casts on your skin.  They are not easy to get rid of in Photoshop.  It can be done, but it is time intensive and very tedious.  And depending on the photo, it may not look quite right after all of those adjustments in Photoshop.  So, it is best to stay away from it.  The last thing you want is an amazing moment ruined by weird skin tone.  Large logos take away from the people in the photograph and take a long time to clone out.  Children should stay away from trendy character tops.  Graphic tees and ones with fun sayings are OK for kids.

The key is to pick things that are not going to take away from the subjects (aka: YOU!) It’s helpful to start out with one piece that you really love and then build around that. These are some simple ideas to think about for your next photo shoot! There is a great article from Click Magazine that is very helpful: here and also here. Another option is to rent dresses or outfits at Opal and June or Bentley + Lace.  Follow me on Pinterest for more ideas and inspiration! I love putting together outfits and textiles so please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you need help!  

Thanks for reading!

How to Add Fireflies to A Photo

Fireflies, lightning bugs, bioluminescent creatures of the night, (whatever you call them): they are fascinating creatures to catch and watch. Not to mention it is a staple of childhood! I remember staying up late and catching them as a child, and I love to watch my kids as they chase them all over the yard.  We used a pickle jar, and punched holes in the top of the lid.  It is easiest to catch them when they land on the ground!  They are hard to see, which is also part of the fun of catching them.  If you live in the Midwest, this is a MUST!  

However, in pictures they just don’t show up so well.  Not to mention it is not that easy to snap a shot when they are all lighting up.  In order to make that picture as magical as it is for your child you will need an overlay! That is how I have created these pictures. I used an overlay in photoshop and set the layer to SCREEN.

Then I hit ctrl/j to duplicate the layer as much as I want.  I use the shortcut ctrl/t to transform and adjust the size. Then I place them in varying areas and sizes to add depth and atmosphere. The closer they are to your camera the bigger and blurrier you will need to make them.  I have created my own shortcut in photoshop to add a Gaussian blur.  But you can get there by going to filter>blur> Gaussian blur, and then blur to your taste.  I also lowered the opacity on some to make them blend better.

Remember the rule of odds if you place them close together or in the jar. To read more about the rule of odds, go here. This adds visual interest and helps to move your eyes throughout the picture. 

I have made this overlay available for download for free! I added some noise to the overlay, because chances are if you are out catching lightning bugs it is going to be very low light. I had to increase my ISO to a very high number in order to capture anything and keep my shutter speed reasonable. Make sure to set the overlay to SCREEN. I hope you enjoy it! Please let me know if you do! Please share your pictures with me!  I would love to see what everyone comes up with!

Download the Firefly overlay here.

Thanks for reading!

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How To Do a Simple Composite

Here is my photograph that I am going to use to be the center of my composition.

I start out by using the quick selection tool to select the cabin and some of the ground. I then copy and paste it to a new document in Photoshop. (I just use a generic size and then extend my canvas with the crop tool).  Next step it is cleaning up the image.  You can use the erase tool, or you use a layer mask to tidy up those edges and get rid of anything extra the quick selection tool may have selected.

I then add more ground by selecting some from other pictures I took from the same shoot. Keep the edges of everything soft by using the blur tool or use a soft brush on a layer mask. Next, I add the sky and use a black and white layer to make everything black and white.  In this picture I used a cloud layer from Jessica Drossin’s Macabre skies and overlays.   However, you can use one of your own if you have one! To make sure the light is coming from the same direction in my clouds as it is in my cabin picture I flip the sky horizontally (which may not be necessary in your image) and then add a gradient fill layer (white to black) to change the light. I changed this to layer to soft light and adjusted the opacity to my liking (28%).

Next, I added a smoke layer for the chimney mostly to add more drama! The smoke layers also come in Jessica Drossin’s Macabre Skies and overlays package. Then I add some more smoke/fog to the bottom using another overlay.  You can also create a fog brush. Phlearn has a very handy tutorial here.

Then I notice the ground in front of the cabin is a little too bright.  So, I simply paint over it with a soft black brush (on a new layer).  I then set it to soft light and adjust the capacity to my liking (54%). Then I add a stamp visible layer (which is all the layers put into one new layer) by using the short cut Ctrl+Alt+shift+E (on a PC).  I then went to Filter + noise + add noise.  I selected Uniform at 1.05% - Then I set that layer to soft light and adjusted the opacity down to 38%. This just brings everything together in a more cohesive way.  

I then darkened part of the entire image and added contrast using dim the lights action (which comes with Jessica Drossin’s Macabre Skies Package).  This is a Gradient Map layer, but you could just add a brightness and contrast layer to do roughly the same thing. After this I just cleaned some of it up using the clone tool, and blurring parts of the image.  (Blurring can trick your eyes into thinking something belongs in the image when it doesn’t.) And then you have my final image here: