Photoshop World was Tuesday-Friday this week in Las Vegas, and while I would have loved to have been there, I had a great week at home.
Wednesday I took head shots for a lovely young actress.
Thursday night two of my kids and I went to a Latin party. If you’ve ever thought I’m a little nerdy, this might confirm it. We hung out and watched videos about the Latin language. I took six pages of notes and a screen shot.
Friday was my seventh child’s seventh birthday! On each child’s birthday, if at all possible, I take them out for lunch. Chili’s is always a favorite and that’s where we went.
Are they just born knowing that tilt of the head?
We’ll call this, “Wait, it’s my sister’s birthday and she’s getting all the attention!”
I cut everyone else in my household’s hair, so I’ve never felt too bad about paying to get mine done until this year. In an effort to save, I haven’t gone to get my hair cut since last December. A good friend, another stay-at-home mom, has done it for me a couple of times, whenever we’ve had the opportunity.
After Google image searching “haircuts,” I saved this to my phone before we left for the birthday lunch.
Although well aware that no mere mortal could make me look like that, I thought the style was realistically possible for my hair.
On a whim, I called a salon that I hadn’t visited in over a year and a half and where I knew my former stylist no longer worked. Could they work me in? Yes, if I could be there in 30 minutes!
I was pleasantly surprised to find that while the salon had been a little snooty, it’s now a more relaxed and enjoyable place to be. I really liked the girl who cut my hair and will probably go there again.
I don’t know about you, but after a haircut I like to get a picture to remind me how it was styled at the salon, although it’s usually difficult to replicate by yourself. My husband snapped some pictures for me while I gave lots of instruction on where to stand, focus, etc. After that Jasmine Star wedding photography course at Creative Live last weekend, I harbor a secret agenda of transforming him into my own personal JD (Jasmine’s husband and second shooter). I’ll let you know when you can book us to shoot your wedding. ;-)
The good news is, I got a new headshot! Woo hoo!
It’s cropped in the sidebar enough to disguise the fact that my roots needed a touch up, which I took care of this morning. ;-)
My daughter snapped some pictures of my husband and I; we’ll celebrate our 25th anniversary next month. I am beyond thrilled to have them and to have been blessed with such a man to call my own. I’m convinced there’s not another anywhere who would put up with me.
What have you done this week?
I’m crossing my fingers to be at Photoshop World in Orlando next spring!
Please note: This is how I edit guys. Not necessarily how anyone else does or how you should, but what works for me.
Photoshopping is a hot topic: whether it’s appropriate, ethical, alters reality, etc. If my photos were going on the cover of TIME magazine, this might be relevant. Since they aren’t, I can and will continue to do whatever I want with them, following my own personal aesthetic. Does anyone cry “Photoshopped!” over B&Ws? Show me someone whose reality is desaturated.
My 15-year-old son is a victim of teenage hormones, which leave their mark on his skin. We’ve all been there. When I imported our class picture shots from this week, my 13-year-old daughter, who didn’t feel the need to expend any of her small measure of tact for her brother’s sake, was quick to mention how much editing I would need to do to his face.
Is his teenage skin “reality”? Yes. Is it permanent and who he “is”? No.
I don’t want him to look back at his sophomore class pictures and see nothing but 15-year-old boy skin, which looked different two weeks ago and will look different still two weeks from now.
I want him to remember how he’d just gotten a haircut and liked to style it in a faux hawk.
I want him to see that cocky grin, ready to take on the world.
I want him to remember the “I’m channeling Psych‘s Sean Spencer” shot.
I don’t want him to remember zits.
He’s got a scar under his left eye from getting caught by an older brother’s backswing in a Thanksgiving Day baseball game when he was little. I would never edit it. That is part of him, and my guys have always embraced the “chicks dig scars” mentality, anyway. ;-)
I do most of my editing in Lightroom, but I use Photoshop’s Spot Healing Brush Tool to clean up teen skin. Just make the brush slightly larger than the bumps and click away. I do this first and then save the image back into Lightroom. (Command + E on my Mac takes the image into Photoshop, “save” brings it back into Lightroom as a separate psd file. I do not check the box telling Lightroom to stack my edit with the original file. I like them separate.)
When editing guys, I usually don’t use the skin softening brush in Lightroom, either, except possibly to even out skin tone in a small spot, and I never, ever apply a soft focus preset or reduce the overall clarity of the image. I’m much more likely to boost clarity and exaggerate lines and imperfections.
I want guys to look like guys. I’ll save the glamour edits for photos of me women.
Your thoughts? Do you edit guys and girls differently?
I’m not sure why it took a homeschool meme last year to make me realize the importance of homeschool class pictures, but now my biggest regret is that we don’t have them for the first 16 years of our homeschool. This is the beginning of year 18 for us and our second year of class pics (here’s 2009).
If you homeschool, for goodness’ sakes don’t neglect this like we did for too long!
The Good:
Can you say, “Growing up too fast!”?
The Bad and the Ugly:
Little sister combed out his hair. We cut it short today. The kids say it looks like Saturn in this picture. :-)
Overzealous assistants:
What about you? Do you take your own class pictures?
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