After reviewing the images from Day 1 last week, I ventured out for another session to improve on the setup and composition. The picture above was my final pick for an April ad featuring the Carousel Quilt Kit.

I have learned just enough Photoshop to get my work done. I learn something new everyday. Today I wanted to share the basic editing I performed to get from the Before photo to the After.

I captured these screen shots after I did all the editing so please disregard that the layers are already showing in the Layers palette on the screen. I use Adobe Photoshop CS2. Click on the photos below to see an enlarged image showing the detail more clearly.

1. Although I’ve shot in RAW in the past, for this session I set the camera to the highest quality level for JPEG images. I shot the photos very early in the morning.

2. The first edit I do on any picture is Layer->New Adjustment Layer->Levels. Bring the left arrow (solid) just under the left-hand side of the ‘mountain’ and bring the right arrow (hollow) just under the right-hand side of the ‘mountain’. This does a very good job of correcting the overall exposure. This is often times the only adjustment I’ll make to an image before posting on my blog. I have no idea what the middle arrow does!

3. I use the Layer->New Adjustment Layer->Hue/Saturation to add a little color punch to my photos. A +10 in the Saturation field does a nice shop of making the colors pop.

4. The Filter->Sharpen->Unsharp Mask is a miracle editing tool. It sharpens the edges of the elements in the photo making it crisp for printing and computer screen display. Now, why the sharpening function is called ‘Unsharp Mask’ I have no idea! I think that’s why I avoided it for so long. I’ve played with the other sharpen filters on that menu and haven’t figured them out yet!

5. One final edit I did on this photo is something I only do when making an image ready for an important job like an advertisement or a pattern cover. I did some surgical exposure adjustment on the background because it was too dark overall (see the original photo). The exposure adjustment I did in step 2 did a great job of getting the right exposure on the quilt but not enough for the background. The first step is selecting the background.

I used the Polygonal Lasso Tool to select the quilt (I did a corner to corner lasso, gotta love square objects!). The background is selected by Select->Inverse. Now everything in the photo is selected except for the quilt.

Layer->New Adjustment Layer->Curves will create a new layer that only includes the background. The Layers Palette gives you a little clue by showing the area that isn’t selected as black.

The final step is to do some more in depth exposure adjustment using Curves. I really don’t know what I’m doing here. I just play with it until I get the result I want. Whenever I’m not happy I hit ‘Cancel’ on the Curves dialog box and start over. I included this screen shot so you can see how I moved the diagonal line just a bit upward on the left hand side. That lightened up the background so it matched the exposure of the quilt.

I did a little artistic cropping and that was it! I’m happy with the final result.

2/12/08: Kelli asked what type of camera I have. I use a Canon 40D. When I switched to digital about 4 years ago I started with a Canon Rebel. I love the features on the 40D but I have to say I’m not sure my pictures are any better than what I used to take with the Rebel. I have a large collection of lenses that began when I purchased my first Canon camera in 1990. This photo was taken with a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens. I would always spend more on the lens than the camera body.

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pink chalk fabrics ~*~ new arrivals ~*~ free patterns ~*~ on sale

These enchanting blooms sit beneath a large fir tree just outside my kitchen window. A delightful surprise discovering they had beauty marks.

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• Amazing rubber stamp carvings by Regina.
• TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an annual conference which brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes) [description borrowed from their website]. They’re now offering the best videocasts online for free. LOVE this presentation by Philippe Starck.
• People who spark creative exploration, check out Orange Flower’s 30 Day Photography Challenge.

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First I have to share a funny story. This story started the whole “let’s sell everything we own on eBay” extravaganza.

As the elves started wrapping gifts for the young children, mommy elf found a present that was left from the prior year’s Christmas. The elves hide the gifts in the same place very year. The found item was a Karaoke Revolution Party PS/2 with Microphone still in the shrink wrap. The young children received a later acquired version of said game along with two microphones. The elves forgot to return the original box to Santa. Mommy Elf decided to sell the found box on eBay. Maybe $10 or $20 could be re-couped. On day 4 of the auction Karaoke Revolution surpassed its suggested manufacturer’s retail price. Auction ends with video game selling for $70.99. Mommy Elf googles a bit and discovers Karaoke Revolution Party is out of stock and selling for even higher prices on Amazon.

OK, that’s how I got the itch. I’m going to write a few posts on what I learned in listing things on eBay. I’m sure if you’re a big eBay seller this is all old hat but it took me some effort to figure it all out. I’ll share the listing html and talk about what sells too. But first, before you can sell anything, it’s gotta look good!

Excellent pictures. Very important. I made the above picture taking box with foam board and duct tape. I also used this box to take the pencil roll pictures for my Etsy listings. I talked about the lighting here. I took all my photos at night. The trumpet light bulbs totally rule (I think I’ve been around my kids too much, thank goodness school starts on Monday!).

The other good thing about this box is that it could be dis-assembled in a “my presentation is due tomorrow” emergency.

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I’m always on the look out for tricks and tips for taking better photos of my quilts. Holly Knott’s website was like finding the final piece of the puzzle. A talented art quilter and photographer, she’s written a wonderful multi-page guide to quilt photography.

Holly gives instructions on building these light stands. Very specific instructions. Like all the dimensions and the exact size of the screws. A very clever and utilitarian design, a woman after my own heart. The shape of the 2×4 is perfect for mounting the clamp lights.

I also finally bit the bullet and ordered the 30 watt trumpet top bulbs from Table Top Studios. I have come across several websites which recommend these bulbs and so does Holly. On the Note Taker photos I tried to get by with true light compact fluorescents from the hardware store but was never really satisfied with the light they created. I’m sold on the trumpet top bulb. Worth every penny. It created an intense bright light that illuminated the quilt detail. You’ll note that the curtains in my dining room are closed (another one of Holly’s suggestion to regulate the light source).

I received the order from Table Top in 3 days with regular shipping!

I built my display panels about 6 months ago using big pink insulation board (24″ x 8′). I made 3 so I can photograph large quilts by placing them side by side. I covered them with white synthetic felt (the really cheap stuff). I secured the felt on the backside using duct tape. I tried a staple gun but they kept slipping out of the foam board. I’m considering trying a layer of flannel to see if my quilts ‘stick’ better. The felt is a little slippery requiring the use of a lot of pins.

The pictures I took for Anna Banana are my best yet. Thank you Holly!

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This is my favorite stamp. I used it to create little thank you tags for pattern orders. It came in one of those cheapo packs at Hobby Lobby, the 10 stamps for only $2.99 variety. A HUGE thank you to all of you that ordered the pattern. Orders received by 2:00 pm have been shipped same day.

I set up a Crafty Friends of Pink Chalk Studio Flickr group. A place to show off your creations made using my tutorials or the pattern. Soon to be patterns. Follow the Toot Your Horn button on the sidebar. I LOVE seeing different versions of the same design. Instant inspiration.

Speaking of inspiration, check out Tara Whitney. I discovered her blog as I was surfing for photography tricks. Wow! I just love her eye. I’ve been trying to incorporate the “photo shoot” into my own camera sessions with the girls. A concept I had good results with years ago when I took a photography class but got lazy about doing.

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I’m not an expert on any of this. I’ve been doing a lot of web reading and library book reading and wanted to share some techniques that have made my pictures better.

I have the Canon entry-level DSLR, a Rebel XT. It has the RAW image quality setting. My Canon Powershot does not have this feature.

I have always taken my digital photos using the highest quality JPEG setting. I ignored the RAW option because I didn’t know how to use it. In RAW file format, the camera does not do any post-processing on your image. It records the ISO setting, f-stop, and shutter speed. It saves all the other data available at the time the image was taken and saves it in the image file, ready to be manipulated later.

Understanding this was an epiphany for me. ALL those other options on the camera including white balance, sharpness, filters, etc., are processing options that the camera APPLIES to the image AFTER it’s been taken. RAW tells the camera “don’t do any processing on the image, just record the ISO, f-stop, and shutter speed, the photographer will take care of the rest later.”

RAW images are HUGE. They carry ALL the information about your image that the camera’s sensor was able to capture. RAW images must be processed in a software program before they’re ready for print. Photoshop and Photoshop Elements 5.0 have these editors.
For most situations, a high-quality JPEG is good enough. My camera does a darn good job of auto-processing my photos, throwing away all the information no longer needed, compressing it, and giving the best image.

So why use RAW? When it came to my pattern cover I wanted precise control over all aspects of post-processing the image.

Photoshop’s RAW image editor was a breeze to use. Here’s a screen shot showing all the options that can be tweaked:

If you want to see all the options clearly, click on the photo to see the big version.

Notice how the white balance options relate to all those auto-modes your camera has? Pretty cool. Photoshop takes a best guess at processing your RAW image and setting all the options. You can then tweak from that baseline. This photo was much better than the corresponding JPEG the camera produced, basically Canon’s best guess, or yours if you’re setting things in manual mode, at processing the RAW image.

A comment on Photoshop Elements. I used this program for years before acquiring the full-blown version (it came bundled with the other Adobe products I wanted to use for writing my pattern). Everything I’ve been doing in the full version is the same as what I did in Elements 5.0. I haven’t learned about the expanded features. If you know of some cool ones please tip me off! Also, I’m sure some of you are true experts on this subject and I’d love to hear any advice you have for getting the most out of RAW image processing.

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• Waiting for ‘just the right lighting’ is extremely difficult for a controlled photo. Even though I was outside late in the day there were all types of little shadow surprises lurking when I looked at the images on my computer.
• It was a lot of work to setup a shoot outside. Just physically hauling out everything that needed to be there and then trying to tweak things a little here and a little there was very time consuming. After that it all had to be brought back inside. After discovering my problems I had no desire to do it all again the next day.
• Bugs and wind and those big fat robins flying overhead.

I decided to take the effort inside where I could leave the whole thing setup for several days as I proofed and re-shot until I was happy with the composition.

On to Photoshop and a valuable technique I learned this weekend.

I often peruse the ‘new’ books shelf at the library and pick up titles that spark my interest. Right there on the shelf last Thursday was Rick Sammon’s Complete Guide to Digital Photography 2.0 . Angels do exist! This book had several nuggets that clarified my understanding of image post-processing.

Let’s start with the most simple yet most dramatic edit I discovered for my JPEG images. Levels.

Try this:

Open your image in Photoshop. Select: Layer – New Adjustment Layer – Levels. Here’s a screen shot:

The shadows are pretty good, the left hand black pointer is sitting very close to the mountain. The highlights are hurting, the right hand pointer is sitting very far from the mountain. Bring both of those pointers so they’re just inside the edges of the mountain:

Much better. Rick says the gray arrow in the center is virtually useless. I’ll leave it at that.

This is a quick way to add some shine to your photos. I have the full version of Photoshop but Rick’s book uses Elements. This feature is common to both products.

Here’s the before photo:

And the after:

Tomorrow’s lesson: RAW.

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Inexpensive clamp lights from the hardware store. True light bulbs. Foam board left over from the science fair. Rationalization for a second camera.

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I love my Digital Rebel but man, oh man, is that thing heavy. A second camera feels extremely indulgent, but, hey, given my unpaid job is valued at $138,095 a year I think I’m worth it.

Besides rating EXTREMELY HIGH on the cute factor, the SD800 has this whole wide angle, endless depth of field thing going on that creates an aesthetic I’m really digging. My favorite auto-feature is how it picks up faces in the frame and makes that the focus point. I took the above photo with no flash. My goal is to carry my new friend with me where ever I go.

One thing the new camera didn’t do was make my food pictures any better. I think I could easily win the award for ‘most food photos taken by a blogger that have never been posted’. I’ll spare you and give you the links to two hits in my house this month. Yes, Padma really can cook.

• Shrimp Boil Hobo Packs – easy, yummy, and Leil decided she now likes clams
• Coconut Curry Stew – I made mine with chicken, easy (see a trend here?), the Indian curry flavor was refreshingly smoky and aromatic, a nice change from Thai style curry

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