I enter a lot of online contests. I stalk a lot of blogs and hope to win something one day. Well folks, I won the contest of all contests! I won a free mentoring session with the seriously talented Michelle Kane. I mean it when I tell you it felt like winning the lottery! This is one photography mentorship that I had serious plans to afford one day.
You see…Michelle is not only an awesome photographer (and I know this because I stalk her blog often), but she has a great talent for manipulating pictures in Photoshop to bring out the best qualities in each shot. She brings the subjects into the main focus of the picture accentuating the backgrounds yet not letting the background take over. She is able to bring out the colors and tones of the surroundings making each portrait a masterpiece. She often posts her before and after photos on her blog and it is fascinating at what she is capable of.
I am a big advocate of Photoshop. I know a lot of old school photographers will attest to getting the picture perfect straight out of the camera (SOOC), but there is so much more once you open your eyes to Photoshop. I have personally experimented and have gone through many phases of my own photoshopping. There is one year that I do believe my kids had alien looking eyes and another where their skin was super smooth that they looked like plastic dolls. Michelle taught me her techniques for beautiful eyes, great skin, gorgeous backgrounds and tones, without looking fake or cheesy. Now…I am still no where near her level, but I had many ”A-HA!!!” moments when we spent hours on the phone going through her photoshop process.
I was thrilled that shortly after our mentoring session that I could take my own family out for our annual picture. I am brave enough to post here the picture SOOC and after using my new Michelle Kane insipiration. You can bet that I am going to get a large canvas of my edited family portrait to hang in my home (after I go back and edit out that trash can in the background of the picture – UGH)!
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