My father-in-law, Pastor Bower and his wife Vicki have a lovely golden retreiver. Her name is Ginger. During our latest visit, I snuck in some shots of this sweet family animal. Doesn’t she looks oh-so-happy to be Critter of the Week?
I feel like I am kinda getting the handle on this Aperture Priority setting…its slow going but I feel way more comfortable now after shooting a bunch with it. Hopefully the knowledge sticks. I will say this – I learned how to adjust the exposure compensation for brighter pictures. So both of these photos have +0.3 step to make them seem lighter. Also, I have been learning more and more about Photoshop. I’ll explain more after you take a look at the photos.
ISO – 400 F-number F/5 Shutter Speed 1/256
ISO – 400 F-number F/5 Shutter Speed 1/332
Okay. So photoshop has been hard for me to grasp. I know…it may seem like I have a handle on it…but I am really good at faking it. That’s what she said 🙂 Anyhoo. Enter Pioneer Woman’s photography blog and her photoshop actions. The free set of actions have really helped. After I downloaded them off her blog, I went to exploring all the possibilities. Basically, they helped take my humdrum photos to the next level. Just check out the before and after shots of Ginger:
I love how she looks warmer and more like the focal point of the photo. Sure, I am still learning but the point is that I am improving right? And if the barn needs painting, or photoshopping, paint it 🙂
For the links to download your own Pioneer Woman Photoshop actions…click here 🙂 And if you have any other photoshop info you want to share – please do…every little bit of advice helps!
Here’s a link to another great site for learning photoshop – they have a bunch of really useful tutorials, plus a free “School of Photoshop” tutorial series: http://www.tutorial9.net/school-of-photoshop/
Can you let us know what you did in Photoshop to make Ginger stand out? The 2nd picture is so great – I love how you can really see the texture of his/her nose.
there’s no better critter subject than a golden!
“That’s what she said,” LoL- you crack me up!
I would LOVE to learn more about photography and photoshop- I’m envious, as I just don’t seem to have the time right now. I’m hopefully (crossing my fingers) going to purchaes a new camera soon, but nothing as fancy as yours… just a better point and shoot as I mentioned in my recent post. Someday we’ll have to share tips… when I get around to actually attempting photoshop- it’s scary!
Great pictures! Can I ask if you had your ISO set to 400 for a reason? I am also just learning also and thought if you were out in bright light you used a low ISO. I’m wondering if there is a special reason I don’t know about! Your pictures are always great!
Also, what Photoshop do you use?
That’s a big Golden! Although – looking at Casco right now, he seems to be putting on a little heft. So maybe Casco’s just not full grown.
One of my favorite blogs has ‘photoshop’ friday where she gives all sorts of good photoshop tips. It’s http://www.becoming-mom.net and she takes the best baby pictures ever!