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Sarah Halstead

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Photo Tip Tuesday: Clean Portrait Processing

Filed Under: Family, Photography, Tutorials

I sent out a question on twitter what they would like to see this week for Photo Tip Tuesday. Here are two questions…

One was a question about when to use auto-focus. In all honesty I use auto focus 97% of the time. The only time I use manual focus is when I want my camera to focus on something specific and it isn’t doing it. A lot of times it is on a thin branch and the camera is trying to focus on the background. I have issues with manual focus. Something I think is in focus is actually out of focus. Not sure if it is my contacts or my dry eyes, etc. For that reason I rely on auto-focus. It is nice having the ability to manual focus when you need to though.

The next question was how I do my clean portrait processing.

Here is my SOOC, from my photo shoot with Carsyn for his 18 month photos.

Pretty cute SOOC but I recropped it to fit rule of thirds better. Then used one of my Lightroom presets. Here are the settings.

Then I opened it up in Photoshop CS5 and ran willette’s autumn: Crisp Morning.

Then after that I used Pure Photoshop’s Purely Facebook resize action.

Then I watermarked it. That is it.

If you have any questions you can email me. Also if there is anything you would like to see for photo tip Tuesday let me know.

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Comments

  4. Laura says

    I love how you edited this--it really makes the whole portrait just pop! I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one that relies on auto-focus so much; my current issue is that the camera often doesn't focus on what I want it to, even with auto-focus. I can't help but wonder if a good cleaning would solve that problem--do you have an experience in that arena?

  9. Faith says

    Thanks for doing these! This is a super-great edit :) I used the info you mentioned the other week about Kelvin white balance. LOVE IT! It's totally going to be the first thing I write when I get around to doing an advanced SLR class.

  12. Seeing Each Day says

    You've built cleverly on an already great photo. Can't get enough of that owl hat! I've seen Willette designs mentioned a few times on various blogs - I will have to go and check it out.

  14. Jaymi says

    Perfect, clean edit! And adorable shot, I love his expression! I love that you are taking suggestions for Photo Tip Tuesday! I may have to do that as well! :)

  18. Jamie says

    Wow, I always love seeing your transformations. I am purchasing photoshop before the end of the year- I can't wait to put your tutorials to action!

  20. Susan says

    Thanks so much for sharing this Sarah! And that could not be a cuter picture of your son!! Hope you have a blessed day today?

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