Logos...to leave it plain & simple or do it up...that is the question!

For us photographers it seems the newest thing is to have these logos that are beautiful and extravagant. Which is perfectly fine, by all means show off your style! But how much is to much?

I personally like to keep my logos plain and simple. A simple font, a simple design and I am done,especially if it is going onto a picture.

It is important not to take away from your image. I see to many photos where the logo is overpowering the photo with swirls, and flowers and crazy big fonts. In the end all  this is doing is drawing my attention AWAY from your photo and to your logo. What do you think this does to your clients? They see your logo, but not your work. I personally want to be remembered for the awesome picture they saw!

Now if you are a designer, I could see where the logo drawing their attention would come into play. But, you want people to hire you based on your photography skills! Not that logo that someone else made! :)

Keep it small and simple, sometimes less is more!  Please weigh in on this in the comment box below!

Here is one of my favorite logos that I have...small and simple...perfect for kids photos! :)

Subtle Actions

Here is an action for you that I have created for FREE. This action is for very subtle changes to the eyes. I personally as a photographer love those little actions to the eyes, not those overwhelming actions where the eyes look completely fake. These two actions included will do just that. One will add more definition to the eyes and one will make them pop out more. 


Now, please if you have any questions or problems please let me know because this is literally like the second action I have ever made. 


You can download it here: Eye Pop Action

Tutorial: Replacing the background Easily in CS5!

A great friend of mine over at AE Photography whom is the master of replacing backgrounds actually taught me how to do this. You should check him out....www.facebook.com/aephotographyct. What he showed me is a wonderful way to replace the background of an image using layer masks. Which means that you can work non-destructively! Also, this method of removing your background also allows for you to get those tricky loose hairs! The only thing with this tutorial is that you have to have a solid background! So you can't take like a couple on a beach and put them in a forest kind of thing.  Lets get started!


1st: Open the image you want to edit in CS5. Note: If you have a "wrinkly" background and are going to edit it smooth...now is the time to do it. For example purposes only, I am not smoothing my background...yet.

Step 2: Drag in the background that you want to use on top of your original image! For my example, I am using a pink damask. Make sure to fit the background to fit your image. Note: Press the SHIFT key while resizing to avoid any distortion.  You can rename your layer too to avoid any confusion.

Step 3: In your layers pallete change the blending mode of the first layer to Multiply. Note: For lighter backgrounds that you are switching out...you can use soft light.

Step 4:  Add a layer mask to the first layer by pressing that little square with the circle in it at the bottom of your layers palette.

Step 5:  Next above the layers where it says adjustments, beside it says masks...click it....then go down to invert and click that. This will invert your mask that you added earlier. You will notice that the square on your layers palette went from white to black.

It should look like the original now.

Step 6:  Select a soft round brush with the color white selected at opacity 100%. Note: Did you know that you could change between your foreground and background color by hitting the "X" key?

Step 7: Now, making sure that the layer mask is selected ...simply paint where you would like your new background.

Continue painting all over your background until its completely covered making sure not to paint over your subject. See how any stray hairs are not disappearing? Cool huh?  Now if you mess up and accidentally paint over your subject do not result to the undo button. Simply press that "x" key changing your color to black and paint over where you accidentally painted. Tada! All fixed! Just make sure to switch back to white to finish painting your background. It should look something like this:

Now if you want to fine tune your painting you can press the ALT key and click on your layer mask. This will show you your exactly what you missed and painted.

Now on mine you can see the black spots where I missed, so now I will paint with the white brush and fix my missed spots! Then press the ALT key and click the layer mask to turn it back to normal!

Step 8: Now is the time to do any adjustments to your background. You can make it lighter or whatever you would like. If you want to make adjustments to the entire image subject and background you are fine go about it normally. But, for mine I think my background is a little to dark. So, I am going to just make adjustments to only my background. To do this, I make my adjustments while only paying attention to the background. Then after I am done with each adjustment I am going to add a clipping mask to the layer by hitting the ALT key and clicking the line in between my adjustment and my new background. Your subject, or original you will go back to normal then.

  Step 9: Now if you want to make separate adjustments to your subject click on the original and/or background layer and make your adjustments. Because this layer is under your new background it will only change the original image and not the background too.

For mine I just did some slight curve adjustments, got the red/pink tones out of her face by adjusting the saturation, and then adjusted my levels a little. Then I did a little burning to add a slight shadow.

Step 10: At this point you are done, you can flatten the image, save it and TA DA!!! Or, you can do any other editing that you want, add vignetting, or other effects to the image then flatten and save!

Yay for easy background replacement! :) Any questions let me know! I will be happy to help!

Model Casting Call

Hello everyone! I am looking for the new face of LMP! Are you interested? For now I am looking for women or men 16 and up who would be interested. Your face will be used for advertising/marketing and other promotional material for LMP. You must be reliable and ready to shoot! Of course any shoots you participate in will be free and you will receive a disc with your images.

If you are interested please send an e-mail with a self portrait to Lovingmemoriesphotos@yahoo.com

 

Whats for Superbowl?

I love the Superbowl! Nevermind the fact that I barely know who is even playing. But, its a good excuse for me to eat and of course make a hodge podge of yummy stuff! Or as my oldest calls it -  Free dinner!

So what's on my menu tonight? Lots of stuff!!! Here they are with links to their recipes!

1: Of course Hooters style wings! I have been making these for forever, and they taste just like hooters wings! Also, you can use shrimp instead of wings to make their famous Buffalo Shrimp! YUM!! Might I suggest adding a little bit of cornstarch to the flour too, if you want the breaded part a bit thicker! And, this recipe calls for Crystal Louisiana hot sauce, I used Franks...its just as good!
Here is the link:    http://secretrecipes.blogspot.com/2008/02/hooters-buffalo-chicken-wings.html




 2: Garlic Cheesy Bread - yummy!!! Thankfully to my Pinterest addiction I found this gem of a recipe! Very delicious! Don't be afraid of the call for bread flour in this recipe. Last time I made this I was out, and I just substituted all purpose flour for it. The bread was not as "springy" but it still tasted the same!

Here is the recipe:  http://www.laurenslatest.com/hasselback-garlic-cheesy-bread/











3: Cinnamon and Sugar Pull Apart Bread: Yes, we love bread...and sweets! For this one, I am already cooking a bread that I have to fully make homemade...sooo...I use biscuits instead!  The Pillsbury layered style biscuits work great!! I just follow the stacking instructions, and the filling part and I am done! Very super easy.
Here is the recipe:
http://iheartfoodandsocanyou.blogspot.com/2011/11/cinnamon-sugar-pull-apart-bread.html












4: What kind of person would I be if we didn't have something chocolate?! So, I am making peanut butter chocolate crescent rolls - yes you read that as awesome! I wanted something else easy! I don't want to be in the kitchen all day and all night while the boys sit on the couch all night watching the commercials! Oh, and the game. I only watch the commercials.   This recipe is super easy too and super delicious!
Check it out here: http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/lifestyle/129109228.html








5: Last but not least on the list is my kids favorite! Homemade cheese crackers. These puppies taste just like cheez its, if not better. And yes, there is a difference between cheez its, and cheese nips....cheez its are so much better!
Check out the recipe here:
http://kathdedon.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/melt-in-your-mouth-homemade-cheese-crackers/














Of course this is not it. There will be the regular veggies and dip, chips and salsa, fruit, deviled eggs (i had some eggs to get rid of)  and so on. Best part about all of these recipes is they are not only great for adults but also for the kids!

Hope everyone has a great night enjoying the superbowl! Go Giants! :-)

Gotta Get this off my chest! Copyright Infringed...what!?!

Ok, so sorry, I have to get this off of my chest before I explode. I am a nice person, I really am! But, you cross a line when you say I stole something.

The other day I posted a few logos that I had made. Just playing around...seeing what I was capable of, right! Well apparently this girl off of Etsy owns the rights to be able to doodle a camera. O_o Yes, I said that right. Because, I drew a camera that looks just like hers I stole it. Here is the problem that i have with it. 1: Amanda don't steal 2: I worked for 4 hours on that durn thing! 3: did I say I worked on it for 4 hours?

Now, here is the other thing....How does someone get to think that no one else can draw the same image or use the same concept? That would be like me going to every other photographer who used the same pose as me and telling them they infringed my copyrights.  Do you think America's Next Top Model goes after all these photographers and says that they are infringing their copyrights because they are copying their shoots? No. Now, I could see where infringement would be an issue if the item was being sold and taking away from her sales, or maybe I was pretending that I was this amazing designer. Truth is, I suck at drawing and its not for sale! If you look at the camera that I drew, and the one that she drew you can see that the lines on mine are much wider. Also, that mine looks like I don't have the steadiest of hand- which I dont! lol!

 I as an artist I feel extremely flattered when someone copies me. It means that someone really enjoys my work,and that I have inspired them! The important part of that is they have to make it their own! Thats what I saw when I saw her work - Inspiration, and I feel I made it my own, I worked hard on that thing!! Not to mention, I saw it on a google search of - camera doodles while looking for free vectors. But, why do we as artists do what we do? We were not born and say oop im a photographer, or oop im a designer! No, we were given inspiration for something. You could have taken an art class in high school and realized that you were an amazing painter, or you could have been given a camera for Christmas and realized that you loved taking photos. Whatever it was, we did not just wake up one morning and say "hey, I think I want to be a photographer (or other) today."

Here is the other part that really bothers me. Lets use this hypothetical situation: What if I was going to school for design and I was asked to create a logo for a photography company and I came up with that same looking camera without looking at hers? What if I came up with the even just the same concept.....Would I still be "infringing" as she thinks? I think she would think that I was...so its a lose, lose situation!

On her facebook page she has an album of her "offenders" where she states that they have stolen her design. One of the alleged "thieves" has a photo of an owl where she claims that this is 100% her design. I laugh at this because, I have the same exact owl that I downloaded completely legally off of 123vector. com. Not to mention if you do a google search for free camera clip art....her "design" comes up on several sites for free by other authors.

I send her a message letting her know that I drew the camera myself, and that I am indeed not a designer, that her art was an inspiration, how much I loved her work, that I have no problem at all linking to her (you know since mine isn't for sale & hers is *marketing*) and that I hoped I didn't cause any hard feelings. I asked her to remove the childs face from the image that she took (yes took) and got no response. Then she posts my blog on there....my bad, forgot I had it on there...changed it and linked to her! No problemo! The odd part is that according to Etsy, she changed her policies as of today....hmmmm- its killing me to know what she changed...lol!

Bottom line....I can breath easily knowing that it was not stolen! Its people like her that make the industry so hard, everyone has to start somewhere and learn and do. That just happened to be my doing point, not my starting point! If I could bang out a drawing like that just starting out I am doing the wrong thing.  So should I be flattered that I was able to replicate her camera to the point where she thought it was one she did? YES!!!! and I am!!!! I give credit where credit is due, the end!  And, you can't own the copyright of something so universal like a doodled camera or a concept as she puts it, especially when its plastered all over the internet for free! If we could do that, I call dibs on the copyright of my fav pose!

For goodness sakes I have 2 followers on my blog and one of them is me!!! Seriously...I don't think its reaching that many people! But I am definitely sharing this! :D 

Thank you for letting me vent! :)

Logo it up!

So, I have always tampered around with logos but, I never fully got "into" them. That was until today when I got a little deeper into them, and had an amazing photographer tell me she was going to kick my butt if I didn't start doing more designs. Well, I don't want a butt kicking! So, I spent a lot of hours tinkering away, and, well needless to say; I am hooked. Kind of like a pinterest addiction hooked. Here are some of the things that I came up with! Let me know what you think! :)



      This first one is kind of a biggy for me! I actually hand drew this camera! Took me 4 hours, It was based off of a GREAT artist!! You should definitely check her Etsy out, she is a great inspiration! I wish I was this fluent in it like she is, but she is amazing!! 
                                        Check her out here:   www.helloaimi.etsy.com
My lines are all squiggly, and wide, hers are perfectly proportioned! Think im going to stick to vectors! 
Oh, and sorry about the big 'ol copyright C, but I gotta protect my stuff!

 Hope you enjoy! A quick tutorial on how to make one of these logos coming up soon!

Do you have a request?

Do you have a request for a tutorial? Or maybe a question, need tips, anything! Let me know here!