by laurenawagner | Apr 10, 2020
While social distancing because of COVID-19 I decided it was a good time to brush up on my photoshop skills. Creating Marilyn Diptych photos was surprisingly similar to colorizing old black and white photos. This made the whole process incredibly easy.
For starters you need a photo with no background. I took a photo of myself and used the quick selection tool to select my body. I then used the select and mask button to remove everything. I then saved a photo of myself with no background. After this I needed to create contrast in the photo. I went to the Image menu, then selected threshold. I played with the levels until I found a look that I liked. In order to get the colors I googled Andy Warhol Marilyn and used the eye dropper to pick my colors off of an image. When you apply the colors to your image you need to make a new layer for everything you are coloring. For example mine has a layer for my hair, skin, eyes, lips, and skirt. Make sure for your color blending you select multiply and keep the opacity at 100%. The brush your selected color over the areas you want to be that color.
Here’s my original unedited photo.
Here is my photo with the background removed and the image threshold applied.
Here is the final result.
Another method that looks really cool is if you edit the image threshold (so everything is in black and white) and just put a solid color background. I made a poster like this for a game we were playing at my friends bachelorette party!
by laurenawagner | Mar 9, 2020
Can we talk about how fun it is to take engagement photos for your best friend?! It is so easy because you already know the couple and they are comfortable in front of you. Gavin and Raquel are seriously the cutest! This photo shoot was so fun! Raquel picked the location there are three lakes off of Buffalo & Cheyenne in Las Vegas. Who would have thought you could get waterfront photos in Las Vegas? These photos are so dreamy! Thanks for letting me help you prepare for your special day!
by laurenawagner | Dec 22, 2019
This year on Black Friday I impulse bought a new camera. This is because my Canon Rebel T3i started to get really grainy. In that cameras defense it was wonderful to learn on but it was eight years old. I ended up getting a Sony α7 II. It has been interesting to make the jump from Canon to Sony. In an effort to figure out my new camera I convinced my friends to do a photo shoot out in the desert. These girls are champions! They hiked in heels for these photos!
Brooke & Hannah are best friends and are seriously the cutest. I love seeing their friendship!
by laurenawagner | Aug 23, 2018
Restoring Old Photos
I was looking at old family photos and I was just thinking about how cool it would be to see them in color. I then realized that I could do that. Photos that were in color were just painted on the photo and I realized I could do the same thing in photoshop. I looked up a video to see what they recommend. I then took photos of both of my grandmothers and colorized them.
The process of colorizing is that each color is it’s own layer. You change the opacity of the color to overlay and then you use a masking layer to “paint” the color on to the image. Each color is it’s own layer. It takes a bit of effort to do this process but it turns out really cool.
After I completed the photos of my grandmothers my brother in law asked if I would do the same thing for a photo of his father and uncle at their high school graduation. I agreed and it was so much fun to do the photo. It had a lot of damage so I tried my best to fix it.
I’m happy to have preserved my family history but provide a color accurate version for future generations to enjoy. Check out these before and afters!
by laurenawagner | Jun 30, 2018
Eagle Scout is the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America Program. To achieve this ranking scouts must obtain 21 merit badges and complete a Eagle Scout Project. These projects demonstrate leadership skills and typically help the community in one form or another. According to the BSA only 4% of scouts achieve the Eagle Scout Ranking. Congratulations Jaren on being an Eagle Scout!
