What the heck? Showing off your best online
Fri, June 5, 2009 What a crazy week this has been.. I cannot believe it is Friday already. But here we are..my 4th What the heck? Friday addition..
I went back and forth all week on what I wanted to discuss for this post. There is so much I learned over the past two years and I want to just share it all at once. (This would make for an impossibly long boring post!!)
Well I decided this week that I would skip the camera talk (but keep reading that manual of yours!!) and share with you how to make your pictures look better online.
Can you believe that just uploading your pictures SOOC (Straight Out of Camera) to the computer is NOT the way to showcase your work?
Yeah, I know. I had no idea either. And then I read a fellow photographer’s blog last year and she walked me through the process. Now, when I first read that great tutorial I had no idea how to use Photoshop. I had no idea what a curve was, or a color pop, etc. But what I was able to take absorb from the post started to change how my pictures looked on the web and that alone has improved my clarity in photos.
Fast forward to present day and I currently save three (yep, three) copies of my photos that I edit. I save the original PSD file (Photoshop file) in case I ever want to go back and make edits to my edits, one for print and one for online (the blog, Flickr, Facebook, etc).
I want to show you a picture of SOOC - there is a slight blur/softness to the photo:
And now one sharpened for web with a minor curve adjustment prior to sharpening - see how the eyes are sharp and there is more detail to the photo (I do not use an eye pop on my photos):
HOLY cow right? It totally makes a difference.
This next part is where I share with you the magic of getting clear photos uploaded online. This is not my print workflow (that is slightly different)
So what did I do? Well I use Photoshop CS4 (HUGE thank you to my BIL for that-thank you MP)
First I make all my adjustments to my picture. I typically play with curves and then fix color (I will share my workflow on another What the Heck? Addition) When I have my PSD saved (as mentioned above) I then flatten the image I am going to use for print/online. Please remember that when you flatten, that it is forever, which is why I always keep the original edited PSD file in case I screw something up.
Then I resize my photo for the web. I go into Image/Adjust/Image Size to resize my picture. Tell it to resample and constrain proportions. I resize to 600. That is my “style” for my blog.
**Edited to say, I shoot Raw..so my files are large. Make sure if you are shooting in jpeg that you are shooting at the largest option available to your camera. This will leave you with higher resolution pictures allowing for larger prints. You never want to take a small resolution picture and try to make it bigger..that just makes for a very pixilated mess of a photo.
After I resize I sharpen my photos. This is where the magic happens for me. I go into Filter/Sharpen/Unsharp Mask. I start with the standard 20/60/0 settings and then adjust to my liking. You never want to over sharpen photos. Well, I shouldn't say that. It is all about personal preference. But I will warn you that over-sharpened photos will cause white halos around every edge and very fake looking eyes.
For example, over-sharpened photos on a portrait will make the hair look like straw) See below:
Then I save my newly resized and sharpened file for the web. Save for web is under File/Save for Web & Devices. I always save my pictures as High Quality JPGs. I have yet to really mess around with any of the other “controls” because I already know I like my files at a 600 x (whatever) pixel size.
Again, none of this is the "rule". This is just how I handle my photos for online. As I mentioned online photos are much different than my print work.
I also wanted to share one of my favorite sites to go to for actions for Photoshop. Jodi at MCP Actions/Blog is wonderful. I have personally taken three of her online workshops and it has helped me in "seeing" color issues in my photos. I still have a long way to go, but she has helped my work tremendously.
Jodi at MCP offers a FREE.. see that FREE action for Photoshop. The action resizes and sharpens for web. If you have Photoshop 7 or higher these free actions will work. They won't work for Elements. (sorry Frank). **again, I am not getting paid from her at all.. just found that when I use actions -I like her actions and Pioneer Women's Actions the best.
If I have lost you, or you have any questions, or a better way of saving photos for viewing on the web. Please share or email me at kim (at) kimpacephotographyblog (dot)com.
Now go out and shoot..
Reader Comments (5)
GREAT post Kim! I really enjoyed it! This may be a stupid question but....when you upload your photos SOOC...what is your process. Where do you upload to? This is probably ametuer or jsut a plain stupid question, but since I still barely know what I'm doing, I upload into Picasa, then resize them and export to another folder where I can then do whatever. What's the best route here? THANKS!
My Brain....just exploded......
So cool....I LOVE your what the heck days!
And I too would love to know your basic workflow.
I LOVE that photo!!!!! So cute!!!!
And thanks for the shout out...although I do have to say that I have become a bit lazier the last few months. I have come to depend on actions more and more. I purchased the MCP complete workflow actions...they are awesome. I often just open the photo, run the action, tweak if necessary and save! I love how the photos look, but I know I probably shouldn't rely on actions so much. Oh well.
Great post!
I hit the link to this post this morning, and immediately tried a few of the ideas you had here. Thus, if you looked at your blog stats, I'm sure you saw me.
Now, I actually have time to leave a comment. Thanks for the great info. I wasn't able to get the photo I was working on to shapen as you did, but your info on the unsharpen mask was very useful.
I'm a little behind the times (I only have Photoshop 1), but some of the stuff is the same.
I'm looking forward to more of your "What the heck" posts..........................:)