Its All About The Vintage...

Seeing how the times change and life never seems to slow down, nor does the style of our images. Its said that history will often times repeat itself within every aspect of our own lives. Repeating within everything from our clothes to how we take photographs. With the wonders of digital photography it is now that much easier to recreate the things we loved so much from our vintage world.

Just recently, I took that new found love of the ever popular vintage film style and reworked it for Filmateria Digital. It all started as a simple portrait thought up by Mark Contratto, Photography Director: Filmateria. I worked on set for this photo session of portraits as their Digital Tech. As I watched the images come up on the monitor, one by one I thought to myself what else could it be?

Walla! A fun retro style was born. After consulting with Mark over the new idea I had for the post production of the image, I went full speed ahead. I brought the original image into Photoshop and quickly duplicated the file just to be safe. Next, I adjusted the red and blue channels on the curves layer in order to give a washed out feel. Then I also made adjustments in the hue/ saturation, the levels and used quite a few blur filters to give it that special something. I then used several different layers to create the sun/light leak look by using the brush tool and motion blur.

Once the image was finished, everyone was in love! I went on to create two other looks for Mark and the Filmateria Digital Portfolio.

The seasons come around rather fast and often times we move just as fast as they do. Often forgetting to make changes and keep updated. This is completely true in my case. I realized that my schedule became so packed that I had forgotten to update everything! With that in mind, I turn in to a internet mad woman! I left no web page unturned and now my efforts are starting to show.

SB PHOTOGRAPHIC DESIGNS got a completely new look for the website. As well as several new areas for you to visit including services offered, about, and testimonials. I also added new images for retouching in Architecture, Product, People and Full Manipulation. All images include a before & after for side by side viewing. Everyone now has the chance to see how the images started and how they ended.

Besides the website getting a complete overhaul, I decided to change the blog layout for SB PHOTOGRAPHIC DESIGNS as well. I wanted to keep with a nice clean theme and have it focus more on the imagery and information giving. Now I just have to make the time in between editing to update the blog more often. :)

Last but not least, I need to update out facebook page. I have to admit, I've been pushing this one off a bit. Every time I try to work with the page it seems to gain a mind of its own. If anyone would have any advice on how to update our facebook page without losing any of my hair, it would be greatly welcomed.

Website Update!

Finally the sb photographic designs has a new look!! After much deliberation and going through so many choices, I've finally settled on a new look. I love the way the images are framed and you also get a little thumbnail preview on the bottom for some user ease. I hope you like it as much as I do!!

www.sbphotographicdesigns.com

Frozen in Time

Ever wanted to take a step back from a fabulous day and freeze it in motion? I have on several occasions, so I figured why not? Why not take an image and FREEZE it!?! Sounds crazy right, maybe a little hard to do, but with Photoshop its simple! I give you a step by step break down of how I froze my subject in time.

The Base Image

To start off my project I need to have a image that looked as if it could be stopped in time. The movement needed to be captured, yet I still

wanted it to look graceful when I froze. (No hair in odd places!) I also didn't want the image to be too perfect as well. When I looked at ice, I noticed all the imperfections in it. I wanted to try to recreate that imperfect look.

Wind BLAST!

After getting my basic image set to what I wanted, I used the wind filter to create almost an odd melting effect. Before you use this filter, rotate your image sideways so your marks will face up and down (just like ice) and not side to side. After you rotated your image, go to Filter, Stylize, Wind and select Blast. Play around with the settings until you get a look that you love! Once you have the effect you like, make sure you rotate your image back to its original state.

Plastic Wrap...?

After the wind has blown away your subject, we need to make it a little be more icey. For this we are gonna wrap them in plastic! Or a nice photoshop filter. I made a copy of my wind blast layer, but you can also use a smart filter as well.

On your new layer, go to Filter, Artistic, Plastic Wrap. Try different settings until you get an effect that you like for your image. Each image is unique so different setting is almost always a must.

Time for Shift Change...Color Shift that is!

Once you have your cool ice look, you may want to change the color to something a little cooler. I started by adding a New Levels Adjustment Layer (Settings: 15, 0.70, 236). Next, I proceeded to add a New Hue/ Saturation Adjustment Layer (Settings: 215, 38, 0). These layers created the nice blue in the image, but remember each one is different, so play around until you get something that works for you.

Were almost there, the home stretch is in the clearing!

Now that we have fully frozen the subject, you may want to ad a little bit of frost to the ice cover. I achieved this frost effect by used using a nice soft brush in white and painted onto a new layer. I also brought down the layers opacity to about 50% and changed the blend mode to a nice soft light.

Well there you have it. How to Freeze a moment in time, well with a photograph and Photoshop anyways. I hope you got some great ideas and create frozen fun!

First Blog In The New World

Wow! I finally have a blog to call my own. Some one told me today that they were shocked to learn that SB PHOTOGRAPHIC DESIGNS didn't have a blog. Much to my surprise, I never really thought about making a blog before. As the day went on I realized this person of observance was right, I needed to get a blog.

So, here I am! SB PHOTOGRAPHIC DESIGNS has entered the blogging world. By having created said blog, I am looking to inform people about what it is I do. SBPD creates images from start to finish and is a Photoshop nut! I help to create images through Photoshop and other programs, as well has retouch photos.

From time to time, I will be posting different techniques I found to be helpful and just some really fun, interesting things I found along the way!

Happy Photoshoppping!