Monday, February 28, 2011

Picture Upgrades.. Again...

A while back I was looking through an Etsy treasury that featured one of my products.   I noticed that my photos were looking gray and dull compared to many other photos in the treasury. It dawned on me that this is probably why I have not been featured in many treasuries each week.

After sitting down and working on my photos, I found a way to remove the dullness and perk up the photos. It literally looks like day and night. While I am a long way from fixing all the photography problems I am seeing, this is a definite improvement.

So what did I do? I tweaked the contrast. Using the levels function in Photoshop CS4 (Ctrl+L), I used the drop down menu to choose "Increase Contrast 3."




In the cases where that does not provide exactly what I am looking for, I then begin moving the white, black, and gray triangles on the level window to tweak the image and coloring.

I have discovered that the black triangle, increase the depth and sharpness of the shadows in the photo.

The white triangle increases the overall lightness of the photo, including the background and your object. A little of this one goes a long way.

The gray triangle helps to adjust the mid-tones of your photo. This is a good one to tweak if you object looks good, but the overall photo looks a little dark. To fix this, simply move the gray triangle towards the black triangle until it looks like what you want.

So how well has this worked for me?
Before 
After
 I think they are more eye catching. How about you?

If you get a chance, be sure to stop by Christie Cottage's blog today and join the twitter tree!
http://ChristieCottage.blogspot.com
 

7 comments:

  1. Found you on UEF and following! :)

    -Tiffany with Will Write 4 Food
    http://tiffanywillwrite4food.blogspot.com

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  2. What a nice change April, I love your jewelry and that really makes it stand out.

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  3. What a great difference, although your jewelry is very pretty in both pictures.

    www.AllThingsTangled.blogspot.com

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  4. Wow it looks great! What a difference :)

    I'm following your blog now! From uef

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  5. that looks awesome!!!! it's amazing what that contrast can do. i love your blog! found you on unoficial etsy. am following now! -jenn

    my blog: http://thegoodthebadthenet.blogspot.com

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  6. Hi there, I found you on Etsy forums love your blog, also love your shop on Etsy particularily your clutches, so colorful and cheery.
    have you check thic site http://www.etsycouponcode.com/

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  7. oooh they look gorgeous! I've been meaning to shop around for a new photoshop application :)

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