Photo editing tips and tricks

Many think that people use Photoshop to make their bad photos look good. While Photoshop does make anything possible if you put enough work into it, I believe that it rarely makes a bad photo good but it can make any photo better. I have been taking portraits for a few years now and have been using Photoshop for a few years more and I have learned a few techniques that I use on almost every photo to enhance the raw image.

Here is an example of a photo that I took on my cell phone.



The first thing I do to every photo is make a duplicate layer and apply an unsharp mask.
I keep the threshold at 0 and depending on the resolution of the image, keep the radius between 1 and 3 pixels. The amount is entirely up to you.



Next, I adjust the curves and usually increase the contrast by applying what is called an "S Curve". Youll have to play with it a little bit to get used to how the curve works but it is a powerful tool for adjusting the light in a photo.



Lastly you can make a new layer and fill it with the color of your choice. set the blend mode to overlay and drop the opacity until it looks the way you want. This is a nice, simple way to give a warm or cool feel to an entire photo.




And that's it! those are three easy ways to enhance any photo! be sure to play around with settings and experiment to find a look you like.

Thirsty?

I have another food related post but I assure you that my blog will not always be about the grocery store. This time I'm going to talk about a beverage. Arizona tea to be specific.



For the past few years, I have become a huge fan of this refreshing drink, not only for the great tastte and large variesy of flavors, but because there is a 99 cent price printed on every 23 ounce can! this means that wherever they are sold, the store can't jack the price up like they do to other popular beverages. However, this is not news to many people. Everyone and their babysitter know about the refreshing 99 cent Arizonas but not as many people know that Walgreens likes to put these puppies on sale for 5o cents! that's right! two 23oz cans of sweet liquid heaven for only a dollar!



I asked a worker if they have a schedule for when they go on sale and he said that it seems random and only corporate knows, but in my experience, it happens quite often and for a week at a time. Perfect for stocking up so you have plenty left when the sale ends.

BREAD!

I love bread. I'm sure most people do, so I would like to share some tips that I have learned about shopping for bread.

When you go to get a loaf of bread, the bread aisle often looks like this:



The bread is often stacked in rows from the floor to about 6 feet high. the majority of people that buy bread will just grab for the easiest loaf to get their hands on, which is probably in the 3-5 ft from the ground section. What most don't know is that they restock the newest bread on the floor so if you reach for the bottom row, you can usually get a loaf of bread that is 1 or even 2 days fresher! another note is that the tags that close the bag are color coded and often dated.
since bread is restocked 5 days a week, here are what colors represent each day of the week:

Monday, the tag color is BLUE
Tuesday, the tag color is GREEN
Thursday, the tag color is RED
Friday, the tag color is WHITE
Saturday, the tag color is YELLOW

(notice how the colors go in alphabetical order, so if you forget this, just remember that the red is older then the white.)

Another cool thing you can do with bread tags is label your cords and cables!



and lastly, I don't usually like to endorse products but I have to say, Cascade Pride makes the most delicious bread and WinCo. sells it for only a dollar! It is by far my favorite of the white/wheat.

Lets Learn!

I have finally decided to start a blog and share the useful things i learn throughout my life. sometimes I will post video tutorials and sometimes I will simply share a photo or bit of text that i find useful and interesting. I hope you all enjoy it!