I kind of feel like the writing portion of this blog has gone to the dogs lately. Maybe it's that I don't have enough time to do the photos and the words. Or maybe I'm just uninspired.
Did you see the new header? Do you want to know a secret?
That moment never actually happened.
But these moments did...
(these are straight out of the camera, only resized and sharpened, so excuse the color cast, slight underexposure and the nasty spot on my sensor. Lots of love to anyone who wants to point me in the direction of some good sensor-cleaning knowledge.)
I thought these two shots would look pretty awesome if, you know, they merged. So they did. I rarely do face swaps but when I do I walk away feeling pretty shnazzy. It's particularly useful when you're photographing a family that has a constant blinker or picture-face-maker. As long as you're photographing the subjects from the same distance and under the same lighting conditions (this is where burst mode comes in handy although I admit I've never used it) the headswap is pretty easy. It goes like this:
Use the lasso tool to select the good face from the photo you're taking it out of. Then go to edit - copy and drag the face you've selected onto your other photo and position it where it should go. Now choose your eraser tool and use it to clean up the weird looking area around the face. If the face is tilted differently or a slightly different size than it should be then you can use the transform tool (ctrl-t) to adjust it. Just be sure to lock that tool (the little chain icon along the top of the toolbar) before you play with it or you'll end up with a wonky looking face. Be sure to do all this BEFORE your regular workflow. Ta-da!
If I had any idea how to do screenshots I would include those. More love to anyone who shows me how to do that. See people, I share what I know but I still know very little. :)
Have fun!
(and for the record, the moment captured in the above shot in this post DID actually happen. Don't go thinking that I'm some sort of moment-manipulator all the time now.)
(and man, am I happy with the hyphens and parentheses today or what???)
26 comments:
I love your new header! Adorable kids!!
Love the new header and the title is adorable. I also love the last pictures on your Disney post. They are the most beautiful that I've seen!
Photo merge is awesome. I use it sometimes. The girl have such beautiful smiles and Jacob, well, sometimes looks blankly at what is going on. I do like the header.
I love the new header! I want a photo just like this of my three kids so badly! You amaze me everyday with your wonderful photos! Have a wonderful day!
Nice work! I'm very impressed (as always) and thanks for sharing your knowledge. . . it's way more than I know!
"Then go to edit"....
then what??
Love the new header!!
What do you do once you use the lasso tool and then go to "edit"?
Adorable new header!
Oh weird...something ate my post!
I'll fix that later!
okay, should be fixed now.
Love, love, love the new header! And I loved all the Disney pics, too. I'm sure it was a really magical trip for all of you, but especially for the Pigbear.
LOVE IT!!!! The look of love in Sarah's eyes when she looks at her brother is always so touching.
Erin...Love the new banner and thanks for the tips on photo merge. I have not used it yet, but really need to get in there and do so. My chances of getting all three kiddos to cooperate at once are slim to none!
That is the absolute header of headers, You did a great job! As far as the screen shots go, can you just press the "print screen" button on the keyboard and then go to word and do Control + V? It has worked for me in the past but I have not tried it in a long time :) Good luck and thank you for sharing your secrets, you are so awesome :)
p.s. I dont think my pse is compatible with your actions...darn it, I guess I have to go by CS now... :)
The new header is super sweet!
I'm going to work on my head swapping right now!
Such a cute new header!!
I use Magic tape to clean my sensor. Here's a link to a how-to:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1034&message=16542910
I did read somewhere else that the 5D sensor is easier to damage than others, so proceed with caution. :)
I love the new header Erin!
I thought I would share how I do head swaps... I do them quite a lot :-) I just crafted this up myself so I'm not saying its the best way to do it, it is just how I do it. It works well if other people in the photo have moved.
First I "select all" of photo with the face I want use as a swap. Then I paste it into a new layer on the photo that needs swapping. I then change the opacity of the top layer to 50% or so and use the move tool to line up the face with the head, or the surroundings. Then I adjust the opacity back to 100% and add a layer mask and with my brush tool mask out the unwanted sections of the top photo. If I accidentally mask off too much it is super easy brush the details back in.
Then flatten the image and process.
Here is an example I did with three kiddos because there wasn't a single shot where they would all look at the same time. Most of these were body swaps not just head swaps. I did fix mom's leg before I ordered the picture for them though:-)
http://kuntzcrew.com/Kuntzcrew/Caine_files/031.jpg
Shortime lurker her and I just had to say that I love, love, love the new header and blog title. Thanks so much for sharing the many adventures of your beautiful, loving family. Your pictures truly inspire me to really see what my new SLR can do and your posts remind me how lucky I am to be a mommy!
I like the new Masthead but honestly I kinda like the one with Pigbear's eyes closed. I think she looks dreamy. :)
Kelly, very cool. Thanks for sharing!
love the banner - and the use of parens and dashes ;)
yep, "printscreen" key is on the very top row, right above insert and delete on a dell keyboard
Check out Giottos Rocket Air Blower to clean your sensor. It was the best $10 I have ever spent. Just be super duper careful when cleaning your sensor. Make sure you have a fully charged battery, turn to sensor cleaning mode, and hold the camera downward. I think use the rocket blower (making sure I never touch the camera). Sometimes you have to do it several times (like blow it, turn the camera off, check to see if the spot is removed and repeat). It works wonders - I promise!!
Love the new header!
Sweet header! And you are just one heck of a manipulator...I never would have known!
"know very little" my behind! You know way more than the rest of us, Erin!! (or at least me). I have a ton of questions, but I'm going to email them...
The header is perfect.
Awesome tip -- I forget that I can do that. The newest version of Elements (6) has a photo merge/group shot feature for doing just this thing and they make it really easy.
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