Studio Tour

So you may have heard the big news that I've opened my own photography studio, Photography by Gwen is now officially open and running so I thought I'd give you a tour of my little place. It's taken a few months of hard work to get it up to scratch but I'm so happy with the final results and now I have a place of my own to be creative and do what I love the most.

So I've been collecting props and backgrounds recently. I have four paper roll backdrops fixed to one wall which are really easy to roll out and roll away again when not needed. Paper rolls are probably the easiest backdrops to work with as you can trim off the bits that get filthy and start fresh. I've got a section of wall covered in wooden effect wallpaper and one wall of fairy lights with a sheer white curtain which creates a beautiful bokeh effect.

The reception area follows a black, silver and pink theme with crazy Marilyn wallpaper! Most of the furniture and accessories are from IKEA with a few cushions from TK Maxx. I've definitely become a little bit addicted to decorating and home diy on Pinterest. This is where people also come back to view their images and have a cup of tea of course.

Decoration wise I have several framed images up on the studio walls but one of my favourite spots is my framing rails on the wall above one sofa. These are also from IKEA and feature lots of little framed photos and a few props. I like the idea I can change this around every now and again and add or take things away.

If you'd like to have a further look at the studio check out my website and Facebook page and there you will find lots of images and information on booking an appointment! If you'd like to visit the studio for a shoot don't hesitate to ask and I'm sure I can sort out some blogger reader discount! You can also see what I get up to at work on my Twitter page dedicated to Photography by Gwen.

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How To Edit a White Background for Your Photos

I often photograph objects, makeup, products on a plain white background for my blog photographs. It makes a simple clear image that shows off the product well and keeps things looking fresh. But achieving this pure white (or close enough) backdrop for my photos is something that often happens afterwards in editing software such as Photoshop. I use CS5 but the tips and tricks I'm about to show you as far as I know are available in most versions of Photoshop.

You don't need an expensive studio set up to achieve this look for your blog photographs. I'm going to show you the main steps I apply to all my blog images when I want a white background. I take the majority of my blog photos at home, in my bedroom using very simple and inexpensive equipment. These days I'm much happier with grey toned backdrops but sometimes a product may require a bright white space for that 'studio' look.

Firstly I photograph my objects on a white table top or in the past I've used a large white sheet of card and a white wall. I use as much natural light as possible (big window) and a small continuous softbox to make less work for myself in Photoshop. I make sure my camera settings are set for a light bright photograph but I don't want anything to be over-exposed. This is when you'll start to loose detail and sharpness.

Even with all this light, the white background can still look grey and a little dull. So here's how I fix it...

How to Edit a White Background in Photoshop

Curves

Open up your photo in Photoshop. Duplicate the layer so you can always revert back to the original. I always start with Curves. Hit 'CTRL+M' for the shortcut or go to Image > Adjustments > Curves to open up the Curves box. I bring the whites up slightly, and then the blacks down slightly. Forming this subtle curve seen above. You do this by clicking and dragging the line. Don't go overboard! We can always come back and repeat this step again. Click OK.

Levels

Next I go to Levels. 'CTRL+L' or Image > Adjustments > Levels. I bring up the white as seen here on the right hand side of the graph, and then bring back down the black a tiny bit for contrast. This will brighten up any areas on your image that are white and enrich any areas that are black. The grey slider is useful too, just move things around to see what happens to your photo. I don't stick by any strict numbers, each image is different. 

Dodge

By now you should your photo is brightening. The background appears whiter and the contrast is stronger. However you may have shadowy grey corners still lurking about, and outer edges of your image may appear duller than the center frame. I grab my Dodge tool (lollipop) which is a lightening tool. I reduce the exposure to around 50-70% seen in the first photo at the top and then go about sweeping the brush along the outer edges of my photo. A little at a time, short but smooth clicks. You can always hit CTRL+ALT+Z to reverse any mistakes. Avoid going over the objects in the photo too much as you will lighten up areas that don't need lightening. 

Selective Colour

Looking better! If needed I may go into Image>Adjustements>Selective Colour. From here I choose the colour 'Whites' from the drop down list and move the Black slider down to around -25% this will reduce any black colour (or grey tones) found in the white areas of the image.

Saturation 

After all this tweaking and adjusting you may find your image is now looking a bit too bold and overdone. This can usually be sorted by reducing the saturation slightly. 'CTRL+U' brings open the Hue/Saturation box or Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation and you can slide down the Saturation bar to your desired look. 

Sharpen

I give everything a quick, subtle sharpen to finish. Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask brings up the box and I'm careful not to over sharpen as this will create a pixelated effect to your photos. And you're done!

Compare to your original to see how much it's been improved! You will never achieve clinical strength pure white product shots using this technique, for that you'd need studio lights and much more expensive equipment. But this is a simple solution for everyday images and for clear and professional looking product shots.

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Red Lipstick for Beginners

[Above L-R Jelly Pong Pong Lip Blush, Mac Chili, Natural Collection Crimson, Yves Rocher Mauve] 

"Ahhh red lipsticks are scary, I could never pull them off!" Were my thoughts for the majority of my teenage years and beginning of my young adult years. I'm now 22 and finally feel comfortable wearing red lips. It helps that red lipstick is now really fashionable and when I was at school and college people were putting foundation on their lips because lo-and-behold nude lipsticks just weren't cutting it!
With today being Valentine's Day I thought what better topic to discuss than how to make a red lip work for you...

I feel much safer in a soft pink or 'better than natural' shade of lipstick but I'm so glad I've finally found my way in the red lipstick camp. Especially for us pale skin ladies it can be hard work finding a red lipstick that suits our colouring and shaking off the paranoia that we look like clowns. I'm about to share with you my top favourite reds (a very small collection) that helped me get over my fear of red lipsticks. These reds are softer, and can be applied with a light hand or built up for more opaque coverage.

Natural Collection 'Crimson' £2.99

Cheap and cheerful this is a bright pink toned red that I bought last minute for a Wonder Woman fancy dress purpose. It did it's job, lasted well all night and didn't smudge. It's since become a bit smushed and broken inside the tube but what can you expect at such a bargain price!

Yves Rocher 'Mauve' £14.50

A dark purple plum-red that's really not as scary as it sounds. It was my first attempt at a darker goth like lip but it's build-able enough to only wear a sheer cover and it looks really young and grungy - not trashy. 

MAC 'Ladybug' £15.00

The ever rising cost of MAC lipsticks will always be painful but without a doubt MAC make the best lipsticks I've ever tried so I will continue to treat myself now and again. Well worth the money. Ladybug is a soft gentle red that's quite sheer. Easy to apply and wear during the day it's a great entry-level red lipstick.

MAC 'Chili' £15.00

My current favourite red lipstick. Maybe even my current favourite lipstick full stop. It's a orange toned matte red that works really well with my pale skin but it's not as bright as 'Lady Danger'. It applies best with a brush and does need top ups throughout the night but it doesn't feel uncomfortably dry on the lips.

Jelly Pong Pong Lip Blush £12.00

I can't find a name on this one but I'm guessing it's the only red shade they make. This came in a Glossybox and you can see a little review and photos of me wearing this shade here. It's soft but easy to apply, I can do it without a lip brush and it's really lovely and moisturising so I forget I have it on most of the time! Quite a pinky soft red so again another great one for beginners. 

Barry M Lip Liner No.3 £2.99

I bought this liner because it was cheap but I've been impressed with how pigmented it is and all you need is a tiny amount of pressure to get a good line. I've since discovered this one only really works with pinkish toned reds such as the Natural Collection and Jelly Pong Pong. I've used this as a lipstick before by filling in my whole lips with it but it can be a tad drying. Helps to keep a layer of lipstick on for much longer though!

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Bokeh Photography Tips

What on earth is bokeh? Well, bokeh is adapted from the Japanese word 'boke' which means "blur" or "haze" and in photography terms it's when the background of your image is aesthetically out of focus or blurry. Little details of light in the background such as fairy lights, candles, sunlight through trees, car headlights or Christmas lights (the list goes on) will blur out to beautiful soft hazy circles such as the photo above! Squint your eyes and look at a string of fairy lights - that's bokeh.

You may have seen images like this all over Pinterest and Instagram. It's a popular technique and I especially love it for night photography or for portraits. So today I'm going to show you how it's done and how you can achieve it too. These tips are basic and I've tried to keep my explanations as easy as possible so those of you who have only just picked up a camera will still be able to follow along...

What You Need

- Camera with manual functions

- A lens with a wide aperture such as a 85mm, 50mm, 35mm 

- Shallow depth of field (i.e. f1.4, f2, 2.8)

- Pretty background and on object to place in the foreground

This technique can be achieved with a standard compact camera but personally I've found it tricky as most compacts do not have manual focus or allow you to manually alter the aperture. Using my DSLR with a 50mm or 35mm fixed lens lens makes it super easy. 

I used a Nikon D3000 with a 35mm fixed lens set on F1.4 and altered my Shutter Speed/ISO accordingly. 

Quick Tips

- Shallow depth of field = where the background is very blurry and out of focus

- Wide Aperture = how wide your camera lens can open up, letting in more light, creating the blurry background. The wider the aperture the smaller the number. For example, an f stop of 1.4 is very large.

- Shutter Speed = how fast the camera takes the picture

How to create Bokeh...

001. Your camera needs to be on the Manual (M) setting. 

002. Turn your aperture to it's lowest number so your lens may take you down to stop f1.4, f2, f2.8 or f4. The smaller the number the better. The shallow depth of field created with a wide aperture stop helps to blur the lights.

003. Alter your shutter speed to compensate for this aperture change. If you don't your image may be very underexposed (dark) or very overexposed (bright) 

004. Shooting in a dark room or out on the street at night will have different needs to shooting in the sunlight or in a well lit room. Trial and error with taking shots and changing the shutter speed until you have your desired look. A tripod or stable surface may come in handy especially if you are shooting in a dark room.

005. Shooting in a spot with lots of twinkly lights in the background works the best. Fairy lights are perfect for practicing. 

006. Point, and focus on the object in the foreground, whether that's your coffee mug or your mum's face. The foreground object/subject needs to be a fair distance from your background lights - you can play around with this distance.

007. Moving the camera closer to your foreground subject, or zooming in will also increase the bokeh. 

008. Take the shot! Take lots of shots! Keep trying, adjust the settings if it's not quite right - if the whole photo is blurry put the camera on a solid surface. 

Extra Tips

- Shooting in a low light room or outdoors makes the bokeh effect especially obvious. 

- But you'll need to light up your main subject (lamps or spotlights work well) 

- Try moving the background lights around if possible or move yourself around the scene for different angles

This effect can make your blog photos or even portrait photos of your friends and family extra special. If you enjoyed reading these photography tips please let me know and if you'd like to see more in the future leave me a comment with your burning photography questions and I'll do my best to answer them! If you have any questions about anything mentioned in this post feel free to ask me on Twitter. Have fun with your Bokeh photographs!