I’ve done smoke photography in the past, but never went further than capturing it and converting one image to a decent smoke trail.  This time around I wanted to combine different smoke trails in one image.  I loved the result so I decided to share the tutorial with you guys!

What you’ll need:
Camera (with pop-up flash activated or a speedlite to capture the elusive smoke)
Incense sticks
A large room with a black background,  or a black studio box kit if you plan on doing it inside.  I did it outside,  at night,  the smell of the dollar store bought incense was too strong to have it inside.  If you plan on shooting outside, choose a night without wind!

I was inspired this week by some posts I had seen on Facebook about bubbly photography.  I read the tutorial and decided to add my own twist to it.  Not that the tutorial wasn’t clear enough, just that I had another idea I wanted to try and since it worked, well I’m sharing now my own version.

What you’ll need is pretty simple.  A clear glass container,  preferably with flat surfaces,  like a square vase,  I used an old fish bowl.  You will also need sparkling water,  any regular carbonated water will do.   Make sure it’s not a sugared one,  it will get sticky.   And a lens that allows you to get close enough.

Here’s the tutorial for this underexposed image.  I could have only corrected the exposure, BUT if you know me, I could not leave it at that.  I needed to make something more, add my artsy touch to it.  So today I’m sharing this editing recipe,  complete steps whether you use PS or PSE,  you’ll get the same results.

Happy New Year everyone!  Wishing you all a wonderful new year, may your dreams and hopes come true,  and may your projects succeed.

For this first post of 2012 I’d like to share  a quick tutorial for Photoshop CS users.

This tutorial will be about a quick and fun way to edit your images by using the Match Color adjustment feature in Photoshop CS  (I haven’t found a way to make the exact same thing in Elements so far,  but I only have PSE7.  So if you have a newer version of PSE and the feature is available,  let us know!).

Catchlights make any portrait come alive,  with just that glitter of light in the eyes,  your portrait takes a whole new dimension. But the tricky question is,  how to get them?

Well,  if you’re in studio and have control over your lighting, then,  that’s easier. Take a test shot, position your umbrellas or reflectors so the catchlights look natural,  pros suggest a catchlight placed at 10 or 2 o’clock (imagine the eye is a clock).   A catch light at the bottom of the eye is not as appealing.