05 November 2013

Beginner Blogger's Bootcamp: Week Five: Editing Nail Photos

The Beginner Blogger's Bootcamp is a series of posts published once a week on Monday evenings (or Tuesday morning when trying to edit video). It is designed for new bloggers, those thinking of starting a blog, or seasoned bloggers wanting a refresher, and covers everything from starting a blog to photographing your nails to using social media. Check out past posts in this series.

Hi bloggers! Before I get into talking about editing, I want to let you know that the bootcamp will be on hiatus next Monday. Next week I'll be doing a week-long challenge with the Digit-al Dozen, so the bootcamp will return two weeks from today on November 18th.

Editing can be a touchy subject, especially when it comes to photographs being "honest." For that reason this post may sound a tad bit more formal at times...

Bloggers vary greatly in the amount of editing that they do. Some might simply crop and watermark their photographs, while others will rotate, adjust levels, crop, add text, even frames. The purpose of this post is to show you the different editing tools that are at your disposal. And since seeing someone else's process can be helpful, I'll go through my own process of editing my photos.






The Purpose of Editing

Nothing beats a photo that is clear and in focus, with perfectly balanced lighting, but sometimes things don't work out that way. Perhaps the sun went behind the clouds before you could get a good photo, or you realized too late that your backdrop has a stain on it (mine does!). Or maybe your camera captures a colour incorrectly. Those difficiencies can be fixed in the editing process.

Photo editing is about representing nail polish or nail art in a way that is clear and honest, but also presents your nails in the best possible light. Editing can make your images appealing and eye catching while still being truthful. For example, cropping a photo so that a distracting background is removed will bring focus to the nails.

The purpose of editing is not to misrepresent, to idealize or to fool people. Sure it is possible to make your nails, a particular polish, or even your nail art, look better than it actually is, but that is not the way to build an audience for your blog. Readers tend to follow bloggers that they trust. So it is much better to show your less than perfect photos and work on improving your technique.

Yet I've also seen cases where bloggers are accused of "photoshopping" their photos because they are "too good," where perhaps it is just a case of the blogger having an excellent lighting setup/camera/nail shape etc. For me, if someone has photographs that look "too good," I'll give them the benefit of the doubt until evidence proves any wrongdoing.


Editing Software

When it comes to photo editing software, Photoshop is generally considered to be the best. However, if you don't have a couple hundred dollars to spend, here's a few lower cost alternatives. This is just a basic list, I don't have the time or expertise to put together an exhaustive list of program, but hopefully this will help you get started if you are looking for something to edit photos.

Picasa: This is Google's image sharing/editing/organizing program. It's free and you download it onto your computer. I don't have much experience with this one but I've heard good things about it.

Pixlr: This is a free online editing program. I've only dabbled with it, but my initial impression was very good. It's easy to use and if you are familiar with Elements, this is very similar. The only downside is that it's online, so if you have a spotty wifi connection, that might make editing very frustrating.

Pixlr

Gimp: I know some people use Gimp, but I've tried several times and cannot figure it out. Gimp is a free, open source software that you download on your computer.

Photoshop Elements: I've been using Elements for close to a year now and I'm very happy with it. It's a bit pricey (around $100 in the US/Canada), but I was able to get it for cheaper because I bought Elements 10 right around the time that Adobe came out with Elements 11. Elements has a lot of the tools you would see in Adobe Photoshop, however one thing it doesn't have is a vector tool. That's the tool you need in order to do a curved watermark. So if you really have your heart set on doing a curved watermark, Elements isn't your program.

Do you have any free or affordable image editing programs that you think should be on this list? Let me know in the comments!


Common Editing Tools for Nail Photos

These are just some of the basic tools that you might use when editing your photos. Generally, most photo editing programs will have these functions. How much or how little time you spend editing your photos has more to do with your blogging style, so don't think you need to spend a lot of time editing in order to have a great blog!

Crop: Cropping is used to take out all the extra stuff, so you can bring focus to your nails. Some bloggers prefer to have some background around their hand, while others crop their photos so that you only see the nails and parts of the fingers (The PolishAholic is an example of this). Most bloggers tend to centre their nails in the middle of the picture, while others like to crop their photos so that their nails are off center, making the composition more dynamic (Fashion Polish is an example of this).

Tightly cropping the image to place
more emphasis on the nails

Off-centered compositions can be more dynamic

Contrast/Brightness: Sometimes photos come out too dull, too dark, too light, etc. The Brightness/Contrast function is useful for making sure that your photos have a good range of lights and darks.

Adjust Colour: This is useful for adjusting the colour of polishes if you are editing swatch photos and your camera did not capture a colour correctly. It can also be used to adjust the colour of skin tones.

Text: Used to add watermarks, or the name or information about a polish. However, in my video I'll teach you how to use the brush tool to add watermarks in a way that is soooo much easier!

Eraser Tool: This can be used to blur out a background, or to edit out an unsightly wound. Some people feel that editing out a scar or wound is dishonest, while others think it's acceptable. It's up to you if you want to do something like that. I personally feel that open sores and wounds are distracting, and I've had one or two instances where I've had a cut on my finger and edited it out. I want people to look at the polish not my open cut - especially if I'm doing reviews for a polish company or indie maker. If I had a permanent scar I probably wouldn't edit it out - that would be way too time consuming!

Rotate: Sometimes a hand pose can look really appealing if it's turned around. I encourage you to try rotating your images to see if it would work for your hand pose.


How I Edit My Nail Photos

I'm not an expert in editing photographs, but I know that sometimes it helps to see how someone else does it. For that reason I put together some videos on how I edit my photographs. I apologize in advance, they are pretty awkward! I get super nervous and tend to say "ummm" a lot - I'm not trying to be annoying but it's hard to talk for a video. I hope that you still find them useful.

You can also head over to my YouTube Chanel to watch these videos if you prefer.


How I Edit My Nail Photos: Part 1, Basic Editing


This covers the basics of how I edit my photos: adjusting for lightness/contrast, adding sharpness, cropping, etc.


How I Edit My Nail Photos: Part 2, Adjusting Colour



This covers adjusting the colours of a nail polish or skin tone. I go over two different methods for adjusting the colour of a polish. This is very useful if you plan to post swatches.


Easy Watermark Tutorial



I show how to create a watermark using the brush tool. This saves me a lot of time when I am adding watermarks to my photos!


Final Thoughts

Like any aspect of blogging, editing photos takes time and practice. It might feel like a lot of work when you are starting to learn a new photo editing program, but once you have a "system" down, it will only get easier! And if editing overwhelms you, just keep in mind that many advanced bloggers use very simple editing techniques.


Let's Hear From You!

What part of editing photos do you struggle with? Do you have your own system yet? Experienced bloggers, let's hear from you, how do you edit your nail photos?

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See also:

34 comments:

  1. Great post hun. I personally think that erasing is OK. I use it often and I blame my two cats for it. I often find tiny hair stuck on my nails (of course I notice it after I take all the photos) and eraser is useful for that.

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    1. Thanks so much Paulina! I have the same problem, if it's not cat hair, it's random pieces of fuzz. Ugh! I've gotten better at catching it, but they still make it into my photos from time to time.

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    1. Thanks for sharing! I checked out their website and they seem to have an easy to use set up. I'll add it to the list. :)

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  3. This is a great post! I feel like editing a certain amount is fine. I'm with Paulina, I have three cats and no matter how hard I try, there's usually a cat hair somewhere haha! I use photoshop as well.

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    1. Thanks Erin! What would we do without our fur-babies!? Haha! ;)

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  4. I use GIMP for mine, it can be kind of finnicky but I guess I'm getting used to it now.
    I always erase wounds though; recently my hands are totally ruined from work and I even developed a callus or two. : ( It will take ages to heal, and I know that nobody wants a macro shot of that on their computer screen, so it's edit it out, or take a break from blogging (which I don't want to do)
    Thanks for another great post, I am finding these very useful : )
    xx

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    1. Thanks for the feedback Penny Pinching Polish. I'm glad I'm not in the minority when it comes to editing out those things - wounds, cat hair, etc. I agree that it detracts from the polish, and makes the photos unappealing.

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  5. Thank you so much Meghan! I didn't know that you could select just one color to adjust. That will be really handy. My camera hates purples! I wish I'd known about it when I showed Picture Polish Imperial...I had to turn my skin a crazy orange to get the color of the polish right :-( P.S. You did a great job on the youtube video!

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    1. Serene, you're very welcome. I'm glad you found the video useful. I used to do the same thing as you - change the colour of the entire picture - before I figured out this technique. :)

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  6. Great post, as usual! I edit freely - I have a couple of freckles that distract from the polish, so I remove them! Haha. I do find that the most difficult part is consistency with skin color. Most of the time I don't color correct, so my skin looks different in every photo!

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    1. Thanks Kelli - I don't really adjust my skin colour for consistency either, it's too much to do on top of everything else. I only adjust it if it's way off base - for example, if my skin is too red.

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  7. I haven't had time to watch your videos, but I sure plan on it!!! This was super informative!!!! Thank you!!!

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    1. I hope you find them helpful when you get a chance to check them out! :)

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  8. I've only had my FB page for a few months, and have never edited any of my pix, other than cropping and watermarking... I do want to learn to do a curved watermark, but if I don't figure that out, it's all OKAY! :)

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    1. In order to do a curved watermark, you need to have a program that has a vector tool (or something like that), otherwise your letters look all wonky. Here's a good tutorial on how to do that with Photoshop (pro version). http://www.lacquerheadsofoz.com/2013/02/photoshop-for-nails-curved-watermark.html
      And another using GIMP: http://www.kaylashevonne.com/2013/01/tutorial-curved-text-watermark.html

      You can't really do this type of watermark with a program like Photoshop Elements, but GIMP is free if you can't afford the pro version of Photoshop.

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  9. Great video on how you adjust the nail polish colour! I've used a different technique but this looks so much easier. Can't wait to try it out!
    About "photoshopping" and editing. It's really sad that some people think it's cheating. It's one of the most important aspects and I think that it’s a waste of a good picture if you can't put the finishing touch on it.

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    1. Thanks Tennnails, I'm glad that you found it helpful. If you are doing swatches for review it's so important to have accurate colour. As for everything else, I couldn't agree more. :)

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  10. Again, a truly informative, helpful and awesome workshop post. Phew. I've read and watched twice and pick up on more each time. Thank you so much. I am currently using Photoshop Lightbox and love its ability to import, organize and select the best photos. Am still learning its intricacies for editing and such. And you're so right, the more you do it, the easier/faster it becomes. Looking forward to DD week and then more of these posts. You rock for doing this!!

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    1. Thanks so much Kimett Kolor! I'm really happy to hear that the videos were helpful and I hope they were super awkward! ;) As for learning to use Photoshop Lightbox, I've actually found that YouTube videos are more helpful than the help feature in the program. I'm using Photoshop Elements and I find that the "help" function in Elements is not always useful. But once you learn to use the different features, editing will become so much easier! :)

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  11. Great post Meghan!
    I do a different technique for my color adjustments (i actually duplicate my photo and then i go in and add colored filters til i get the correct fix and then i erase out the parts i didnt want adjusted) your way seems faster once i master the learning curve! And yeah, I am in the camp that thinks its ok to shop stuff out, cuts, cat hairs...no one wants to see that stuff, and if they say they do its because they don't know how to do it - but now with this post, they can too!

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    1. Thanks so much Missy! :) I think the techniques I showed are very easy and they sound easier than what you described. If you are using a different program it might take a little while to figure out how to do it with the program you are using.

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  12. I use Photoscape for my pictures. I don't do much beyond cropping, rotating, and adjusting the overall size, but I find it very easy to use. And it's free ;)

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    1. I've never heard of Photoscape but I will check it out! Thanks for the tip! :)

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  13. I was very curious about the sizing and was relieved that use the same size as me. haha And I'm very fascinated and excited about the watermark! I just set mine up! So relieved I won't have to keep typing it all out for every single picture. Thank you!! Otherwise I did know most of these, but there were some variations that I can't wait to try out to hopefully improve on my photos. :)

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    1. Great Toria! I'm glad you found it helpful! The watermark is a godsend for me, not only saves time but the quality is better than the text tool.

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  14. I use photoshop CS2 which was free!!! The lacquerheadsofoz actually have the tutorial on where to download PS CS2 but basically just search on adobe's site the free downloads. I did this back in May so I don't know if it's still available but it's great! I've used like CS5 in school which was great but honestly.. CS2 isn't that bad! I love how it was free and you could add the curved text and heck, it's Photoshop so you can feel "special" by saying I have Photoshop ;) I had gimp and yeah.. It didn't work for me at all.. :p Anyway! I am loving these "How To Blog" posts! Keep up the amazing work. <3

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    1. Thanks PolishPals - I remember reading that post and saw that there was a free version of Photoshop, woot woot! :)

      And I'm so glad to hear that you are enjoying the series.

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  15. Great post! I personally tried Gimp but felt clueless on using it, I was desperate for a curved watermark! Now I just use an app on my tablet called Aviary, I take photos on DSLR, link it to tablet with USB, my editing process is simply rotate if required, crop, watermark. Occasionally I use the blemish fix if I have a cut for same reason you mentioned but apart from that nothing more. If I colour was c total pig to capture and I needed to tweak the tones then I'd declare it in the post.

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    1. I've never heard of that app, but I will check it out - thanks for the tip!

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  16. Another great post, I will look on the videos when I'm home and have plenty of time to practice as well.

    I try to take photos that are as good as possible from the begining to avoid to much editing. Not sure if I'm on the right track or not, but I'm pretty pleased with the photos I have on my blog.

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    1. That's a really good point - if you try to take good photos to begin with, you don't have to do much editing. Thanks for your comments Helena! :)

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  17. This is a great post! I really enjoyed it, thank you so much for sharing. I've used pixelmator but I switched to Elements thanks to your great videos.

    xx

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    1. Yay! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm still using Elements and I'm very happy with it. :)

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