So when I do an “artistic” edit I will work in Photoshop and use the clone tool at an opacity of about 20-24%.  Then I might add a little fill light, saturation pop and sharpening… that’s pretty much it! For this tutorial I used a picture of my beautiful niece Emily. The sun was beginning to set so she was facing the sun and I just LOVE how the golden light highlighted the different colors in her blue eyes and gave her skin a natural glow.  Here’s the before and after image:

The before image is pretty much straight out of camera, except I did go ahead and adjust white balance and exposure (my basic editing process.)  No other editing has been done to the image.  To see how I edited the final image, here’s a quick video.  Fair warning: I sound pretty subdued in this video. Ha! I totally blame my 4 hour epic “cat nap” before recording it! Hey, I did shoot 2 weddings in one weekend and I made this video the day after. It happens. ;) Ready for the video?

Hey everyone! I’ve been super busy with Bella Pop / spring cleaning / decorating around the house… hope to get some new blog posts up soon of the latest shenanigans. ;)  Right now I’m LOVING this picture of my gorgeous niece Emily.  I took her senior pics recently (can’t wait to share more!) and we had so much fun!

Lately I’ve had a ton of questions about my new online photography classes so I thought I’d post some FAQs.  If you’d love to be able to take pictures like this and really use that awesome camera of yours, consider joining me for a Bella Pop online class!  Here are some frequently asked questions…

What time are the classes?  When you sign up for a Bella Pop online class, your lessons are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This gives you the convenience to learn lessons at your own time and on your schedule for the duration of the class.

What if I need extra time to view the lessons?  If you get behind or miss a week no worries!  Each class gets 1 bonus week (teacher free) to review the lessons and catch up.

I have a busy schedule, how much time should I expect to invest for an online class?  Each weekly lesson includes a short video as well as text to read and photo examples.  It takes about 30 min. to an hour to do the lesson plus 1-2 hours for “shooting practice.”  So figure about 1.5 – 3 hours a week for completing the lesson + any time spent asking questions and reviewing feedback on the private facebook group.

Does it matter what brand camera I have?  You can shoot with any brand camera! I shoot Canon but there are also Nikon examples (as these two are the most popular.)  As long as you have a camera with manual capability for any of the 4 week classes you are set to jet.  Bella Pop’s creative basics 2 week mini classes are currently for all cameras – including point and shoots and cell phone cameras.

I’m not in the States. Can I take Bella Pop online classes?  Absolutely!  I love having international students and seeing photos taken from around the world… it’s really pretty awesome!  A new lesson is posted each Thursday at midnight US Central time.

I’m nervous about taking an online class vs an in-person class.  Would it be right for me?  Bella Pop classes started out as in-person classes but with scheduling issues, locations and weather stuff I decided to take that fun in-person experience and turn it into an online class.  I invited past students to try out the new online classes and they LOVED the online class even more.  You still get that feeling of taking a class with me in-person with the weekly videos.  Even better you can watch and read the lessons as many times as you need to until you really get it.  There’s also more time to ask as many questions as you need AND you get the benefit of seeing everyone else’s pictures (and learning from their feedback.)  It’s really the best of both worlds!

Do you offer online private mentoring?  I’ve had several requests for online mentoring (private instruction) and I’m working out details for this.

I’m interested in a career in photography.  What classes would be best for me?  If you love photography and are dreaming of shooting weddings or portraits, it’s totally necessary to understand your camera and have a strong knowledge of the fundamentals.  This includes shooting in manual and shooting in all kinds of natural light.  If you still shoot in automatic or any of the priority modes, I recommend taking the Shooting in Manual class first.  If you have a strong understanding of manual I recommend taking the Shooting in Natural Light class.  Then practice, practice, practice and build that portfolio!

I’m thinking about signing up for a Bella Pop class – are there any reviews?  Absolutely!  My very first online class was a “test” class and I invited a select group of people for a one time opportunity to try the class, tell me how they liked it, give me feedback etc.  You can read a few reviews online: Liz @ The Blue Eyed Owl, Meg @ Balancing Home and Jen @ Insideways.  You can also read what students are saying and see the pictures they are taking and all that jazz!

Ready to sign up for a Bella Pop class?  Check out the class schedule for class descriptions, pricing and dates. June / July dates will be announced soon!  And as always if you have *any* questions about taking a class or equipment feel free to post @ Bella Pop on facebook

Congrats again you two!!  xoxo Brandy

Hello IKEA!  We were here for 5 hours.  YES.

Liz and I LOVED the polka dot curtains!  Big fat bummer… they were out of stock.  I um, may have already acquired some.  What can I say?  I wanted meatballs.

Want. and want!

What?  The showcases are for play right??

Paige and I are totally compatible sleeping buddies.

Mmmmmmm nom nom nom.

And that’s what you get when 3 girls hit up IKEA over Spring Break! ;)

1.  Get inspired!  Make a list of things you’d love to photograph this season.  Plan dates for photo excursions such as shooting tulips at the Arboretum or a photo day at the zoo.  Try to get out there and shoot something for fun at least once a week (even if you only have 30 min. to spare!)

2.  Review your goals and skills.  What skills have you learned?  What can you do to improve those skills?  What new skills would you like to learn?  Pick 2 or 3 goals and create a game plan.  You might want to sign up for a class, buy a new book or new gear… make a list and make it happen!

3.  Get squeaky clean.  Call your local camera store or send the camera off to the service center (like Canon or Nikon) to have your camera professionally cleaned.  You can usually have it done for $30-$60.  There are kits to do sensor cleaning yourself if you have a steady hand (and a quiet, clean place to do it.)  Personally I prefer to have it cleaned so I don’t have to stress about messing up the sensor.

4.  Backup your pictures.  This is SO important!  Make sure you have backups of your pictures.  I always have at least 3 backups.  Don’t forget this includes photos on your camera phones too!  There’s nothing worse than losing beloved memories.  Use external hard drives, additional computers, data DVDs, etc.  Just backup those photos. If you have severe thunderstorms, make sure a copy of photos is *not* plugged in.  We’ve had lightning take out all electronics before… which is why we shut down and unplug during bad storms – even with our super duper surge protectors.

5.  Clean up your computer.  Delete pictures you no longer want… such as photos that didn’t make “the cut” etc.  Clean up old folders, organize your pictures to make them easier to find (I organize by year/month/event)  If you have a PC you’ll want to defrag your computer too.  Mac users should zero out (erase) free space.  Doing so will help your computers have more kick!

6. Clean your camera bags.  My camera bags get dirtyyyyy.  I’ve even found twigs and leaves and dirt in mine (hey, I crawl around on the ground a lot.)  Bags not in use are also great places for me to “dump” random gear.  Take a moment to clean out those bags, organize them and even give the insides a little vacuum to pick up any dirt, pet hair, etc. that might get in the bag.  When photo inspiration hits, your bag will be good to go!

7.  Sell unused gear.  I must admit, I’m really bad about this.  I still have my kit lens that I’ve *never* used.  That being said, one of my goals this spring is to clear out some unused gear.  Just like digging through your clothes closet… take the time to go through and consider selling gear you don’t really like or never use.  Then take that extra $$ and get something else you really want!

8.  Update inventory.  Brandon keeps a list of all of our photo equipment, for insurance purposes.  If you don’t have an inventory list yet, consider starting one.  If you do have one, make sure it is up-to-date.  Make a list with the make, model and serial number of each piece of equipment then keep it in a safe place (make a few copies too!)  The list also includes important phone #’s.  You’ll be glad to have it in the rare event you might need it.

Hope you found these tips helpful!  Have fun spring cleaning and happy shooting!  xo Brandy

Oh, just a few of my favorite. people. ever!

Is this family beautiful or what?  Yeahhhhh.

I’ve got some *crazy* background blur going on in this image… which was captured in-camera (not photoshop!)  I was shooting with a 200 mm prime to really blur the background.  Really love the casual pose.

When I was a kid, I told my brother “if you don’t marry Lisa I’ll never talk to you again!” Oh, I’m just a *little* dramatic. But then again, I do love my Lisa! Thanks again you two for asking me to shoot your family portraits (and for all the fun we had!) Love you guys! xoxo B