Also, see my family blog for our recent shots from the beautiful medieval city of Ghent!
www.kaniganfamily.blogspot.com
Thursday, May 17, 2018
The Royal Greenhouses of Laeken
These gorgeous greenhouses are only open to the Belgian public three weeks out of the year every spring and I was able to make it there on the very last day. Just in time! This post will be very short. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Also, see my family blog for our recent shots from the beautiful medieval city of Ghent!
www.kaniganfamily.blogspot.com
Also, see my family blog for our recent shots from the beautiful medieval city of Ghent!
www.kaniganfamily.blogspot.com
Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Photoshop: Phony?
I hear and read so many different soapboxes (from clients, family and even random strangers online) about the obsession our society today has with Photoshop. In my personal experience, I've found that some clients love it, and will even request that I help them take off ten pounds ... or a mole ... or a scar ... while others seem repelled by it, as though changing an image in any way is as abhorrent as cheating on a final exam. While I completely understand the frustration with over-adjustments (Can someone please help me understand the current obsession with Snapchat and human-kitty faces please?!) I have to stand up and say a word about why I, as a photographer use Photoshop on a regular basis and why I have no shame about it whatsoever.
I have to put it out there, that I like a very natural style with my portraiture. I want my images to express what I really see in front of me. Staging a picture is one thing, but finding the authenticity in my subject's expressions is my goal. When I get it right, it feels almost magical. They are the kind of images I hope my clients will return to again and again, just to remember what life held for them at that particular moment. It makes sense then that in my use of Photoshop, I try to make my images look as natural as possible. It needs to look effortless, which can actually be a lot of work.
If you were to commission a painter to paint a portrait of your family, you would expect that painter to show everyone in their best form. Say you had one child going through puberty, with acne all over, you would be fine with the painter omitting the zits and painting him with a better complexion, right?(I'd sure hope so anyway or your child might not be too happy with you!) You wouldn't be purchasing an exact replica of your family, you would be purchasing a memory. A memory of your family at that moment in time and you would want everyone to be depicted looking their best.
As a photographer and an artist, I try to do the same thing. I look at every family I work with (even when it is my own) as a sort of blank canvass. I don't always know what my finished product will be exactly, but as we spend time together, I look for those little personality traits that are unique and special and I try to capture them all. Because I prefer a very natural, realistic feel to my pictures, I try to treat my sessions like a get-together where we relax and hang out and the kids feel comfortable with me before I start clicking away. Once I do, I shoot everything I see that feels genuine and real. The crying, the laughing, the hugging, the excited looks on little faces when they learn that we are done ... everything.
It is after the shoot, after the chasing and walking and posing and smile-coaxing that the real work begins. It is where I whip out my "paintbrushes" in Photoshop and figure out what I've got and how I'm going to present it all in the best possible way to make the kind of memories my clients will not only like, but want to hold on to. Memories that paint a story, not just a picture. I brighten and lighten, and sharpen and add the kind of contrast and mood the pictures ask for until finally, I feel I've found a memory perfectly preserved. If that memory shows Mom with a slightly slimmer waste, or Dad with one less chin, I'm okay with that. If the bags under the eyes need a little more lightening up, I'm okay with that too. I don't see it as perjury at all, I see it as a beautiful, memorable form of art.
So, with that being the case, it must be said, that unless the information is specifically requested of me by a client, what happens in Photoshop, stays in Photoshop!
You won't hear a word from me about it. :)
I have to put it out there, that I like a very natural style with my portraiture. I want my images to express what I really see in front of me. Staging a picture is one thing, but finding the authenticity in my subject's expressions is my goal. When I get it right, it feels almost magical. They are the kind of images I hope my clients will return to again and again, just to remember what life held for them at that particular moment. It makes sense then that in my use of Photoshop, I try to make my images look as natural as possible. It needs to look effortless, which can actually be a lot of work.
If you were to commission a painter to paint a portrait of your family, you would expect that painter to show everyone in their best form. Say you had one child going through puberty, with acne all over, you would be fine with the painter omitting the zits and painting him with a better complexion, right?(I'd sure hope so anyway or your child might not be too happy with you!) You wouldn't be purchasing an exact replica of your family, you would be purchasing a memory. A memory of your family at that moment in time and you would want everyone to be depicted looking their best.
As a photographer and an artist, I try to do the same thing. I look at every family I work with (even when it is my own) as a sort of blank canvass. I don't always know what my finished product will be exactly, but as we spend time together, I look for those little personality traits that are unique and special and I try to capture them all. Because I prefer a very natural, realistic feel to my pictures, I try to treat my sessions like a get-together where we relax and hang out and the kids feel comfortable with me before I start clicking away. Once I do, I shoot everything I see that feels genuine and real. The crying, the laughing, the hugging, the excited looks on little faces when they learn that we are done ... everything.
It is after the shoot, after the chasing and walking and posing and smile-coaxing that the real work begins. It is where I whip out my "paintbrushes" in Photoshop and figure out what I've got and how I'm going to present it all in the best possible way to make the kind of memories my clients will not only like, but want to hold on to. Memories that paint a story, not just a picture. I brighten and lighten, and sharpen and add the kind of contrast and mood the pictures ask for until finally, I feel I've found a memory perfectly preserved. If that memory shows Mom with a slightly slimmer waste, or Dad with one less chin, I'm okay with that. If the bags under the eyes need a little more lightening up, I'm okay with that too. I don't see it as perjury at all, I see it as a beautiful, memorable form of art.
So, with that being the case, it must be said, that unless the information is specifically requested of me by a client, what happens in Photoshop, stays in Photoshop!
You won't hear a word from me about it. :)
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About Me
- Becki
- About five years ago, my husband and I decided it was time to take our family on a little adventure. In consequence, he accepted a job with the U.S. State Department and we've been traveling the world ever since. Our small-town 'Alabama babies' had the world thrust upon them as we moved from Washington D.C. to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and then on to Manila, Philippines. Life abroad is full of ups and downs, but the experiences we've gained are priceless. As we approach another move, (This time to Belgium!) I feel a desire to share some of these experiences (good and bad) with you all. The most important help for me in surviving this "exciting" life we have chosen, has been to learn the art of being flexible. Things rarely turn out the way we plan, but that's okay. We are learning to take things in stride and doing our best to enjoy the ride!