Two-step Portrait Popper

By Lesa Snider King, author of the forthcoming Photoshop CS4: The Missing Manual (O'Reilly) and chief evangelist of iStockphoto.com.

One of the simplest ways to draw a viewers eye into a photo is to add a soft dark coloring to the edges. It’s a real “portrait popper” which is why studios like Olan Mills have been using it for years.

That being said, it’s literally a two-step effect in Photoshop CS2 and latter using a filter hidden deep within the menu system. Here’s how
to get it done:

Step 1: Pop open an image, and immediately duplicate the background by pressing Command + J (PC: Ctrl + J). Because this technique is destructive (it affects the actual pixels of the photo), duplicating the layer builds in a bit of flexibility in that you can toggle the visibility eye off on that layer to see a before and after. You can always toss the duplicate layer in the trash if you don’t like the effect.

Step 2: Trot up to the top of your screen and choose Filter > Distort > Lens Correction. At the bottom of this dainty dialog box (ha!), uncheck Show Grid, so you can actually see what you’re doing, then turn on the Preview button. Grab the Vignette slider and drag it all the way to the left. Now grab the Midpoint slider and drag it *slightly* leftward, to about +40. Click OK and you’re finished.

Told you it was quick! For more practical Photoshop techniques like this, be sure to attend the Beginning Photoshop course in July.

- Lesa Snider King

Inside the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops

Inside the Photographic Workshops with Jennifer Chapman

Jay Reisinger, SFPW's full-time Bookkeeper, and Store Manager, and Monitor for the IHM retreat center, has a history of living in visually astounding places including many years in Ojai (The Best), California where he worked for the famous potter Beatrix Wood, and Sedona where he managed the largest new age bookstore in northern Arizona, and a brief stay in the Pacific Northwest. Wanderlust, and a desire to walk in the desert again, led Jay to head south to Santa Fe almost 14 years ago.

JC: What do you like about living in Santa Fe?
JR: I like the community. When I first moved here I worked at the Eldorado Hotel. One day after work, I walked down to the Plaza, which I had never been to before. It was snowing those big flakes and there was no breeze and the Christmas lights were on the trees. I was watching kids sliding in the crosswalk and a few couples that were talking. One of the people started singing Silent Night and then they all started singing. It was very Rockwellian, incredibly beautiful and it made me cry. I continued walking that day and came across that statue of St. Francis on the corner of Marcy and Lincoln with the groundhogs at his feet. Someone had put a red and gold garland on one of the groundhogs. When I think of Santa Fe, I think of those two images.

JC: What is one thing you dislike about living in Santa Fe?
JR: The parking lots, they are so badly engineered. And the roads.

JC: What is your favorite place to eat in Santa Fe?
JR: I don't go out much, but I guess Del Charro because that's where we go. It's cheap and the food is good and the drinks are good.

JC: What's the most challenging aspect of your job at The Workshops?
JR: From day one it has been that I have no background in photography. The challenge is relating to SFPW students when they come into the store. I want to be able to connect. I'm getting a camera today and I want to learn enough to relate.

JC: What do you like most about your job?
JR: The people I work with. Also it's a catalyst for getting out into the world. The Workshops reminds you to get out of your routine and take advantage of what's around you.

JC: If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
JR: A dog because their nature of loving is such that pain is not an obstacle. I had my dog Pip for 14 years. All dogs do is love, and they don't complain.

JC: What inspires you?
JR: To do what? Well, what inspires me but also scares me is the passage of time. When you catch it in the moment, it makes you aware, makes you get your priorities straight, and makes you want to go in the correct direction.

JC: What food grosses you out?
JR: Anything with chile in it.

JC: If you didn't have to be here today, what would you be doing?
JR: As a state in life? I would be a successful writer.

JC: If you didn't have to be at work?
JR: At Borders because of the books. That's another thing that inspires me, books.

Where Are They Now? Tim Householder - A/V

Howdy!

Just a little update to let everyone know how things are going.  After two seasons of working in Santa Fe doing the A/V, I'm back in Michigan plugging along.

I've been accepted at Wayne State University as a Masters Applicant for an MA in Art (well, photography), which I will begin work on this fall.

I've taken my hard-earned skills from the A/V job at the workshops and have started to incorporate video to my body of work.  I've been working with an international collaborative of artists working on disability culture awareness programs, photographing and filming their performances.  One of the films I helped with has won several awards and accepted into a couple of film festivals.  I am currently shopping around our multimedia exhibit of photography, film, paintings and poetry to galleries and museums around the world.  Click here for information describing the project we worked on last year.

I can't thank the folks at the workshops enough for giving me the chance to meet and work with the outstanding staff and group of instructors they bring in.  If it wasn't for the opportunity to meet those folks, I doubt I would be where I am or headed where I am going.