Editing my beach pictures 🌊💻

It has finally came! My project is officially under development. I decided to edit my beach photos first because they are easier to edit and there are less of them (my laziness really pulls through). I am editing all of my pictures through Adobe Lightroom Photoshop. Each of the photos I edited will have a before and after picture with me explaining what I fixed. 

Before

After

For this photo, the original background was clear but I did not like how the ocean and sand almost blended in with each other. Also, the dancer seemed to dark in the photo for me because I shot the photos with the sun behind them. I barely messed with the lighting because I did not want to over expose my image so I just added +5 to contrasting, highlights, whites and blacks. I learned to use the tone curve to help myself visualize the image while adjusting the settings. I than went on to adjust the colors by adding more blues and lightly saturating the image. (that's why the water looks perfect blue) As for texture and clarity, I added +15-20 for both to make every detail count. I also sharpened my image by +40 to add depth. I went onto the dancer and specifically exposed her by brushing her with +0.32.

Before

After

I used my trusty tone curve again by using darks and lighting the image. I went on again adding blue tints and saturation of the same number. Texture, clarity and sharpening were the same as well. I did not need to paint the dancer with light because she was visible before hand. As I continued editing, the settings are tending to remain the same because I figured out what I wanted.

Before

After

I had to over expose this image because my dancer was darker than the original girl. Also, the saturation and tinting of blue was less than the others because I did not want my image to look fake. The texture and clarity were on hyper focus at +30, same as the sharpening. I did have to brush my dancer with magical exposure and it added to the image but my goal is to use this as a silhouette for my contents page. 

Before

After

For this image, I under exposed and contrasted with highlights and whites to brighten up the image. I added blue tint with higher saturation. I barely clarified the image and the same for sharpening. This image was already good but with the added edits it just adds more umph to the image. I will use this for my contents page.

Before

After

I just absolutely adore this image. Maybe it is the fact that the lighting is perfect and I was able to get the depth of field to create lines or the sand and calm ocean in the background. I used my tone curve and added whites and negative exposure. I also tinted and saturated the image with clarification and sharpness. This image is being considered for my cover page.

First & Second photoshoots🤸🏽🩰📸

Also this weekend, I took my dance photos. In the morning (around 8), I went to Deerfield Beach to take pictures of my sister Sophia and her best friend Sid. In the afternoon (around 4), I took pictures on my golf course of my sister Sophia and her friends Marlin, Marley, Leyla, Arianna and Sophia. All of the dancers wore a black or white outfit. If we had time, I allowed the models to change into an outfit that they wanted and took pictures of them. For the beach photos, I had to use my lens hood and are going to have to do some serious editing. For the golf course photos, I am going to have to photoshop and place the dancers on different backgrounds for certain photos. Personally, I love the beach photos better than the others. 

I have included a few of my photos that I took on both days down below because I took over 100 pictures.

Practice Shoot Day @ the Zoo🙃🦁🐵

My youth group for church took a trip to the Miami Zoo during the weekend and I decided that it would be a good idea to practice taking photos of moving objects. Dance pictures are often taken with a fast shutter speed because the models are jumping in the air or moving into a pose. I also edited my animal pictures with Adobe Lightroom and photoshop. The pictures were taken between the times of 10 AM and 4 PM. I also used a lens hood when I was shooting in harsh lighting. My personal favorite is between the bee in the flowers and the bald eagle turning his head to get a side profile.  

 

Layout/sketch📝

In this step of preparing for my magazine, I am sketching out my 3 components and designing how my layout for the magazine is. Depending on how it looks, there might be some changes but this is a rough draft. I did not include drawings of my pictures because I still am not sure what types of posing I want my models to do. My layout also does not include text because I still am not sure how I am going to creatively make my subheadings and content. 

Cover layout 

Contents layout 

Double-Page layout 

Timeline🗓

In this step I will be planning out my designing process. I have included my photo days and when I plan on doing blog posts about my process of designing the magazine. The timeline will be the end of February and the month of March. I may switch some blog days or add a blog day depending on how my project is looking. Depending on how I prioritize my time, I am planning on being done before spring break (March 19th-28).

Color Palette Research❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

In this step of designing my magazine, I will be showing you what color palettes I will be using to design the 3 features. The color palettes will be for the text colors and to help me when I am editing my pictures. The selected palettes might be used for a different page in the magazine, but I will not know until I start designing. I used  https://coolors.co/ to find color palette's that I liked.  

Cover

I chose this palette for the cover solely based on the fact that I just love the colors and how they compliment each other. My polls also came back showing that for the color scheme on the cover, nudes and neutral colors had the highest percentage. Since my pictures will be taken in nature and natural lighting, my color scheme will not blend into the background but stand out on the cover. For the headline, I am dead set on using "English lavender" (the second to last color) or "Old lavender" (the last color). These colors are bold and will pop off the page against a blue sky background. Also, which ever color I don't use for the headline, I will use for the subheadings because the color will also draw eyes onto the text because of the bold coloring. I am also planning on using "Pastel Pink" or "Melon" for the mini blurbs underneath the subheadings and any other small writing. I like these colors because they are very refreshing to look at and bring joy when you look at them.

Table of Contents

This color palette gives me butterflies and makes me want to design the contents page right now. I love using red for text colors, I just believe that it is very effective, bold, and always draws your eyes to the page. I want the contents headline to either be in "Rosso Carsa" or "Tart Orange", subheading to be "Claret", and blurbs in "Dark Sigma". The colors in this particular order will contrast each other nicely and stand out against a white background with a couple pictures attached to the contents page. I chose the colors to be bolder and brighter than the contents page because the audience will usually skip over this page but if I make it bold and attractive, maybe the audience will take time to look at the contents page. For the numbers at the bottom of the page, I will be using black.

Double-Page spread

For this spread, I wanted to choose colors that will contrast with my pictures of the dancer. I am planning on taking pictures at sunrise at the beach so the colors of orange and purple make sense to use. Not only that, the colors are very different and will make my text look creative and bring the whole page together. I believe that when I look at shades of purple and orange I think of royalty and power. These colors will introduce my article and the actual article text will be black. 

Lightings and Location☀️🌑🌴🌳

In this post I will be talking about the types of lighting that I will be using for my photos and where all of my photos will be taken. If all goes according to plan than I believe that my photos will be very good.

Lighting 

In the professional sense, the lighting that is used is studio lights and the pictures are usually taken with a backdrop and 3-4 lights around the subject. Sometimes the lights can even be different colors to add more effects to the photo. Since I personally cannot afford to spend thousands of dollars are backdrops and lights, I am being creative with usually natural lighting. Yes, natural lighting can be difficult to use if you are not able to get the right angle and tend to have an overabundance of light, I will try to go into overcast areas or take my photos at around 4 where the sun is setting. Since my dancers are also ethic, I will be able to create a beautiful "golden hour" shot that will contrast the setting sun with their skin. 

Studio lighting 

@laceehdancer in natural light 

Location

Florida is by far one of the best places to take photos in nature. I am located near a beach and the everglades. I am going to try to use both of these natural studios and take my dance photos at the beach and right in my back yard of a golf course on the sawgrass. I am taking the photos on grass and on the beach because it is a soft surface so if the dancers are doing jumping pictures than there is a better chance of them not hurting themselves. I am also planning on taking my pictures in the early morning hours or when the sun is starting to set so I don't have problems with harsh lighting.

Links:

-https://petapixel.com/2017/12/13/shoot-dancers-4-simple-tips/

-https://www.tinydancersamongus.com/photos/Mason-Jade-Ft.-Lauderdale-FL

-https://www.ronmckinneyphoto.com/dance-overview

Costumes🩱👙

In this process of designing my magazine, I am picking and choosing what my models will be wearing for the photoshoots. 

Clothing

Usually in dance magazines, what is commonly seen is the style of clothing that fits the style of dance that the dancer specializes in. The colors also depend on the color scheme of that months issue. The outfit of the model and pose given to the model sets the tone for what the magazine will include on the inside. For my magazine, I think that having a variety of different styles and colors of clothing will give it a youthful and fun look. Some things that I will definitely have is black and white outfits to get the best shot possible. I am also going for different, not trendy.

@haleybrancamp

@bella_fernandez_6

For my outfits, I want to have my models either wear leotards or two pieces. As for my male model, I will let him choose whatever he feels comfortable in. I want to for sure have my models wear black and white for some pictures but let them choose another color that they want pictures in. I believe that black and white make ethnic dancers skin colors pop and makes the dancers stand out. 

@balletelite

Since I do not have access to a professional studio, my photos will not look anything like these but what I am trying to show you is the unique clothing style of the dancer and how it makes the photo.

@charley_blake

Hair

In the magazines, the women will usually have their hair up while men have whatever style of hair that they have. What I noticed is that when the dancers hair is up it is usually in a bun or a pony tail. Since the pulled back hair does not distract the viewer from the dancers pose, I think this is why it it common to find up styled hair rather than hair being down but that is still an option if one of my models likes her hair down better.

All photos are from @dancers.on.insta

Extra

Since my models are under the age of 18, they are generally not going to be wearing makeup on a day to day basis, I do not want my models to wear heavy but minimal makeup. For example, my models can wear mascara and lip gloss/lip stick. As for jewelry, I do not want my models wearing it. I think it can be distracting to the eye for either natural or synthetic lighting and I just want the focus on the athleticism and the dancer.