Radlab is seriously RAD | Pittsburgh Photographer Lightroom Photoshop Workflow

Read more about the article Radlab is seriously RAD | Pittsburgh Photographer Lightroom Photoshop Workflow

I prefer a clean, crisp style to my portraits, and that is why I invest in the finest L-series lenses, a professional camera body, and shoot RAW.  I carefully calibrate white balance and have master strategies for focusing.  That is all very important, but also important is editing.  Some photographers add colorful filters and “deep fry” their photos, but I like to add more subtle changes and enhance what I did in camera rather than covering up my custom style produced by my lenses and lighting.

My #1 all-time favorite editing tool is is Radlab.  This was originally a series of Lightroom filters that I used, but I didn’t love them then because you couldn’t adjust the strength of the filters, and it always felt like it was too much going on for my clean style.  Then it was a Photoshop plugin, which was GREAT, but it required transferring photos from Lightroom to Photoshop, which is just one more step in the editing process.  Now they have made it so that you can open up Radlab right from Lightroom, which is excellent in the most extreme way!!!  You can adjust photos slightly or a lot, and it gives them a really custom look, which I love!  They keep it updated with new effects, and it just always works–no crashing or other problems.

I also recently put 16 GB of ram on my iMac, and it is THE BEST.  I can’t believe I didn’t do this a long time ago.  It cost around $100 and saves me at least 10-15 minutes of editing time (waiting for my hundreds of 25 mb photos to transfer, etc) from each session.  YES.

Here is an example of what Radlab looks like editing a casual photo I took of my little precious Mimi girl:

rad lab before and after screenshot

I adjusted for exposure and temperature in Lightroom and then opened it in Radlab.  I have a bunch of saved recipes from prior shoots that I tried out first, picked one, and just adjusted it slightly.  This only took a few minutes because, let’s be honest, Meemers is gonna look amazing and adorable no matter what I do to this photo, heehee 🙂  Anyway, Radlab then transferred it back to Lightroom for me in a matter of seconds!  I removed the applesauce spill on her onesie, aaaaaaand we’re done!

Before/After:

rad lab before and after photography

It’s just enough, am I right?? Try not to be distracted by those adorable dimples and sassy leopard pants.

I still use Photoshop a lot, but I save it for more involved projects like removing stretch marks from mamas-to-be (this is an almost-universal problem btw!) and removing people or cars from a busy background, or of course design projects like my new logo that I am now using!  Questions about Radlab and how I use it?  Leave a comment, I love to share!

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Are you looking for a maternity or newborn baby photographer?  Powder Blue Photography offers in-home and in-studio portraits of newborn babies and on-location or in-home maternity portraits in and around the Pittsburgh South Hills and Mt. Lebanon.  Please contact Missy to schedule a maternity appointment and a tentative date for your newborn session.  Maternity sessions take place around 35 weeks (depending on mama’s stature), and newborn sessions take place in the first 10 days of life.

Working with Toddlers | Mt. Lebanon Pittsburgh Child Photographer

Toddlers are fun, aren’t they?  They are learning to talk to us, learning to relate to others, and learning how to be a person in this big world.  Sometimes that learning process presents them with stumbling blocks and frustrations, and they don’t always handle it the way we would like them to.  I hear from moms sometimes that they have been putting off professional photos because they have a child who is “uncooperative” or “difficult.”  I have a few things to say to that…

Aren’t all toddlers difficult on some level?  My son Jonah is 2 1/2, and though he is generally very sweet, he is still two and he has ideas about the way things should be!  He really vents his frustrations when it’s just the two of us because I think he is testing boundaries and seeing how I will react to his behavior.  I think a lot of toddlers save the biggest meltdowns for mom and are usually more intrigued and focused when around someone they don’t know as well.

Next, your own difficulty getting good photos is precisely the reason you hire a professional to do your child’s portraits.  I have photographed children many, many times and have strategies for avoiding the blurry, back-of head shots that you may have grown accustomed to seeing of your child.  My main strategy is to connect with your child and engage him or her in play, and that way we can get some genuine expressive portraits, and your child will feel relaxed.  I have also found that by designing our shoot around your children’s happiest time of the day, when they are well-rested and fed, we can usually avoid any potential problems.

Lastly, if it REALLY is not a great day for your child, and despite my best efforts, he or she refuses to come out from under a table (this happened to me one time!), we will pick another day and reshoot.  I stand behind and guarantee my work!

How do you keep your toddler happy?  Share your strategies with me in the comments!

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Are you looking for a family, maternity, or newborn baby photographer?  Powder Blue Photography offers in-home and in-studio portraits of newborn babies and on-location or in-home maternity and family portraits in and around the Pittsburgh South Hills and Mt. Lebanon.  Please contact Missy to schedule a maternity appointment and a tentative date for your newborn session.  Maternity sessions take place around 35 weeks (depending on mama’s stature), and newborn sessions take place in the first 10 days of life.  Family sessions take place anytime!

Update from the Keystone State | Mt. Lebanon Baby Photographer

Read more about the article Update from the Keystone State | Mt. Lebanon Baby Photographer

Finally an update on all of the changes in my life!  I can now say we have settled into the land known as the South Hills, which is about 20 minutes south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  We have made lots of new friends here and are currently house-hunting.  This is exciting and sometimes frustrating.  Jeremy and I have such terrible luck with real estate–seems we bought in Portland at a peak in 2008, sold at a low (recently), and we find ourselves in a seller’s market in Mt. Lebanon.  Right now it is a waiting game, and we hope some more houses will come on the market as the weather warms up in the coming weeks.  The good news is that it is a little more affordable here in Pennsylvania, so we should be able to live in a large house in a great neighborhood for a lot less than we were paying to live in a so-so neighborhood in Portland.

Now that my “babies” are both sleeping all night, I can get back to work!  It’s been such a joy welcoming a daughter and watching my son grow into toddler-hood.  Jonah knows the whole alphabet and all the letter sounds, and he seems to be starting to understand how reading works.  Amelia is so beautiful and sweet, I just can’t get enough of her.  The first few months of having two kids was a little hectic (and by that I mean I laughed, I cried, and I drank a lot of wine).  Things have REALLY settled down now and we are doing great.  Mimi is five months old today and SO close to sitting on her own, so I will soon be doing some updated portraits of her and Jonah.

So as far as Powder Blue Photography goes, I am chomping at the bit to get back in action.  There is a real need for beautiful high-end portraits here (unlike in Portland, which was totally saturated with  photographers), and I am finding there may be a particular niche for me in Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Clair, which are the two neighborhoods in which we are house-hunting. I am not maintaining a studio here yet, so I will be working on-location and in-home as I get to know neighborhoods and clients.  I will likely open a studio some time next year, when the kids will be a little older and I will be able to take on more clients.

I have re-structured my rates, and you can find details on that on my website.  I found that at most sales appointments people wanted ALL of the pictures and they really struggled with picking and choosing favorites.  Because of that, I have decided to charge a flat rate and include printable digital files with every session.  I think this may simplify ordering and make my clients happier. I will still be offering wall portraits as well and will occasionally run specials on press products and custom design work.  We will see how it works out and what people like here in PA.  I am charging a 20% off “portfolio rate” for the first six months as I get to know the area.  Take advantage of it because I don’t typically discount my session fees!

Check out my new promo card, what do you think?

 

 

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Are you looking for a family, maternity, or newborn baby photographer?  Powder Blue Photography offers in-home and in-studio portraits of newborn babies and on-location or in-home maternity and family portraits in and around the Pittsburgh South Hills and Mt. Lebanon.  Please contact Missy to schedule a maternity appointment and a tentative date for your newborn session.  Maternity sessions take place around 35 weeks (depending on mama’s stature), and newborn sessions take place in the first 10 days of life.  Family sessions take place anytime!