Customized for YOU | Did you know?

Did you know that Urban Wings offers a HUGE line up of photography and design services?
Nicole Young of Urban Wings Art has been creating unique scrapbooking and card making graphics for years!  They are available for immediate purchase and download at the Creative Pixel!  
Nicole and Deb Blackman of Urban Wings Art also provides customized art and photography!  In the Des Moines, Iowa and surrounding areas we are available to create unique and beautiful fine art photography sessions for you! 
What else does Urban Wings Art provide?

• - individual and business headshots
• - custom cards and invites
• - custom scrapbooks of YOUR photos (no professional photos unless taken by Urban Wings Art)
• - graphic design for tshirts, postcards, brochures, CD covers, and websites
• - photo editing resources (actions, overlays, card templates)
• - scrapbooking resources
• - newborn photography
• - cake smash photography (birthday photo sessions)
• - children and family photography
• - senior photography
• - event photography
• - engagement photography
• - wedding photography
• - and much more!

Contact us today to ask about our custom design and photography!!!  LIKE us on facebook to see our recent work!

Trending Tuesday: Newsprint Matte | Photoshop Tutorial

by Nicole Young of Urban Wings Artography

Matte Coloring and Matte Black and Whites are incredibly popular right now and really give photos a dramatic edge. I will show you a quick tutorial on creating an easy “newsprint” black and white matte photo using two adjustments in photoshop.
Step 1: Duplicate your photo.

Step 2: Choose Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Hue/Saturation. Click OK on the first window. Move your Saturation slider all the way to -100 and close the adjustment box.


Step 3: Choose Layer>New Adjustment Layer> Levels. Stay on the RGB dropdown and going from left to right insert 55, 0.85, and 225. For output levels enter 45 and 230. And close adjustment window. (See picture below).

And VOILA! Done! A moody black and white newsprint style matte photo!


Copyright 2013 Nicole Young of Urban Wings Art

Trending Tuesday: Make those Eyes Pop! | Photoshop Tutorial

Trending Tuesday: Skin Imperfection Tutorial | Photoshop Tutorial

By Nicole Young of Urban Wings Artography

What do Seniors, teens, and tweens have in common….okay, and some adults too? ZITS! Yeah, those awesome blazing red parasites that always seem to crop up when we least want them! Before a family photoshoot? Yep you can count on growing a zit the size of Mount Everest, trust me, it happens! But with one AMAZING tool in Photoshop we can say BYE-BYE to those nasty little imperfections! Ready? Let’s get started:
Step 1: Duplicate your photo. I always work on a new photo layer, rather than the background layer so I can go back to my original if I make a mistake.

Step 2: Select your Patch Tool from your tool bar.


Step 3: Zoom in on your photo and make a small selection around the imperfection (zits, wrinkles, baby acne, etc) and drag your selection to a skin area that is close by without any imperfections.

Step 4: Repeat for all skin imperfection on your photo. Be sure to zoom out and make sure that the skin is looking natural as you go. Sometimes you may have to drag from a different area to get the right skin texture.

And VOILA! Done! Beautiful natural skin….and no one has to know you had a whomping zit at your photoshoot!


Copyright 2013 Nicole Young of Urban Wings Art

Trending Tuesday: Textured Photo | Photoshop Tutorial

By Nicole Young of Urban Wings Artography

One of my trademarks in my photography company and my favorite things to do to photos to add some oomph is add a bit of texture. Here is a simple way to add just a touch of interest to your awesome photos!
Step 1: Open a photo and a texture in Photoshop . I used a photo of my son that I had already editted to black and white and a texture called Cinnamon Spice from The Photographer’s Toolbox Natural Spice Collection.

Step 2: Copy and Paste your texture onto your photo. I chose a texture that was not the same dimensions as my photo, so I simply turned it 90 degrees and adjusted the size until it hit two of the edges. The great thing about textures is that they don’t have to be perfect!



Step 3: Now comes the first part in the “painting” step(the next part will be part of Step 5). Grab a color on the texture layer close to where your subjects face is (if you are doing an overlay over a face or group of people). It is usually unappealing to see grunge across someone’s face, so we are going to clean that up a bit! The color that I pulled with my eye dropper is a light tan/brown.

Step 4: Change your texture layer to Soft Light. You should now see your photo that has an added texture, but we haven’t done anything to clean up the face yet.

Step 5: With a large soft brush set to 100% start painting on your texture layer where you see skin that you want to have a clean look to. I usually brush over the entire face, arms, legs, and any exposed skin and sometimes I brush over the entire body if I don’t want texture to show on the clothing. This is the cleaned up painting and what my texture layer looks like if it was not turned on soft light (just showing you where I have painted).

And VOILA! Done! A texturized photo with some added pop!


Copyright 2013 Nicole Young of Urban Wings Art

CONGRATULATIONS Brad and Andrea

Once upon a time two people fell in love....
one of them was a beautiful young lady who I (Nicole) have the pleasure of calling my Sister-in-law...
and now I am thrilled to have a new brother-in-law who is just a wonderful addition to our family!!!  Congrats you two!  You looked absolutely beautiful on your special day!!!

Miss L: the rockstar | Des Moines Iowa Children's Photography

You know a rockstar when you meet one.  And Miss L was DEFINITELY a rockstar in the making.  She had the smile, the moves, and a cute little bear who was her best pal through the photoshoot!  Plus she rocked it out with a dandelion microphone and had more energy than I have seen in a long time!  Miss L, thank you for entertaining me with your awesome show-stopping attitude!!!  Here is your sneak peek!!!

FAN FREEBIE | On our facebook page!!!!

As a THANK YOU for being awesome clients and friends, there is a FAN FREEBIE great for photographers, scrapbookers and card makers on our facebook page!  Just click on the FREEBIE tab at the top of our page and download it!!!  And BE SURE TO SHARE US WITH YOUR FRIENDS!!!

Enjoy the Birds of Whimsy Sample Overlay Pack

Adding Spice to your Photos | Video Tutorial

My friend, Kim Liddiard, owner of the Creative Pixel, put together this awesome video tutorial on how to apply Urban Wings Art textures and overlays to your photos!  Thanks Kim!!!

Check out more Urban Wings Art products here!