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!

what a week | products, promos, pictures

Nicole here!  So the week began cold and nasty.  Seriously, winter coat cold and too bitter to run outside.  Yuck!  And today we are homeschooling on the porch with the birds chirping and beautiful sunshine beaming in....WHAT IS WITH THIS WEATHER????

I feel like on top of the fact that my allergies and sinuses are having a hayday with this rollercoaster weather, that my week has been spinning like a top!  The hubs and I are signed up to run Dam to Dam this year.  YIKES!  I have run it before but I had a baby a year ago and I like to use having a baby as an everlasting excuse not to exercise, so I have been kicking it into high gear to get ready for this 12.6 mile run....seriously...that is a LONG ways for someone who hasn't run much at all in the last ohhhhhhhh 2 years or so....but I am getting there.
And since I am being so awesome about running....I decided healthy eating should be a priority at our house....so....I took my kids to Cherry Berry and let them eat frozen yogurt and candy for lunch yesterday.  seriously!  Even the 1 year old...I know, I am awesome like that!  no judging people!!!

But I doubt you are here to read all about my stuffy nose and candy addictions....so....here is what's happening this week in the photography design world:

New PRODUCTS in the tCP store!!!  WOOT WOOT!!!

We also have been working on some new AWESOME business cards and promo posters!  If you happen to see a poster while you are out and about give us a shout out on Facebook and let us know where you saw it!  Or Instagram a pic of it!!!  We would love to know where you see us!

 

We also had photos to process, book collages to be made, graduation announcements to design, a canvas gallery wrap to design and more!  Hope you guys had an awesome week!!!!