Cerritos Portrait Session &Fine Art Editing

Ask any photographer and they will likely say that the most time-consuming part of photography is the editing process. Of course there are gorgeous presets that offer some one-click fixes, however, presets only make general adjustments to things like tone, contrast, and saturation. I always find that there are certain adjustments I want to make that require intentional and specific choices, ones that a computer would never be able to intuit on its own. At least not yet. 😉

So let me take you through my process; one that I call fine-art editing. It is part of what you invest in when you hire me you create your portraits. And I feel it makes a world of difference.

In this image you will see that Aly’s face is in shadow. I want her face to be there area of focus. In order for that to happen it needs to be brighter. First I selected her face, arm, and hands and brought up the level of “light” using a curves layer. Next I smoothed out skin tones and added a touch of color to her lips. I noticed that there were a few bright highlights on her hair which I found a little distracting so I darkened them. My eye kept getting caught on the space between the two metallic phone booths so I pulled a different view of a single booth from another image and “masked” it in. (This all happened in Photoshop CC). I removed the marks/spots from the metallic booth and took out that tiny speck to the left of the prism reflection (the rainbow curve on the left side of the image). I smoothed out her dress. Finally, I brought the saturation up just a bit on the reds, decreased the yellows, and brought up the overall brightness of the image.

And voila!

In this next image you can see that Aly’s face and hands are a bit overexposed. The first adjustment I usually make to an image is in relationship to exposure. I do this by adding a “curves” layer which adjusts the brightness of the area you select. When I felt I had an even skin tone, I moved on to smoothing the skin. I usually take several versions of the same image in case eyes are closed or squinting– that way I have options to work with. Aly’s left eye was out of focus in the primary image I was working with so I brought in a left eye from another image that was in focus. (Sounds kinda funny doesn’t it?) During the session I had adjusted Aly’s hair giving it a bit more volume in one image in this series. I brought her hair into the primary image that had the expression I liked best. I added eyeliner. Finally, I removed background distractions including really bright highlights, dimming them down, and filling in the top left corner with flowers.

Here is the final edit:

This last image was a slightly more complex process because I used three images to create the final edit. In this first image I liked the way Aly’s right arm was covered by the curtain. I also liked that I could see more of her dress at the bottom of the frame and more of the curtain to her left because I was standing further away from her for this shot. I used this image as my base. (You will notice the big yellow circles in the center– I had been experimenting with twinkle lights and two of them are very prominent here.)

I pulled Aly’s face and dress from this image as Aly’s face was mostly free from harsh highlights which were in abundance because she was standing right next to french doors.

Sometimes I reframe an image if I feel the subject is too far to one side and I feel centering the subject would look best. I centered Aly by creating parts of the curtain that weren’t there to begin with. I used the cloning tool to do this after making a copy of the image and shrinking the size of the top image so Aly had more space surrounding her. Imagine two identical images stacked on top of each other and then shrinking the upper image down so you can see the borders of the image underneath it. Aly now appeared to be centered and smaller within the frame. I merged the two images together, created extra curtains to cover up the border of the bottom image and then went to work evening skin tone, smoothing skin, removing harsh highlights on her dress, and giving her a touch of lip color and eyeliner. I then brightened selective areas of the image…. Light, airy flow!

I hope you enjoyed learning a bit about my editing process and that it helps to give you added understanding to the value of the work photographers do after they’ve taken your photos! xoxo

Dawn Altier Photography is on instagram

If you didn’t know already, Dawn Altier Photography is on Instagram! The reason I mention this is that April is this blog’s birthday month, and being that birthday’s are a time for celebrating, I thought I’d share with you how much fun I’m having on this app and invite you to join me. Pictured below is the Picante Crush, Green Crush‘s signature drink, filled with tropical fruits and lots of spice! You can check this image out and others on my Insta account here. Happy 5th birthday lil’ bloggy poo! xoxo

Lakewood Family Session with the Washburns

There is something very special about being in the presence of a brand new baby. Their sweet innocence fills me with reverence and awe. It was a privilege to get to work with the Washburn family and help them to welcome their little girl Alison into the world. Sessions at home are a great way to go because you get to be in a familiar and comfortable environment, can easily change wardrobe if desired, and it involves zero travel time for you as the client. Something to consider if you are wanting to book a family session but aren’t sure about a location. If you are interested in setting a session up or have any questions, please use the contact link above and send me an email. I’d love to work with you and your family! xoxo

December Portraits

How was your 2015? This year brought several weighty trials for my family involving the loss of loved ones. Saying goodbye has always been difficult for me in all of it’s sundry forms. I’m working on accepting what I cannot change and becoming more gracious in so doing. This is my goal for the new year; to possess grace. May this new year bring you and your families the fineries of life, laughter and much love. Creating images is still something that brings me great joy. Here are a few December themed portraits of Jackie and Gwen, Neri, Melissa, and Loraine with her beau. Thank you for following and supporting my work! xoxo, dawn altier photography!

Lakewood Newborn Session

There is nothing I can think of that is sweeter than a newborn baby. I reverence the sacredness of conception and birth and give thanks for the blessing of family. I am also grateful for the opportunity to document this little miracle. Please welcome sweet Gwendolyn Rose into the world! A huge thank you and shout out to my dear friend Kayla, of Little Lashes Photography, for her assistance on this shoot! Congratulations to the proud parents, Jackie and Scott! Gwen is so precious! Thank you for your patronage!!! xoxo

San Gabriel River Parkway Nature Trail Family Session

I love this family for so many reasons! Fun, fashionable, and faithful are a few words that come easily to mind when I think of the Araizas. I know them through church association and have so many good memories with them individually. All the hours of ironing and agonizing over wardrobe choices, prepping and bribing the children to smile paid off. 🙂 Loretta and Henry, you have a beautiful family~ I hope to have such a legacy of my own. Much love to you all and thank you for your patronage! xo!

Lakewood Family Session with The Bons

The West San Gabriel River Parkway Nature Trail is a beautiful suburban gem, tucked away beside a myriad of parks in the city of Lakewood, a neighboring city to the Bo family. The Bons are so art-full! Musically talented, theatrically inclined, on screen, on stage, and behind the scenes, they could put on a variety show that would be entertaining to all. It’s an honor to know them and to have been hired to photograph them. Check out the drum-line at the end! 🙂

Lakewood, CA Family Session

There is a gem of a park in Lakewood, CA called Monte Verde Park. It is available to rent for special occasions and portrait sessions and has a wonderful green space beside it. It was here that I gathered with the Araiza family for the first of several family photo sessions. Theirs is the only family that I currently accept extended family session booking for. Here is a little piece of history.

Mayfair Park Portrait Session

The date is currently Saturday March 12th 2022. I am looking at my old Wordpress blog that is about to expire… I had little knowledge about updating themes, etc. when I purchased the template back in 2011 and soon I won’t be able to update or change my blog. I am switching over to Squarespace soon and am going to salvage what I can from my old blog. My first post was made on April 5, 2011. It read:

I am so excited to finally have a photo blog. It is something I've been talking about for over a year, and now it is a reality! My introductory post is a homage to my first paid shoot; a haircut, a park, and a sweet girl named Sudie. Enjoy! :)