The Do's and Don'ts of Photo Editing: Part 1

Whudup. Yo. A-deezy in the heezy fa sheezy. 


Gangster moment over.

Oh, the totally made-up word from yesterday is basically the word for the vehicle that a soccer mom uses to tote all her kids around and run errands. 

via

Okay, so I've been asked to do some Photoshop (which will be known from here on out as PS) tutorials, but I am to lazy to  can't figure out how to get my computer to record what I'm doing. This may be a good thing, because I don't want to accidentally post videos of myself looking up pictures of pokemon and have you guys wonder what the heck I do in my free time.

Until I stop being so dumb figure out how to use my computer, I have compiled a list (complete with pictures) of do's and don'ts in photo editing. Note: I'm not a professional photographer, I'm not a professional editor. I am, however, pretty skilled where PS is concerned. No, I don't have a degree in it. I taught myself everything I know. If that discredits me as a resource in your eyes, go ahead and stop reading. Thanks!

DON'TS

1. Spot Color. UGH. Please - this makes me cringe. Yes, I am guilty of it - long, long ago in my "Picnik" days. You may think that this "enhances" your photo. Umm no. Maybe it enhances my fear of or disgust with your photo, but no. It does not make your photo better. Having only your eyes blue or brown looks stupid. Having a random blotch of your photo colored looks stupid.
I'm sure there are 1 or 2 cases out of every 1,000,000,000 where spot color works, but generally it's just a bad idea that should be flushed down your brain toilet the second it pops into your head.

all of the above images via

2. Random cut and pastes. This one can't be done in Picnik (thank goodness), so it's not as common, but once you learn how to use PS, please promise me that you will never do this. Please. 

all photos above via

3. Too much airbrush. We've all seen it, and we've all probably been guilty of it at one point or another. You know, the second you saw the airbrush tool on Picnik. You thought, Great! Now I can get rid of all my fine lines, wrinkles, and blemishes! Getting rid of that stuff is fine, but there is a point where it's just too much. I mean, faces have line, people!! That too much - it's about the point where you no longer have pores or any sign of aging. Oh, and your face looks drawn on and totally not even real.

4. Over-editing (specifically the over-use of actions). See, in PS there are these things called actions. In Picnik, they are the little pre-made edits like cross-process, vibrance, etc. Those things are fine. Great, even. But once you can't see the picture, you've gone a little overboard. (Edit: After Megan's comment, I had to re-over-edit this photo... I hadn't over-edited enough! haha, shows you how much I hate it.)

5. Over-use of textures. Textures are freakin' cool, and they can make a great photo even more rockin'. The fact is, though... that if you over-use them, your photos will look silly. People. There is a place where you cross the line and "too much" happens.

That's all for now! I think I will have to have another post with more "don'ts," because I have quite a few that I didn't touch on at all!!