The Magic of Technology

Intro by Skip Cohen

I love to create – taking life and turning it into art!

We rarely share a “how-to” post, especially about image manipulation, but this one from Suzette Allen is perfect. It deserves to be shared beyond her blog, “Suzette Says.”

Her quote at the top says it all, but it got me thinking about how much each of us takes for granted. In fact, that was one of the most significant issues that hit me through the pandemic – that loss of freedom I felt every day. Now that we’re headed back to a bit of normalcy, I so appreciate the simplicity of just being out.

As a professional photographer, you’re a magician to your clients. While they know many of the tools you use in post-production, they have no idea how skilled you might be. And, when you exceed their expectations, there’s a bond that starts to reinforce the relationship.

There’s my point – stop taking your skillset for granted. Be a little amazed at yourself when it comes to capturing and creating stunning images. Accept that you’re a magician, and except for modern medicine, no career field has given society more!

Every day you help people capture memories – you turn those intangible moments into priceless photographs and art your clients will cherish for a lifetime.

By Suzette Allen

I love the magic of Photoshop and the ability to create an Angelic Vision like this of a friend’s grand-girls! My fellow photographic friend and visionary Laurie Hughes designed this concept of her grandkids but because of the pandemic, we kept putting it off. Finally, we just had to do it before they all grew out of the dresses!! I was assisted by my friend and partner Gail Patrice. We captured the images with a LUMIX S1 and used a Godox AD-200 for the Light to match the backlight from the sun. I love how the Godox system is so portable and works perfectly for weddings and portraits. We also use the MagMod diffuser for the light whenever we do portraits.

One of the little ones couldn’t come (because of covid) so we photographed the group with the hopes to add her in later.  Later on, Laurie actually took the little one to the same park later to capture a few so we could add her in.

The backlight was similar, but the facial light wasn’t exactly the same. I think it was workable, though… the highlights a little hot too, but painting the image allowed me to hide those flaws and actually disguise the lower resolution of the extra image too! (These were captured on a full-frame camera so the file was pretty big, and the extra image was much lower resolution). We chose a pose that worked with a group and only had to do one head swap of the oldest granddaughter.

I’m so happy with this amazing image! Of course, I painted it with mixer brushes in Photoshop!

(Check my site for upcoming classes!) The coolest part was the custom brush I made to make the feather flips! The wings DID have feathers, but not this cool! I added the feathery look to the dresses too and made it far more stylized! I can’t wait to print up a canvas print.

This is the magic I love to create- taking LIFE and turning it into ART!