Ok, so...this week, I intend to try to talk to you guys a little bit about my "process" and what sort of equipment I use. We have to get one thing straight, though - I can't go step-by-step on my photos and tell everyone *exactly* how I process things. There aren't enough hours in the day right now. I'm actually working on a book about processing, and it will have step-by-step instructions on how I processed some of the shots in my 365. I'll keep you updated on that, but it will be post-365 when I complete it, most likely towards the end of 2010. Here comes the part where I'm going to sound like a real jerk, but I mean this in the best/most humble/helpful way possible: I've gotten hundreds of Flickrmails from people who are new to photography asking me how I process my photos. While I would love to answer each message and answer all of the questions that I'm asked, I just can't! That would be a full-time job that I don't get paid for lol! Let me stress that I am by no means an expert, and will *never* consider myself one heheh :) I am just taking this time to respond in a general forum to a lot of the questions that I have been asked about processing. What I am going to talk about this week is by no means the end-all to processing...far from it. I am just going to talk about some basics that will hopefully help people who are new to photography get on a path to discovering their own unique style. Let's start with the most basic stuff possible... First - master the basics of photography, such as composition and exposure. You don't need a fancy camera and all sorts of editing software to take amazing photos. Some of the best shots I've seen were taken on $30 film cameras, no lie! Maybe that is just my own personal preference, but I think simplicity is key in the beginning. If you master the basics, the sky's the limit. Second - knowledge is POWER!!!!!!!!! Find photos in books, magazines, Flickr, etc, that inspire you, and emulate those styles. No, don't copy...copying is dangerous, but emulation will help you take a style you like, and apply it to your own unique photos. For those of you who are new to photography, you're in such an amazing place right now! You have the ability to start from scratch and develop your own style and way of processing. So, read everything you can about processing, and different mediums (ie, film vs. digitial). There are so many great tutorials on Flickr and youtube that will teach you the basics about exposure, skin retouching, cross-processing...you name it, it's out there! Go to Barnes and Noble and read up on basic lighting, or subscribe to a photography magazine. Right now, I'm reading a book called "Minimalist Lighting" by Kirk Tuck. Hopefully this will sort of give some of you at least some ideas on where to start. Photography is a journey, and the thing I love about it, is that you learn something new every time you press the shutter release. Try to go easy on yourself while you're learning...you're going to make mistakes...we all take hilariously bad photos sometimes, but that's part of the process. So, all of that said, I'll give you the run-down on the shot at hand: The background is about $10 worth of black fabric from the craft store. The light source is really diffused natural light to the top of the frame, and an SB600 (external flash) bounced off the wall, camera right. For the post-processing, I did very little. I adjusted the exposure one stop brighter in Lightroom. And I almost always put the "Luminance" slider to 100. Then, I went in Photoshop...I used the "Patch Stamp" which, in CS is found on the toolbar with the "Healing Brush" tool. I like to use the Patch Stamp as opposed to the Clone Stamp for removing little spots in the photo...I just find it easier than the Clone Stamp. There were all kinds of little dust bunnies on my background. So, just take your Patch Stamp, circle it around the spot you want to remove, then drag it just a tiny bit away from the spot, and you're done. Play around with this feature some...you may love it or hate it, but I think some people don't know about this one. That's today's shot. Pretty easy-peasy. I promise the next few days won't be this wordy, but I had to preface this one with some general advice. :::PS::: Here is a little tutorial on the patch and healing brush tools. You can apply this technique to skin retouching or just general cleaning up the photo! www.eyesondesign.net/pshop/healing/brush.htm