What happens when I try to copy someone elses style- Blogging all about Pebbles and BamBam

This last Friday my new back drop paper arrived. It is Savage Seamless paper in Thunder Gray. When I see photos with this paper it makes me think of Gap Kids ads. Noah and I pulled the paper out and set up "our photography studio" in the dining room on Saturday morning, while Nate and Nicole were at gymnastics. Noah even picked out a few shirts he wanted to wear during his photo shoot and a hat. In addition to playing with the new paper I also had the opportunity to bust out my new gray card. I have never realized the power of the gray card until I found myself trying to edit 40+ photos for my workshop where there wasn't anything in the picture to set as a "neutral gray" for white balance. Using a gray card saves me a lot of time since most color casts and skin tone issues that need to be corrected in ACR/PS are quickly fixed with a single click of a button when I correct the white balance with the gray card. I could also set a custom white balance in my camera (this is great if you only shoot jpegs) too.

But the title of this post is about what happens when I try to copy someone elses post-processing style. I copied the editing style of Brenda Acuncius over at F8 Kids. She is one of the instructors of the Bloom Photography Workshop that I am taking. I absolutely adore her work. You'll see below that in the picture of Noah with the hat, that the edits just doesn't work. I actually like the SOOC best. The edit looks "muddy" for this photo and doesn't convey the "sweetness" of the SOOC shot. I am not saying that the editing style used is a bad one, just that it doesn't work for this picture and that each person has to find their own style, obviously I am still in search of mine but getting closer (see next set of pictures).

The second edit is another picture of Noah, where he decided it was time for a wardrobe change. Just for information we got his hair cut later that afternoon. I already miss those golden locks. The edit on this photo is much more my style...color, but a bit subdued, but not desaturated. I don't know if that makes ANY sense to anyone but me. Oh well!

The point of this post, is that I like it when I can turn something around in my brain. I had it in my brain that Brenda's post-processing style looks great all the time. Truth is it does, but on her photos with her style applied to it. I have to find my own style for my photos and for the style of photos that I take. Seems like I should have already known this little tidbit, but for me it took some experimentation.

SOOC:

Edit: Brenda's Color, Urban, Pink Haze, Vignette, Crop, Sharpen


SOOC:


Edit: Brenda's vibrant color, FB Velvet, Blue Haze, Vignette, Crop, Sharpen