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Baby Rabies

pregnancy & parenting

  • Start Here
    • About Baby Rabies
    • Baby Registry Top Picks
    • Favorite Pregnancy Apps
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  • Pregnancy
    • Birth Stories
    • Perinatal Mood Disorders
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    • Babies
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    • Photography

      6 Stunning Photos You Would Never Guess Were…

      February 11, 2019

      Photography

      Simple Tips For Editing Snow Photos On Your…

      December 13, 2018

      Photography

      I Wrote A Photography eBook And This Is…

      December 6, 2018

      Photography

      Creative Lighting Ideas To Help You Take Great…

      November 27, 2018

      Photography

      Learn How To Take And Edit Photos On…

      November 19, 2018

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      December 19, 2018

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      October 1, 2018

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      August 22, 2018

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      If Your Kid Loves Dump Trucks & Garbage…

      August 13, 2018

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eBook

Simple Tips For Editing Snow Photos On Your Phone
Photography

Simple Tips For Editing Snow Photos On Your Phone

by Jill December 13, 2018
written by Jill

We got caught in a big snow storm in Virginia this week, and while it was kind of a nightmare to get the RV out of, our kids had such a fun time playing in the GIANT snowflakes. (I’ve never seen them so big and fluffy!)

I remember the first time I took photos of my son in the snow years ago, I was so disappointed that they didn’t look as bright and crisp as I was seeing with my own eyes. But I had no idea how, nor the tools to fix that so they just remained gray and dim. 

Now, I know exactly how to use my favorite apps to make our snow photos look bright and happy, and I’m going to show you how I edited this one, and how you can use these same steps on your own snow photos.

First, I opened the photo in Snapseed and pulled up the Curves tool.

Snapseed is a free app available in the App Store and Google Play.

I pulled my midtones and light tones up, and then dropped only the very darkest tones at the bottom of the curve. This brightened my whites, kept the boys’ skin tones natural, and added depth by darkening the darkest colors.

Confused by curves? I have a whole chapter dedicated to understanding this powerful editing tool in my eBook Picture Play!

When editing your snow photos, try a similar approach of pulling that top 1/3 of the line up just a bit to brighten and whiten the snow. 

Next I opened the Details tool and selected Structure.

I increased Structure by 29 which made the snowflakes stand out more and brought out detail and contrast in their hats and the building behind them.

Structure is a really fun tool to play with to add a little extra magic to your photos!

Next, I wanted to create a bit of a light and airy feel so I opened the Vignette tool.

But instead of creating a dark vignette around my subjects, I created a reverse/bright vignette- meaning I made the outside of the circle brighter than the inside. This draws attention to my subjects, who are still properly exposed- their skin tones look great, they aren’t too washed out or too shadowy. The area outside the vignette is just a little brighter. 

Try this when your subject is mostly surrounded by bright whites and lighter colors!

The white balance looks pretty good to me, but sometimes snow photos can look really blue or cold. So head to the White Balance tool.

I clicked the eye-dropper tool and put my crosshairs over my white snow. It suggests I make it 3 degrees cooler, and I think that looks good.

When you’re using the eye-dropper tool, just be sure to put those crosshairs over anything white or neutral gray in your photo. See how it automatically adjusts for you. If it looks off, try moving it around to another white or gray spot on your photo to see if you can find a better match.

After that, I saved a copy of my photo from Snapseed and headed to A Color Story for a quick filter. There are two in the free Essentials pack that I think will work well with this and many other snow photos. 

A Color Story is a free app with some free features and some in app purchases. It’s available in the App Store and Google Play.

The first is appropriately named Ice Ice. I applied it at about 65%.

Ice Ice is more muted, cool and less saturated than Pop, which is applied below at about 50%. You can really tell the difference between the two when you look at the red in the bricks.

Both are great for clean, crisp edits with bright whites that will play nice with your subject’s skin. (No turning anyone orange!) 

Again, here is the before:

Here are the finals:

Pop

Ice Ice

RECAP: Tips For Editing Photos Of Snow on Your Phone

  • Use your curves tool (both Snapseed and A Color Story have these) to bring up your light tones and midtones by pulling up the top right side of the curves line-  whitening your whites and brightening your subjects’ skin.
  • Play with the Details->Structure tool in Snapseed to increase or decrease detail, contrast, saturation, and clarity.
  • Try a revere vignette in Snapseed by placing the Vignette tool circle over your subject and increasing the outside of the vignette (dragging the slider to the right) and making it brighter instead of darker. 
  • Check your photo’s color temperature with Snapseed’s White Balance tool. Use the eye dropper and select a part of your photo that is or should be white (like your snow) or neutral gray.
  • Try filters in A Color Story-> Essentials pack. These come free with ACS. Two of my favorites for snow are Ice Ice and Pop. Personally, I rarely ever apply filters at 100%. Try pulling it down to 50-60% to see how that works for you.

If you liked this and would like to learn more about how to take and edit photos you will LOVE with only your phone and free/cheap apps, purchase my eBook Picture Play! 
It’s 161 pages of tutorials, examples, and some of my favorite tips for making my own photos pop. It’s a digital download that you will receive immediately. AND IT MAKES A GREAT HOLIDAY GIFT! There is a digital gift card option at checkout. 

December 13, 2018 1 comment
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I Wrote An eBook And Here's What People Have To Say About It
Photography

I Wrote A Photography eBook And This Is What People Are Saying About It

by Jill December 6, 2018
written by Jill

Over the last year, as we’ve been travelling in our RV, I’ve had it in my head that I would write an eBook teaching people techniques for taking and editing photos using only their phones.

Last Friday, that book, Picture Play, officially released to the world and the response has been incredible.

Photography is something I get asked about a lot on the @babyrabies Instagram account and on @happy.loud.life as well. People will ask what camera I’m using and what settings. Most of the time I’m shooting with my iPhone (not even the newest iPhone) and editing with a few apps I’ve fallen in love with over the years.

Sometimes I will post pictures to IG that I took with my DSLR, but even then, I’m bringing it over to my phone to edit. It’s just easier and more effective than busting out Lightroom or Photoshop. Especially on the go.

Related: Creative Lighting Ideas To Help You Take Great Photos Even When It’s Dark Outside

Inside Picture Play (delivered to you as a 161-page eBook that you can read on your phone, tablet, or computer) I go over how to take and edit photos using cheap or free apps, in a way that will help you discover your own style so that you can start making your photos look exactly how you want them to look- and bring new life to old photos waiting in the depths of your phone storage.

I Wrote An eBook And Here's What People Have To Say About It

When you purchase Picture Play, you’ll also get access to the exclusive Facebook group where we share our photos, go over edits together, and I share even more advanced techniques and demonstrations.

The eBook already has 20+ amazing reviews over at ShopBabyRabies.com. Here are just a few:

I know life changing seems a little dramatic but I’m so in awe of what this has helped me do. We live in Washington so we often have dark overcast skies and it can be hard to get the right picture. But this taught me about what curves actually were and how to adjust lighting and warm or cool a picture. And now I don’t have to freak out over a rubberband on a wrist because I have learned how to remove it just from this book! – Katie

I highly recommend this book! Everything is broken down and easy to understand. I love that it has actual pictures as examples to walk you through it. I’m always taking pictures of my kids on my phone due to convenience and looking for ways to make them pop later. This is definitely a game changer! It’s great being able to go back to the book as a reference. I’ve been using the book and apps every day since I downloaded them! Great Job Jill! – Kimmy

I’ve always been so impressed with Jill’s photos on her blog and her insta pages, and assumed she used costly programs for editing. Within a few minutes of reading this book, I’ve started making some amazing edits of my own photos! The e-book is beautiful, with easy-to-follow tips and app recommendations. I can’t wait to keep practicing with old and new photos! – Andrea

You don’t need all the fancy equipment to make beautiful edits happen, and when so many of us are relying on just our phones to capture our lives, it really feels like less pressure knowing you can photograph on the go and still make it look amazing.

I wrote more about why and how I wrote Picture Play over at Happy Loud Life if you want to read on. I’ve also shared a coupon code for readers that will be available until December 20, 2018.

Baby Rabies Picture Play eBook | Learn How To Take And Edit Photos On Your Phone Like A Boss

December 6, 2018 0 comment
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