Post swap with Annabel from Fragmented Splendour!

Hello pretties! Me and Annabel from Fragmented Splendour decided to do a swap up of sorts. Today Annabel is going to show you some easy tricks for photo editing and over on her blog I show you how to make this incredibly cheap and easy jewelry organizer.

Here's Annabel for you now!....

Hello everyone! I'm Annabel from Fragmented Splendour! I'm so happy to be posting here today. I love Mel's blog and have been a follower since she started! Today I'm going to be sharing with you some tips for Photoshop success with your product photographs. I'm a little bit of a self-taught Photoshop junkie and have been using various versions of the software for the past 6 or 7 years!

I recently opened my own shop selling quirky jewellery pieces using natural gemstones and the like, I love it!

What I've learned is that natural light isn't always enough to make your images shine. I look at my photos on my laptop and I'm not always happy with the colours/brightness etc..I want my jewellery to look how it actually does!

I'm going to give you a few tips and show you the settings I use to customise each image perfectly. (No actions blergh!)

Taking the pictures -
This is the first important step! I won't ramble about this, there are plenty of guides out there. I use a high quality point and shoot and it does the job, don't be fooled into thinking you absolutely must have a DSLR! (granted I would love one!). Take plenty of pictures from ALL angles and distances, as close to a window as you can, make use of natural light, it's the most flattering (and cheap). Try not to have a distracting background, as this can steal focus.

Into Photoshop -
Now for the fun part (I like to think so ;) ) As you can see, the first image is okay, but I feel like the colours are too dull at the moment. The necklaces are so pretty and the first image really doesn't do them justice!

We're going to bring out the colours and lighten the image with a few added adjustment layers*! It's pretty simple, and I've found that Curves, Brightness&Contrast and Vibrance are the easiest, you just fiddle with the dials to get your desired effect, and as each image is different you can tailor the effects perfectly : )

Other adjustment layers that can be useful are levels and selective colour, but honestly, its all about experimenting! : )

*The adjustment layers button can be found in the bottom right of photoshop when the layers tab is up, it's a circle with a diagonal line though it (for reference I am using Photoshop CS5) OR you can go up top to Layer > New adjustment layer!

I hope this has been helpful. Photoshop is an amazing tool and I know plenty of people just seem baffled by it. All you need is a little spare time to mess around and get comfortable, once you get the basics it's all smooth sailing! 

Thank you to Mel for letting me share this with you today! I hope to see you over at my blog sometime, where I post about all things interesting and amazing ; )

xo