Design Rehab

Inspirational?

Here is our newest member joining our rehab center. She is coming to us because of her overdose on Picnik.com, horrid use of the erase tool, and self proclaimed inspirational work.

Hire Inspiration Photography: We’ll erase part of your hand, jacket, dog, and hair. Don’t worry we realize this looks bad.

Actual quote: “don’t like how this one turned out….might edit it again ;)”

This technique inspires me to learn how to use proper editing techniques.

Hire Inspiration Photography: We love selective color but don’t know how to use it. We saw that your skin and the wall were both red so we thought we would bring attention to that.

Last but not least…..

Hire Inspiration Photography: …..or on a second thought, don’t.

Do’s and Don’ts

In portrait photography there are no black and white “rules” but there are do’s and don’ts. Here’s some examples:

Do:

• Take photos in focus
• Use good lighting
• Crop your images
• Try creative new things
• Draw attention to the subject
• Respect the artistic work of others

Don’t

• Snap a photo without focusing on the subject
• Use on camera flash for lighting
• Distort your image by stretching them out unnaturally
• Put your subject in a unrealistic environment
• Cover the image with text and graphics taking attention from the subject
• Use graphics that are under Federal Copyright laws

Are these photos following the do’s or the don’ts?

Real photographer making a living producing images like this. With a fast growing clientele. True story.

Angry!

I feel like the cookie monster threw up every cookie he ever ate and added Bella De Soto’s name to it. This website literally makes me angry.

I condensed the view of this website and you can see by the scrollbars I’m still only showing about half of the width of the page.

Web Designers: Don’t look at the source code. Just don’t. Inline styles galore!

You can edit the textareas, which are supposed to be used as input fields, but instead are used to display paragraphs. Also, the mailto’s in this website are a spammer’s dream, I can only imagine the mailbox of bella@bellads.info is never used and completely full.

I needed to give my pissed off eyes a rest, so I visited a site that understand user experience, calls to action, clear navigation, and a purpose:

• http://boagworld.com/

Color, Lighting, Effects. Oh My!

Anyone can take one bad photo, but it takes true ignorance to take several, ruin the original color and put them into a portfolio.

Noticed the blurred vignette on the beautiful brick wall and the horrible shadows on this girls face. Nice model effect with the wind blowing, too bad this photographer could never get her a modeling job, any agency would think she has liver problems with how yellow she is.

Tip for Photographers: Color constancy and lighting is key! If you get those right you won’t feel the need to overcompensate with effects, vignettes, etc. When shooting be aware of your light source and when editing try for natural skin tones first.

View this link on how to correct skin tones among other things in Photoshop.

Digital Photography School Case Study

Bonus Image:

I’m watching you…

Just Because You Can…

Doesn’t mean you should.

We get making your point, but this has just gone too far.

One of the most important things to know in web design, is if you distract from a good user experience in any way, the goal of the website is immediately undermined and derailed. This person appears to care more about rainbows that could cause massive seizures than getting their message across. Oh and click on the door… we dare you.

Good Luck?

Not All Logos Are Created Equal

Your company’s logo isn’t something to take lightly. Obviously. Consider someone who does quality work, as found on sites like Dribble, before choosing a graphic designer. We also suggest checking out their personal portfolio ahead of time. If your potential designer wants to just jump right in without understanding you or your business… run away.

As a Dribble nibble we give you the following logo made by Simon Walker.

Pink Monster Strikes Again!

Starting a photography business out of spite just creates more pink monsters. If you think starting your own photography business will save you money, think again.

20 Myths About Becoming a Pro Photographer.