Today I made my first ever screencasting video! Okay, let’s be honest, it took me 4 tries to make one I was fully satisfied with..

In the video, I show you how I enhance colors and play with the lighting using GIMP photo editing software (yes, you can download GIMP for free!). I first learned this method watching a YouTube tutorial.

What a serious face, eh?! Here’s a video of me showing you how I enhance photos on GIMP

My partner needed some new headshots, and I need to practice photography (its homework now, right?!) so last weekend we set out and took some shots. It was a great learning opportunity for me.

What I learned about headshots:

  • My 50mm lens was great for this style of portrait.
  • Generally, headshots are best from the shoulders up. However, my partner wanted his to go a bit lower down than his shoulders. And of course, its important to listen to what the client wants!
  • We experimented with distances from the background – the further he was from the background, the more blurry the background would get. We like blurry backgrounds!

Plans for next time:

Headshots come in all kinds of varieties, from indoor to outdoor, and all kinds of backgrounds. Next time, we are going to try headshots at a nature location, as we found the red walls to be interesting, but perhaps a bit distracting, even when blurry.