MAKEUP MEETS TECH

Have you ever thought…. I wish I knew how to post better photos?  Though I feel really comfortable using PHOTOSHOP; a few apps have made their way into my staple tech tools.  Last week I ran into a challenge and I thought I would share it with you.  I keyed the makeup team for DIFFA DALLAS‘ ad campaign.  This campaign is a yearly shoot to promote DIFFA’s fashion show extravaganza.  I am not exaggerating…. this show is like nothing you have ever seen.  It is truly a spectacle.

DIFFA is an organization that benefits the local community of those living with or effected by HIV and AIDS.  How I view the HOUSE OF DIFFA… it is an organization that enables artists like me, to have creative freedom for a cause.  I love working with DIFFA because I get to play, and nothing can be too over-the-top.  This campaign is very secretive and it is understood that DIFFA should be the first to release any images to the public.  That’s when my challenge arrived.  I was so excited about the amazing makeup that my team and I created… how could I post images and not give anything away?  For the artists reading this… I know you have experienced this.  You want to post, but you can’t. For the those of you who aren’t artists… I’m going to show you how to use apps to truly create works of art from a selfie; all done from your smart phone.  Let’s begin.

Sitting in my hotel room in Dallas, I started playing with the quick snaps I took on set and in the makeup prep area.  These three images are the images I posted to social media.  All three images were taken with my iPhone and edited completely on my phone using apps.  Links to all apps are under TECH TOOLS at the bottom of the post.

Here’s where the fun begins.  You will rarely see me take a selfie, but for the purposes of education I want to show you that even a poorly lit selfie has the potential to be an amazing post.

iPHOTO

The next set of images will take you through the simply alterations you can do with your installed photo app.  I have an iPhone so these edits are made with iPhoto.  You start with a photo.  You can see how bad the lighting is.  I like the Chrome or Transfer filter.  I chose Chrome this time.  I bumped the exposure, the black point and highlights.

FRAGMENT

After saving the last frame, I open FRAGMENT.  I upload my saved image and use the various controls to find my desired fragmented edit.  TECH TIP… the circle at the top middle of the screen will bounce between editing the image versus the fragment.  If you don’t like the style of the fragment, click the two intersecting arrows on the right to get a new style.  I have noticed that uploading un-cropped images work best in this app.  FRAGMENT takes a little practice, but once you get the hang of it… so worth it.  The next series of images are variations I went through before finding the fragment I liked best.  Save your work to your camera roll and you’re ready to move on.

SHIFT

SHIFT is really great for altering color, creating inversions and adding style to your photos.  I chose this app for my image because I noticed that the lipstick I’m wearing in my selfie is really close in tone to everything else in the photo.  I felt it need a little color alteration to add interest.  When you open your saved image in the SHIFT app you will see the option to crop your image.  I know that I will be posting my photo to INSTAGRAM, so much of the time I will opt for a 1:1 ratio…. which means “square”.  SHIFT’s preset filters can be really easy, but for this image, I tapped the color feature located at the middle, bottom of the screen.  I opted for the filter named “Antigua”.  The filters are the colored boxes.  The circles above the colored boxes use a similar language to Photoshop.  You can alter the effect of the filter with these circles.  I chose “Overlay”.  The scale at the bottom alters hue and the scale at the top alters intensity.  TECH TIP…. tap the intersecting arrows on your color filter to change the position of your colors.  This app is cumulative, so I find that one selection looks better than layers of filters.  Click “DONE” and the image will save to your camera roll.

FONT CANDY

Many of you may stop there, but for education purposes I want to share with you an app I just found.  FONT CANDY is used if you want to add words to your images.  You can simply use one font or add multiple fonts to your photo.  I opened my saved photo into FONT CANDY to add the final touches.  I used three different fonts making it necessary to use three font boxes.  Each text box has many options including font, size, character spacing, text curve, etc.  Once you have your text the size and orientation you LOVE, click the circle at the top of the screen to alter the text color and mask color.  I opted to make the mask color black and decrease the opacity to reveal my final effect.  Click the save button in the top right hand corner of the app to save to your camera roll or post directly to INSTAGRAM or FACEBOOK.

I love what is possible with technology!!  I have the pleasure of working with some amazing artists on a daily basis.  I always hear the same thing… “but I don’t have anything to post”.  Never again will you have the excuse that you don’t have a photo to post if you use even a couple techniques I showed you today.  Personally, I HAVE to make art… whether I do that on a face or on a screen.  Sometimes you’ll find my blog to talk about makeup technique; but how I present that technique is just as important as doing a perfect eyeliner.  Here is my final image and I invite you to play with apps to post better photos.

PRODUCTS:  LIME CRIME Velvetines in Squash

TECH TOOLS:  iPHOTO, FRAGMENT, SHIFT, FONT CANDY

I invite you to SUBSCRIBE to MAKEUP MEETS TECH for posts that are all things tech.  As always… I truly appreciate the likes, pins, shares and tweets.  Join me on social for daily posts.  For a makeup related tech post… check out Skull MAKEUP Tutorial.  I encourage comments and questions… we are all here to learn.