To make the tuturial easier to follow, you can download the image we are going to be working with here.  It is a RAW file (not JPEG) and can only be opened in programs compatible with RAW files, like Lightroom 4.  If you're not familiar with RAW files, they are much bigger than JPEG files and hold much more pixel information.  For best editing results, use a RAW image rather than a JPEG image.  Your SLR camera will have a setting where you can choose which format to shoot in.  I have mine set to RAW+JPEG. 

Here's what we are going to achieve:

Once you've downloaded the above image, you need to open it in LR4 (Lightroom 4). If you haven't used LR4 before, you'll need to first go the Library module and import your photo.  Then you can switch to the Develop module to begin your editing.

In the panel on the right-hand side of your screen, scroll down the bottom to Camera Calibration.  Change the Profile to "Camera Portrait" and the Shadows Tint to +27.

Now scroll back up to the top of the panel, and we'll work our way down!

In the "Basic" panel, we'll make the following changes:

Move the Temperature slider to 6390 and leave the Tint at 8
Exposure +0.85
Contrast +2
Highlights +7
Shadows -34
Whites +5
Blacks -44
Clarity +10
Vibrance +5

Your image should now look like this:

It's looking better, but it still needs a few more adjustments!

The next panel is Tone Curve.  All we'll do here is adjust the Darks slider to -20.

For the next panel, make sure "HSL" and "All" are selected.  Then make the following adjustments.

Hue: Green +7
Luminance: Red +5
Luminance: Orange +16
Luminance: Yellow +2

For all the steps, try moving the sliders from one end to the other to see the difference each adjustment makes to the photo.  To undo anything you've done, scroll down to the history panel on the left and click on which step you want to go back to.

Under the Detail panel, we're going to adjust the Noise Reduction.  This tool is especially good if you have taken a photo using a high ISO.  This photo was taken with an ISO of 400, which doesn't produce much grain and therefore only needs a slight adjustment.  If a photo had an ISO of 1600 for example, you may want to move the slider to be about 60.

The final adjustment we are going to make to the photo, is to add a slight vignette.  Vignettes work best when they are barely noticable.  Lightroom already has a great preset for a vignette, so we'll use that one.  In the panel on the left of the screen, under Presets, choose "Vignette 1".  This will add (in my opinion) just the right amount of darkness around the edges of the photo.  You can also make adjustments on the right, under the Effects panel.

You have now finished editing your photo!  To save it as a JPEG (you'll need to do this to view it in other programs, add to the web or email, etc), right click on the image and choose Export.

This will bring up a new window with lots of options!  Choose where you want to Export (save) your file to, then click Export.  There's no need to change any of the other settings if you just want a simple save to JPEG.

Now there's just one last thing that is very handy to know! This works if you have lots of photos to edit that are all from the same session.  In the toolbar at the top, click on Develop, then New Preset...

You'll have the below window appear.  Give your preset a name then click Create.

Now when you open your next photo, scroll down the panel on the left to User Presets and choose the preset you just created.  Everything you did to the first photo will be done in an instant to the new photo!  You can make more adjustments as required.  Remember it works best on photos that have similar lighting and exposure to start with.

Finally, snap a new photo in RAW and have a go at editing it!  You'll find experimenting is the best way to learn what your editing program can do!

I hope you've found this tutorial helpful and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

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First off was a birthday party for my two girls (their birthdays are only a month apart and very close to Christmas so we have had combined birthday parties for them so far).  It was Madison's 3rd and Charlotte's 1st birthdays and we had a rainbow themed party.  I styled the whole party, designed party printables and made all the decorations, including the cake bunting. The best part of the party was the cake... a seven layer rainbow cake with Swiss Meringue buttercream, covered with purple fondant and made by yours truly.  The birthday girls (and the guests) loved it! 

The idea and recipe came from the Whisk Kid: Say it With Cake blog.  The original recipe is for a six layer cake, however rainbows have seven colours, so I added the extra layer.

Throughout the year I also made a birthday cake for my husband, a combined birthday cake for my dad and sister and a birthday cake for a friend...

Red Velvet and White layer cake, covered with fondant.

Beach Cake

Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Swiss Meringue buttercream with dark chocolate ganache.  (I modified this recipe from Sweetapolita.)

And possibly my most favourite and extravagant cake that I have made is a Stegosaurus cake.  My daughters love dinosaurs so their latest birthday party was a dinosaur theme.  I tried to keep it as girly as possible so we had cartoonish dinosaurs and pretty coloured decorations.  I had so much fun making it and I have come such a long way since my eldest daughters first birthday cake - a single layer packet mix cake with pink icing and topped with hundreds and thousands!!

Stegosaurus cake with white and dark marbled chocolate spikes.

I did mention I enjoy craft as well, so here is my latest craft project... a rainbow tree using scrap fabric.

There are so many amazing things to do in this world, and I can't wait to begin my next project... amongst all the photography of course!

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