Blog | Sara Lynn Paige Photography

Feb

03

Double Exposure Tutorial & Free Action

Happy Friday, everyone! I thought I’d give you all a treat today and write up a quick tutorial on how to recreate a double exposure in Photoshop. First of all, I’m sure there are lots of ways to do this, and even more ways to make it look more authentic, but since it really requires mass tinkering for each image, I thought I’d share the basics of what I do with you.

The simplest way to do it would be to copy one photo onto the other as a new layer, and then to change the layer’s blending mode to “Screen” and further adjust the opacity, but we’re going to add an additional tip. If you want to learn how to do it yourself, read on. But I’ve also made a few handy little actions in case you want to speed up the process. Download them for free here. =)

I find that just doing the old copy/paste/screen routine doesn’t quite get the balance I like. One image is always darker than the other and doesn’t really look like a genuine double exposure. So what I like to do is add a Multiply layer from the first image. It probably sounds confusing, so don’t worry, we’ll break it down.

The How To, Gumshoe

First you’ll want to open both your images in Photoshop. Copy the first image (Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C) and paste it onto the second image (Ctrl+V). If you want to go the extra mile you can also copy the second image onto the first and go through all the steps twice to see which image you like better. (They will be different!)
Next put the top layer blending mode to “Screen”. If you have your layers window open, this should be located in the right hand sidebar. If not, go to Layer > Layer Style > Blending Options and when the window pops up you should see a drop down box that reads “Blending Mode Normal”. Click that box and select “Screen” from the list.
Now copy your original layer (re-select your “background” layer, right click, select “Duplicate Layer”) and change the blending mode to “Multiply”. You should notice right away the balance between your two images is adjusted. Sometimes this is enough, sometimes I add another Multiply layer.

See, easy peasy! Enjoy!

Jan

31

Layers, Vanity Stations, & Dinosaurs

Canon EOS 7D / Spurred Posted by Sara / 8 comments

For the last few posts I’ve been thinking “OH, yay, I can finally share how it snowed!” but then I get up and look out the window the morning of and everything has melted. (I talk about the weather a lot, I’m sorry. But before I share this week’s Spurred recap, let’s get personal… about the weather!)

Because I grew up on a tropical island, the first time I remember seeing snow was when I was ten years old. It was the best thing in the world. I’d never been so cold before. My nose stung so badly it felt like it was going to fall off. My eyes watered and ears burned. Snow pants were the coolest invention ever. Hats and scarves were my new favorite accessory. I remember walking to school completely decked out in my snow pants, coat, mittens, you name it- I wore it. Most kids walked to school in a coat and jeans. (I like to use the excuse of not being used to the weather. Really I was just super excited about the snow.) Perhaps it’s strange, but I think the snow makes the cold bearable for me. Without the fluffy white hills and their diamond sparkle everything just seems dead and dreary. I’m confident it will come, even if I have to drive an hour outside the city just to see it, I’m just feeling a little impatient.

“Layers” August 26th (Day 238)

One of the best things about autumn is layering up.

“Neglected” August 27th (Day 239)

Tom saw this book tucked away in a shop, the last of its kind.

“Distorted” August 28th (Day 240)

Distorted view because of the fog. (Fog is one of my favorites.)

“Mirror” August 29th (Day 241)

After much debating, I finally picked up a mirror to go in the bedroom so I could do my make up in natural light instead of the bathroom. I’ve always wanted one of those vanity stations so I could put my make up and hair things, etc etc there and use the natural light of the bedroom instead of standing in the bathroom and cluttering it up with my stuff, but unfortunately we’re a little tight for space in the apartment so that will have to wait. This is close enough for me.

“Close” August 30th (Day 242)

Mmm, macro!

“Art” August 31st (Day 243)

I have this problem with dishware, specifically cups and mugs. We have plenty, and our cupboards are full, but I love collecting them anyway. When I saw these I really fell in love with them and just had to make room for them.

“Mail” September 1st (Day 244)

From overseas! (How serendipitous some arrived on the day it was my prompt.)

Jan

28

Breakfast With The Boys

the cats Posted by Sara / 12 comments

Dogs get all the credit for being smart and learning tricks and cats are left holding the short end of the stick. A lot of cats learn tricks, and I’ve personally grown fond of teaching them. I think since our cats are indoors, it’s important to stretch their brains a little and give them a challenge.

Before breakfast the boys must sit quietly (we say, “おすわり”) and wait until Tom or I asks them to “touch” or, as they’ve just recently learned, “high five”. Pumpkin is the touching master. He will touch the exact same spot you put your fingers on, no matter where it is. Atlas is the high five master, which is actually more like a really fast patty-cake for him. And Morn is the only know that knows “love me”, where he rubs his face against your hand.

Happy Caturday!

Jan

26

Mansions of Madness

Canon 35mm 1.4 / Canon EOS 7D / friends Posted by Sara / 6 comments

Mansions of Madness was probably the craziest game that we played when our guests were here for Christmas and the New Year. It took us quite a while to get set up, and if I’m totally honest, I have a really hard time sitting and listening (and or reading) instruction manuals of any kind. I’m more of a learn as I go, hands on kind of lady. When I build those do-it-yourself tables/chairs/cabinetry, I always look at the pictures and have to tell myself to read the instructions too. I rarely do, but haven’t ever had a problem so far. Once we fumbled our way through an initial play through of the game, we had so much fun that we played it three more times. (It’s a 3-4 hour game!) It’s set in the 1930s, and you start off as a team of detectives and you is to run through the mansion collecting clues to discover the objective to win. (It changes each time!) One time we had to escape the mansion alive (we failed), another time it was to defeat the hardest monsters, and you can change the layout of the mansion every time too so it was really a new experience every time! And each character is extremely different so you really have to work together to win. And the best part is that one player is the game master (much like D&D) and his objective is different every time too, but it’s always against yours. Now I don’t want to bore your head off talking about games, so I’ll leave you with some photos (of course).
Mansions of Madness

Photos 7, 8, & 10 were taken by my sister Kait.

Jan

23

Grapes, Agave, and More Cats

Spurred Posted by Sara / 9 comments

Happy Monday, everyone, and Happy Chinese New Year to those that celebrate! 新年快乐! This year is the year of the Dragon. (I’m an Ox!) What zodiac sign do you fall into?

One of our favorite restaurants here serves vegan Japanese, Korean, and Chinese food and to celebrate the New Year they were hosting tea ceremonies, and Tom and I attended one. We both loved it! It was extremely relaxing and I enjoyed how rhythmic everything was. Taking time to really enjoy the flavor of the tea and be grateful was quite therapeutic from a stressful week. And then we visited a local Asian market yesterday that just opened up in our area and everyone was buzzing with excitement for their new year celebrations. After being surrounded by it all weekend it seemed silly not to mention it.

And now we flash back to the middle of August while I catch up with you on the Spurred project. (Atlas. Was. So. TINY!)

“Group” August 16th (Day 228)

“Open” August 17th (Day 229)

“Waiting” August 18th (Day 230)

After two and a half weeks and three vet visits, he was released from quarantine! (Look at how TINY HE WAS!)

“Recommend” August 19th (Day 231)

This is Morn’s favorite Purr Yoga pose.

“Tea” August 20th (Day 232)

Well, there’s tea in the background, but this photo was too good to pass up. Turns out Atlas is quite the wordsmith.

“Foreign” August 21st (Day 233)

Making vegetarian dashi (which is Japanese soup stock!).

“Pain” August 22nd (Day 234)

The good kind of burning.

“Cozy” August 23rd (Day 235)

Pumpkin doesn’t seem too pleased, does he?

“Nest” August 24th (Day 236)

“Around” August 25th (Day 237)

Atlas likes to be lifted in this basket and carried around the house so he can see everything. We pretend he’s in his own hot air balloon traveling around the world. I used to pretend the same when I was young. Only I was too big to be carried around in a basket.

PS: I almost forgot the obligatory weather update. =P
We had a snow storm and it stayed for maybe two days but it’s all melted and there’s no snow. I cannot believe it! =(