Adobe Lightroom | Preset

ISO 100 | 50mm | F/8 | 1/125 sec

Last year I set out to find the secret formula for the digital tinting process Phil Borges uses to get that unique look to his images. I never did find out how he does it but I was hoping it would have been in the form of some Photoshop action or Lightroom preset…nada.

Then last night I was processing some photos when possessed by the devil, made this image black & white. It looked good but was kinda blah. I leaked the color back into it slowly until I got that desaturated look old photos get after years in an album. I added more blacks…think it was jacked up about +40, a little more contrast pushed +20 and sharpened it up at +72.

I checked it on a few photos from different shoots and it looks good. Don’t know what to call it yet though. This shot is of a Ryerson student and photographer working on a Haiti charity project. Lighting setup was AB1600 in softbox at 1/16th power camera right. I put it close enough to shoot f/8 at 1/125th sec. Another AB1600 was placed camera left using the standard reflector that comes with the strobe set to kick out light at f/5.6. The background was blown white by a ceiling mounted AB800 shooting into the cyc wall. It’s courtesy of my 50mm 1.4 USM glass.

50/365

ISO 800 | 50mm | F/3.2 | 1/100 sec

I have this reluctance to shoot at hi ISO’s even when the ambient light is so dim it makes camera/motion blur a 95% outcome. Guess I’m hoping to pull off one image out of several that will be sharp and properly exposed.Yet…every time I do break the ISO 400 barrier the results are pretty good. I can use a wider DOF and still have enough shutter speed to increase my keeper rate.

The camera bodies coming out of Canon and Nikon do some amazing things with hi ISO. My pal just picked up the new D3s which I hear can see in the dark. I’m not real interested in taking pictures in the dark but those late afternoon low light subjects practically scream for ISO 400 – 1600. Especially when a little off-camera light is added.

For this image I talked my girl into being my test subject for an upcoming budoir shoot, using my 580EX II speedlite as fill, bouncing it off the ceiling with a -0.3 FEC. It also served as the trigger for an off-camera speedlite to her left, bounced off the white living room wall. Both of these served to raise the light level in the room enough to get a good exposure.

For the next few days I’m going to shoot no lower than ISO 400 and i’ll stretch it to 1600. I’m officially on the HI ISO bandwagon…but in baby steps. This was processed in Photoshop and finished in Lightroom. I added a bit of noise in post to give it a more film-like presence.

50/365

a cheat from last year, but I like it.

my girl in natural light

Toronto streets

Heat | Pt. 2

Sick as a dog with a flu bug and feeling lazy just laying around. I processed a few more shots from a budoir session. The subject did most of the setup, etc. I only showed up with my camera and tripped the shutter. This series of images were shot in about 10 minutes with only minor cropping to get them aspect ratio equal, then converted to B&W.

Black & White / Gradient Layers

I always appreciate new post processing and retouching ideas. Keep them coming. I gave this method a shot using an image from a late shoot last year. I desaturated it by adding a Black & White layer then reducing the opacity to 80%. This kept a bit of colour in the image…just enough to blend in another Gradient layer (orange to purple) to add a slight tint overall. I reduced that layer’s opacity to 3% and blend mode to soft light.

The Black & White/Gradient tools are probably one of the least known in Photoshop but they can have such a powerful effect on an image with a little bit of trial and error. I didn’t use them much myself until last year when I noticed that a  lot of beauty and fashion retouchers were all over them. Now at least 90% of my retouching includes either one or a combination them. Mostly though it’s just to add more overall contrast, which seems to increase the apparent sharpness of the photo. Not that I need much sharpening with the 50mm. This thing is positively dangerous from F/2.8 to 5.6 across the entire frame.

Shot settings: EF 50mm 1.4 USM, on-board 580EXII as fill, triggering off-camera 580EX bounced off the ceiling. ISO 400.

Thanks for the tip Matt…not sure I’m sold yet but I’ll try it on a few more images.

Monica

This is an old image from a casual shoot last summer. Monica is a great model to work with, a fabulous free poser. If you haven’t shot with an experienced model before, put it on your list for 2010. The session runs much smoother and flows from one pose and setup to the next. Before you know it, the CF card has 400 shots on it.

I processed the second image awhile back but loaded up the RAW file to try out a new retouching technique a buddy showed me recently. I’ve used a few effects plug-ins with Photoshop over the years and they all pretty much churn out B&W conversions that look similar. This method is a variation on my own technique but the images ended up looking a bit better and sharper without actually “sharpening” them. Even better is how it retains more detail in the shadow areas. The blacks are…well black, without looking flat. I’ll post more about it when I figure out what makes it work so well. I’ve got 5 more hours in the great white north so I better get some shut-eye before the drive down to Toronto. Adios.

Shot Details: 50mm at f/2 between ISO 200 -400. I had my 580EX on-camera dialed down about a full stop using FEC. I just wanted a wink of light since it was a bright day.

Heat

Boudoir – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“A boudoir is a lady’s private bedroom, sitting room or dressing room. The term derives from the French verb bouder, meaning “to pout”. …”

I did a few boudoir sessions last year and neglected to post some of the images. These gals are professional models who are extremely comfy with their bodies…and showing them off. I don’t want to make a habit of this but it was a fun experience. Many thanks to the entire crew, especially the makeup artists and stylist. You can do enough retouching to make up for a lack of a great prep crew.

This one was one of my fav’s, I’ll post more as they are processed.

Lighting Setup | Alien Bees

Alien Bee 400 in siftbox (left) for fill. Alien Bee 800 in a 22" Beauty Dish as main (right)

ISO 100 | 45mm | F/10 | 1/160 sec

Thanks Arnie, great idea to post the shot setups once in awhile. I’ll try to do that more often. I usually verbalize it but it does drive home the point better if you can see it in action.

As you can tell, this is a three light setup (the third light is just out of frame – hair light). AB800 in a 22″ beauty dish set to F/10 as the key. The AB400’s are positioned as fill and hair light respectively. We guessed our way into the exposure since neither of us brought a light meter. Yes, it is very possible to chimp your way into a decent exposure but it can take a lot of trial and error, especially in a multi-light configuration like this.

A proper light meter also saves time in post…I spent an hour dodging and burning layers to get this image to look this way. I could have saved all that time if the exposure was correct. So much for trial and error.

Tara | Retouched

Yes. A lot goes into processing a shot when you want to push it right to the edge. According to some, retouching goes too far sometimes and I agree but you have to decide that for yourself in the context of what the image is for. If it’s beauty or high fashion, the last thing most people want to see is some model who looks like death warmed over after a late night of partying. It’s unrealistic…apparently, to ask that models take their jobs seriously and keep themselves in good shape. For those who won’t/Don’t/Can’t, well there is the first line of defense: The makeup artist. Get a good one and 40% of your problems in post processing stages are solved. It’s up to you to build on that with composition, lighting and retouching.

Thanks for the emails.

1/365

While I’m waiting for images from a session to render in Lightroom, thought I would post my first photo of 2010 for the 365 day 50mm project.

This is my babe, and one of the few times I can actually get her to pose for me. Shot settings for this is on-camera 580EX bounced into the kitchen at my rear to lift the light levels a bit. Second light was another 580EX on a light stand. I used a mini softbox borrowed from my buddy, Ed. It was configured as main and placed camera left. All managed with E-TTL with a slight change to the ratios. As Chuck Gardner recommends, I designated the on-camera strobe as fill and off-camera partner as main.

ISO 400 | 50mm | f/2.0 | 1/25 sec

Processing was the standard with Lightroom & Photoshop