Portrait Collection gets a new look..

The People Collection in the main site gets a new image

 

 

I have been working on this image for a few hours today in between work on my Module. The image was shot as part of a series whilst I had the studio set up. The subject, ‘Matty’, has appeared before in the portfolio and being a black belt in his style of Karate, makes the shooting of the subject so much easier as it is not staged.

I have various images that I shot of him, of which some were ideal as test shots for another shoot I have planned shortly. More about this later though.

I wanted to produce something that wasn’t just to standard portrait shot taken in a studio, so I began to play around with the image a little. The workflow here was complicated due to the amount of layers and masks that I had to incorporate into it. I made the first audjustments in Lightroom 2 and then exported the image as a PSD into Photoshop CS4.

In PSCS4 in then began the work of cleaning up the image, skin tone, contrast and changes to the light. The easiest way to do this was to add a silver refelctor glow from camera left and drop the opacity down to 48%.

The main subject was altered first, duplicating the image and converting it to black and white through Nik Silver Efex Pro. I then dropped it ontop of the original, masked it and added a gradient fill from the top right showing the Silver Efex Filter underneath.

Using another duplicate I then altered the left eye by making adjustments to the Hue and Saturation Layer after making a selection with the Polygonal Lasso Tool and feathered the selction by 2 pixels.

Again, dropping this over the original, adding a mask and then using a paintbrush with a soft edge I painted in the eye colour.  I then made some general alterations to the skin colour and tone, adding some defintion to the muscle area. A hue and saturation levels adjustment was added to the hair following a selection with the Lasso Tool and then I dropped it back over the top of the image. I then painted with a hard brush bringing the new colour to the top layer.

To finish the image off I added a fence by bringing it into the image as the top layer, changed the image layer to multiply, showing the original underneath and then set about bringing out the detail of the fence. This was done by numerous layers set between overlay and multiply modes. I created the hole in the fence to show the main area of focus and then tidied it up. Back into Nik Colour Efex Pro and I added a white vignette filter dropping the opacity to all three layers I brought in. I then addeda mask to them all and painted back the inversion in deifferent flows and opacities.

Two unsharp mask filter were applied, one to the hair following a tonal contrast adjustment and then the other to the face and eyes. Flattened and exported. Set on a black card the image pops more than the standard white card.

I am working on some other images similar to this and once completed I will post them on the blog for comments and feedack.

Filed under: Collections, People

Studio Shoot goes into the People Collection

My first portable studio collection shooting tethered and straight into LR2.

 

 

This image was shot recently and is part of a project I am working on for understanding the principles of shooting in a studio. The studio idea was set up following numerous research on the subject matter and has all been self taught. I have been fascinated with the principle of lighting for some time and have found that the work I am either submitting or working on needs to be taken to the next level. This, I have found is all about the learning process and the wider subject knowledge criteria I need to be both confident and competent in my work.

The above image was shot using a white roll paper background set on a studio background stand. The subject, a black belt in karate was willing for me to take numerous shots in different poses, altering the shape of the light around him as we went.

I set the studio up using two addiitonal light sources to the available natural light that was coming both from around the sides and above. I did this by using two Nikon SB800 flash units controlled by the Nikon SU 800 command unit. Shot using the Nikon D3 and the Nikon 70mm 200mm f/2.8 lens, the flash units were set up as follows. The main light was off camera left about six feet away from the subject at a 45 degree angle to him and set high also about 45 degrees to the subject. This light was controlled by the use of a 110 cm transulent umbrella, which provided a nice soft light source to illuminate the subject.

The second SB800 was placed behind and inside a softbox, the lastolite hot shoe soft box, which works great with this type of set up. Both units were operated in ‘remote’ mode, the main light at half power, the fill light at one eigth power. The camera was set to manual mode aperture f/5.6 with a shutter speed of 1/60 second. I set the white balance on the camera to pre-defined by taking a reading from the position of the subject using an expo disc. I then set the cameras WB to this and began shooting. Incidently, ISO was set to 200.

This shot was cropped in close compared to most of the others and placed in landscape mode for the web, giving me a focal distance of 85mm. The main focal point was the eye nearest to the camera, which at the aperture setting blurred the left hand glove just the way I wanted it. Composition worked a treat for this shot and the viewer is automatically drawn to the clarity and sharpness of the eye.

I am currently working on some other images from this collection and will get them posted as soon as the workflow is completed. I will then give you the opportunity to read about the workflow I used for these images and more importantly how I softened the skin, brough more contrast to the face and applied the unsharp mask filters to the final image.

For a larger view, visit my main portfolio galley by using this link

Filed under: Collections, People

Portrait Image…with a bit of sRGB, CMYK and .icc thrown in…

 

 

The image above has been created as part of a portfolio catalogue placed together for the personal use of the subject above. Hannah, as previously shown in other pictures published, is extremely helpful when it comes to taking images and practicing the techniques I need to allow me to not only experiment with different lighting methods and scenery, but also to try different settings and equipment. Submitting this publication for the blog has itself been an excellent example of how after all this time I have managed to distinguish between the different colour profiles, the different .icc profiles that are custom to my Epson 4800 Pro. 

I have for some time been trying to have my monitors, printers and web space all agree on the same profiles, this is one of those subject matters that has baffled and bewildered photographers and designers for ages.

Calibration is the first step, that is calibration of the monitor. I have been doing this for a few years now and the profiles created do vary from time to time. The Spyder 2 Pro is the hardware I use and there are many tutorials out there that give you the step by step instructions you need to achieve this. The printer I use is an Epson 4800 Pro, the ultrachrome ink is astonishing and the image reproduction is excellent. The problems have always been between what you see on the monitor and what you see on the final print. I do not convert my images to CMYK and send them to pre-press for production, although this is something that I will progress some time in the future.

Filed under: Collections, People, Updates

September finishes with a portrait image…

 

September has to finish with an image I have been working on as part of a personal portfolio for a student named Hannah. Following four A Level results, she is now studying art, design and photography at College prior to going to University. The image was taken on location using nothing more than the Nikon D3 with an SB 800 flash attached to the hotshoe and a Sigma f/1.8, 50mm lens. The camera was set to manual mode aperture 5.6, shutter speed 1/60. The diffuser unit was fitted to the end of the flash and it was angled 45 degrees upwards. The model stood higher on a concrete platform and I shot from below trying to achieve the full portrait shot.

The compostion of this image is nice to look at and the finished effect was achieved with the initial development in Lightrrom 2 and then straight over into CS3, converted to Lab and then alterations made to the original RAW file with curves adjustment and slight (18%) adjustments to shadows and highlights.

I then added some extra filters through Nik Plug In, burned the image with a new layer set to 50% grey, changed the blendng mode to overlay, using a brush at 4%, added the extra texture and depth. The final part was to add an un sharp mask filter to present it for the web.

Other images in this collection will be published at the start of October. If you would like to know more about my own workflow then keep checking out the blog entries, more details about this will be posted shortly.

Filed under: Collections, People

A series of images for the People Collection…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The People Collection is starting to build with a series of images that were taken whilst on the current course. Taken from a different angle to all others, the images show the subject matter and composition that allow the viewer to look at the full frame from an angle that would not normally be seen. I am currentl working on some other images for this set and once completed will be published in the full gallery.

The images have all been taken with the Nikon D3 with the 80mm – 400mm f4.5 attached. ISO was set to 1000, the shutter speed was set to 1/1500 sec to freeze any movement in aperture priority mode. Raw alterations were first completed in Lightroom 2 and then sent over to Photoshop CS3 to add some filters, vignetting and un-sharp mask detail.

I am starting to form a much quicker workflow using both of these excellent pieces of software and will post a more detailed list of this next week. In addition to this I have just received the new Lightroom 2 book from Scott Kelby which adds to the vast collection I already have. This new book accompanied with the the Kelby Media Training workflows has assisted greatly in this process.  

As the blog develops I will complete my own review of the literature and software I use, that may just assist others who are just starting off in this subject, or want to compare their workflow with mine.

Filed under: Collections, People

People Collection gets it’s first images…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The People Collection has had its first two entries published. Black and White sets the scene for both of these images as the subject matter is similar in formation. The first image above is one of my favourite due to the composition and simplicity of the subjects. Closer examination of them reveals characters and expressions that without the capture would have been missed. The image was corrected slightly in lightroom 2 and then exported as a PSD to Photoshop CS3. In there a Nik Filter; ‘Silver Effects Pro’ was used and then local adjustments to contrast and structure were made. A vignetting and un-sharp mask completed the black and white look. A slight amount of noise was added to give the image the type of feel I wanted to portray, that of an older photo shot using conventional film and not lexar digital as was the case with the Nikon D3.

Filed under: Collections, People