"School of Portraiture" - Lesson 03 - "Positioning - Lighting - Taking the Shot"

[Sam Smith]

I have CS5 and LR3. I got the deal. I have kids in college and got the student/teacher discount on them. I have not been able to use them as much as I would like, between the time to sit down and do it and the learning curve is high as I have never use any type of PP before. It is all part of the journey that makes it fun.

[Colin Southern]

Greetings Colin,
It's been a while. I have this habit of popping in then disappearing for long periods. I just poked around and saw your excellent tutorial. I thought my latest post might be a worthwhile contribution.

More details are on the blog post
http://peterphun.com/blog/2010/08/23...or-a-portrait/

Regards,
Peter

Hey Pete,

Great to see you're still alive and kicking! I've missed your input here ... get off your butt and post here more often eh?

That's a nice image - very bold composition. Do you think that the tones on the arms compete against the face just a little though? What I've been doing recently in situations like that is apply a broad vignette (perhaps just to the bottom in this case) to draw the eye towards the face, which seems to be working for me.

[Colin Southern]

Well, I can't reshoot, but I can rework for what its worth! Besides, I'm trying to get used to some new software anyway.

Original and second try:


If any of my fellow classmates, or anyone else for that matter would like to have a go, I'm always open and appreciative. Not exactly sure of everything I did differently, I was kind of pfutzing with the new program and didn't record what I done very accurately. I can see that was a mistake.

Hi Terry,

I think the 2nd version has some things that are better than the first, but some things that are worse. The first version was flat - so stretching the tone range would help a lot, but in the second image, although the hair looks a lot better, the face is too contrasty. As Dave mentioned also, there's too much saturation ... possibly the vibrance slider would do a better job over the saturation slider (the former is supposed to leave skintones alone - which it doesn't - but it's still better than the saturation slider).

Now that my busy busy busy week is over, I'll hopefully get a chance to write-up lesson 4 on post-processing, which should help.

If you like though, I'd be quite happy to give your original RAW capture a full retough for you to see what I can get out of the image (which by all other accounts is a great capture).

[Maritimer1]

Original and second try:


If any of my fellow classmates, or anyone else for that matter would like to have a go, I'm always open and appreciative. Not exactly sure of everything I did differently, I was kind of pfutzing with the new program and didn't record what I done very accurately. I can see that was a mistake.

Just my humble opinion, but the second one looks very harsh. (Could be my monitor or, as Dave said, the saturation levles). Somewhere between the original and the second attempt might look more natural. Very nice pose!

Myra

[Loose Canon]

Dave, Colin, Myra, thank you so much. You may never know how much I appreciate the valuable input. Especially in this case.

One nice thing about ACR is that now in looking back, I can see some of the things that I did to the shot. Saturation is “0”, and none added in Photoshop, but it seems I did some other things that adversely affected the contrast in ACR. Plus I did some levels twiddling in PS that probably made matters worse. The rest of what I did consisted of local sharpening on the eyes (Love the mask capability, Dave. I’m not there with masks yet, of course, but it already seems a lot easier in a program that offers the capability natively). Some local softening of the skin, and some cloning. Oh, and I played a little with the adjustment brush in ACR under the eyes. I’m like a kid with a new toy sometimes! Next up at this point is give some research time to see if I can “bone up” on stretching the tone range. Google is a wonderful thing!

Colin, if you are willing to give this a retouch, I would be hugely Honored, sir. Not to mention totally nuts to turn it down! Thank you, sir, for your most gracious offer. And I’m going to keep working on it until I get a good one, too.

I know you are busy, or if not, ready for some down time. So instead of me asking right off, I’ll search the Site to find out how to get the Raw to you. I know its somewhere in the Portraiture Journey at least.

[Colin Southern]

I’ll search the Site to find out how to get the Raw to you. I know its somewhere in the Portraiture Journey at least.

Hi Terry,

Just pop along to www.sendthisfile.com - create a free account - send "the file to yourself" - and then copy/paste the download link into a PM for me. I've got a spare hour right now, if you can get it to me quick!

[Loose Canon]

PM sent, Colin.

[Colin Southern]

Here you go Terry ... (be sure to click on each one to see it at the larger size).





If you like them I can send the retouched files back to you.

[Loose Canon]

Colin, they're beautiful. I'm speechless and my Heart Soars. Thank you so much, sir.

Yes, I would love to have the retouched files, please.

[Ricko]

OK! Took these today at The Grace Dieu Priory, it wasn't ideal conditions, just me and my daughter. The wind was blowing a gale
Anyway I managed to get a couple of shots off that turned out reasonable.

Holding a reflector in the wind and a camera is no easy task!!!

1


2


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Better than my previous efforts, but still not without faults

Comments welcome, I can take it

[Alis]

OK! Took these today at The Grace Dieu Priory, it wasn't ideal conditions, just me and my daughter. The wind was blowing a gale
Anyway I managed to get a couple of shots off that turned out reasonable.

Holding a reflector in the wind and a camera is no easy task!!!

1


2


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Better than my previous efforts, but still not without faults

Comments welcome, I can take it

Wow! Great shots, Richard! Interestingly the first one does not have a catchlight and in the second one we can see it clearly.

The only comment I have is that the second shot may be a little bit overexposed on the face, but not overblown, so you can easily fix it.

Also, the crop on the second shot is a bit too tight, specially on the back of her head. If you have room in the original shot, you might want to add a little bit of space to the right side.

Great work!

[wilgk]

Colin, they're beautiful. I'm speechless and my Heart Soars. Thank you so much, sir.

Yes, I would love to have the retouched files, please.

They are lovely!
and if you are still feeling benevolent, and haven't deleted her may I have the retouched fashionista too please?
btw she wants to go to that shop

[wilgk]

OK! Took these today at The Grace Dieu Priory, it wasn't ideal conditions, just me and my daughter. The wind was blowing a gale
Anyway I managed to get a couple of shots off that turned out reasonable.

Holding a reflector in the wind and a camera is no easy task!!!

1


2


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Better than my previous efforts, but still not without faults

Comments welcome, I can take it

They look terrific - I love the first 1 the expression & pose are perfect for her and the angle of the background lets you see those things better.
Well done!

[Colin Southern]

Hi Richard,

I agree with Ali - Great stuff

The "acid test" that I apply is "how would the shot look on canvas, hanging on the wall" and in both cases here the answer is (perhaps with a couple of minor PP tweaks) "just fine"; I doubt many professional photographers would come up with anything better.

With regards to the crop of the 2nd image ... I think that you wouldn't want it any tighter, but I think you got away with it (just) due to having such a great background that balances the shot nicely. It would be too tight for a canvas print though, as the back of the head would get wrapped around the side of the frame (assuming "image wrap" which is the only kind I do these days).

I gave it a small mid-tone tweak, and a quick sharpen for you (I agree with Ali in that the skin tones are up-shifted just a little too much) (essentially a brightness adjustment).

[Loose Canon]

Richard, those shots look great, man!

Excellent backgrounds. Seems just enough. Not too busy, too light or distracting.

In #2 I like Megan’s expression. Very pretty, but not “forced” looking. Not that #1 is, but I think #2 looks happy and content. Plus the nice catch lights give her eyes a nice look. Also like the hair pulled back, but yet not too severely. And further, you shot from the side of her that her hair was parted on. Just as an observation, it looks like the wisp of hair over her left eye was moving a tad. Must have been the gale! Jeez, listen to me! You have to be part shooter, part stage hand, part hairdresser, part makeup, part wardrobe, part assistant, and have five hands to do this!

Just curious? Judging from the catch, I would guess your bounce reflector was…, oh, waist to chest high? And I was also wondering what color reflector you used. Very nice light.

I know what you mean about the reflector, camera, wind thing! I had to get back a ways on mine to catch the sun, so I set my timer. By the time I framed her, pulled the trigger, grabbed the bounce card, ran over to the sunlight, tried to position, my model was laughing so hard at me that sometimes she couldn’t sit still! After I realized what was going on, I changed my tactics, but she always had an expectant smile waiting for me to do something goofy again! Which I am subject to do at any moment! It made the session fun and she was very relaxed and amused watching my antics! Seems that sometimes the logistics are the hardest thing! But looks like you pulled it off!

Very nice.

[Colin Southern]

You have to be part shooter, part stage hand, part hairdresser, part makeup, part wardrobe, part assistant, and have five hands to do this!

Give that man a gold star ... he gets it!

Honestly, it's so very true ... even an untrained assistant (parent, sibling, girlfriend, boyfriend) saves a lot of time, and makes things a lot easier. I think that part of the problem is also that we photographers aren't always of a "bold personality" -- we'd expect the captain of an aeroplaneto be as assertive as was needed for the safe conduction of the flight -- a skilled professional, but also the "conductor of the aeronautical orchestra", and yet whereas a professional photographic event needs to be handled with the same "I'm the photographer so I'm in charge" mentaility, usually it's not ... and so we end up with no strong leadership, and the whole event can be a bit hit and miss.

[Ricko]

Wow! Great shots, Richard! Interestingly the first one does not have a catchlight and in the second one we can see it clearly.

The only comment I have is that the second shot may be a little bit overexposed on the face, but not overblown, so you can easily fix it.

Also, the crop on the second shot is a bit too tight, specially on the back of her head. If you have room in the original shot, you might want to add a little bit of space to the right side.

Great work!

You are right about that, guess it's my inexperience. So, having tweaked it in ARC so that it's not overblown how can you tell if it's overexposed slightly? Would having a calibrated monitor help? There are just so many adjustment you could make its mind boggling But I guess thats a basic one I've missed!

I'll have a look at the crop later today and open it out a bit! Think there is room to do it.

[Ricko]

Hi Richard,

I agree with Ali - Great stuff

The "acid test" that I apply is "how would the shot look on canvas, hanging on the wall" and in both cases here the answer is (perhaps with a couple of minor PP tweaks) "just fine"; I doubt many professional photographers would come up with anything better.

With regards to the crop of the 2nd image ... I think that you wouldn't want it any tighter, but I think you got away with it (just) due to having such a great background that balances the shot nicely. It would be too tight for a canvas print though, as the back of the head would get wrapped around the side of the frame (assuming "image wrap" which is the only kind I do these days).

I gave it a small mid-tone tweak, and a quick sharpen for you (I agree with Ali in that the skin tones are up-shifted just a little too much) (essentially a brightness adjustment).

Thank you all for the feedback, as a novice photographer it is much appreciated and needed to help me improve. I value your opinions greatly!

Once again the "Colin 5 Minute Makeover" has worked wonders!!!It's amazing how your PP takes an average shot and makes it look GREAT!! PP that would be another course in its own right. I mostly shoot in RAW, due to the fact it gives me more control if I've fluffed it up. Still a lot learn but heading in the right direction with all the help at CiC.

I didnt know if the background in shot 2 looked too busy, but if you say it's ok I'll go with that !

[Ricko]

Richard, those shots look great, man!

Excellent backgrounds. Seems just enough. Not too busy, too light or distracting.

In #2 I like Megan’s expression. Very pretty, but not “forced” looking. Not that #1 is, but I think #2 looks happy and content. Plus the nice catch lights give her eyes a nice look. Also like the hair pulled back, but yet not too severely. And further, you shot from the side of her that her hair was parted on. Just as an observation, it looks like the wisp of hair over her left eye was moving a tad. Must have been the gale! Jeez, listen to me! You have to be part shooter, part stage hand, part hairdresser, part makeup, part wardrobe, part assistant, and have five hands to do this!

Just curious? Judging from the catch, I would guess your bounce reflector was…, oh, waist to chest high? And I was also wondering what color reflector you used. Very nice light.

I know what you mean about the reflector, camera, wind thing! I had to get back a ways on mine to catch the sun, so I set my timer. By the time I framed her, pulled the trigger, grabbed the bounce card, ran over to the sunlight, tried to position, my model was laughing so hard at me that sometimes she couldn’t sit still! After I realized what was going on, I changed my tactics, but she always had an expectant smile waiting for me to do something goofy again! Which I am subject to do at any moment! It made the session fun and she was very relaxed and amused watching my antics! Seems that sometimes the logistics are the hardest thing! But looks like you pulled it off!

Very nice.

The second one is my favourite too, although I prefer the back ground in the first one but not the way the light is on my daughter.

The reflector was white and at chest height just below the camera and you're right about the hair moving! It was one of the thing I didn't like about the shot.

[Dave Humphries]

The second one is my favourite too, although I prefer the back ground in the first one but not the way the light is on my daughter.
.

Agreed - this is really excellent compared to the first shots, well done.

The reflector was white. ~

Comparing WB between the two, my inexperienced eye would have said 'gold' for the reflector, explaining the apparently large colour temp difference between Megan (I have one of those too ) and the background. Just shows how much I have to learn.

Unfortunately my Megan is about to turn 18 and is very camera shy, so I doubt we'll be seeing her model for me

Thanks all, I'm learning by reading here, keep them coming.
Unfortunately, the nearest I have recently got to people shots is; Dave shoots band at White Waltham, obviously I couldn't go wafting a reflector around blocking the crowd's view.

Cheers,