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11/27/2004 02:23:50 PM · #1 |
Hi all! Over the holiday, I did a portrait of my step-daughter, Emily, and her grandparents:
It turned out okay but I'm not sure I like the background. I used a blue gel on an AB400 with barndoors to direct the light to a white sheet. I got them as far away from the background as my studio would allow (4ft as opposed to the suggested 6ft) but I wish the background had a shallower depth of field. I know I could have used a larger aperture but I didn't want my subjects to be out of focus. I would have also liked the background to have been 'bluer'. Any suggestions for how I might have improved the shot?
Thanks in advance!
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11/27/2004 02:53:34 PM · #2 |
| Left my comments on the photo page (for what they are worth). |
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11/27/2004 03:44:26 PM · #3 |
great shot! Maybe blur the BG a bit so it takes less attention away from the fam.
Otherwise i is a very good shot, nice & clear, sharp. Good stuff
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11/27/2004 03:50:21 PM · #4 |
Originally posted by Rooster:
great shot! Maybe blur the BG a bit so it takes less attention away from the fam.
Otherwise i is a very good shot, nice & clear, sharp. Good stuff |
Gosh - thanks!
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11/27/2004 04:11:55 PM · #5 |
Hi Ellen,
This is a great portrait. I do think it is a bit over-exposed though.
I played with it in PS and left the PP details in the comments section:
Happy Holidays! 
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11/27/2004 05:21:43 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by digistoune:
Hi all! Over the holiday, I did a portrait of my step-daughter, Emily, and her grandparents:
It turned out okay but I'm not sure I like the background. I used a blue gel on an AB400 with barndoors to direct the light to a white sheet. I got them as far away from the background as my studio would allow (4ft as opposed to the suggested 6ft) but I wish the background had a shallower depth of field. I know I could have used a larger aperture but I didn't want my subjects to be out of focus. I would have also liked the background to have been 'bluer'. Any suggestions for how I might have improved the shot?
Thanks in advance! |
Hi there. I think the shot turned out good. I agree with what has been said. I think the lighting was a little harsh on the faces and the background would have looked better a deeper blue color. Here's a version that has been modifed as such:
- Selected the background and adjusted levels and hue to be a deeper blue.
- Applied Gaussian blur at 10 px radius to entire image and faded down to 10%, three times, to soften up the image a little.
- desaturated the teeth and dodged a bit to bring out a more natural white.
- increased saturation a little.
- Sharpened edges.
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11/27/2004 05:37:55 PM · #7 |
There is significant overexposure; the blue channel is saturated over much of the background and the red channel is saturated over much of the subjects' skin. Still, some significant improvement is possible.
Here's my take...
Edits:
- Curves to reduce overexposure, tone down reds slightly
- USM (0.3px, 100%), fade to 50% in luminosity mode
- Duplicate layer, gaussian blur 3.6px, reduce opacity to 44%
- Add layer mask to blur layer, brush eyes back in sharp
- Adjust hue/sat on background
- Burn background slightly
- Done
I think that the background could use more work in my version. I like the shift to a darker blue posted by snackwells.
Message edited by author 2004-11-27 17:50:40.
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11/27/2004 06:38:27 PM · #8 |
Originally posted by digistoune:
....but I wish the background had a shallower depth of field. I know I could have used a larger aperture but I didn't want my subjects to be out of focus. I would have also liked the background to have been 'bluer'. Any suggestions for how I might have improved the shot?
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I like the portrait (positions, expressions) but I dislike the background. The blue color gives a cold feeling, something that one does not associate with the warmth of a family. You'd expect warm colors.
Why not use a larger aperture? Don't you trust the auto/manual focus? The DOF should not be too hard to calculate for a given focus distance (measurable).
Message edited by author 2004-11-27 19:02:49.
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11/27/2004 06:48:27 PM · #9 |
Since we're piddlin' around with your picture, Ellen, I thought I'd give it a try. Here's my feeble attempt:
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11/27/2004 07:08:53 PM · #10 |
Ok then here's my try (5 minutes just before I turn into bed...)
Not realy happy with the result...
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11/27/2004 07:10:40 PM · #11 |
Replaced the background.
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11/27/2004 07:11:30 PM · #12 |
ElGordo, you forgot the blue in Grandma's earring...
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11/27/2004 07:11:57 PM · #13 |
DArnit!!! Is this better?
Message edited by author 2004-11-27 19:18:09.
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11/27/2004 07:43:48 PM · #14 |
Here's my take...
Curves, selective color to darken the blue background.
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11/27/2004 07:46:07 PM · #15 |
Hi Ellen. I decided to follow suit and made some alterations as well.
I softened the background using a size 100 brush at about 30% strength. I took the color from the man's shirt. After that, I shifted the blue channel to remove some of the purple that remained in the background and in the reflections on the clothing. Well lit portrait! They all look so happy. Excellent work! |
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11/27/2004 07:46:29 PM · #16 |
-deleted-
Message edited by author 2004-11-28 14:19:51. |
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11/27/2004 08:16:19 PM · #17 |
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11/27/2004 08:48:05 PM · #18 |
Oh my! Great tips ya'll - I'll have to play around with it more.
Guess I need to calibrate my meter to my 20D if everyone thinks it's overexposed... Any tips on how to go about doing that?
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11/27/2004 08:50:43 PM · #19 |
Originally posted by digistoune:
Guess I need to calibrate my meter to my 20D if everyone thinks it's overexposed... Any tips on how to go about doing that? |
I don't know if you have to do that. It just looks like his cheek and forehead caught a reflection of the strong light directly infront of him. Maybe move the light a little?
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11/27/2004 08:52:08 PM · #20 |
Great shot! All the heads are placed well, but the background really draws my eye away from the subjects?
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11/27/2004 08:53:34 PM · #21 |
Originally posted by BradP:
Originally posted by BradP:
Hi Ellen,
This is a great portrait. I do think it is a bit over-exposed though.
I played with it in PS and left the PP details in the comments section:
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Second edit, this time with a darker background:
PP again left in comments section.
Happy Holidays! |
I like how the background looks kinda metallic in your latest edit, Brad. I'm sorry to be a PITA but I'm not familiar with the techniques you used (as described in the comments section). Would I be asking too much of you to go into a bit more detail? Like specific tools used, etc.?
Thanks again everyone for your comments/time/advice :-D
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11/27/2004 08:55:00 PM · #22 |
I definitely like a darker blue on the background. I worked the highlights,shadows some also.
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11/27/2004 09:01:56 PM · #23 |
Originally posted by parrothead:
Great shot! All the heads are placed well, but the background really draws my eye away from the subjects? |
Thank you - I think the background is distracting as well. I was trying to get something prettier than a plain white sheet which is why I used the blue gel. I don't do portraiture as a general rule; Just did this to make the grandparents happy. They are happy with them but I'm going to play with background (and get their approval) before I order their selected prints.
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11/27/2004 10:13:23 PM · #24 |
Hi Ellen,
Here is a "tutorial" on what I did to go from my first edit to the second:
1) I open the edited version and made a copy (or Hit Ctrl and J):
2) Now to edit the new layer (notice on right side, the new layer is highlighted). Image, Adjustments, Selective Color:
3) The Selective Color window will pop up and using the drop-down menu, go to Blue:
4) With the Blue selected, go to the bottom slider (Black) and move it all the way to the right. This will darken the Blues in the shot:
5) Now because Grandpa's shirt is also blue, and I didn't want to change his shirt levels, I went to the eraser tool (6th tool down on left side of tools) and selected it, right-click on screen to change it's size if needed, go to tool bar above image and select it for brush, 100% Opacity and 100% flow, then drag the circle (eraser) over his shirt, thus erasing the changes made to the blue levels done previously. This will put his shirt back to original:
6) Flatten Image:
I repeated the exact same steps in again in steps #1 through 5 to get the background dark enough.
7) Zoom in on the image to about 500% (Ctrl and + and repeat a few times) I went to the blur tool (7th tool down on left side of tools) and selected it, right-click on screen to change it's size down to about 10 (or smaller - at times, I will be down to 2 in size for very close work in my print versions), go to tool bar above image and select normal, 50% Strength and drag the blur tool in close to the details to get rid of the "jaggies". Drag around and around as necessary to get the effect needed, being careful to come only close to details not wanting to be blurred. The larger the size of the blur tool, the more it will bleed outward, knocking sharpness from edges of items.
8) After taking care of the close in blurring, you can right click on the screen (still in blur tool mode), increasing it's size, and continue to blur areas as needed, without having to take all day long - LOL. Zooming back out a little may help.
Note: Don't try to do all the blurring without letting go of the mouse. This will make it may steps, but much easier to undo an OOPS and not have to start all over again.
Presto-Chango!
Hope this helps.
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11/27/2004 10:22:06 PM · #25 |
Originally posted by BradP:
Hope this helps. |
Awesome Brad - Thanks!
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