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Showing posts with label Model. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Model. Show all posts
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Pic-A-Week, Episode 5
As many of you know, I've been super-busy over the past few weeks with a newborn at home. However, I've managed to get some editing done in the wee hours of the morning on several occasions, so here's the fruits of my labor. Enjoy!
Questions? Comments? Sound off below, and don’t forget to Like/Share!
Questions? Comments? Sound off below, and don’t forget to Like/Share!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Before & After, Episode 15 | WESLEY CHAPEL FASHION & GLAMOUR
For this episode, we’ll be looking at a fashion/glamour image that I grabbed last week. It’s worth mentioning that I almost always break out my heavy-duty fan for these sorts of occasions, because making a model’s hair fly all around really tends to convey a sense of excitement and movement, which in turn makes for much more interesting images (that’s why this technique is so common in the industry). Anyway, on this particular occasion, I wasn’t all that happy with what the fan was giving me, and I wanted to really push the envelope. So my makeup artist had this nifty idea to really kick things up a notch…
I had two people, one on each side of the model, grab a couple handfuls of hair. On my count, both of them tossed the hair straight up into the air, and I simultaneously pressed the shutter. It only took us a couple of tries to get “the shot”, and we were all super-thrilled with the result.
When I pulled the image into Photoshop, I began to notice that there was quite a bit more hair on the right side (the model’s left) than the other. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I just felt like it would give the image a better sense of balance if the hair was a little more even. So I started looking through a few of the other shots, paying special attention to the way the hair was flying, and to see if I could find one to “borrow” a few stray locks from. Once I found what I was looking for, I seamlessly blended it into the original shot, and voila!
To see the before & after, just move your mouse pointer over the image for a few seconds until it changes. Then you can switch them back and forth as much as you like.
For further examples of my work, including high school senior pictures, baby & family portraits, and fashion & glamour, please visit my website at http://RussRobinsonPhotography.com
If you “Like” this, you know where to click……..and comments are much appreciated too! =)
I had two people, one on each side of the model, grab a couple handfuls of hair. On my count, both of them tossed the hair straight up into the air, and I simultaneously pressed the shutter. It only took us a couple of tries to get “the shot”, and we were all super-thrilled with the result.
When I pulled the image into Photoshop, I began to notice that there was quite a bit more hair on the right side (the model’s left) than the other. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I just felt like it would give the image a better sense of balance if the hair was a little more even. So I started looking through a few of the other shots, paying special attention to the way the hair was flying, and to see if I could find one to “borrow” a few stray locks from. Once I found what I was looking for, I seamlessly blended it into the original shot, and voila!
To see the before & after, just move your mouse pointer over the image for a few seconds until it changes. Then you can switch them back and forth as much as you like.
For further examples of my work, including high school senior pictures, baby & family portraits, and fashion & glamour, please visit my website at http://RussRobinsonPhotography.com
If you “Like” this, you know where to click……..and comments are much appreciated too! =)
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Pic-A-Week, Episode 4
I’ve been extremely busy lately preparing for the arrival of the newest addition to my family. She will be here any day now, so it's been quite hectic around my house, to say the least!
Of course I’ve managed to squeeze a few photo shoots in since my last update, and because I’ve been extremely delinquent in updating my blog, I’d like to use this post to sort of play “catch up”.
You'll notice several maternity shots below, which collectively represent a fairly groundbreaking step for me, since I've never actually done maternity photography before. And as you'll see in the very last shot, I took full advantage of the fact that I had not one but TWO mommies-to-be at my studio on the same day! How often does THAT happen?
Anyway, enjoy, and please share your comments/reactions below. I absolutely *love* hearing your feedback!
Of course I’ve managed to squeeze a few photo shoots in since my last update, and because I’ve been extremely delinquent in updating my blog, I’d like to use this post to sort of play “catch up”.
You'll notice several maternity shots below, which collectively represent a fairly groundbreaking step for me, since I've never actually done maternity photography before. And as you'll see in the very last shot, I took full advantage of the fact that I had not one but TWO mommies-to-be at my studio on the same day! How often does THAT happen?
Anyway, enjoy, and please share your comments/reactions below. I absolutely *love* hearing your feedback!
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Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Before & After, Episode 14 | WESLEY CHAPEL MATERNITY PHOTOGRAPHER
In continuing with this recent maternity kick I'm on, I'd like to show you yet another example of an image that was heavily manipulated to achieve the final effect. While I'm a huge advocate of getting things right in-camera, sometimes knowing a thing or two about Photoshop can come in really handy.
One of the first things I noticed about this image when I pulled it into Lightroom was that the hand and flower weren't in the ideal position vertically on her belly. When I was originally taking the shot, I told my subject to just let her her arm hang fairly loosely, which put her hand (and the flower) in a much lower position. I thought it would look better in the final shot, but it turns out that I was wrong.
To move the hand & flower higher up on my subject's belly and into a more visually appealing location, here's the procedure that I used:
To see the before & after, just move your mouse pointer over the image for a few seconds until it changes. Then you can switch them back and forth as much as you like.
For further examples of my work, including high school senior pictures, baby & family portraits, and fashion & glamour, please visit my website at http://RussRobinsonPhotography.com
One of the first things I noticed about this image when I pulled it into Lightroom was that the hand and flower weren't in the ideal position vertically on her belly. When I was originally taking the shot, I told my subject to just let her her arm hang fairly loosely, which put her hand (and the flower) in a much lower position. I thought it would look better in the final shot, but it turns out that I was wrong.
To move the hand & flower higher up on my subject's belly and into a more visually appealing location, here's the procedure that I used:
- Duplicate the background layer
- Drop the opacity of this new layer down to around 20%
- Use the Move tool in conjunction with Free Transform to reposition the hand/flower in the new location
- Mask out everything but the hand/flower
- Go back to the background layer and clone out the original hand/flower
To see the before & after, just move your mouse pointer over the image for a few seconds until it changes. Then you can switch them back and forth as much as you like.
For further examples of my work, including high school senior pictures, baby & family portraits, and fashion & glamour, please visit my website at http://RussRobinsonPhotography.com
Monday, June 21, 2010
Before & After, Episode 13 | NEW TAMPA SENIOR PICTURES
This shot comes from the same senior portrait session that I referenced in a previous post. It's a typical example of the kind of fashion/glamour retouching that I normally do for my modeling clients, which includes:
To see the before & after, just move your mouse pointer over the image for a few seconds until it changes. Then you can switch them back and forth as much as you like.
As always, I am more than happy to share my post techniques with anyone who is interested, and I'd be delighted if you'd click "Like" and share your thoughts in a comment below. Thanks!
- Skin smoothing (while still retaining texture)
- Removal of major blemishes
- Reduction of dark circles under eyes
- Eye & teeth whitening
- Removal of stray hairs
- Lip color enhancement
- Iris enhancement
- Tonal contrast boost (using luminosity, dodging & burning, and a few other techniques)
- Eyebrow cleanup/enhancement
- Minor facial reshaping
To see the before & after, just move your mouse pointer over the image for a few seconds until it changes. Then you can switch them back and forth as much as you like.
As always, I am more than happy to share my post techniques with anyone who is interested, and I'd be delighted if you'd click "Like" and share your thoughts in a comment below. Thanks!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Pic-A-Week, Episode 1 | NEW TAMPA SENIOR PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER
Hello, loyal readers! Obviously I've been WAY delinquent in keeping up with my blog over the past month, so here's what I'm gonna do.....basically, I want to implement a few new ideas that will help me to establish a more regular posting schedule so that you guys can better stay in the loop with what I'm working on. One of these ideas is a "Pic-A-Week" concept that I gleaned from Richard Arsenault's blog. Rich has got some fantastic nature shots, so if you're into that sort of thing, then I recommend you take a peek at his work.
Anyway, for Episode 1 I'm gonna kick things off with an image that I shot a couple of weekends ago. Believe it or not, this was actually my very first high school senior session. Although I've had the pleasure of working with a good number of fashion/glamour clients thus far in my photographic journey, none of them have been seniors (or even high school-aged, for that matter). I consider senior portraits to be a natural extension of fashion & glamour, so it only makes sense that I would expand into this market eventually.
This image was shot on a white seamless paper backdrop, and all the other colors and embellishments that you see were added in post. If you'd like a more detailed description of how I accomplished this, please just let me know below, and I'd be happy to share my techniques with you. Otherwise, please leave me a comment below with your thoughts, and help me spread the word by clicking "Like" as well. Thanks ya'll!
Anyway, for Episode 1 I'm gonna kick things off with an image that I shot a couple of weekends ago. Believe it or not, this was actually my very first high school senior session. Although I've had the pleasure of working with a good number of fashion/glamour clients thus far in my photographic journey, none of them have been seniors (or even high school-aged, for that matter). I consider senior portraits to be a natural extension of fashion & glamour, so it only makes sense that I would expand into this market eventually.
This image was shot on a white seamless paper backdrop, and all the other colors and embellishments that you see were added in post. If you'd like a more detailed description of how I accomplished this, please just let me know below, and I'd be happy to share my techniques with you. Otherwise, please leave me a comment below with your thoughts, and help me spread the word by clicking "Like" as well. Thanks ya'll!
For more examples of my fashion, glamour, and beauty work, please visit my portfolio website at http://RussRobinsonPhotography.com.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Before & After, Episode 11 | WESLEY CHAPEL SENIOR PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER
This time around it's a double header, kiddies...so strap yourselves in and let's take a ride. ;-)
The first image you'll already be familiar with, since I presented it in my last blog post. I did receive a few questions from readers about the distracting background, and my response was that I simply wasn't shooting for portfolio images (and therefore didn't really care about it at the time). However, I later realized that I had originally promised my "model" that he'd get a Facebook profile pic out of the deal, so off to Photoshop land I went....
I extracted him out of the original background using a tool called ReMask from Topaz Labs. It's a fairly decent "quick and dirty" extraction tool when the item you're trying to extract has a fairly well-defined edge and there is clear separation from the background. However, I wouldn't use it for anything too complex, because it starts to get a little squirrely with your edges, and you'll end up saying a few more curse words than you would if you had used a REAL extraction tool like Vertus Fluid Mask. Anyway, I digress.
I found a nice stock image of a Nissan 350Z on Flickr (photo credit Jeremy Cliff), and decided it would make a much more appealing backdrop for my model, since he also happens to drive a 350Z. I dropped him into the scene as a new layer, used the free transform tool (while holding the Shift key, which constrains the proportions) to adjust him down to a smaller size relative to the car, and proceeded to make all sorts of adjustments to the lighting. That's the real key to making believable composites-- you absolutely *have* to pay very close attention to the lighting or it will scream "PHOTOSHOPPED!".
Anyway, when all was said and done there were a number of adjustment layers......mostly Curves and Levels with different masks applied, and also a couple of Dodge & Burn layers. Sorry that I didn't take detailed notes of all the steps I took, or I would gladly share them with you. I'm more than willing to answer any questions you may have about the process, though. So here's the before & after image (roll over it with your mouse):
The second image was taken in my studio that same day, and basically he was laying on his belly with a Lastolite TriGrip Reflector under his elbows and a beauty dish above his head. It was inspired by an image I had seen on legendary high school senior photographer Kirk Voclain's website a couple of months earlier. As far as post processing:
The first image you'll already be familiar with, since I presented it in my last blog post. I did receive a few questions from readers about the distracting background, and my response was that I simply wasn't shooting for portfolio images (and therefore didn't really care about it at the time). However, I later realized that I had originally promised my "model" that he'd get a Facebook profile pic out of the deal, so off to Photoshop land I went....
I extracted him out of the original background using a tool called ReMask from Topaz Labs. It's a fairly decent "quick and dirty" extraction tool when the item you're trying to extract has a fairly well-defined edge and there is clear separation from the background. However, I wouldn't use it for anything too complex, because it starts to get a little squirrely with your edges, and you'll end up saying a few more curse words than you would if you had used a REAL extraction tool like Vertus Fluid Mask. Anyway, I digress.
I found a nice stock image of a Nissan 350Z on Flickr (photo credit Jeremy Cliff), and decided it would make a much more appealing backdrop for my model, since he also happens to drive a 350Z. I dropped him into the scene as a new layer, used the free transform tool (while holding the Shift key, which constrains the proportions) to adjust him down to a smaller size relative to the car, and proceeded to make all sorts of adjustments to the lighting. That's the real key to making believable composites-- you absolutely *have* to pay very close attention to the lighting or it will scream "PHOTOSHOPPED!".
Anyway, when all was said and done there were a number of adjustment layers......mostly Curves and Levels with different masks applied, and also a couple of Dodge & Burn layers. Sorry that I didn't take detailed notes of all the steps I took, or I would gladly share them with you. I'm more than willing to answer any questions you may have about the process, though. So here's the before & after image (roll over it with your mouse):
The second image was taken in my studio that same day, and basically he was laying on his belly with a Lastolite TriGrip Reflector under his elbows and a beauty dish above his head. It was inspired by an image I had seen on legendary high school senior photographer Kirk Voclain's website a couple of months earlier. As far as post processing:
- I cleaned up his skin a bit using the High Pass filter (here's an excellent tutorial on this technique)
- I added some additional contrast using another High Pass filter (again, here's a great site explaining 3 great uses for this filter)
- I enhanced the color of his eyes by creating a new layer, lassoing his irises with the elliptical marquee tool, filling the selection with a bright blue, changing the blend mode to Color, and reducing opacity to taste
- For the most dramatic change, I blended in a texture of a scratched surface, and masked out his eyes and most of his face with a reduced-opacity, soft brush.
- Lastly, I created a merged layer at the top of my stack (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+E) (or Cmd+Opt+Shift+E for Mac users), added a Gaussian Blur, then applied mask using the Gradient Tool in linear gradient mode so that only the top and bottom edges of the photo would be a little blurry. Kind of gives the photo a little more interest, and helps to draw the viewer's eye to those of my model.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Learning a New High-Contrast Lighting Technique | NEW TAMPA SENIOR PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY
So I've got this band promo shoot coming up in a couple of weeks for a local act called Southside Serenade, and I wanted to be as prepared as possible for the lighting setup I plan to use. Honestly, most of my studio stuff is fairly straightforward lighting-wise, and I've pretty much got it to the point where I don't even think about it anymore. But out on location you've got a number of factors to consider, such as the amount of ambient light, the quality/color of that light, weather, wind, space limitations, etc. Basically, I didn't want to have to deal with all of that on top of figuring out a new lighting setup for the first time, so I called a good friend over to sort of "model" for me. Besides, he needed a new Facebook profile pic anyway. ;-)
This lighting technique involves 3 strobes, two on either side of the subject and slightly behind them, and then one light up front as key. Generally the sidelights, also called "kickers" or "rim lights", should be about a stop and a half hotter than your key light (having a light meter is very handy in these types of situations-- I use a Sekonic L-358). It's a very dramatic, contrasty kind of lighting that is very popular these days, and I think it's a good technique to have in your back pocket alongside your usual setups. Now, bear in mind that I wasn't exactly shooting for portfolio-worthy images here-- I was merely experimenting with a new lighting technique....so don't start playa hatin'. ;-)
Anyway, so I shot this with three Alien Bees B1600 strobes. The two in back were fitted with their standard 7" reflectors along with a set of barn doors to help control the spread of light. I could have just as easily used gridspots instead of barn doors (which I'll try next time), or gone with the 7" reflectors by themselves, but this time around I just happened to have the barn doors attached. The key light was fitted with a 16" beauty dish and a diffusion sock.
Here's a setup shot showing all 3 strobes firing (again, this isn't portfolio-worthy stuff.....I'm sure you'll be quick to notice that this shoot took place right in my back yard. Hey- I said no hatin'!!):
Now bear in mind that this was just before 5PM Eastern, so the direct sun was still blazing. In order to overpower the sun and produce the effect you see (which looks more like 7:30PM), I had to put my 2 rear strobes on pretty much full power. That's the beauty of shooting with high-powered strobes-- you have maximum control over the light in any given situation. Now, if I had Elinchrom Rangers instead of Alien Bees, I could make daytime look like midnight....pretty dang cool. Maybe one day I'll be cool (and rich) enough to be able to drop several grand on a strobe setup. But until then, it's okay to dream, right?
So anyway, that's pretty much all you gotta do....set up your lights, adjust the ratio so that your kicker lights are about a stop and a half hotter than your key, use your light meter to determine the appropriate shooting aperture, put your camera on Manual, and go to town. Below is the effect you'll get (notice the "rim" light on the edge, which really helps separate him from the background, and the hard light on his cheeks that really gives kind of a sculpted/chiseled appearance). If you have any questions, or would like some pointers on where to find great lighting information on the Net, please leave a comment or drop me an email.
This lighting technique involves 3 strobes, two on either side of the subject and slightly behind them, and then one light up front as key. Generally the sidelights, also called "kickers" or "rim lights", should be about a stop and a half hotter than your key light (having a light meter is very handy in these types of situations-- I use a Sekonic L-358). It's a very dramatic, contrasty kind of lighting that is very popular these days, and I think it's a good technique to have in your back pocket alongside your usual setups. Now, bear in mind that I wasn't exactly shooting for portfolio-worthy images here-- I was merely experimenting with a new lighting technique....so don't start playa hatin'. ;-)
Anyway, so I shot this with three Alien Bees B1600 strobes. The two in back were fitted with their standard 7" reflectors along with a set of barn doors to help control the spread of light. I could have just as easily used gridspots instead of barn doors (which I'll try next time), or gone with the 7" reflectors by themselves, but this time around I just happened to have the barn doors attached. The key light was fitted with a 16" beauty dish and a diffusion sock.
Here's a setup shot showing all 3 strobes firing (again, this isn't portfolio-worthy stuff.....I'm sure you'll be quick to notice that this shoot took place right in my back yard. Hey- I said no hatin'!!):
Now bear in mind that this was just before 5PM Eastern, so the direct sun was still blazing. In order to overpower the sun and produce the effect you see (which looks more like 7:30PM), I had to put my 2 rear strobes on pretty much full power. That's the beauty of shooting with high-powered strobes-- you have maximum control over the light in any given situation. Now, if I had Elinchrom Rangers instead of Alien Bees, I could make daytime look like midnight....pretty dang cool. Maybe one day I'll be cool (and rich) enough to be able to drop several grand on a strobe setup. But until then, it's okay to dream, right?
So anyway, that's pretty much all you gotta do....set up your lights, adjust the ratio so that your kicker lights are about a stop and a half hotter than your key, use your light meter to determine the appropriate shooting aperture, put your camera on Manual, and go to town. Below is the effect you'll get (notice the "rim" light on the edge, which really helps separate him from the background, and the hard light on his cheeks that really gives kind of a sculpted/chiseled appearance). If you have any questions, or would like some pointers on where to find great lighting information on the Net, please leave a comment or drop me an email.
PS - no, this wasn't edited in the slightest, and yes I need to clean my sensor. ;-)
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Emerging Photographer of the Year! | NEW TAMPA PHOTOGRAPHY
I was thrilled, humbled, and quite frankly taken aback by the recent announcement that I have been named as a finalist for "Emerging Photographer of the Year", which is a contest being held on Scott Bourne's excellent blog, Photofocus.com. I always find it very enlightening to hear other photographers' perspectives on my work, both the good and the bad. Scott refers to my general style as "Relationship Portraiture", and he feels that my fashion/glamour work is my strong point. Do you agree with his assessment? Please sound off with a comment below.
Oh, and if you haven't seen it already, you can view my portfolio here.
Oh, and if you haven't seen it already, you can view my portfolio here.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
John Miseroy - 10/31/09 | NEW TAMPA FASHION GLAMOUR PHOTOGRAPHY
My long-time friend John stopped by for a quick shoot the other day. He's a musician in my church's worship band (among others), and wanted to see I could help him construct a particular image he's had in his head for some time now (the "floating guitar" shot below). Once we felt like we nailed that one, we decided to grab a few extra "modeling" shots to spiff up his Facebook profile a little. I really like how a few of these came out-- leave me a comment below if you do too.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Before & After, Episode 7 | WESLEY CHAPEL FASHION GLAMOUR PHOTOGRAPHY
This fashion/glamour image has gotten more comments than any other in my portfolio since I uploaded it to my profiles on ModelMayhem, OneModelPlace, and FashionPage. Perhaps it's the whimsical expression of the model, or maybe it's the splash of color on the background that complements her dress, but whatever it is, people really seem to like it.I put this image through my normal glamour retouching routine, enhancing the eyes, teeth, and skin, and making colors pop a little more. I also added a light green gradient to the background to make my subject really stand out and enhance the overall appeal of the image. If you look at the original, you'll see part of the chandelier that used to hang from my studio ceiling (it has since been removed), and you'll also see the edge of the white tileboard that the model is standing on. These things are really easy to clean up in Photoshop-- the only thing you really need to worry about when doing shoots like this is making sure that the model completely surrounded by white.
Drop me a comment if you'd like any further details about how this was done, or if you just wanna give me some feedback.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Shannon Landers - 7/3/09 | NEW TAMPA BEAUTY GLAMOUR PHOTOGRAPHER
Aspiring model and all-around sweetheart Shannon Landers stopped by a few weeks ago to update to her modeling portfolio. The pics she had done up that point weren't all that great in my opinion, so I wanted to give her something that really did her justice and accentuated her natural beauty. She was pretty thrilled with the final product, and I have to admit that she looks amazing in these.
As I often say, if you really want to increase your chances of making great photos, choose beautiful subjects! Enjoy....
As I often say, if you really want to increase your chances of making great photos, choose beautiful subjects! Enjoy....
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Before & After, Episode 3 | WESLEY CHAPEL PHOTOSHOP RETOUCH
On the occasions when somebody compliments me on one of my images, one of the ways that I try to deflect some of that attention and praise is simply to tell them, "Yeah, I spend WAY too much time in Photoshop!". Although I say that in jest, there's actually quite a bit of truth to it.You see, I'm a hopeless perfectionist at heart. Sit me in front of a computer with an image to edit, and I'll work myself into an absolute frenzy of layers, tweaks, and adjustments-- I just don't know when to quit sometimes. However, this ability to get "in the zone" and tune everything else out until the job is done has proven to be a very valuable skill at times (unless I also happen to be tuning out my wife in the process, which ALWAYS leads to gnashing of teeth....but I digress).
As far as the image for this episode, I had a clear vision in my mind's eye before I even sat down to begin the editing process. I knew I wanted a composite of 3 different poses, which when viewed together would show some sort of a progression-- a story, if you will. Seemed a simple enough idea at first, since I had captured all three poses all against the same beige wall. However, it soon became painfully obvious that there would be MUCH more work involved than I had originally anticipated (does it ever go the OTHER way, really?).
The first problem was that none of the three shots had enough negative space for me to drop the other 2 poses in. So I had to "clone" the wall so that it extended out far enough to give me sufficient room to work. This process literally took me about an hour and a half, because I had to make sure that it looked believable-- that the wall and sidewalk really did extend out that far in real life. I painstakingly worked on the spaces between each brick to make sure that everything lined up and had the right proportions (did I mention that I'm a perfectionist?).
Once that was all done, it took me another hour to drop in the other 2 poses, and then about 30 more minutes to change the color of the wall to something more interesting (the fact that John's shirt was so close to the original wall color made this process even more fun). The final step was to add a thin, artistic black border around the image.
I am happy to report that when all was said and done, I achieved pretty much exactly the effect that I wanted to (which happens rarely, unfortunately). So it was time well-spent, as far as I'm concerned. What do YOU think of the final result? Do you think that changing the wall color was a good choice? Do you see a "progression" from left to right (reservation, reconciliation, realization)? Please share your comments below....I'd love to hear your thoughts!
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About Me
- Tampa Band Photos
- Tampa, FL, United States
- I'm a commercial photographer in Tampa, FL specializing in band & musician promos, CD covers, press kits, posters, and the like. Please feel free to check out my website/blog using the link below, and give me a shout if I can be of service to you!
http://TampaBandPhotos.com