New Agent

[MJS]

So my wife just got picked up by a new literary agent who wanted a head shot for their web-site (www.firebrandliterary.com) and I of course had to comply. This is one of the series. We were originally going to try a sunset shot out near Biscayne Bay, but the wind whipped up and messed with her hair. We needed the shot to New York today so had to work in studio. Ok, so it was just the living room, but it sure looked cool with the octobox main, reflector fill, soft-box hair and a small strobe softened out to light up the books. Nikon D200. Tokina 100/2.8 Macro ATX Pro, 100 ISO, 1/125 at 5.6.

[Speed]

Ok, so it was just the living room, but it sure looked cool with the octobox main, reflector fill, soft-box hair and a small strobe softened out to light up the books. Nikon D200. Tokina 100/2.8 Macro ATX Pro, 100 ISO, 1/125 at 5.6.

Geez, you've got almost as much in lighting as you do in camera gear! OK, I may be slightly exagerating...

Don't you love that D200? I love mine more every day. It is a great camera, and anytime my photo's don't come out like I want, I wonder what I did wrong.

I'm curious what "optimize color" setting you used. I primarily use "Vivid" for most of my shooting (landscapes and wildlife), but I'm playing with the custom setting with the saturation dialed to a +1 for portraits. I have a friend who's a pro photographer and he shoots with a D200 as well. That is the setting he uses for portraits and weddings.

Last but not least, nice shot of the wife!!! Did she like it?

[MJS]

I've always left all camera settings at normal and shoot
raw. Since I don't see color at all, I call in help if I need to punch things up a bit. I use curves to adjust contrast if necessary, doing one channel at a time as learned at the 201 course at Nikon School a few years back. I'm going to give the +1 saturation tip a try on the next unpaid shoot. That should be more Dance portraits next week after my daughter comes home from camp. My wife loved the shot and ended up using one of the same group where she was smiling. Thanks for the comment.

[schrackman]

I've always left all camera settings at normal and shoot
raw. Since I don't see color at all, I call in help if I need to punch things up a bit.

You mean to tell me you're color blind? How the heck did you get into photography?

Very nice portrait, by the way. I like the way you lit up the books behind her. The only thing I'd recommend is cropping the sides a tad to make it more "portrait" like (unless of course they want it square). It also wouldn't hurt to give it a slight levels and color balance adjustments, along with a tad more unsharp mask.

I don't know if you like people editing your photos or not, but I can show you what I mean if you don't mind.

[MJS]

Go right ahead. The original is a longer crop, hands were kept out of the post by request. Curves were adjusted once. I never have quite gotten the unsharp mask. I need to be sitting there when it is demoed so I truly can see the difference happening.

[schrackman]

All right, tell me if you see a difference. The wood behind her should look more natural, as should her skin tones. It could probably use a bit more cropping on each side too.



The unsharp mask values were as follows (but keep in mind this was for web and not print...values for print might require a bit more radius depending on how soft the image is at high resolution):

Amount: 150%
Radius: 0.4
Threshold: 0

If I can figure out tonight how do do a sort of "print screen" on my Mac (which I don't think I've ever attempted yet) I'll post the entire process of how I arrived at the edited version.

[schrackman]

Well, it seems doing a "print screen" is easier than I thought. Love the "self-timer" on the Grab program on my Mac!

So here it is in just a few simple steps. Note: the results may not be the same as the image above, because I did not write down all the previous settings. But it should be close. The last image shows converting an RGB file to sRGB for web viewing.

[Asylum Steve]

Since I don't see color at all...

So Michael, you don't see any color??? Wow. You know, this may sound weird, but I've often wished I could see in B&W. Seriously...

BTW, remind me never to drive with you in Miami. Hmmm, actually, in Miami it probably doesn't make any difference if you can see the green or red lights...

[Speed]

Awesome tutorial Ray!!!

Now I'm going to have to bookmark this post.

[schrackman]

Thanks, Robert! I noticed that the photo had an excess of red in it that had to be dealt with. But the original file was good enough that it wasn't much of a problem to fix, unlike some photos that I have messed with.

Say, have you posted anything on the upcoming lunar eclipse? I have seen anything from you yet, or perhaps I just missed it?

Awesome tutorial Ray!!!

Now I'm going to have to bookmark this post.

[MJS]

Thanks Ray, those that see color in the family think it looks great. I'll have to teach my daughter that trick. The unsharp mask I'll have to toy wth a bit.

No problem with the driving Steve, Red is on the top or the left. Everything else just means go faster than the other guy.

[readingr]

Oh to be colour blind - I agree with Steve always wanted this when I started in photography.

Now I think I sometimes see better in B&W than in colour.

Excellent tutorial Ray. Already bookmarked.

Roger

[MJS]

The color blind thing, along with a back injury kept me out of the Coast Guard Academy and can put you in a pickle when getting dressed and the women in the house are mad at you. "Sure honey/Dad, that looks great!" It does allow me to see light and shadow pretty well.

[opus]

I've never admitted this: I want to get my eyes lasered but I'm a little "nostalgic" to lose the big squishy starbursts around lights that I experience without glasses.

I also wished I was blind when I was a young girl, because then I could have gotten a dog. That's how badly I wanted a dog.

[Asylum Steve]

I've never admitted this: I want to get my eyes lasered but I'm a little "nostalgic" to lose the big squishy starbursts around lights that I experience without glasses...

Hi Kellyb**n...

Besides liking the way I look in glasses, you wanna know something cool? When I see distant lights at night out of focus (without my glasses), the "starbursts" are all heart-shaped...

Seriously.

After a bunch of beers it's very dream-like...