Portrait question - how could I get an effect like this?

[newphotogirl]

Hi all,
I am new here (and new to photography) hope this is the right forum. My question is I ran into the below picture of actress Rachel Weiz in my web travels -- and thought the shot was just lovely, color, composition, set up, particularly her eyes and the way the sun illuminates the cheek and eye area.

I'm thinking of setting up a similar self portrait as I have similar color eyes and skin, though I have blonde hair instead of dark.

By looking at this pic, what lens / settings do you think were used? Also what type of photoshop editing could have been done? I'm sure she could not look THAT perfect raw off the camera could she?

In addition to the equipment I have listed in my signature, I also have Photoshop cs4.
Looking for tips on how I could accomplish a similar result with my own little outfit. Thanks!

[adina]

you can see by the reflection in the glass the lighting details...dappled sunlight....see the tree? narrow dof, see how her fingers are out of focus?

[Franglais]

Looking in the EXIF data of the image we see:

Exposure = 1/125s F4
Lens = 70mm maximum aperture f2.8
Camera = Canon 10D
Shooting date = 13th September 2006

This image was probably done on the (at the time) top-of-the-line Canon 28-70 f2.8 L lens. I think that the purity of the colour starts from there - I've noticed that my top-of-the-line Nikon lenses sometimes have something extra in the colours compared with the others.

The use of a telephoto lens with a wide aperture has given limited depth of field, as Adina says. The lighting is excellent but then it's just a matter of getting the model to stand in the right patch of sunlight, with light reflected off the ground (sand?) to fill in the shadows.

I'm almost sure the image has been retouched. Her skin has been smoothed to remove the flaws. The whites of her eyes have been brightened to give her a more piercing look - too much so on the left eye in shadow, it doesn't look natural to me.

Oh - and the camera seems to have a hot pixel visible in her right eye (left as we look at it) just below the pupil..

[Frog]

I'm not a portrait shooter so listen to those who know.
I would, however, like to remind you that you should NOT post other people's photographs.
It is ok to post a link to them.

Welcome to the forums and sorry my first response to you is a gentle reminder.

[Asmarlak]

Thats easy. In Photoshop or Photoshop Elements which I use the later, go to "Filter" then click on "Render" then choose "Lighting Effects". You have to experiment a whole lot until you get the light effect that pleases you. Its very tricky though because you have to use several light bulbs to keep the whole image lighting the way it originally was plus adding the light bulb that shines extra light on the area you want to emphasis and it all has to be done in one step thats why you need to try it multiple times before you settle on one. Here is a quick example.

[adina]

you could probably also do a feathered layer, with either levels adjustments or curves. or even layer mask and paint that light area back in.

[Asmarlak]

Often in Photoshop you can get the effect you want in more than one way. I find lighting to be efficient way to control exposure in images without compromising details for example. Once you get accustomed to it, it becomes easy and you start to like it.

[newphotogirl]

I'm not a portrait shooter so listen to those who know.
I would, however, like to remind you that you should NOT post other people's photographs.
It is ok to post a link to them.

Welcome to the forums and sorry my first response to you is a gentle reminder.

Sorry I did not know. I will post links only going fwd.

Thanks everyone for your responses. I'm going to play around a bit with my equipment and come back w/ any questions tnx

[jetrim]

Usually the details are in the reflections. In this case the eye is too small to be of much use, but the wine glass give some clues. The light spot most likely came from the reflection off the motorcycle parked in the driveway, and the photographer was squatting in the grass with a telephoto lens (EXIF says focal length was 70mm) shooting upward without a flash. The PP was done in Adobe CS2 and certainly some skin smoothing was done (check obscured wrinkles at forehead and under left eye). Some dodging was done (look at line above upper lip) and some burning (base of right side of nose). As was mentioned already, eyes were whitened (no capillaries showing) and face was most probably texture mapped judging by the pore detail at the tip of the nose which disappears for a while and then returns between the eyes (an inch further away from the camera) and then disappears again at the forehead. Some of these techniques are easy, and some more advanced, but whoever did the retouching was just sloppy enough to leave a few hints - if you know what to look for