This week reminded me of a valuable lesson, I’ve learned time and again along the way. A photographers work extends beyond the click of a shutter. Whether the darkroom or the computer, the beauty of a final image finds completion in our post production.
I recently shot for a talented band called, The Lovely Few. They needed promos for an ethereal and spacial themed ep. I came into the shoot with some large ideas, a few new techniques, and diagrams. We shot everything I needed and then some takeaway shots, I never intended to use, beside a metal railway housing.
Four weeks into post, I realized all the shots I had diagrammed, laid out, and schemed were falling flat and I wasn’t at all happy with what I was creating. In an email, Mike mentioned that he was excited about the potential in those throw away shots, so I figured I’d humor him and work on one. This is the orignal image:
The first step in my post process is to go through and remove any distracting spots, lines, or tell tale signs of a late night or long shoot. This step really starts the “knocking the dirt off” process of an image and can quickly tell me if I should go further. For this, the content aware, patch, and clone tools are invaluable.
After cleaning up the image, I saw some great potential. The random metal box look was now a nice textured background. An SNL skit this past weekend about Greek gods was fresh in my mind and the idea of a heavenly glow and almost godly portrait shot, started forming. From here, I smoothed the skin tones and added depth to the eyes using a combination of surface blur, high pass, and my brush tool.
From here, I really wanted to start bringing out that Greek god stature. With a neutral density layer and dodge and burn with the brush tool I brought out each members strong lines and added depth to the crowns for a slight shimmer.
Now that I had the content where I wanted it, it was time to focus on the color tone to achieve the glow effect and bring it all home. I wanted an antiquity feel, but didn’t want to compromise my skin tones too much, so before using an exclusion filter to slightly crush the depths of my blacks, I amped up the master saturation.
Now there were many ways to add the warm glow I wanted. At first I played with some fill color layers with a few different blending modes, before finally deciding to use the photo filter mode to warm the image. This allowed me to get away from degrading the line fidelity with additional color layers and better custom tone the warmth I was adding.
After finding a tone I felt gave the sun glow I wanted, the image felt good but a little airy. A slight curve adjustment brought some needed contrast and depth. I had isolated space on the right for copy, but the left negative space still wasn’t really working for me. I decide to use a simple trick to border the image. Using the flat fan high bristle brush, I simply painted a border that added subtle texture and helped anchor the image. I went heavy on the left side of the image to close off the negative space, and stayed light on the right side to not take away from any future copy and to add some visual relief. Tip: to paint a straight stroke in PS, click where you want your stroke to begin, then holding shift click where you want it to end, PS does the rest.
The final part of the process was all about editing. I had ideas for adding some shimmer and other textures to the background, but forced myself to walk away from the image. Coming back, I was confident I didn’t need to go any further. Know when to stop yourself!
So there you have it, an image destined for the scrap heap ends up becoming the signature image for the shoot. If you have any questions on any of the steps I mentioned above, feel free to drop a comment. Also, take a moment to check out The Lovely Few and their awesome ep, The Perseids. And download a high-res final copy of this image, here.
I hit the road to a little Kentucky town just outside Nashville this past weekend to shoot an amazing wedding. Sweden was a bridesmaid in a previous wedding and I was incredibly honored when she chose me to capture her day. It was a perfect fall day and the barn they renovated was truly something incredible. You’re welcome, Pinterest… View even more over at my FB page.
The other day, I was retouching an old photo while jamming to Jay-Z’s “On to the Next One,” and there was a line that really summated one of the biggest lessons so far in my career.
“…don’t be mad cause its all about progression”
I took this image almost two years ago. I was about six months into teaching myself photography and every friend willing, I gladly made my subject. This was one of my first forays into directing a model and using off camera lighting. Everything I wanted was there: chiaroscuro effect, highlight detail, perfect model form, and yet I was so disappointed it didn’t look like the Vogue covers Testino and Meisel were producing—it’s OK, I laugh too now. So I stashed in it the catalog and pined for the day I’d have the really expensive camera to make my photos look amazing.
So a few months ago, as I scanned the archives for new site worthy images, I come across this testament of scrappy days with a temperamental Canon 10D, some borrowed Lowell lights, and a determined heart. I saw some potential, so I decided to have a second go to see if I could breathe some life in it, and I’d say it was for the better.
Turns out, I didn’t need a fancier camera or better lighting, what I needed was the knowledge to know how to make good from mediocre. That knowledge comes from experience and the desire to keep learning.
I’ve spent the majority of the last two years shooting, reading, asking, following, researching and I’ve learned that the true genius of photography is not just showing what’s there, but bringing out what it could be.
I sent my before and after to a mentor* for a kick at the progress I’ve made along the way, and as mentors are supposed to, he sent it back with a lesson on dodging and burning and ways to make it even stronger. So I gave it another go, and again, I come away amazed at what subtlety can bring out of a photo.
Here’s the gist: photography, as most things in life, is about progression. You can’t settle for where you are, constantly strive to better your talents. Otherwise, what’s the point? I’ve done that in two ways I hope I never become dumb ”good” enough to stop.
So next time you’re frustrated about what you don’t have or what you can’t do, remember it’s all about progression.
*Thanks to my mentor, Rick Smoak, for always having an answer or a resource for my many questions.
A few months ago, I had the pleasure of shooting the wedding of two really good friends. The night before, Jay and Liza, kicked off the weekend with some close friends in anticipation of a beautiful wedding day.
The chapel was beautiful and Jay and Liza made for a stunning bride and groom.
Jay and Liza decided to get a sneak peek of each other before the ceremony. It was such a sweet moment to witness.
The ceremony was such a great look at true love between two amazing people.
And this crowd closed the night in rare form, this was definitely the party to attend!
Last year, I met Miriam when she contracted me to shoot some promos for her music project. We quickly became friends and admirers of each others work. A few months later, Julius contacted me to help with his proposal. You can read more about that proposal over at The Knot.
After pulling off a successful proposal, it was time to capture Julius and Miriam’s wedding day. Miriam made for a absolutely beautiful bride.
The wedding came and went without a hitch. It was a real privilege to be apart of the Hamilton’s special day!
