Entries in Post Production (5)
a wedding album
I photographed this wedding this past May in Barbados...defintely some of the nicest, most considerate, appreciative clients I've had the privilegdge of working with. Just click on the album spread below and you'll experience what my clients do the first time they see their album design.
deeper black & whites | tip no. 9
Fred
in Tips & Tricks, Post Production
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1 Comment
All of us have seen black & white photographs before. And I think all photographers would agree there is a hundred different ways to go from color to black & white in Photoshop. Furthermore, I think we would all agree that all black & whites are not created equal.
Tip #9: Bring a small amount of color back into your black & whites to give them more depth.
Many great black & whites usually have a splash of color in them. When I use Kevin Kubota's B&W actions I bring the opacity of the B&W layer down 5%. Backing off the B&W a tinge allows the little color peeking through to give your image a little more depth. Check out the difference on one of my favorite photos of Lyndzey...
Before: A little on the cold side...a little shallow.
After: Ah, tast-teeeee! See the depth???
rings
**some of you that have never been to a wedding may be wondering what that yellow thing the rings are sitting on is. It’s a bubble wand...at some weddings you'll spot them in the hands of guests as the bride and groom make their grand exit.
dark room discoveries | tip no. 2
This technique hails from the craft of processing film. This look hints at the results achieved by "cross processing" film. Cross processing is a procedure involving deliberately processing photographic film in a wrong chemical solution. For example, processing negative color print film in E-6 process chemicals (intended for use in processing color reversal films).
Color cross processed photographs are often characterized by unnatural colors, high contrast, blown out highlights and incredibly rich - if not realistic - colors.
Cross processing effects can be simulated in the digital medium by a number of techniques involving the manipulation of contrast/brightness, hue/saturation and curves in your image editor of choice (mine is Photoshop). I wasn't necessarily taught, more self taught than anything else...and then implementing some actions definitely saves eons of time.
My strapping buddy Kyle before some fred egan TLC...
Even more strapping after slight x-processing.
The beatiful Christine looking fabulous right out of the camera...
Tip #2: Experiement extensively with Adobe Photoshop in order to create signature looks for your images.
Ex. If you see one of my images I want you to be able to recognize it's a "fred egan" image.
rachel & molly
I headed down to the lofts of Southside on Lamar (Dallas’ newest old address) on another 100 degree Texas day to meet up with Rachel and Molly. This place was super cool! Rachel has assisted me on a couple of shoots already, but this shoot was about sharing what I do inside the digital darkroom during post production.
First, we planned to snap off a couple shots around the complex. Rachel quickly recruited her college buddy, Molly (I’ve been told to disclose that they are not lovers-just roommates lol!), to model for us and Rachel managed to get in front of the lens as well. As an on location shooter, this is the first time I have got to shoot indoors in awhile. We parked in a couple of stairwells in the building with the dusk light pouring through the windows...it was nice light and the building had an old rundown feel yet still refined.
Second, we would take the images through digital enhancement for the final product. My software workhorse for organizing, editing and managing my library of images is Apple’s program designed for photographers: Aperture. I love it!
The other software I use in conjunction with Aperture is Adobe’s Photoshop CS2 software...the best and most popular image editing software available. Photoshop is such a diverse program that it would take eons to master every feature within it. My mindset as a photographer is to visualize what direction I want an image to go and use the best tools to get there. How do I do that? I actually do it with other people’s sweat & tears...and by that I mean using actions and palettes. The specific set of actions I use on most images is the Ron Nichols Retouching Pallete. It helps me spend less time in Photoshop while getting the job done.
These were fun to shoot and Molly is actually snorting in the photograph of her laughing...that is something I usually don’t think about: like a fingerprint, everyone has a unique laugh. I will leave you to ponder this...
