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Ok, THIS is how i do it.....
Ok so in regards to my "The "How Do You Do It?" guys... thread, i was given the idea to make this thread. I'm going to go through my typical process for getting the look that i have on my pics. I figure that when people hit me up to ask, I can just refer them to this thread, plus if anybody else has a picture or look that they consistently get questions about, they can also post a short tutorial in here to show how they did it. First off, i like bright saturated colors and high contrasts in my pictures. (obviously). Spectral highlights and hard shadows are also something that i like the look of. So my style is tailored to that. For my outdoor pictures (which is what i will be explaining in this thread) i tend to shoot bare bulb strobe with no modifiers, due to the fact that it will give me the harsh shadows, kick up spectral highlights and give me the high contrasts that i like. As far as equipment goes, I shoot with two or three white lightning WL-10000's because i like the durability, the color temp and the simplicity of them. Most shots in my port were shot with the Sony DSC-R1 digital camera, so that let's you know what camera I use. The type of pictures that i take are only going to be as good as the model, the MUA, and the backdrop that you choose. For this one I choose my favorite model, Victoria #133499, one of the MUA's that i use from time to time that i have such a lovely relationship with, and picked a location in the mountains on the way to Lake Mead here in Vegas. It's a great little desert mountain location where some environmentally conscious people did me the favor of dumping all kinds of great shit to use as background fodder. let's take the out of camera RAW image: This was taken as f/11, 1/200, at a focal length of 14mm with the contrast set at +1 and the color setting on Vivid. The first bare bulb WL-5000 was about 10 feet to the to the models left at about her 2 o'clock position. the sun was my fill to the models right at the her 10 o'clock and a had another bare bulb WL-10000 about 10 feet behind the model and boat as a rim light. Both strobes were set to 2/3 power and are rated at 250 watts. The first thing I do is open the file in PS CS3 and do any skin corrections (evening, smoothing out, dodging and burning) then i duplicate the layer and go to Image>Adjustments>Selective Color I normally will bump the blues in the sky to whatever look I want (I like a rich blue or purple sky myself) by adjusting the sliders in the Selective Color tool. Then I create a layer mask and hide all so i can paint in my sky and bump up the reds in the boat without effecting the rest of the picture (which is where i want it to be) After painting in the sky and boat, I'm pretty much done so i save the PSD file and then save a jpeg here's the side by side. Alright. That's how i do it. It's the best i can do as far as explaining it without actually having you there to watch me work. hopefully this helps some people, and other photographers add in some tips and tricks of their own. Sep 07 07 05:53 pm Link I like what you do but I like the original better! The original looks like film. Sep 07 07 05:57 pm Link and... CTRL+D Thanks for the info! Sep 07 07 05:57 pm Link Jeffrey Engel wrote: Well this isn't about whether people like the original better or not, it's to explain how to get MY finished product. Sep 07 07 05:58 pm Link I give you props for posting your secret sauce on the interweb. Sep 07 07 05:59 pm Link You rock at making images pop. Sep 07 07 06:00 pm Link Emily Fine Again wrote: Thank ya babe! Sep 07 07 06:04 pm Link Cool! Sep 07 07 06:04 pm Link Hehehe...he posted the eleven herbs and spices! Of course, the secret recipe is knowing how MUCH of those herbs and spices to use. Sep 07 07 06:08 pm Link Applauds!! You weren't kidding when you said you did very little in photoshop. I commend you on have a great and unique style. Congrats! Stan Sep 07 07 06:11 pm Link Hey! Thats my boat! Thanks for the info however what I really want to know is how you manage to find Velvia for your digital? I have a hell of a time unrolling it into the lil slot on my camera. Sep 07 07 06:11 pm Link All I need is 1 Victoria and I'm set. Sep 07 07 06:12 pm Link Thanks man. Your lighting angle is what awed me. Great ingenuity and use of a fucked up boat (I assume it's fucked up if it's in the middle of the desert) Sep 07 07 06:13 pm Link C R Photography wrote: it's not fucked up. it's waiting...for a flood. Sep 07 07 06:14 pm Link damon wrote: She's one of a kind. Sep 07 07 06:16 pm Link I have a feeling we will be seeing A LOT of squeeze cheese on MM soon. Sep 07 07 06:17 pm Link Laurence Moan wrote: Maybe. But i'm the original Brie. Sep 07 07 06:19 pm Link The colors make it POP. Do it. Chad http://www.eliteimagestudios.com/ http://chadmcdermott.blogspot.com/ Sep 07 07 06:20 pm Link Holy Crap, Batman! WL 10000's? LOL. No f'in way... I was sure you we're gonna say some mega-32million-watt Elinchromes or something. You Rock, dude! Sep 07 07 06:21 pm Link Bare bulb to me means no reflector, no nothing, yet your images have a light intensity and spread that indicates a reflector. Does bare to you mean a reflector with nothing diffuse over the front? Sep 07 07 06:24 pm Link abSolute KeLviN wrote: Nope, nothing fancy. Sep 07 07 06:24 pm Link Bob Randall Photography wrote: i believe the old wl units had built-in reflectors that could not be removed, so this would have to be the case. Sep 07 07 06:25 pm Link Bob Randall Photography wrote: Yeah. I say bare bulb with THOSE lights because you can't remove the reflector if you wanted to. It's as bare as the coffee cans can get. Sep 07 07 06:25 pm Link Thank you for sharing your work flow and technique. Now I will take a stab at it. I also really like you shared the equipment you used. Sep 07 07 06:27 pm Link Christopher Bush wrote: But i'll be damned if they aren't the most kick ass lights. Sep 07 07 06:27 pm Link Ransom-The Cheese-J wrote: definitely the coolest looking. very retro and kitschy. Sep 07 07 06:28 pm Link Most of the shots in my portfolio were a bare-bulbed Alien Bee B800, stemming from the fact that I continually have the stand blowing over if I have any modifiers on there:) Sep 07 07 06:28 pm Link Christopher Bush wrote: Yeah i hear you're into retro and kitschy. Sep 07 07 06:30 pm Link Ransom-The Cheese-J wrote: Dude, you must be mistaken. That can't be how you do it 'cause all the experts here on MM say that White Lightnings and Alien Bees suck! Sep 07 07 06:32 pm Link Ransom-The Cheese-J wrote: hmmm....how do you know all this? Sep 07 07 06:32 pm Link Ransom-The Cheese-J wrote: Not shitty enough, nor with good enough glass. Sep 07 07 06:32 pm Link Ransom-The Cheese-J wrote: Cool, thanks. Sep 07 07 06:33 pm Link Christopher Bush wrote: A Scilian birdy told me. Sep 07 07 06:33 pm Link BTW, kudos Ransom. You need say nothing further when people ask, if you ask me. Sep 07 07 06:34 pm Link Marko Cecic-Karuzic wrote: are you saying i'm apparently-paradoxical-but-not-really? Sep 07 07 06:35 pm Link Bob Randall Photography wrote: shot at 11 in the morning. Sun was HIGH. Cam on a timer, on camera flash. That's it for lighting. Sep 07 07 06:35 pm Link Ransom-The Cheese-J wrote: don't have one of those! Sep 07 07 06:36 pm Link Marko Cecic-Karuzic wrote: Thank ya sir! Sep 07 07 06:37 pm Link nice work babe Sep 07 07 06:38 pm Link Ransom-The Cheese-J wrote: Cam on a timer? That bad ass dude is you? I thought you were white. Sep 07 07 06:41 pm Link |