room on your HD but think of them as digital negatives. Shooting in Large JPEG mode is like throwing the negative away and keeping the print. RAW files are simply better and provide more options in post-production.The smaller image (p.54) shows the original shot with a 1/3 exposure adjustments made in the RAW utility. The photo session with April lasted two hours and we shot three different scenes. Many of the images were good but a handful turned out great and post-production made them dramatic. I'm especially happy with the two examples displayed here. Finally, to complete what I had envisioned, each image (p.55 and p.58) took two hours of work in Photoshop.

Digital editing, if done well, can make your image outstanding. Adding drama and depth can be simple in some cases but in other cases it can be more time consuming. The process used here illustrates the latter. My Post production work is normally done on a per-image bases; if it comes from the same set though I will use Actions in Photoshop to help with the process but automated processes won't help much on areas that needs special attention. You have to get in and use Tools and the ones I use most in Photoshop are the Brush Tool, Dodge, Burn, and Sponge Tool, Clone Stamp, Healing Brush and Patch Tool and Blur, Sharpen and Smudge Tool. It depends on the image but in some instances, I can use all of the above mentioned Tools during the editing process. In other cases I might use two or three of the Tools to help bring a dramatic look to the image. One comment I have though is that if you want the most from your tools (whether it's Photoshop, Painter, etc..) I would strongly suggest using a Wacom tablet.

My process always begins with a rename and save of the image to be worked. I usually keep the original file name but add edt (edit) as part of my naming convention, this denotes my first version. Additional version that I might save include v2, v3, v4 (version) and so on. If I happen to make a mistake along the way or the computer crashes, I've saved versions that I like and can get back to a reasonable starting point. If I haven't saved, I could lose two or three hours of work and that's not fun. I then create a new layer by dragging the Background to the New Layer icon in the Layers palette; the new layer becomes my base image. Once that's done it's off to work. For instance, I may use multiple layers in working an image. I created the new wisp of hair (below) by first selecting the area I wanted to correct with the Marquee Tool then cut and past to a new layer. I used the Clone Stamp and Brush to remove or add what I liked. After completing the edit, I merged the layer with the base image and blended. Depending on the project I may leave layers instead of merging –I have some projects with 50 or more layers.

  
Shooting outdoors can often be tough and one thing that happens is misplaced hair. I wanted a little more definition from some areas of April's hair and especially the removal of loose hairs over all. I had a lot of loose hair to remove due to a bit of wind which caused frizzes (look closely at the previous example and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about). If you have fine hair on a white background it can sometimes be really simple to remove by using the Dodge Tool or Clone Stamp but when you have texture it takes work. It all comes down to aesthetics and what you like. Personally, I like to see reality in images and so I leave some imperfections. I especially keep from overworking skin too much as this can lead to huge problems. Fixing blemishes and lines can be easy but overworking areas leads to modeled or plastic looks. If that happens, one trick I have for bringing skin back to life is adding Noise. If you've overworked an area too much and it's smooth try selecting the area and experimenting with adding Noise (under the Filter pull down menu) and then use the Fade option (under the Edit menu) to soften.

  

After adjusting the Levels and Curves some problem areas on April's face softened and I had very few fixes. The only big fix for the first image was removal of some unwanted light around her eye and then dodging and burning of areas (illustrated in the example above). Light on her lower eyelid was removed (see the left arrow); for this area I used the Clone Stamp, Healing Brush and then worked over the area with the Burn Tool. The middle arrow indicates a small blemish which was removed, you can also see another spot on the nose which was taken out. The arrow on the right points out the use of the Dodge Tool to highlight the eye. Another area of skin which I detailed was the arms and fingers. In the example below I've pointed out the use of the Healing Brush to soften the fingers. The shadows were diminished by lightly removing creases around the knuckles. The Burn Tool was then used to deepen the shadows between fingers and finally, I used the Clone Stamp to make the index finger a little thinner. Not shown is the overall use of the Burn and Dodge Tool to work the arm shadows and highlights. Compare the the original and edited version - p.54–55 and p.58–59 and see if you notice differences.

  
PhatBelt.com
May - June

57


Cover | Inside