Photoshop fairy dust / Neil’s secret sauce

As much as I believe in the “get it right in camera” ethos, it is near inescapable that most images can use some sweetening in Photoshop. My own preference is for fairly subtle retouching of photographs.

The photograph above is one I’ve shown a few times as a great example of how good on-camera bounce flash can look. I did have to adjust the WB and exposure as part of my usual RAW post-processing workflow. And for the image on the left, I also removed some skin blemishes with the Healing Tool. So it does look pretty good .. but it can be subtly enhanced. And the keyword here for me is *subtle*.

My post-processing retouching for portraits involve some Photoshop plug-ins that I use, but there are some useful (and well-known) Photoshop techniques to make an image pop a little bit more. Over several articles on Tangents, I’ve referred to it as either “Photoshop fairy dust” or in a humorous way as my “secret sauce”. The techniques vary, depending on what is needed, and on what I’d like to achieve.  So the “secret sauce” varies from image to image by some degree. It really depends.

With the help of Photoshop wiz, Adrian (aka, Trev from the Tangents forum), we’ve put together two action sets that make these Photoshop techniques quite accessible … and more importantly, accessible in a subtle way. No over-the-top effect. Just that sweetening of the photograph as is necessary. The image on the right-hand shows the type of retouching that is possible with this action set.

The action set, called Neil’s Secret Sauce, is available for download for a $10 fee from that linked page. The zip file includes two actions as well as a PDF instruction sheet.

And of course, we’ll gladly help!

Where this Action can and can’t work:

Adobe Photoshop: YES
Adobe Elements: NO
Lightroom in Conjunction with Adobe Photoshop: YES
Lightroom Standalone: NO
Aperture in Conjunction with Adobe Photoshop: YES (not verified)
Aperture Standalone: NO

Adrian, a regular follower of the Tangents blog, (better known as the ever-helpful Trev in the Tangents forum), has the guest spot this week. Adrian has expanded on his explanation of the actions that he mentioned in the comments section of the recent article on Selective Sharpening in Photoshop. Even better, he has made it available as two downloadable actions as well.

Photoshop actions to help with Post Processing after RAW conversion (free download)

Intro:

The following downloadable actions with the instructions on their use can save some time and grief on getting a good result after RAW conversion. Even using your RAW converter may not get a fully desirable end result and these very easy to use actions will help in that regard. They are not complicated and you don’t need any plug-ins to achieve a simple lift to your final image.

.
The actions, while still utilising the features in photoshop, do it in a different way to what you may have learnt or been shown, by using layers and masks you keep the integrity of your image at the same time giving it that lift.

Things like a simple contrast can be achieved in less than 1 second running the action, but, without the undesired color shift you would get with the ‘generic S Curve’.

Once you have run it through the RAW converter, you can still open the RAW file itself [from ACR] and have an image adjusted quicker and easier than during the RAW stage, or once exported, having a batch opening and then checking selected images make further adjustments much easier.

Sharpening is always a contentious point, many varying views, but the one thing that remains a ‘given’ is you don’t want to sharpen skin tones, looks nasty, so running a sharpen action after export could be done even in batch mode to your images.

Another action, cleaning colours, helps lift faces if used sparingly or boosting colours, but in a way that’s not too dramatic. Bit like Vibrancy slider in Lightroom without having to go to LR.

download the 2 actions from here, (right-click & save-as)

Description of the Actions:

Note: Some of these actions will change how your Curves dialogue box looks like. I operate on percentages, not levels based in using Curves, since everyone can relate to a % figure without having to wonder what an Input of 230 Output of 241 will result in, but with percentage base, a no-brainer.

If you want the gritty details, open your Curves dialogue box, click on ‘Curve Display Options’ and check ‘Pigment Inks’ which will also swap your Shadows/Highlights around, dragging down for lighter and up for darker, and if you place your cursor and click on a point, the figures are now percentage based, not levels.

If you want to see what any of the Masks are protecting/enhancing in any of the following actions, simply Alt [pc] Option [mac] and click on the Mask itself and it will show the actual mask on your image. Reverse procedure to get back to full colour image or simply click on ‘background’ of your image.

Anyone who is familiar with actions, can also get out of button mode, open up the action arrows to see what was applied. Some look involved but fairly simple for anyone who can create and understand them. Obviously you can change defaults if comfortable with them.

1st Action Set Name: TOOLS for PROCESSING

Actions:

1] Gradient POP 20%
A simple gradient map, blend mode Soft Light, Opacity 20% which can be varied.

2] Sharpen 250 Protect Skin
Great for wedding/portrait with lots skin. Sharpens 250%, Radius 1.8, Threshold 0 with a Red Channel Mask protects reds for skin tones. Opacity 100%, can be varied to taste.
Fantastic other colors around faces except red. Gets in between eyelashes, etc., protecting the skin tones.

3] Sharpen 150 Protect Skin
Same as 250 but Sharpen set to 150. Opacity can be varied.

4] Clean Colours Independently [using UK English spelling of ‘colours’]
Great for ‘cleaning’ colours which may have been a bit ‘muddy’. Use sparingly set to 20% adjustable.
Simple use of ‘Selective Color’ adjustment layer. eg: Red is Magenta and Yellow, so I make Cyan -100%; Blue is Cyan & Magenta, so I make Yellow -100% and so on for each colour.

5] Boost Colours Independently
Similar to above, but to increase colour saturation. Use sparingly. Set to 20%
This time you +100% the colours you want. eg: Reds – Magenta +100%; Yellow +100%, Cyan 0, etc.

The Clean & Boost is handy if once you find you processed image still lacking a bit you can without having to go back to original, give the quick boost via actions. You can also add layer mask to the ‘Selective Color’ layer to mask out anything too intrusive, eg: faces.

6] Reflector Open Shadows
A great way to open up eye sockets, faces if a tad too dark, simply using Soft White Brush, paint in on Black Mask around 15-30% opacity until you have built up the desired effect. There is a protective mask on there which will help preserve highlights. Gentle brushing to build up is far better then aggressive brush opacity flow rate.

7] Remove Blues from Whites
Simply use of Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer with the ‘Blues’ set to -65%, using Soft Brush, opacity set to 100% simply brush over the whites, removes Blue only.

8] Sunburn Relief
Ahhh, ever had the ‘sunglasses white eye sockets with burnt surrounds’ or simply just sunburnt.
Brush out on the mask around 10-30% until happy with Soft White Brush.
Simple use of Selective Color Adjustment Layer with Reds having -33% Magenta and -27% Yellow.
Why those percentages? Just cause I found it a nice combo, but feel free to play around.
Only effects the ‘Reds’.

9] Contrast via Masks 5%
Now, this is the “be all, end all” in my personal opinion.
Many people apply contrast via S Curves but that can destroy colours, it *will* change them.
I found a great tutorial [forgot site name] on this a good while back, made a lot of sense, so I made 2 actions. 5% and a 10%
Using Curves Adjustment Layers for both Shadows and Highlights [S-H, percentage based] I applied a 5% for dark tones, but, using the midtone point in the Curves Palette.
Input 50% Output 55%, PLUS a protective layer mask.
Same for Highlights, this time 50% Input with a 45% Output and mask to protect darker tones.
Alt click on the mask to see what I mean. Alt click on mask again to get back to image.
You can change the percentages, but you need to do it in the Curves Palette, the layer opacity is always 100%, of course you can alter Output to different % for each of the Shadow/Highlights, nothing says you need to keep both at 5% or 10%. You may find having the Shadows at 5% plenty but open up the Highlights to 10%.

10] Sepia Protect Whites
Convert to BW your way first, then run the action.
Excellent way to get genuine Sepia tones, without tinting the whites.
Mask to protect the whites from looking silly, they remain white, and it tints perfectly and gradually through midtones to shadows.
It uses the ‘Solid Colour’ Adjustment Layer with a mask, so you can change the colour if you want by double clicking on the Icon in layer, and change to your hearts content.
Default gives a good ratio of Red 60, Green 30, Blue 0; but feel free to experiment as the whites will always be protected.

11] Teeth via Green Channel
Great way to whiten teeth using Curves with Image Calculations on the Green Channel since this gives the greatest contrast between gum/skin/teeth so you can brush confidently without having to be careful. Brush at 100 full brush, then change opacity to suit. You don’t want a in your face ‘Hollywood’ look, 40-50% layer opacity is generally pretty good.

12] Dodge Brighten Eyes
Once again, Curves/Mask Layer Mask, brush in white brush until happy. Change layer opacity to suit.

13] Dodge & Burn General
Nope. Definitely NOT the Dodge-Burn Tool, that’s a useless tool in my opinion.
This uses once again a Curves Adjustment Layer for each of the Dodge/Burn Layers with protective Masks.
Simply use soft white brush, around 10-30% or change opacity on the fly to lighten/darken areas of the image using the different layers created.
Of course hitting X on keyboard you can brush back in something you may have been too aggessive with.

2nd Action Set Name: SHADOW RANGE

Actions:

1] SHADOW RANGE GREEN
Great for opening up shadows, using the Image/Calculations/Green Channels, but protecting highlights, run, change layer opacity to suit. Default 100%

2] SHADOW RANGE GREY
Same as above, but using a ‘generic’ greyscale in Image/Calculations/Grey

If familiar with actions, you can put a ‘stop’ on the Shadows/Highlights Palette Box, to change values before proceeding on. I left it run at defaults of Amount 60%; Tone Width 60%; Radius 300 for Shadows; Zero for Highlights; Black Clip 0.01; White Clip 0.01; Color Correction +30.

by Adrian, Five Star Studios – wedding photographer, Mackay, Queensland in Australia

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photo session – vintage pinup style (on location)

When the hot-rod show which didn’t offer as much in terms of photography as I had hoped, Jill and I moved over to the pier in Brooklyn. Having a model in a retro sailor-suit type outfit … well, it just seemed to good an opportunity to waste. I thought of perhaps using the Ice Cream Factory there as a backdrop to a straight-forward pinup photo, but ultimately decided the Hudson River waterfront would work better as a setting for the photo.

Then we just had to add some simple but dynamic lighting, and give the final image a vintage flavor with the post-processing …

Here are the two starting images:

The first one with the camera settings so that I have correct ambient exposure. But the image looks bland. There’s no punch to it.  (1/200 @ f4 @ 400 ISO)
The next image was with the camera set to where I wanted the background exposure to be – darker and with more mood.  (1/250 @ f6.3 @ 400 ISO)

Why those final settings? Simply because I liked the way it looked on the back of my camera. Turns out to be 1.7 stops under the regular proper exposure. Sounds about right.

Then I had to add light. My setup was simplicity itself, resorting to my usual on-location lighting setup when working with an individual subject such as a model:
Lastolite EZYBOX Softbox Kit (24″x24″) (B&H), with the speedlight,
which is controlled by two PocketWizard FlexTT5 transceivers (B&H)

I used the flash in TTL mode, triggered via the TT5 units.

Here is the out-of-the-raw converter image on the left, with the final processed image on the right:

I wanted the look of the image to have a warm retro feel to it. For this, I stacked a few of the Totally Rad actions, using the RadLab filters. I used the RadLab filter set with the recent article on post-processing a photo – that summery feeling, but this time I used a different set of actions, at different opacities, with different settings, layered in a different way. Of course, I can save this as a recipe and re-use it at a later date.

And here it is again – the final image:

image settings:
1/250 @ f6.3 @ 400 ISO … TTL flash  (FEC not recorded)
Nikon D3;  Nikon 24-120mm f/4 VR (B&H) .. used at 70mm

Here is the pull-back shot to show the relative placement of the softbox.

You can order the RadLab or the Totally Rad action sets, via this affiliate link:
the discount code 1086NEILVN will save you 15%

equipment used during this photo session:

Nikon D3;  Nikon 24-120mm f/4 VR (B&H)
Lastolite EZYBOX Softbox Kit (24″x24″) (B&H)
Manfrotto 1004BAC light-stand (B&H)
Nikon SB-900 (B&H);  Nikon SD-9 battery pack (B&H)
(2x) PocketWizard FlexTT5 transceiver (B&H)
PocketWizard AC3 Zone Controller (B&H)

If you find these articles interesting and of value, then you can help by using
these affiliate links to order equipment & other goodies.   Thank you!

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post-processing an image – that summery feeling

A hot rod show & hot girls dressed in 50′s retro outfits .. it all just has to look good! Well, not necessarily. Sometimes the way you feel something should look, just isn’t quite there in the actual setting. At a hot rod show today in Brooklyn, though there were the usual awesome cars (and girls), but the show was held under an expressway. Just not quite the right setting to easily get images with sparkle. But parked around the area were some vintage cars, so along with Jill (one of the models), I used some of these cars for a few images.

But even here the images I got just didn’t quite looked like I envisaged. I wanted a lazy, but sexy and summery feel to the photos. Less about the car itself, than the mood. So the photographs needed some sweetening in Photoshop …

For me, the background is of huge importance when I take an image. Clutter and distracting elements need to be removed. Usually this is easy enough by shifting your position, or changing your perspective or focal length, or by hiding stuff behind your subject. With some of the photographs of models on this site, you’d be surprised how many of them were snapped just as someone walked behind the model … an effective way of hiding random passersby.

I couldn’t get low enough here to completely eliminate the street scene behind Jill …

In Photoshop I cloned out the distracting stuff in the background, to give it a white seamless backdrop effect. And no, I don’t find the flare distracting. In this instance, the lens flare is an integral part of the image and the sun-drenched look I was after.

So this is a good start. But it needed more. My photography in general is fairly “straight”. I don’t use much Photoshop effects. However, Photoshop actions are an easy way to chase a certain look. We don’t need to re-invent the wheel every time and prove our Photoshop skillz – especially not when we’re just after a quick edit. Then Photoshop action sets are a handy thing to have.

One of the few action sets I use (and really like) are the Totally Rad action sets. Doug Boutwell, the mastermind behind these, have just released a superb upgrade to these – RadLab.

The actions are now available as a filter called up in Photoshop. What makes this a huge improvement, is that there is now a mouse-over preview of the effect.  And you can very easily layer them and change the opacity of the effect. And turn the chosen effect off if you want, or change the order of the layer.

If you already know and use the Totally Rad action sets, you will love this improvement. If you haven’t tried it out yet and are looking for a way to fluidly add an effect to an image, then I highly recommend this.

The final image again:

image details:
1/200 @ f8 @ 400 ISO  … no additional lighting or flash
Nikon D3;  Nikon 24-120mm f/4 VR (B&H)   … used at 35mm

related article:
photo session – vintage pinup style (on location)

You can order the RadLab or the Totally Rad action sets, via this affiliate link:
the discount code 1086NEILVN will save you 15%

If you find these articles interesting and of value, then you can help by using
these affiliate links to order equipment & other goodies.   Thank you!

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Photoshop action – selective sharpening (download)

Jim McGuinness, a regular follower of the Tangents blog, has made available a tutorial on how to do selective sharpening in Photoshop. Even better, he has made it available as a downloadable action as well.

You can download the action and the instructions on how to use it, from here.
Right-click & save-as, 2 of the files files:
- the action as either Windows / Mac compressed file
- the instruction as a PDF

Expand / uncompress the sitx file. You’ll get a Photoshop icon.
Drag your image onto the icon, and photoshop will run it.

I’ll let Jim follow up for any questions that may crop up.

[ Jim McGuinness is an Adelaide based wedding and family portrait photographer ]

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a RAW workflow – the first step – changing your default settings

As a bit of a forward nudge to those who are entirely new to a RAW workflow, or who hesitantly moved to shooting in RAW – here’s the next step forward – changing the defaults for your RAW file.

Before we even get there, shooting in RAW is very much part of the serious photographer’s environment. Shooting just in JPG is rarely an option. As I have mentioned, there are few occasions where shooting in JPG might be an advantage. So with that in mind … RAW it is. And has to be.

Now, some notes for the newcomers to shooting in RAW.
There are a few things you have to keep in mind:

1. your images will most likely look different than your camera’s preview or the JPGs from the camera.

Your camera processes the data it captures. You set your White Balance, and perhaps a few other Picture settings which determines how you like the Contrast and Saturation to appear. This processing is done in-camera, to give you a JPG.  Even if you shoot only in RAW, the camera’s preview is what the embedded JPG of that RAW file looks like. So the preview shows a processed image of some kind.

As an aside – you don’t have to shoot (RAW + JPG) to get the JPG image. There are software options which will allow you to extract that embedded JPG. (It might be of lower resolution though. This depends on the camera make & model.)

Most RAW convertor programs have no way to access the picture info that your camera wrote to the RAW file, such as Contrast and Saturation and other picture style settings. The only RAW programs that allow for this, are:
Canon’s Digital Photo Professional (DPP) software.
Nikon’s Capture NX / NX2 software.

Canon DPP is software that comes for free with your Canon DSLR, and is actually a great program to start off with. It will follow your camera’s settings, and give you the same picture settings as your camera did. Since the Canon skin tones are superb, and is sometimes difficult to get right with other RAW program, DPP really is a nice way to ease into a RAW workflow. The controls are limited compared to Lightroom or Photoshop’s Bridge / ACR, but the software is easy to grasp and use.

Nikon Capture NX2 software has to be purchased. Great image quality, and it mimics your camera settings for any specific image (just like Canon’s counterpart), but I found it a fairly slow program to use for a workflow dealing with a large number of images at a time. These software programs are continually tweaked and improved, so it will definitely be a good decision to at least check out the free trial version.

So those two proprietary software programs will be able to give you JPGs that will look exactly like your camera would produce – but with all the flexibility in post-processing that the RAW file allows.

All other programs that you might use to process your RAW files, will give you results which look different than the in-camera JPG would. (In theory it is possible to calibrate your RAW file’s profile to give you exactly that.)

2. you will have to adjust the RAW converter’s default settings

Since your non-proprietary RAW editing software will only be able to decipher the White Balance you had used, you will have to change the default settings.

There is a variety of programs available to view and edit RAW files. The two most prominent software suites which offer a complete workflow, is Lightroom by Adobe, and Aperture by Apple. Both of those software programs offer a robust and complete workflow for RAW. If you want to dive head-first into a complete RAW workflow solution, either of those would be superb.

The program I still use to edit RAW files, is Photoshop’s Bridge and ACR. ACR is the abbreviation for Adobe Camera RAW, and is the part of Photoshop with which RAW files are handled.

Comparing the image shown at the top, with one generated from the original default settings:

The left-hand image is with Photoshop Bridge / ACR at the default settings. The right-hand image is with my choice of default settings. It has more contrast and a bit more pop to the colors. Our model, Nikki had a nice tan to her, and wasn’t as pale as the left-hand image.

For both of those images, I did pull up the exposure since I unintentionally under-exposed this image by firing the flash too fast. I also changed the WB for both the images. But the other settings remained at the default for the left-hand image.

The left-hand image looks good, but is a little flat, and lacks some contrast.

Here is what my settings look like in Bridge / ACR in comparison:

You’ll notice the settings on the left-hand screengrab are mostly zero’d out. For my own default settings, I increased the contrast and bumped up the other settings as well. This gives me a punchier default image when I load my RAW files the first time, or view the images in Bridge the first time.

These are the settings I’ve arrived with in using my Nikon D3 bodies and wouldn’t necessarily transfer to other cameras like that. I didn’t go through a process of calibration via a color checker chart. These are simply changes to the default settings that gives me color and contrast and saturation that I like as a starting point to editing the RAW files. By a process of trial-and-error, I gradually adjusted my RAW files’ default in Bridge / ACR to these to give me images which immediately have more punch.

Similarly, if you are just starting out with editing RAW files for the first time, you might find the images look lackluster, and even a touch under-exposed. You would then either through a process more scientific than mine, or by looking at your calibrated monitor, come to settings which look good.

Because I don’t shoot something as rigorously demanding of accurate color as commercial photography, there is a certain latitude here in my approach to this. I just want the images to look good, while relying on the benefits of the RAW capture.

With this brief introduction to a RAW workflow, I wanted to help newcomers that may be concerned with or frustrated by their RAW files not immediately popping with color. The idea here then is that it would be necessary to “take charge” and create defaults to your RAW files that give you basic images that look closer to the way you’d like them to be.

Of course, the beauty of working with a RAW file then is that it is impossible to make a mistake. You can always go back if you change your mind, or as discover more about digital photography and digital workflow.

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RAW vs JPG – the final discussion

The RAW vs JPG debate has raged on to the point where pretty much every photographer has been worn down, or left confused. It’s been done. But bear with me on this one. It’ll be quick. And convincing. Then we really are done with this. Here it is:

There is NO photographer on this planet who is good enough to get:
- correct white balance,
- correct exposure,
- correct brightness level,
- correct overall and local contrast,
- correct saturation,
- a good black point,
- or anything else you’d like to add,
DURING the moment of capture, for EVERY situation they are likely to encounter.

You have no excuse to shoot in JPG (only) format, unless perhaps …
- you’re out on assignment in Afghanistan and need to wire your images through, or
- you’re shooting hundreds of portraits on location to be printed out immediately, or
- you really really really need the small file size of a JPG, or
- you shoot with the Fuji S2, that JPG machine, or
- your phone’s camera is your choice of artistic expression, or
- unless you have some other truly specialized need to shoot in JPG.
Other than that, there is no reason not to shoot in RAW. It has to be RAW. Always.

If you shoot in a studio, and have absolute control over the lighting, and colour balance, and have fine-tuned your in-camera settings … then sure, shoot JPG. Knock yourself out. You are all set to shoot within one specific scenario. Great.

But let me emphasize my previous statement again:
There is NO photographer on this planet who is good enough to get every aspect of the image quality correct during the moment of capture, for every situation they are likely to encounter.

This implies that you will have to do some kind of adjustment on your selected images in post-processing. And then you might as well use the file format that gives you the most latitude and control for your initial edit and adjustment … RAW.

[ / discussion ]

You might hear the rebuttal that if you are good enough, you wouldn’t need to rely on the latitude of RAW. Well, that insult is disingenuous, since it assumes we are always in control of our environment. We usually aren’t.

Here is a typical scenario I encounter as a wedding photographer. During a key moment, guests will whip out their cameras, and blast away with their point & shoot cameras. These are often set to red-eye reduction mode. So there’s a lot of flash going around.

During this wedding ceremony, I was trying to retain as much of the ambience as possible, shooting with only the available light. My camera was set to Incandescent WB. This meant that during the key moment – the kiss – my shot was severely over-exposed by a guest’s flash going off. This also means that I had the wrong WB set. I had Incandescent WB, not Flash or Cloudy WB.

Here is the comparison to what the JPG-only shooter would’ve started off with in the editing of the images. On the right-hand side, is the JPG that I very easily generated from Canon’s DPP software. I pulled the exposure down by more than a stop, and completely changed my WB.

My starting point, as a RAW shooter, is the JPG on the right. The JPG-only shooter would’ve had to deal with the problem image on the left. I have no idea of how to go about fixing that as a JPG. And honestly, I have no intention of ever finding out how to fix that JPG. For me, it is irrelevant.

To finally reiterate this point – all the discussions and arguments you’ve seen about RAW vs JPG are trivial, because the one format is clearly superior.

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personal work – Manhattan cityscapes

It’s been a long cold winter without much chance to roam around and explore with a camera. The past weekend it seemed like the weather was finally relenting and becoming warmer. Taking to the streets to shoot for myself a bit with no purpose in mind, I ended up with three images that I liked – all deserted New York city scenes. Or in the case of the image above, nearly deserted.

It felt good to let my thoughts roam for a while, getting some exercise and listening to music … looking for anything that visually appealed to me in the camera’s viewfinder.

With this image above, the street had tourists floating around. I shot about 10 frames over the course of 10 minutes, with the camera steadied on my iPad and iPhone on the steps of a building opposite. My camera settings were: 8 seconds at f14 @ 200 ISO. I purposely went for such a slow shutter speed, since I wanted passersby to melt away.

In taking several shots as people milled around, I was able to layer a few photos in Photoshop, erasing the static tourists via a layer mask. This way I could reveal a duplicated part of the scene where there was nobody in any chosen area. The final result … a deserted scene.

Canon 1D Mark IV (B&H);   Canon 24-105mm f4L (B&H)

Processing for all three images:
1. my usual B&W processing in ACR / Bridge, but with the local contrast cranked up.
2. Topaz Adjust 4 – Spicify – at 50% opacity on a duplicate layer.
3. Topaz Adjust 4 – Vibrance – at 50% opacity on another duplicate layer.

If you’d like to order Topaz Adjust, or any Topaz product through this affiliate link, use the discount code ‘planetneil’ for a 15% discount off any item in your shopping cart.

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children’s studio portrait – lighting setup and post-processing

The lighting setup was very simple. Mostly because there wasn’t much space in the area where I set up my home-studio in my dining room area.  But also, because a complicated lighting setup wasn’t necessary. Just two lights. One light on my subject – this adorable little girl; the other light on my background.

To get an even spread of light and to get softer light than a smaller umbrella (ie, smaller light source) would’ve given me, I used two 60″ umbrellas. Both of them with T2 Q-flashes. But in this small space, two speedlights would’ve worked equally well.

I shot close to the one large umbrella, hoping to create a kind of wrap-around light on the little girl.

She and her brother had come in for this photo session. Of the sequence of images, I like this one. She and her brother were great subjects, but her younger brother, being .. well, young, didn’t have any interest really or the attention span for the photo session. He was zooming around the dining room and living room area. My assistant Jessica had the idea to use a laser pointer to get the cats involved to see how the kids would react. The kids were just as animated as the cats.

This image here was when she was on the floor and whipped her head around to look at me. I liked the way her hair, slightly in disarray, moved around her face, giving a kind of 3D effect there. Since she isn’t posing for the camera here, I think this is more true to her spirit. I like it.

Back to the lighting. It really was a very straight-forward setup.  We had used a lightmeter to get the light on the background at least 1 stop brighter than where I would position the little kids. I wanted the white backdrop to approach blowing out. But not so much to create too much spill light (and flare) on my my subjects.

Looking at the histogram, we had the exposure bunched up tight on the right-hand edge.  This showed as well then that we were over-exposing the white background.  Even so, for the final edit of the image, I knew I would have to clean it up with Photoshop. But it is always best to start with the best possible image in camera.

camera settings: 1/200 @ f9 @ 400 ISO
Nikon D3; Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 AF-S VR II (B&H)

Here’s an animated GIF to show the effect of the various steps in post-processing.

Image 1: the image directly out of the RAW converter. No adjustments made.

Image 2: clean up the white background; remove sensor dust spots; brighten eyes

I use the Magic Wand tool in Photoshop, and set it to a Tolerance of around 10. The entire background won’t be selected on a first click.  Keep the Shift key down and click on the other areas which weren’t initially selected. Select as much of the white background, without selecting large portions of hair.

Now with the background still selected, use the Eraser tool to erase the background and make it white. (Make sure the color is selected to white first.)

After this, use the History Brush to bring back any part of your subject that was lost with the selection and erasing of the previous step.  This can be tedious, depending on the level of precision you need in the final image. There are software tools like Vertus that makes this whole process much easier. I am sure there are readers of this blog that will have better ideas of how to accomplish this. Perhaps even doing this with minimal effort – a few clicks and its done.  I’d love to hear.

The better separation you get between your subject and white background, the better.  For then you have to do less work in Photoshop. But the trick is to find that balance where you don’t cause flare or a kind of halo around your subject.

For the next step in post-processing, I brightened her eyes by using the History Brush, set to Screen, with an opacity of less than 10%

Image 3: further retouching

With this step I would use the Healing brush to remove any skin blemishes. Yup, little kids often have scratch marks and bumps. I then went through my usual series of steps for skin retouching, but brought down the opacity on some of those edits.

Image 4: some Photoshop fairy dust to subtly make the image pop a bit more. This step will have to remain my secret sauce for now.

There are the steps I typically use to photograph a portrait against a white backdrop, starting with the lighting of my subject and the background … and then finally finessing the image in post-production.

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Chuck Arlund is a Fashion Photographer whose elegant photography is made even more impressive with the simplicity of his set-ups and use of lighting.

Chuck’s previous guest spot here on the topic of on-location lighting techniques using reflector & flash, was very well received. Therefore I’m very happy that Chuck is graciously sharing more of his ideas with this guest post. Also, check out Chuck’s workshops and mentoring sessions.

Inspiration and Homage,

compositing and multiple lights made to look natural

by Chuck Arlund

This photograph is from a recent fashion story, and has a couple of elements going on. There is an obvious Americana theme, and in that, there is the homage to Norman Rockwell. Who captured that spirit better than Norman Rockwell?

I’ll just tell the story of how the image came about and then describe the technique behind it …

We were shooting at a campground in Lebanon Tennessee. It’s the kind of campground where people park their RV’s and live. We had a very early call time for hair and makeup so the only place to get ready was at the Mom & Pop style restaurant next to the RV park. There was a blank brick wall with bench style booths that was very linear and plain. I though of using that as a backdrop for a photograph. What I did not expect was for a couple of people, very real people to sit down and have breakfast. Leaving a table in-between them. I quickly set up a Canon 580EX speedlight outside of the front door. It was all glass. I wanted it to look like a sunny day. It was very overcast and rainy. I placed the light outside and directed it to resemble sunlight coming in through the door.

I also realized that the model would never be done in time. The people eating would be long gone after the model’s hair, styling and makeup were done. This is the perfect opportunity for a composite image. I got my tripod and positioned it with having the model in the shot in mind. I fired off a couple of shots. The people eating just did not give me a second thought. In fact they did not even look at me.

By the time the model was ready like I had thought the people were gone. I had not moved my camera from the tripod. I had the model pose as if there were 2 people on each side of her. She did a marvelous job. While I was photographing her I noticed that she was not being lit well.

All I had for lights were the Fluorescent overhead lights and the Canon 580 speedlight I had placed outside. I needed to light her face up. I got out another 580EX diffused by a 3×4 softbox to light her.

Here is the final image again, showing how it all came together in the end.

Chuck Arlund

If you find these articles interesting and of value, then you can help by using
these affiliate links to order equipment & other goodies.   Thank you!

Stay informed of new articles via the monthly newsletter.
Also join us on the Tangents forum for further discussions.