foto Priority

© Don Smallwood

In Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) make the curves adjustment (strong contrast) and back on basic tab check for blown highlights. These shots were pretty good so no worries there.

Opened image in Photoshop, first thing I noticed was that the hem of her dress on her right thigh was a little high and showed the dark elastic at the top of her tights. Not very attractive. So I cloned the hem in to hide this.

Next I lengthened her legs a touch. Now Olivia is tall and leggy but probably my perspective was wrong. To do this I made a large selection using the rectangular marquee tool. I select a large rectangle from one side of the screen to another (starting just below hem of dress) and as far down the pic as possible whilst still leaving me a little room to crop within that bottom line later. Then I selected free transform and dragged the bottom of the box down a touch.
I then cropped the picture to my liking, cleaned up the skin (not that she need much) and take away one or two creases in the skin(around the armpit) Sharpened her eyes and mouth and saved.

© Don Smallwood

Open image in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR), adjust the curve to strong contrast. Back to the basic tab and adjust the temperature to ‘flash – 5500′ Then open image in Photoshop

Cropped to get the perspective I wanted.

I then cleaned the skin on the models face and leg using the clone tool.  Whilst on the skin I then run a small home built action called high pass that smooths it a little.

I also used color efex pro to add a little glamour glow.  

Next I cloned the background a little to added a little smoke and to hide a little more the leg of the background light.

If her eyes had been more open I sometimes run an action to increase contrast but not in this case.

Last thing I do is size and then sharpen. I only sharpen selectively on a separate layer so I can see the effect.  Normally with a feather @20-40 I select eyes/eyebrow area and the mouth and then run a little action I got from the world famous ‘Manny Librodo’  If you want to build this the steps are:

Filter/Sharpen/Unsharp mask:18/40/0

Filter/Sharpen/Unsharp mask:150/0.3/0

Edit/Fade Unsharp mask:Darken 100%

Filter/Sharpen/Unsharp mask:150/0.3/0

Edit/Fade Unsharp mask: Lighten 50%

by Don Smallwood

I love finding cool locations to shoot at! And let me tell you, cool indoor locations that offer a great deal of flexibility and freedom are not easy to come by. So when my good friend Matty Lee mentioned his new studio space ‘Studio Neon’ I had to go and check it out.

Since it’s recent opening as a studio we have already managed to use the space a number of times for our Photographing People Workshop as well as being the venue for my Marquee shoot. For shooting, the venue offers a number of different background wall textures and  lighting options. In Matty’s own words, ” studio NEON is not your regular white sterile studio. NEON is pimped (propped) out with a myriad of designer, industrial, retro, victorian chairs, props, lights, walls and textures”….., and anything else you need to make your shooting experience there, a creative one!

Your Function @ Neon

Photo shoots however, is not all that the space can be used for. If you’re looking to impress your friends, work colleagues or clients with your unique creative vision for your next function, then look no further.  Studio Neon is available for fashion parades, product launches, invite only events or happenings. In fact, I’m already planning my next function there.

Mention FotoPriority or Sydney Photographic Workshops for a special deal too good to refuse.

www.studioneon.com.au

Studio Neon Blog

by Daniel Linnet

[svgallery name="Studio Lighting Student Gallery"]

The final SPW Studio Lighting workshop for 09 has been hailed a great success.

The workshop started promptly at 8:30am where a mix of new and familiar faces gathered at the new Light Pro Sydney studios in Artarmon.

The day began with a short presentation by Daniel Linnet running through some theory of basic lighting techniques. There was also a short slideshow of images from both Daniel’s and Scott McGale’s portfolio, showcasing some of their high and low key images to which the students will be shooting today.

After the initial presentation Scott McGale took the students on a walk through the huge Dragon image showroom, going through each light and explaining the effect they could expect to get when using it. Meanwhile, our two models for the day, Olivia and Tara were having their makeup done and choosing the first of about 3 outfits each.

By this stage it was obvious that the students where keen to start shooting! We broke up into 2 groups; 6 students in the low key set with Daniel and 6 students on the high key set with Scott.

Both Scott and Daniel got straight into it, starting with a blank canvas and adding one light at a time to produce the desired effect. The students were given plenty of shooting time. Of course, all this with the help of the ever-so hard-working-assistants for the day; Kieron Dobbin and Jose Fernandez.

Lunch was the usual SPW feast; wraps, sandwiches, sushi and fruit to fuel the students for the afternoon session.

There was a quick costume change for the models and then back on the sets for the afternoon session. Again, different lighting techniques explained and lots of time for the students to go one-on-one with the model.

For the finale of the day in the low key set, the props included a mini tramp and a smoke machine which produced some stunning images, as you can see in the images attached to this post.

The day finished at approximately 6pm (I reckon the students would have stayed on until 9pm if they could) and there were happy faces all round. That is, except for Daniel and I who were left feeling a little jealous that we weren’t getting the opportunity to produce some of the fantastic shots that the students were getting!

Check out the photos and behind the scenes from the day!

Jose

[svgallery name="SPW Studio Lighting 09"]