Today is
yet another blog about editing. You can see I'm on a bit of a kick
with this for the next few days. I'll have some mini posts here with
more visuals to make up for the heavy things from last week. Right
now I want to talk about how we identify unique things about our
clients and what can be done to keep true to those features while we
edit.
On Saturday I had a lovely sitting with a new model. It was our first time working together and we both had fun. She is a beautiful girl, and has a wonderful complexion with a face full of freckles to complement her red hair – that' right, “a ginger”. The lovely light tones under those cute freckles work perfectly for this lesson, so I'll warn you all right now that nasty comments about ginger kids are not tolerated on this blog.
Her eyes are a lovely light blue, so they catch the flash very well on their own already, meaning there is a chance for red-eye when using flash. In this case, I suggest a brighter setting on a fixed light source to limit blinking and reflection. I have managed to get plenty of practice with blue-eyed models because most babies have blue eyes at the beginning; and they are very prone to blinking under large flash blubs.
I love that she was willing to go very natural, nearly bare faced, for this shoot. Subjects should be proud of their unique characteristics, and freckles are something many women cover up with foundation that ends up looking splotchy or uneven under the bright and unforgiving light of a good flash. Freckles are difficult to keep natural in editing, often looking fake when a fix is applied to hide other flaws. This is where subjects should be coached by the photographer that a limited amount of editing may be the best compromise. Removing some of the larger trouble spots and leaving the integrity of the skin's natural pattern.
To
emphasize this fact, I want to share both the original shot, and the
finished product. This first image is exactly as it was uploaded
from my camera after the shoot. I had the model stand by and go
through an initial review of the images to get an idea of what she
and I both liked best. We picked a few images that were not worth
keeping due to blinking, blurring, and general poor composition. We
also found the winners, and in general felt that this was a
successful effort.
I picked this head shot as an example because I want the extent of her freckles to be most obvious. Because her make-up was still fresh and this pose allowed her hair to fall naturally, there are only three minor corrections to be made here. Some basic blemish control is used first, I avoid the healing tool in cases like this, rather getting a sample color and using the airbrushing tool on a low opacity level to control blending the areas under the eyes and on the two small marks that are most visible. Next I corrected a small flaw in the backdrop itself where a crease was visible and my perfectionist self cannot stand unwelcome seams. Finally, I brighten the eyes and teeth just a touch and sharpened the edges there while softening the rest of the face to give most attraction to the eyes. This is not a vital edit, but part of my personal style of accentuating natural beauty in place of creating a faux-finish to make a mannequin out of a model.
What
I want to point out is not how exactly to do the corrections – my
personal method is actually not the most popular, or the fastest.
The point here is about selecting the fewest points to edit for the
maximum benefit. We want to use our time well as photographers.
Shooting is more fun than editing, but we all know which one can take
longer. If that can be reduced by using a pattern like the one
explained above, why not go for a nearly natural look that can be the
best of both worlds? After all, if I can do things like this in five
minutes, imagine what can be done with the 30minutes some editors can
spend on a single correcting action.
On Saturday I had a lovely sitting with a new model. It was our first time working together and we both had fun. She is a beautiful girl, and has a wonderful complexion with a face full of freckles to complement her red hair – that' right, “a ginger”. The lovely light tones under those cute freckles work perfectly for this lesson, so I'll warn you all right now that nasty comments about ginger kids are not tolerated on this blog.
Her eyes are a lovely light blue, so they catch the flash very well on their own already, meaning there is a chance for red-eye when using flash. In this case, I suggest a brighter setting on a fixed light source to limit blinking and reflection. I have managed to get plenty of practice with blue-eyed models because most babies have blue eyes at the beginning; and they are very prone to blinking under large flash blubs.
I love that she was willing to go very natural, nearly bare faced, for this shoot. Subjects should be proud of their unique characteristics, and freckles are something many women cover up with foundation that ends up looking splotchy or uneven under the bright and unforgiving light of a good flash. Freckles are difficult to keep natural in editing, often looking fake when a fix is applied to hide other flaws. This is where subjects should be coached by the photographer that a limited amount of editing may be the best compromise. Removing some of the larger trouble spots and leaving the integrity of the skin's natural pattern.
To
emphasize this fact, I want to share both the original shot, and the
finished product. This first image is exactly as it was uploaded
from my camera after the shoot. I had the model stand by and go
through an initial review of the images to get an idea of what she
and I both liked best. We picked a few images that were not worth
keeping due to blinking, blurring, and general poor composition. We
also found the winners, and in general felt that this was a
successful effort. I picked this head shot as an example because I want the extent of her freckles to be most obvious. Because her make-up was still fresh and this pose allowed her hair to fall naturally, there are only three minor corrections to be made here. Some basic blemish control is used first, I avoid the healing tool in cases like this, rather getting a sample color and using the airbrushing tool on a low opacity level to control blending the areas under the eyes and on the two small marks that are most visible. Next I corrected a small flaw in the backdrop itself where a crease was visible and my perfectionist self cannot stand unwelcome seams. Finally, I brighten the eyes and teeth just a touch and sharpened the edges there while softening the rest of the face to give most attraction to the eyes. This is not a vital edit, but part of my personal style of accentuating natural beauty in place of creating a faux-finish to make a mannequin out of a model.
What
I want to point out is not how exactly to do the corrections – my
personal method is actually not the most popular, or the fastest.
The point here is about selecting the fewest points to edit for the
maximum benefit. We want to use our time well as photographers.
Shooting is more fun than editing, but we all know which one can take
longer. If that can be reduced by using a pattern like the one
explained above, why not go for a nearly natural look that can be the
best of both worlds? After all, if I can do things like this in five
minutes, imagine what can be done with the 30minutes some editors can
spend on a single correcting action.
