Busy week of portraits...

photogoddess · Sep 3, 2006

It's been a long time since I've been around AND it's been an even busier week. :mrgreen: I guess that's a good thing. Hi everyone!!!

Corry · Sep 3, 2006

Aaaw!!! Those are darling! You've done a wonderful job!

Alison · Sep 3, 2006

Fancy seeing you here! There are all great, but #3, 4 & 5 really stand out for me! I hope you'll be sharing more often

cumi · Sep 4, 2006

Beautiful photos!

saulmr · Sep 4, 2006

Great, gotta love #2!

jemmy · Sep 4, 2006

3 & 4 delicious.... nothing sweeter than lil baby tootsies.... can i ask did you use a 'lensbaby' (which i know nothing about btw!) a BIG aperture or did you photoshop? Looks great x

photogoddess · Sep 5, 2006

Thanks for the comments guys. I'm hoping to be around a bit more often. :biggrin:

To answer your question Jemmy, the tootsie shot was taken in full shade with a Canon 10D, 24-70 f2.8 L set at 58mm, ISO 100, 1/200 shutter speed at f2.8 in RAW. Only photoshop work was to adjust the temperature - it needed warming up a bit because I had taken it under a blue EZ-Up canopy and to resize for web.

danalec99 · Sep 5, 2006

Nice series, Tammy.

I vote for 3, 4 and 5.
The images could use some sharpening, to bring out the contrast.

photogoddess · Sep 14, 2006

danalec99 said:
Nice series, Tammy. I vote for 3, 4 and 5.
The images could use some sharpening, to bring out the contrast.

All but the last one was sharpened. Any ideas how to make them pop more? My PS skills are severely lacking.

Alison · Sep 14, 2006

Do you shoot in RAW? I've found since switching to RAW I can adjust the contrast more precisely.

Jeff Canes · Sep 14, 2006

very nice, i like the baby feet and last one a lot, but they all have happy & fun felling

oldnavy170 · Sep 14, 2006

I love the photo of the baby and father. I like the angle too because it gives the photo more of a dramatic look. Excellent job.

Peanuts · Sep 14, 2006

What a photographic bunch. The last one is especially sweet

One of my favourite tricks in photoshop, which is extremely easy, is to add a slightly 'velvia' look. I made an action by opening Channel Mixers:

Output Channel Red:
Red: 110%
Green: -5%
Blue: -5%

Output Channel Green:
Red: -5%
Green: 110%
Blue: -5%

Output Channel Blue:
Red: -5%
Green: -5%
Blue: 110%

Press "OK" and it just adds that little extra something. Sometimes I even run a photo through it two or three times for that 'pop'

danalec99 · Sep 15, 2006

photogoddess said:
All but the last one was sharpened. Any ideas how to make them pop more? My PS skills are severely lacking.

I'm sure Brit's tips above will be helpful. I also agree with Alison's suggestion to play with the RAW file.

This is what I'd do with the Jpeg file (I'm referring to the last file) as it is:

+Highlight/Shadows:
Kill the Highlight
Lift the Shadow

+Curves:
A slight lift

+Brightness & contrast:
Move the contrast slider up a bit

+Finally - KPD Magic Sharpen - It's a sharpening action from Kubota Tools. Just one click. No more breaking my head on the mysteries of UnSharp Mask.

OR

+Highlight/Shadows:
Reduce the Highlights to around 35-ish (let your eyes be the guide)
Lift the Shadow

+Brightness & contrast:
Move the contrast slider up a bit

+KPD Magic Sharpen

photogoddess · Sep 16, 2006

I've made some adjustments using your specs and some noise ninja (haven't invested in Kubota YET) and am going to send them off to WHCC to see how they look in print. Thanks for the tips. :mrgreen: