The L Family Child Portraits: 2 Boys, 2 Girls

oldnavy170 · Sep 22, 2007

NJ, before I even read everyone elses post I was thinking to myself how much I LOVE #4. I don't see anything funny with that shot. I think that little girl is just the cutest too. Great portraits and awesome processing.

NJMAN · Sep 22, 2007

elsaspet said:
BTW-you are getting fiercly good at that eye thing. Wanna share your steps?

I would be happy to share my steps.

First of all, I start out with a sharp lens. My 50mm f/1.8 is by far my best portrait lens. I dont have a lot of lenses, but I make do with what I have. I set the aperture to f/2.8, not wide open at 1.8. For post processing on the full size image, I first use the dodge tool at 10% opacity and brush size of about 25-40 px depending on how big the eyes are. I pass it over the whites just enough so that it brightens them a bit, but not too much. Then, I also use the dodge tool on the irises to bring a bit more life to the eyes as well. Again, just enough to liven them up but not too much. I set the brush size to just enough that it goes around the pupil. Sharpening is the last step. I make a careful selection around the irises only, and use unsharp mask at 50-75% (amount), 0.3 radius, and 0 threshold. You can also use the Sharpen tool from the tool pallete (its with the Blur tool and Smudge tool). If I use that, I set the diameter to just enough to fill the iris, and set the hardness to 0%. Then pass over once or twice. On each image, its slightly different because the size of the eyes are not always the same. One important thing that I always do is sharpen the whole image after I resize for web viewing (75-100%, 0.3, 0). It gives it that final crisp touch.

But I must give credit to someone who has been a great help to me on this forum, and that person is heip! Thank you heip for all the helpful processing tips and support you have given me over the last several months. And of course, Cindy, you have been wonderful in helping me learn more about finer points of processing as well.

zendianah said:
Hi NJ. I love the post processing that you have done. Yes please share the secret to your kick butt eyes. !

Thanks dianah! Always a pleasure. I greatly appreciate the kind words.

oldnavy170 said:
NJ, before I even read everyone elses post I was thinking to myself how much I LOVE #4. I don't see anything funny with that shot. I think that little girl is just the cutest too. Great portraits and awesome processing.

Thanks oldnavy! Your comments mean a lot to me. By the way, WELCOME BACK! We miss you when you are away.

Anita · Sep 22, 2007

Beautiful! I'm sure the parents just absolutely love you! I can see these photos hanging above the fireplace.

NJMAN · Sep 23, 2007

Thank you so much Anita for the very nice words!

NJMAN · Sep 23, 2007

I wanted to post a few more of these kids in poses that were not tightly cropped. The jpeg compression might be a little pixely on a couple. In any event, C&C always welcome. Thanks!

1.

2.

3.

NJ

Mike Jordan · Sep 23, 2007

They are just as beautiful as the first but I do like the extra space around them.

You have a good knack with kids.

Mike

NJMAN · Sep 24, 2007

Thanks Mike. Truly appreciated.

mentos_007 · Sep 24, 2007

awesome! you have some great portraits! And thanks for sharing tips and tricks for such a wonderful eyes!

wildmaven · Sep 24, 2007

I actually like your second batch better than the first. The poses are so natural and sweet.

Marian

heip · Sep 24, 2007

Nj, nice work!
I like that angle/pov, especially on young people such as this. Nice lighting.
The eyes have it. Where did you ever learn to accentuate the eyes like that??
Great work as usual my friend.

NJMAN · Sep 24, 2007

mentos_007 said:
awesome! you have some great portraits! And thanks for sharing tips and tricks for such a wonderful eyes!

Thanks mentos! I am honored to get such nice feedback from a great tpf veteran such as yourself.

wildmaven said:
I actually like your second batch better than the first. The poses are so natural and sweet.

Marian

Thanks Marian. I greatly appreciate it.

heip said:
Nj, nice work!
I like that angle/pov, especially on young people such as this. Nice lighting.
The eyes have it. Where did you ever learn to accentuate the eyes like that??
Great work as usual my friend.

Hey, I already mentioned you in post #17 of this thread, ya big goof! ;-)

Hey everyone, just for the record again, HEIP is a master at processing eyes and I give him full credit for helping me learn more about it.

Thanks for the comments!