Pensioner

[Granddad]

I shot my wife again on Thursday. I think she scrubs up pretty good for a pensioner... of course, PSE 8 and Portrait Professional 11 helped a wee bit... and I confess to being biased.

I'm still trying to figure out how far to go with Portrait Professional: if you let it do it's thing you can end up with a plastic Barbie but by going for the presets and then backing them down the results don't seem too bad. I've noticed that if you use the skin lighting and skin colouring sliders you tend to end up with an effect similar to the old painted black and whites from the '40s... fine if that's your aim but rubbish if not; I've learned to leave them alone.
It certainly saves a lot of time and if you create your own presets for an individual subject you can get fairly consistent results.

Comments, suggestions and criticism are always welcome.

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[OLaA]

Nicely lit. I really like the motion captured in most of them. The only thing I find distracting is the wrinkles I find in the shadows underneath her. That could be nit picking though. You have a beautiful wife btw.

 

[TimothyJinx]

Great shots, Granddad! And kudos to your beautiful wife for dancing for you and your camera! She looks fantastic, the colors are beautiful, it all looks good to me.

I have my white seamless setup in our basement where there is carpet. I ended up buying a 4x8 piece of plywood to act as a hard floor surface. Now I get shadows but no (or fewer) wrinkles/indentations. Less PS work!

 

[oldhippy]

Nice set. Your wife is beautiful and in great shape.

 

[Granddad]

Nicely lit. I really like the motion captured in most of them. The only thing I find distracting is the wrinkles I find in the shadows underneath her. That could be nit picking though. You have a beautiful wife btw.

Thanks OLaA, this is part of a set I'm going to put into a photobook (a Groupon offer) as promotional material, I'll have a go at those wrinkles before I upload them. Nitpicking is good, it's the little details that can make or break a shot. Sometimes you can't see the wood for the trees so a heads up makes a difference.

 

[Granddad]

Great shots, Granddad! And kudos to your beautiful wife for dancing for you and your camera! She looks fantastic, the colors are beautiful, it all looks good to me.

I have my white seamless setup in our basement where there is carpet. I ended up buying a 4x8 piece of plywood to act as a hard floor surface. Now I get shadows but no (or fewer) wrinkles/indentations. Less PS work!

I'd have done better if I'd have duct taped the sheet to the carpet - good tip on the plywood. I've thought about seamless paper but heels on carpet would make mincemeat of it. That may be a solution, at least it's an option to try when I get around to it.

 

[tirediron]

GREAT set!

 

[CherylL]

Very nice set & beautiful wife! Does she have a theatre background? Her confidence shines.

 

[frommrstomommy]

She looks fantastic!

 

[Granddad]

Very nice set & beautiful wife! Does she have a theatre background? Her confidence shines.

No theatre background, CherIL, she was a teacher before she retired. She's a natural performer and loves being centre stage. She wanted to be a dancer when she left school but dropped the idea after talking to some pro dancers and and went to college instead. She started taking dance classes at age 54 and that was the end of our normal life.

No complaints from me, as she's progressed over the years since then we've got to know a whole sub culture of people across the country and most of my paying customers are belly dancers.

She looks fantastic!

I think so but I admit to being slightly biased She's living proof that retirement doesn't have to mean a cauliflower hair do and sitting in a rocking chair on the porch knitting socks.

Actually I think this is the best set I've ever taken of her; she's not normally terribly photogenic and I have to take lots of pics to get a couple where she looks good. She done good this time.

 

[Photographiend]

Nice On 2 you have something on the ground by her foot that could be easily retouched. No black background shots? May be interesting to try.

 

[Granddad]

Nice On 2 you have something on the ground by her foot that could be easily retouched. No black background shots? May be interesting to try.

Thanks 'phiend, I missed that, I thought it was a spec on my screen.

Black background might work, I'll give it a whirl next time we have the time and the inclination. I need to get her in her Tribal belly dance gear and I also want a few shots of us together since we work as a team.

No! I don't belly dance with her! I act as her porter/chauffeur/roadie and she acts as my photographic assistant to help put my victims at their ease.