Talk about a 4th Generation
The Four Tommy’s. This is a portrait that I made at Christmas of my new grandson who on his fathers side is the fourth generation named Tommy. This picture was one of several ad-hoc portraits that I took during a Christmas dinner.
The only gear I had with me was my Canon 40D, a 430EX Canon flash, and a Westcott Micro Apollo Light Modifier. I used the Westcott in order to soften and spread the flash which was mounted on the 40D hot-shoe.
I normally shoot in Raw, especially when I don’t have the ability to control all aspects of the environment and lighting so that I can… influence the image later. We had a dozen or so people squeezed into a small condo so there wasn’t a lot of opportunity or room to set up.
Let’s take a look at the steps to create the portrait.
This is the camera Raw image. Click on each image to see a larger view. As you can see the image was good, nice posing, good expressions, in focus, exposure was good. But it can be better.
The first thing that I do in Photoshop CS4 (this can also be done in Photoshop Elements) is to create a layer where I can make an image map. I make notes about what I want to do to the image. I want a better crop, I want to blur the background so that the blinds aren’t a distraction. I also indicate where wrinkles and blemishes are that I want to fix.
In this image I cropped the picture at an angle to add some movement to the image.
The first step in Color Correction is determining the neutral values in the image and adjusting the Black and White Points. This eliminates most of the color cast.
In the preceding image Grandpa’s skin color is still quite red. Using a Curves Adjustment layer dials in the skin color and is limited to Grandpa using a layer mask. The same was done for Great Grandpa and Dad.
Next wrinkles and blemishes are toned down using a combination of the Clone Stamp tool and applying a Lighten blend mode to the layer. One of the secrets to dealing with wrinkles and blemishes is to not eliminate them altogether. Using the Opacity slider lets the underlying wrinkles to show through giving a more realistic image.
The blinds in the background are too sharp drawing the eye away from the central part of the image. A Gaussin Blur is applied to the background to shorten the depth-of-field.
The 480EX Flash overpowered the lights on the Christmas tree. Using a Feathered Selection and sampling from the lights’ colors added reflection of the light onto the branches of the tree. There was a distracting corner of a Plasma TV on the wall behind Grandpa that was clone stamped out.
Next the eyes are brightened and sharpened. The layer opacity tones down the effect otherwise the eyes don’t look quite right. The Catch Lights were brightened slightly adding sparkle and life to the eyes. A Curves Adjustment layer was used to increase the contrast for more drama in the image.
Being that this is a Christmas portrait I added a decorative border to the image giving a “Frosty” feeling to the image.
A Vignette finishes off the portrait drawing the viewers eye into the center of the picture.
When printing I find that even using a Calibrated Monitor and the proper ICC profiles prints often come out blocked up in the blacks and lower in contrast than what you see on the screen. I usually use Lightroom for my final printing and will slightly Brighten the image and apply a little Clarity or Sharpening when men are the primary subjects.
Men can print with a little more grit to the image. Women on the other hand don’t want to show imperfections in their skin. Taking a little Clarity out will help to soften and smooth the skin. A little goes a long way, unless you’re doing a Glamour or Fashion portrait, don’t over do it.
I hope this gives you some ideas the next time you want to create an image beyond a family snapshot. You don’t have to have all your studio lights or reflectors to create a real nice portrait. Just make sure you get a nice pose, get as good an exposure as possible in-camera and use a little creative image enhancement.
About the Author: James Scott is CBW (Chief Bottle Washer) of James Scott Photography. Involved with Digital Imaging, Photography, Video and Software Development for 30 years I've learned 14 things. As soon as I remember what they are I'll pass them on, because I think they are important. But I'm not sure.
