HIGH KEY IMAGES ~ Research

Thinking about my chosen theme of studio portraiture, I have been looking at some contemporary work and find that high key seems to be very popular.

I decided to convert an image I already had to high key to see if this is how I would like my final images to look.

The following shot has been converted to high key in photoshop CS5.

This shot was taken in a beach cafe in Spain this September as a raw file and converted using b&w adjustment tool in CS5.

On opening the raw file I used the 'fill light' slider to brighten their faces since it was shot into the sun, cutting out some light, they also had quite a dark suntan.  

This screen shot above shows the raw file opened in CS5 for further processing.  I first cloned out grains of sand from his face then decided where to crop, keeping the main subject's eyes as near to the top third as possible to balance the image.

After cropping I used b&w adjustment tool to convert the image and tried out the presets to see if any gave the look I was after.

I wanted to lighten their faces a little more so I used the Curves tool then inverted the mask by using ctrl and i taking a soft brush to paint with white and brighten their faces, smoothing out the brush strokes by going into 'masks' panel to increase the feather.

I used colour balance adjustment to add a little warmth since I seemed to have a blue tint. I then decided to add a vignette to concentrate the gaze on their faces rather than around the edge and used  the layers pallete, changing the blending mode to 'divide' giving a light vignette rather than dark.

After adding a border using 'canvas size' and changing the colour to grey I added a drop shadow to get the picture to stand our from the page.

Lastly, I ran my watermark action which I created some time ago for use on Flickr.

I think it turned out pretty well but I am still not convinced that this is the type of finish I am looking for.

L3 Diploma in Photography and Photo Imaging

After much deliberation I have decided to work towards a Diploma in Photography and to this end I need to complete four mandatory units and two optional units as follows;

Mandatory units

Unit 205          Photo imaging equipment and materials
Unit 310          Photo image output
Unit 211          Photo image presentation
Unit 212          Working to a photo imaging project brief

Optional units

Unit 305            Photo image capture
Unit 306            Studio photography
Unit 307            Location photography

Since I completed units 211 and 305 last year, these will be taken into account for the qualification and I therefore need to complete 205,310,212, and I will choose 306, studio photography as my optional unit.

Assignment 306

Task 1a
Choose two of the given themes and produce a folio of a minimum of 10 images for each theme.

I have chosen Portraits and People in the Landscape (as agreed with my tutor Steve Davies)

Task 1b
Provide a written account for each folio of images to include;

statement of intent
information on research and influences
preparation and planning
how equipment was used to capture images
records of set construction, props and lighting
why final images were selected
relevant documentation used
risk health and safety, legal and ethical considerations

Quite a full and diverse list of requirements for this, as well as the work required for the other assignments, I am sure I will have sufficient to keep me busy for the next 12 months.

Work from this year

As you can see, my first love is landscape and seascape, it will be difficult to rein this in to concentrate on portraits. 

I have textured these shots in photoshop CS5 using pre-made textures which are available free or to purchase on the internet.  I find that adding different textures adds another dimension to my photography, helping to transform images into something nearer art work.

Different textures have varied effects from simply enhancing colour and light to adding a painterly feel with brush strokes or canvas.

Here is a short video demonstrating the use of textures.

Research Portraits

A selection of portraits found on the internet, all with excellent lighting and showing  character through the eyes.

All the images concentrate mainly on the childs face and expression with close cropping.  A medium depth of field has been used to keep the whole of the subject in focus, probably F5.6 or above.  The rule of thirds has been used with eyes, the main focal point, placed in or very near the top third, this guides the viewer from top to bottom of the shot.

Lighting has been kept simple to suit young children, with the whole of the face fully lit.

Portraits, Preliminary work 2011

Boy + Surf = Joy

F2.8, 1/1250 @ 66mm, Aperture Priority, texture added in CS5

'Playing Dress-up'

F2.8, 1/250 @100mm, converted to mono in CS5

Preliminary work 2011

'Fiesta Girls' , Mejas Feria, Andalucia Spain.

F5.6, .25sec, @43mm, ISO4000, manual exposure, texture added in Photoshop CS5.

Preliminary work 2011

Banos los Arabes, 11th C hammam, Ronda, Andalusia.
3 exposures, 30 secs, F11, ISO50, Focal length 24mm, Aperture Priority, converted to HDR in Photoshop Cs5, then texture layer added.

This is a test post for my new blog