Viewing archive: February 2008 - View all recent posts
B ack by popular demand, more before and after photos! To be perfectly honest, I do work hard on each image when someone has ordered a print or an album... or if I just love an image and want it on my site. But some changes are not as noticeable and will be best seen in print. So, I am revealing the gamut... all from Alicia & Brian's wedding since it is fresh on my mind.
This one was really beautiful straight out of the camera, but I wanted to make it THAT much better... since I can. :-) So... this one is straight out of the camera.
This difference would be best seen in a larger print... Her skin is smoother, but still natural. The colors pop a little more. The image pops just a bit more to give her a natural glow. The trick in softening the subject's skin is to USE LAYERS in PhotoShop and adjust the opacity to where they still look human. No plastic skin here!
This image also looked good to me straight out the camera. She was a little pink, though, and I really thought this image would pop more in black and white. (Whenever color does not enhance the image, it is typically better in black and white in my book) BUT, a good rule of thumb I learned in Photography 101 is that if your image does not look good in black and white then you are cheating with color... meaning, composition should be about good structure and line and not just attractive colors that grab you like advertisements.
The after... I did a few things to get this image to look like this. First, conversion to BW. If you do not have a solid way to do this, ask me. I put a slight antique tone to warm it a little and remind us that we have a fiery red headed bride! I then softened her skin... Not because she didn't have great skin, but because I wanted to show off her skin and there was some noise in my camera for the high ISO I was using. Then... I used layers again for burning and dodging. I don't use those tools in PhotoShop; I use layers with multiply and screen and erase with a brush in the appropriate spots.
This is my favorite transformation on the blog! This picture below is embarrassing, honestly. The church was VERY orange, even with a custom white balance to try and add blue; I just couldn't get it right. So, naturally, this could NOT be a color image. Plus, color did nothing but distract from the great moment the bride and groom were having!
I did a lot of the same things as the last image above, but I added several multiply layers... and just kept erasing lightly around the bride and groom to keep them brighter and to make them pop! I also wanted to be sure to show the people in the congregation because their expressions were important, too. This ended up creating a sort of vignette to the image, which I love!
Great moment, flat picture. Plus... there are some VERY distracting flags in there!
Naturally, I removed the flags, and I mean no disrespect to the locals here in Saranac Lake that put those up there. The bride & groom are not locals, so the castle itself did not mean anything to them other than a cool backdrop. Okay, now that I have said that... I needed to make this image pop, but as soon as I lightened the image to make it correct for the people, the castle started to white out (as well as the black dressed and tuxes). So... the magic of the multiply layer and eraser! I just played with that back and forth for a while, and then I ran my secret action to make the color just pop. This image is also slightly cropped.
Last one... This image was just fine in color, and some may argue that I could've made the color work really well for this one... BUT...
I really wanted to show off the texture of the ice and also make the snow flakes just pop from their hair and Brian's shoulder. So... it went black and white with a slight brown town to make it a little richer. I did use a multiply layer again, but I brush deleted it on their faces and his shoulder to keep those lighter.
Okay, now that you've read a novel... if you want more, you can ask... OR... you can tell me that you are interested in a little "class" with Chris and myself this spring/summer. We have not settled on a date, but it will be on a Saturday... and it will include an engagement session that you can follow us to. We will have some Q/A time, some instructional time, and time for a critique of your work or just maybe some advice for your next step with your business. (Aspiring wedding photographers only). Let me know, shoot me an email! It will be here in my studio in Saranac Lake for sure... if we have enough interest (3-5 people). |
M y husband Chris has informed that I need to be more personal and candid on my blog, so starting yesterday, I am going to see what I can do to keep my blog stalkers entertained. First off, know that you are not alone... My site has exploded this past year! I went from peaking at 70 visits in one day last January to peaking at over 700 visits to my site one day this past January. Not going to lie, my typical traffic these days is closer to 300 each day, and that one day was due to my site being linked on Jessica Claire's site... but still... I know I don't personally know all of you, so please, introduce yourself in the comments!
Anyway, I have had some requests for more shots showing my before and after pictures with my post-processing, so I will have few more up tomorrow with explanations of how I got the image to look that way...
AND... Coming soon... a peak into my first paid wedding ever!Â
P.S. If you are on Facebook, I want to be your friend. Â And/or... If you want to join my Rae Barnes Photography group without being my friend, I will understand. Â ;-)Â |
I f I had it my way...Ice Cream would be calorie-free, strangers would always be friendly & helpful, my husband would work with me full-time, everyone would love their "job" as much as I love mine, and...
It would never rain on a wedding day, ceremonies and cocktail hours would always be well lit (ie before sunset), and every bride & groom would be completely focused on and elated about the marriage they are entering into... versus just trying to have one perfect day. I mean, sometimes you get those weddings when nothing goes wrong at all, and it truly could be the most perfect day for that couple... But, most of the time, they are more like mine & Chris'... with a missing tux, a frazzled hair dresser that doesn't have time to properly do the bride's hair (aka MY hair), and a late ceremony to boot, which meant a shorter reception...  And you just kinda got to roll with the punches because at the end of the day, it is about the marriage, and that one not-so-perfect day was just the beginning to (Lord willing) thousands of days living with the love of my life.  Each one being better than the last.
These are just my thoughts...
P.S. If you are thinking about applying to work for raebarnes.com, I need your resume or info by Friday!! Thanks so much! |
Sarah & Greg - New York City |
C hris and I rarely, if ever, do engagement sessions together... even if he is contracted to do a wedding with me, I still usually do them alone. This started out happening due to schedule conflicts on his part, but then it just became noticeable that having two photographers for a session seemed a little overkill during it... and then produced twice as much work for me afterwards with little noticeable benefit for my clients.
But this may all change after Monday's session... I may need to rope him into doing more... Chris hasn't done an engagement session since maybe 2006, but he was all over this session! In fact, I like most of his shots more than I like mine (I was a little under the weather- that's my excuse, ha!).
Anyway, we really enjoyed having a new challenge of shooting in a completely different setting. Sarah & Greg wanted to start out outside their apartment and then move onto Grand Central Station for a few shots of where they met for their first date. We really enjoyed meeting this couple, and I am looking forward to their August wedding in Lake Placid! Happy viewing!
(his shot) Right before we headed out the door... I asked them to stop for this dramatic light up against the dark wall. Love Chris' angle on it!
(mine) I loved the warm tones of their building!
(mine)
(his) You should've seen him standing up on the railing to get this sweet shot!
(mine) They are such a sweet couple!
(his) Still on the railing... LOVE this one, Chris!
(his) on the street corner...
(mine) did I mention that they are so sweet?
(mine) In Grand Central Station!
(mine) right before we got kicked off the escalators...
(mine) leaving... Sarah is going to be such a stunning bride!
Okay, so Chris didn't have as many shots on the blog, but his were my favorite. I also snatched the better camera for the lighting situation in the station (it was pretty dark), so I had an unfair advantage there. ;-) Not that we are competing or anything... |
T o celebrate President's Day (or just a 3-day weekend near Valentine's Day), Chris and I decided to FINALLY make it down to the city this past weekend. Hard to believe that I haven't been since high school, especially since we have lived less than 5 hours away for the past 3+ years! We are completely exhausted after all the travel and running around to get it all in, but we really had a wonderful time with each other. We didn't take many pics just because we didn't want to lug around any equipment on Saturday, but we did grab a few shots that night on our way to Shun Lee's Palace (the best Chinese I've ever had!).
Chris' shot...
Mine...
We also had an engagement session yesterday morning... I will have that preview up tomorrow! |
 |
|
Page
1
of 2
|
|
|
