Portraits

Camila - Rexburg, ID, 5/27/2010, Late-afternoon - f/3.5, 10/800, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H7 - Sharpness, photo filer and airbrhising


Camila and purple flowers - Rexburg, ID, 5/27/2010, Late-afternoon - f/3.2, 10/1250, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H7 - Sharpness and airbrushing


Just Friends - Rexburg, ID, 5/24/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/3.5, 10/60, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50 - Sharpness adjustment, airbrushing, vignette and replaced color


Daviana - Rexburg, ID, 5/24/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/1250, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50 - Sharpness, vignette


Christina - Rexburg, ID, 5/24/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/3.5, 10/200, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50 - Sharpness, vignette and airbrushing


Cade Studying - Rexburg, ID, 5/26/2010, Late-afternoon - f/3.2, 10/50, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H7 - Blur and airbrushing

I really love taking portrait pictures. It gives me artistic freedom, because I can make my subject (the model) change position or express different emotions. You just can't do that when you're photographing a landscape for example. Most of these were taken in aperture priority mode with relatively low number and slightly zoomed in. I particularly like the bokeh in the first picture of Camila. I changed some colors in the group picture to have them all match. I think that a little airbrushing is a must for every portrait, especially close-ups. My favorite part is watching the reaction of the models when they see the final product.

Portrait Enhancements

Camila and Cherry Blossoms (edited)


Camila and Cherry Blossoms - Rexburg, ID, 5/27/2010, Late Afternnon - f/2.7, 10/3200, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H7


Camila by the fence (edited)

Camila by the fence - Rexburg, ID, 5/27/2010, Late-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/4000, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H7


Jamie 2 (edited)


Jamie 2 - Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/2.8, 10/10000, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50


Couple - Rexburg, ID, 5/24/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.8, 10/400, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50

Portraits take a long time to edit because there are so many details to enhance, but it's worth it. I enhanced all of my portraits by airbrushing the skin, whitening teeth, sharpening eyes, etc. The best way I found to sharpen is by using high pass. It makes a lot of difference. I changed the color on Camila's shirt, but because there are so many colors I had to do the process a couple times. I matched the picture of Jamie with the color in the picture of the couple. It was originally too dark, so I changed some of the settings in the match color box until I got something I liked.

Luminosity Effect

Kristen at the Hotel (edited)


Kristen at the hotel - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, early afternoon - f/3.2, 10/600, ISO 100, Sony DSC - H50

Before I started following the tutorial to create this affect I applied some portrait enhancement techniques to the picture, which made it look less grainy, and gave it sharper details. I follow the tutorial until the part where it said to lock the transparency layer. It didn't work, but then I unlocked it again and I was able to do what I had to. I played with the gradient settings for a while until I got something I liked. I added the text and set the blending mode to soft light.

Bannack/Dubois Extras

Left for Mosquitos - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Early-afternoon - f/3.2, 10/8000, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50


Strange Metal Instrument - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Early-afternoon - f/3.5, 10/400, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50



Cemetery Fence - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Late-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/4000, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50



Hotel Stairs - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Early-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/200, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50


Warehouse - Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/2.7, 10/100, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50


Restroom - Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Early-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/130, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50

Reversed Shallow Depth

Hole in the Wall 2 - Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/7.1, 10/250, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H50


Hole in the Wall 2 - Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/5, 10/200, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H50


Untitled 1 - Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/2.7, 10/130, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H50


Untitled 2 - Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/2.7, 10/130, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H5

To reverse the focal point I just focused on different spots, pressed the shutter button half way and then moved the camera to get the same composition.

Motion Blur/Freeze

Hotel Guests - Bannack, MT, early afternoon - f/2.7, 80/10, ISO 125 - Sony DSC - H50


Ghost Self-portrait - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.8, 80/10, ISO 80 - Sony DSC-H2


The Killer - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, mid-afternoon - f/8, 50/10, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H50


Rain - Rexburg, ID, 5/24/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.8, 10/5000, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H50


What happens in Rexburg stays in Rexburg - Rexburg, ID, 5/24/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/5000, ISO 100 Sony DSC-H50 - Sharpness and brightness adjustment

For motion blur we took a bunch of "ghost" pictures. It was really hard at first to figure out the right setting, but once we got it down it was a lot of fun. I found that setting the aperture to 8" gave me the best result. Then my subject would stand in front of the camera and move quickly as the camera captured only the background for the remaining time. For my ghost self-portrait, I switched positions halfway through.
When I came home from Bannack and looked at the pictures I took for motion freeze I decide that I didn't really like any of them, so I went out and took some more shots. It was raining so I took some pictures of the water coming down the roof at my apartment. I also asked some friends to help me take the "jumping" picture. They were a little too excited about that... The higher the number of the shutter-speed, the easier it is to to do it, but then the picture might come out really dark.

HDR

Yellow Truck (HDR)

Yellow Truck - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Early afternoon - f/3.5, 10/8000, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H50


Cemetery (HDR)


Cemetery - Somewhere in Montana, 5/21/2010, Late afternoon - f/2.7, 10/16000, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H50


Doctors House Living Room (HDR)


Doctors House Living Room 1 - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/200, ISO 100 DSC-H50


Doctors House Living Room 2 - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/400, ISO 100 DSC-H50


Doctors House Living Room 3 - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/100, ISO 100 DSC-H50


Doctors House Living Room 4 - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/50, ISO 100 DSC-H50


Doctors House Living Room 5 - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/25, ISO 100 DSC-H50


Doctors House Kitchen


Doctors House Kitchen 1 - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/200 - Sony DSC-H50


Doctors House Kitchen 2 - Bannack, Mo, 5/21/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/400 - Sony DSC-H50


Doctors House Kitchen 3 - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/100 - Sony DSC-H50


Doctors House Kitchen 4 - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/50 - Sony DSC-H50


Doctors House Kitchen 5 - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/25 - Sony DSC-H50

HDR is pretty much the coolest thing ever. I tried editing a single Jpeg file and 5 shots with different exposures. Obviously, 5 shots give you a better result than just one. Ultra-contrast worked the best with my pictures, and I increased the vivid colors and dramatic light quite a bit.

Macro Blends

Magic Chef (edited)


Magic Chef - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Early afternoon - f/3.5, 10/130, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H50


Rusty Texture, Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/2.7, 10/100, ISO 100 - Sony DSC - H50


Jar (edited)


Jar - Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/2.7, 10/150, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H50


Tree Texture, Rexburg, ID, 4/23/2010, mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/500, ISO 100, DSC -H7


Bud Cap (edited)


Bud Cap - Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/2.7, 10/100, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H50


Cracked Concrete - Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/3.5, 10/250, ISO 320 - Sony DSC - H50

I'm glad we stopped at that abandoned warehouse in Dubois on the way to Bannack. I got great textures and macros there and it was a good warm up for Bannack.
I blended these pictures by changing the blending mode to overlay and I also masked parts of the textures.