A Self-Portrait

Marissa K. PhotographyMarissa K. Photography Registered Users Posts: 41 Big grins
edited October 31, 2010 in People
I was just messing around with my camera and trying out my new reflectors. Here was one of the shots I got.

DSC_0052.jpg

Comments

  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited October 30, 2010
    Marissa K. Photography wrote: »
    I was just messing around with my camera and trying out my new reflectors. Here was one of the shots I got.
    Marissa,
    SPs are hard to do.
    I like the idea, but technically... Having one eye in focus and another completely OOF is *generally* considered a flaw. I also find the WB to be a bit on the bluish side (I didn't do any numbers check, by I have a decent calibrated monitor).
    HTH
    --
    Nikolai
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • Marissa K. PhotographyMarissa K. Photography Registered Users Posts: 41 Big grins
    edited October 30, 2010
    Nikolai wrote: »
    Marissa,
    SPs are hard to do.
    I like the idea, but technically... Having one eye in focus and another completely OOF is *generally* considered a flaw. I also find the WB to be a bit on the bluish side (I didn't do any numbers check, by I have a decent calibrated monitor).
    HTH
    --
    Nikolai

    Nikolai, thanks for the feedback. I definitely agree with what you have to say.

    Perhaps, this one is (different, but) better.

    frecklesbw.jpg
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited October 30, 2010
    Marissa K. Photography wrote: »
    Nikolai, thanks for the feedback. I definitely agree with what you have to say.

    Perhaps, this one is (different, but) better.

    It's better on the eyes thumb.gif, but I'm struggling with the BW conversion type you've chosen ne_nau.gif.
    Facial closeups are tricky begin with and you really need to know your channels (as you know, in PS every image has 10, and even ACR has 8:-) to deliver the result you wanted. Standard presets rarely work, at least for me.
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • reese.leblancreese.leblanc Registered Users Posts: 79 Big grins
    edited October 30, 2010
    Nikolai, could you point Marissa and the rest of us to more information on how best to adjust the channels? I "normally" use presets for my conversions as well, but I notice they don't "pop" quite like some I've seen. Any help would be great!

    Reese
  • anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited October 30, 2010
    Nik can chime in with others but you can start with this great thread with some good links:

    http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=114917
    "I'm not yelling. I'm Cuban. That's how we talk."

    Moderator of the People and Go Figure forums

    My Smug Site
  • anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited October 30, 2010
    Hope you don't mind. Corrected the color cast through a simple CMYK curve adjustment layer... Cyan was really high; magenta was a tad off as well. Also set white and black point with a second curve adjustment layer to add a bit more contrast and punch to the shot.

    Does this match your skin tone in real life?

    1070486370_QzHei-X2.jpg
    "I'm not yelling. I'm Cuban. That's how we talk."

    Moderator of the People and Go Figure forums

    My Smug Site
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited October 30, 2010
    reese.leblanc wrote: »
    Nikolai, could you point Marissa and the rest of us to more information on how best to adjust the channels? I "normally" use presets for my conversions as well, but I notice they don't "pop" quite like some I've seen. Any help would be great!

    Reese

    Reese,
    Alex provided you with a link to Path's great collection of methods. deal.gif

    I myself never use any presets since there is no point to go for the same effect from different shoots. Skin differs, lighting differs, goals differ...
    But I did study Margulis (and other) books a lot, so I kinda know what channels carry what information, so I can get to results I want fairly quickly.
    No silver bullet, sorry. ne_nau.gif
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited October 30, 2010
    OK... I'm bored waiting for dinner to be ready so here is the same image in B&W. I took the color image after my tweaks and added a B&W Adjustment Layer in CS4. It's very similar to the B&W tool in LR2/3. It allows you to tweak each color channel. I played with the R, Y, C and M sliders till I got something I liked:

    1070531090_e6QnS-X2.jpg
    "I'm not yelling. I'm Cuban. That's how we talk."

    Moderator of the People and Go Figure forums

    My Smug Site
  • jirojiro Registered Users Posts: 1,865 Major grins
    edited October 30, 2010
    I'll play.
    I hope It's not offensive if I will include my B&W adjustment on the thread.

    I copied and saved the first image on my computer and then worked on it in adobe photoshop. The desaturated converted image looks flat to me so I entered it on NikSoftwares' Silver Efex plugin. The "neutral" setting is still a tad "flat" to me so I tried the "high structure" setting. This one is better but looks "too rough" on the skin (since the structure slider is boosted a lot to the right). I decided to use the high structure setting and played with the brightness, contrast, and structure sliders and came up with this image (see attached file). I then used a level adjustment layer followed by an "S-curve" on a curve adjustment layer. lastly, I applied a sharpening mask only on the right eye and lips to add some sharpening. :)
    Sitting quietly, doing nothing. Spring comes and the grass grows by itself.

    http://imagesbyjirobau.blogspot.com/
    http://500px.com/williebau
  • Marissa K. PhotographyMarissa K. Photography Registered Users Posts: 41 Big grins
    edited October 30, 2010
    "anonymouscuban," i absolutely love what you did! it looks amazing! i definitely need to learn how to do that. i will definitely check out the link you provided. thank you!
  • anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited October 30, 2010
    Marissa... check this tutorial out on Skin Tone. It's pretty much what I did to get the color image correct.

    [URL="http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1091766"[/URL]

    Also check this one out on finding white/black point to make your photos pop:

    http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/2292454/1
    "I'm not yelling. I'm Cuban. That's how we talk."

    Moderator of the People and Go Figure forums

    My Smug Site
  • Marissa K. PhotographyMarissa K. Photography Registered Users Posts: 41 Big grins
    edited October 30, 2010
    "jiro," your edit looks great also! thanks for doing that. it makes me so eager to learn how to do that. i love really good black & white photos!
  • jirojiro Registered Users Posts: 1,865 Major grins
    edited October 31, 2010
    Marissa K. Photography wrote: »
    "jiro," your edit looks great also! thanks for doing that. it makes me so eager to learn how to do that. i love really good black & white photos!

    Thanks. :D I was actually planning to add some skin softening effect but it might lessen the strength of the B&W effect on your self portrait pic. If I may say "you have a very nice facial contour." You can actually be a model yourself. thumb.gif
    Sitting quietly, doing nothing. Spring comes and the grass grows by itself.

    http://imagesbyjirobau.blogspot.com/
    http://500px.com/williebau
  • Marissa K. PhotographyMarissa K. Photography Registered Users Posts: 41 Big grins
    edited October 31, 2010
    anonymouscuban wrote: »
    Marissa... check this tutorial out on Skin Tone. It's pretty much what I did to get the color image correct.

    [URL="http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1091766"[/URL]

    Also check this one out on finding white/black point to make your photos pop:

    http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/2292454/1

    the link didn't work :(
  • anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited October 31, 2010
    Sorry. Try this: http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1091766
    "I'm not yelling. I'm Cuban. That's how we talk."

    Moderator of the People and Go Figure forums

    My Smug Site
  • Marissa K. PhotographyMarissa K. Photography Registered Users Posts: 41 Big grins
    edited October 31, 2010
    anonymouscuban wrote: »
    Sorry. Try this: http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1091766

    it works now. thank you!
  • anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited October 31, 2010
    So just for reference sake... on your photo, I picked a point on your cheek and set the curves adjustment layer as follows:

    Yellow = 35
    Magenta = 30
    Cyan = 14
    K = 0
    "I'm not yelling. I'm Cuban. That's how we talk."

    Moderator of the People and Go Figure forums

    My Smug Site
  • Marissa K. PhotographyMarissa K. Photography Registered Users Posts: 41 Big grins
    edited October 31, 2010
    anonymouscuban wrote: »
    So just for reference sake... on your photo, I picked a point on your cheek and set the curves adjustment layer as follows:

    Yellow = 35
    Magenta = 30
    Cyan = 14
    K = 0

    ok. thank you!
Sign In or Register to comment.