First One Done With Portrait Professional

Bryce Wilson · September 4, 2011

Thanks to Zoomer who mentioned the program Portrait Professional in one of his threads, I liked the results of what he had done, so I purchased it this morning. (It's on sale right now) I can't believe how wonderful this program is and what the heck I was doing without it. What would have taken me hours in Photoshop was done in minuets.

This is the first one I did with the new program. I am more than pleased with the results. Only thing I don't care for is that I took the pic with her shoulders a bit too square to the lens.

Shot at f 2.8, off camera flash with high speed sync at 1/1500 sec. and about 8 mins in PP.
Comments are most welcome!

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/60399337@N06/6112963637/" title="Nicole By The Stream by Bryce Wilson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6208/6112963637_133f1c7a46_z.jpg" width="640" height="503" alt="Nicole By The Stream"></a>

lynnma · September 4, 2011

Hi Bryce, I'm not really qualified to comment too much on portraits but this looks lovely to me. On my monitor she makes me want to brighten her just a little, not the background, just her face.. love everything else.. I'm going to check out the program

Agnieszka · September 4, 2011

I don't know much about the program, but this sure is a lovely photo!

0scar99 · September 4, 2011

a before and after shot would be useful..

Jeffro · September 5, 2011

I tried the free trial of Portrait Professional....it's pretty cool.

Nice pic btw.

Bryce Wilson · September 5, 2011

0scar99 wrote: »

a before and after shot would be useful..

And I aim to be useful! This is a throwaway shot. I don't like anything about it, but thought it might serve as a good example of before and after, so I put it through the program. I still have a lot to learn about the capabilities of this program, but so far I'm pretty impressed. I think the biggest challenge is to not overdo it.

Before

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/60399337@N06/6115917269/" title="before by Bryce Wilson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6194/6115917269_1a198bbc6f_z.jpg" width="640" height="457" alt="before"></a>

After about 7 mins in Portrait Professional. Might get faster once I get comfortable with it and there are still a few things I would like to tweak, but you get the idea. Hope this is useful for you Oscar99<img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/mwink.gif" border="0" alt="" >

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/60399337@N06/6115917517/" title="after by Bryce Wilson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6068/6115917517_5495142462_z.jpg" width="640" height="457" alt="after"></a>

Bryce Wilson · September 5, 2011

lynnma wrote: »

Hi Bryce, I'm not really qualified to comment too much on portraits but this looks lovely to me. On my monitor she makes me want to brighten her just a little, not the background, just her face.. love everything else.. I'm going to check out the program

Agnieszka wrote: »

I don't know much about the program, but this sure is a lovely photo!

Thanks for the comments!

lifeinfocus · September 5, 2011

Which Version of Portrait Professional Did U Use?
The base version at $40.00 doesn't do raw and says it is limited by size of photo, but doesn't mention size limit.

So, what version did you use - Standard, Studio or Studio64?

I ask because I would like to start with the Standard but I am wondering about the size limit it lists on this page. http://www.portraitprofessional.com/editions/

Thanks, Phil

Bryce Wilson · September 5, 2011

I went with the studio version. The biggest reason I decided on that version was that it provides automatic plug ins with photoshop and lightroom, batching and a few other items that the standard version didn't.

lifeinfocus · September 5, 2011

Bryce Wilson wrote: »

I went with the studio version. The biggest reason I decided on that version was that it provides automatic plug ins with photoshop and lightroom, batching and a few other items that the standard version didn't.

Thanks for your help fellow Michigander.

0scar99 · September 5, 2011

Hey Bryce, thank you for taking the time. That's a pretty impressive use of 7 minutes! So much so, that I think I'm going to download the trial and give it a go.. Thanks again..

zoomer · September 6, 2011

Good to see it is working for you. I can't see your pics here at work.
I have been using it for years.
Workflow:
Choose Subtle. Watch how the face changes as it kicks in...this will show you how the program believes the face should be optimized. Then you can tweak the face shape using the adjustment sliders if you want to. (Subtle does some very minor..unoticeable tweaks)

Go to the eyes. Brighten just a SMIDGE overall and apply a bit of sharpening.

Skin I usually don't do anything in this block over the default settings...unless the skin is shiny.

Mouth..if the lips blend in to the skin color I will darken them. I never whiten teeth.

No further adjustments.

At the bottom of the adjusments screen, the setting for spots I normally choose 4.

Then I go to the spot clean up brush (upper left on the screen). Choose a medium size and 100% opacity and clean up any spots.
Done.

3-4 minutes per photo.

Bilsen · September 6, 2011

TERRIFIC Bryce.

I've used Portrait Pro for a year or two but usually only on headshots. You've done a great job of avoiding my initial mistake of WAY overdoing the processing. It took me a while (and several beatings on the boards) to learn how to leave the effect subtle and not give the model the "Barbie Plastic" skin treatment. (PS - my European models prefer this treatment for some reason)

One thing I can suggest. When you use it in a headshot, try the "lighten pupils" slider in the eye controls. It really pops the eyes withoput making them look zombified.

I do have one nit to pick. On Nicole, I probably would have taken out those smile creases on the right (camera left) side of her cheek and chin. But that's just me.

By the way, they are both still SUPER cute.

Elaine · September 6, 2011

Really pretty photo! I think the light is just right and the background is amazing! Very nice!