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One and a half portraits
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Two shots from a studio shoot in Dublin. As always, comments, critique and feedback welcome.
Gorgeous shots… I guess it doesn’t hurt that the subject is gorgeous as well…
Very nice, like them alot. Your portraits are making me think about taking some myself.
What equipment are you using Ciaran ?
All of my portraits are taken either on a D70 or D2X, more recently obviously a D2X. Lens, I use either a Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 EX DG or the Nikkor 50mm f1.4 for my portraits.
In addition to that, I shoot primarily using natural light and the odd time with a little bounced flash if I need to lift shadows, bounced using a hand held reflector if I have nothing else to bounce it off. Obviously these two were taken in a studio..
Hope that answers your questions :?:
Yep, question answered. Great results from what seems like non-complicated lighten.
In particular those where you have used natural lightcheers
Really really nice Ciaran. You’ll have to spread your conversion/workflow secrets with us ;)
gooner wrote:
Really really nice Ciaran. You’ll have to spread your conversion/workflow secrets with us ;)
I don’t have too many secrets Gooner.. but I’ll let you know what I do anyway :) Workflow wise, I ALWAYS shoot RAW. I don’t believe in letting the camera apply too many settings which you can’t go back on (sharpening/colour space/tonal curves, white balance etc).
Once I have them in Photoshop, for portraits, I convert to B&W via the Lightness/Luminosity channel in LAB mode. This always requires a little boost of contrast afterwards which I do using a levels or curves adjustment and then sharpen. I also add a very feint hint of sepia to the shadow detail just to remove the grey look of straight monochrome conversions (it’s very slight). I don’t want to be condescending and type the whoel thing out step by step in case I’m preaching to the converted. But I’m happy to share the conversion instructions in more detail and/or provide the action file I use in Photoshop if people wish.
Mark wrote:
Do you use a studio often Ciaron for your portrait work ?
Not nearly enough Mark! The majority of the photos I take are natural light, helped sometimes with a squirt of fill flash or perhaps a reflector. Its rare that I get into a studio, but I do tend to enjoy it when I do. Studios are really good ways to learn about light. Each time I’ve been in one, I’ve always managed to come away with a LOT more knowledge that I can then apply to shooting in natural light.
Ciaran,
Not condescending at all. I for one would like to know the detail if you have time or else you can send me an
action file and I can figure out where to put it for those interested.Thanks
MarkHi Mark – I would love the conversion details in more detail if you have them – not condescending at all. More great portraits here – can I just ask where did you shoot them ?
Mark wrote:
Ciaran,
Not condescending at all. I for one would like to know the detail if you have time or else you can send me an
action file and I can figure out where to put it for those interested.Thanks
MarkMark,
I can’t seem to find an email address for you, but if you send one on, I’ll email the conversion action for Photoshop.
In the mean time, this is how I do my B&W conversions for portraits. For shots with more colour, I find the channel mixer more successful as you can emphasise one colour over the other (i.e. dark dramatic skies etc.)
Convert the image into LAB mode
Image -> Mode -> LAB Color
Select the lighness channel and use this as the B&W conversion
Go to the Layers pallette and click on the Channels tab
Select only the Lightness channel
Convert this first to Greyscale
Image -> Mode -> Greyscale
And then convert it back into RGB for further processing
Image -> Mode -> RGB Color
Add a levels adjustment for contrast
Go back to the Layers tab on the Layers pallette
Create new Levels adjustment layer by clicking on the circle (half black/half white) on the bottom of the layers pallette and choosing
Adjust white, black and grey point as required
Add a slight sepia tint
Create new “Color Balance” adjustment layer
Click on “Shadows” and “Preserve Luminosity”
Enter the following values: 20 (R), 10 (G), -10 (B)
Adjust strength of effect by varying layer opacity (I like around 25~30%)
Conversion done.
Hi I will pm you my email addy and would appreciate if you could fire me that action too.
gerardk wrote:
Hi Mark – I would love the conversion details in more detail if you have them – not condescending at all. More great portraits here – can I just ask where did you shoot them ?
Thanks Gerard. These shots were taken in a small privately owned studio, owned by an aquaintance of mine I met through another forum (he no longer posts there).
But the majority of the studio work that I have done, which isn’t much, was shot in Dublin Studios which are located on O’ Connell Street in Dublin http://www.dublinstudios.com
There seems to be a lot of small private studios popping up around tha place that are opening their doors to the public for rental.
Hi – most of my portraits were done in dublinstudios too ! It’s starting to feel a bit small though – without paying silly money I would like to try somewhere with a little more space, also I am looking for a location where natural light would be an option. Thanks for the info. I would recommend dublinstudios as well (despite what I said) pricewise and location wise it cant be beat.
PS I think when I asked about the studio I was on the wrong thread – I meant to ask you about where the ones from here were shot
https://www.photographyireland.net/viewtopic.php?t=30
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