tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92052837898444439542024-03-13T15:09:43.945-07:00Paul Pardue PhotographyThe ramblings of an incoherent photographer bent on world domination through by way of the cameraUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-72267631200680475532016-03-05T11:01:00.003-08:002016-03-05T11:01:38.290-08:00Mona Fine Art Nude, with Behind The Scenes Video!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Shot with the wonderful Mona recently in the studio and had just purchased my new seamless backdrop and was able to put it to use for the first time. I really love the photos I got and can't wait to get more finished.</div>
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I was also able to get a behind the scenes video time lapse for this shoot which I'd like to be able to do for more shoots.</div>
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<a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share2.php?i=Berkeley-Brunette-California-Flash-Low-Key-Paper-Seamless-Softbox-Strobe-Studio-Thundergray-Thundergrey-20160304_114636_028750" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://www.paulpardue.com/share.php?i=Berkeley-Brunette-California-Flash-Low-Key-Paper-Seamless-Softbox-Strobe-Studio-Thundergray-Thundergrey-20160304_114636_028750" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/UVomIr9WARo/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UVomIr9WARo?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-34621112125784986242016-01-09T14:13:00.002-08:002016-01-09T14:13:28.257-08:00Fine Art Nudes With Model PattiI had the opportunity to work with this wonderfully beautiful and charming girl recently. Patti is a new model but she is amazing to work with and I look forward to shooting with her more often.<br />
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<a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share2.php?i=Brunette-Low-Key-Model-Sexy-Soft-Box-Studio-20151220_173332_027571" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://www.paulpardue.com/share.php?i=Brunette-Low-Key-Model-Sexy-Soft-Box-Studio-20151220_173332_027571" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share.php?i=Brunette-Low-Key-Model-Sexy-Soft-Box-Studio-20151220_173648_027588" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.paulpardue.com/share.php?i=Brunette-Low-Key-Model-Sexy-Soft-Box-Studio-20151220_173648_027588" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-55847991265031922352015-09-18T10:27:00.003-07:002015-09-18T10:27:52.554-07:00Studio fine art nude seriesI've been working on a series of fine art nudes in the studio and would love to share some of my favorites that I've gotten so far... Enjoy.<br />
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<a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share2.php?i=Flash-Low-Key-Softbox-Strobe-Studio-20150528_190656_020859" target="_blank"><img alt=" http://www.paulpardue.com/share.php?i=Flash-Low-Key-Softbox-Strobe-Studio-20150528_190656_020859" border="0" src="http://www.paulpardue.com/share.php?i=Flash-Low-Key-Softbox-Strobe-Studio-20150528_190656_020859" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share2.php?i=Flash-Low-Key-Softbox-Strobe-Studio-20150528_093006_020692" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://www.paulpardue.com/share.php?i=Flash-Low-Key-Softbox-Strobe-Studio-20150528_093006_020692" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share2.php?i=Flash-Low-Key-Softbox-Strobe-Studio-20150526_193124_020333" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://www.paulpardue.com/share.php?i=Flash-Low-Key-Softbox-Strobe-Studio-20150526_193124_020333" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share2.php?i=Flash-Low-Key-Softbox-Strobe-Studio-20150525_180326_019924" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://www.paulpardue.com/share.php?i=Flash-Low-Key-Softbox-Strobe-Studio-20150525_180326_019924" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-32037008680026514142014-08-23T12:29:00.002-07:002014-08-23T12:30:00.375-07:00Fine art nude photo shoot with model Ginger Lovett<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/R9F0IhIA7po?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share.php?i=Bikini-Flash-Outdoor-Pool-Softbox-Strobe-Strobist-Synchro-Sun-Water-20140810_115821_016919" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://www.paulpardue.com/share.php?i=Bikini-Flash-Outdoor-Pool-Softbox-Strobe-Strobist-Synchro-Sun-Water-20140810_115821_016919" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share.php?i=Beauty-Dish-Flash-Softbox-Strobe-20140810_110247_016760" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.paulpardue.com/share.php?i=Beauty-Dish-Flash-Softbox-Strobe-20140810_110247_016760" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share.php?i=Flash-Outdoor-Softbox-Strobe-Strobist-Synchro-Sun-20140810_113441_016862" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.paulpardue.com/share.php?i=Flash-Outdoor-Softbox-Strobe-Strobist-Synchro-Sun-20140810_113441_016862" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-40198059746371224432012-10-30T12:34:00.000-07:002012-10-30T18:52:21.427-07:00NicoleModel : Nicole<br />
Makeup Artist: Amber Trimble<br />
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<a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share2.php?i=Nicole-Starr-Beauty-Dish-Boudoir-Bra-Lingerie-Model-Softbox-Strobist-Studio-20121025_205153_010311" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.paulpardue.com/share.php?i=Nicole-Starr-Beauty-Dish-Boudoir-Bra-Lingerie-Model-Softbox-Strobist-Studio-20121025_205153_010311" width="213" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share2.php?i=Nicole-Starr-Beauty-Dish-Boudoir-Bra-Lingerie-Model-Softbox-Strobist-Studio-20121025_201641_010223" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.paulpardue.com/share.php?i=Nicole-Starr-Beauty-Dish-Boudoir-Bra-Lingerie-Model-Softbox-Strobist-Studio-20121025_201641_010223" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-11637358434677176792012-07-07T23:27:00.000-07:002012-07-07T23:27:15.662-07:00Tatianna Roberts and makeup by Faces By LaRae<div style="text-align: left;">
Model: <a href="http://www.modelmayhem.com/1824774" target="_blank">Tatianna Roberts</a></div>
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Makeup Artist: <a href="http://www.modelmayhem.com/2439056" target="_blank">Faces by LaRae</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1104746918"></span><span id="goog_1104746919"></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-18198034235142688752012-07-05T23:41:00.000-07:002012-07-05T23:41:21.203-07:00Veronica Dean and faces by LaRaeModel: <a href="http://www.modelmayhem.com/1994110" target="_blank">Veronica</a><br />
Makeup Artist: <a href="http://www.modelmayhem.com/2439056" target="_blank">Faces by LaRae</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share2.php?i=20120630_152916_007868" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.paulpardue.com/share.php?i=20120630_152916_007868" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-8640866787928439282012-07-02T01:04:00.001-07:002012-07-02T01:04:43.874-07:00Delphine Winter and makeup by Faces by LaRae<div style="text-align: left;">
Model: <a href="http://www.modelmayhem.com/2480097" target="_blank">Delphine Winter</a></div>
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Makeup Artist: <a href="http://www.modelmayhem.com/2439056" target="_blank">Faces By LaRae</a></div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-85800290112358078942012-07-01T18:56:00.001-07:002012-07-02T01:22:27.370-07:00MsMora and makeup by Faces by LaRae<div>
Model: <a href="http://www.modelmayhem.com/731382" target="_blank">MsMora</a></div>
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Makeup Artist: <a href="http://www.modelmayhem.com/2439056" target="_blank"">Faces by LaRae</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share2.php?i=20120630_120811_007543" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.paulpardue.com/share.php?i=20120630_120811_007543" /></a><span id="goog_1488446988"></span><span id="goog_1488446989"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-23224791270296263602012-06-25T16:27:00.001-07:002012-07-02T01:21:17.483-07:00Carol Bares Single light beauty dish<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Model <a href="http://www.modelmayhem.com/2163465" target="_blank">Carol Bares</a></div>
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Single beauty dish camera left.</div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-53728332423551808792012-06-24T21:23:00.000-07:002012-07-02T01:22:46.284-07:00Bree Cherise and makeup by Faces by LaRae<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Some shots from the shoot with model Bree and makeup artist LaRae, assistant was Carol Bares.</div>
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Makeup by <a href="http://www.facebook.com/makeupwithlarae" target="_blank">Faces by LaRae</a></div>
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Model <a href="http://www.modelmayhem.com/1571171" target="_blank">Bree</a></div>
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Beauty dish camera left, soft box on background, speed light camera right.</div>
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Beauty dish above center, silver reflector below camera center, bare bulb behind.</div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_350985798"></span><span id="goog_350985799"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-6366610433159554042012-06-19T15:51:00.000-07:002012-07-02T01:22:02.900-07:00how to retouch skin using frequency separation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3vijEtHVZOAvLs0FUjMn-qebGRKx1wb0twHbed6r_xIxx03BQlRAvklS5bq4yHhKvIuVw3UoGzjtsgj8-wqEWAh33NV9bkVvhRphoR8oEsZZ_1Mw0uVe8tHL3a4ijumzkdRv_O1brZU4/s1600/042278orig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3vijEtHVZOAvLs0FUjMn-qebGRKx1wb0twHbed6r_xIxx03BQlRAvklS5bq4yHhKvIuVw3UoGzjtsgj8-wqEWAh33NV9bkVvhRphoR8oEsZZ_1Mw0uVe8tHL3a4ijumzkdRv_O1brZU4/s400/042278orig.jpg" width="267" /></a></div>
When we retouch a portrait we want to maintain a realistic appearance by removing blemishes and smoothing out skin tone. Though we are often forced to sacrifice one for the other, frequency separation allows us to retain skin texture while softening skin tone. We can do this because we are working on each individually, separate from the other.
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We're going to start of with a shot with some blemishes that we want to remove.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOHFOm8E7H1Nn0JKQhRoho6QSNY6WJpyDKs5y2x7B1aD71eLLpTw9uzTZRhS7d5VYz4JwGaW1Hz6YBRQOpmFTUVGmZKCVPDFCBOna6WvP1DVYKz0Vjgv4oGgXrhavrGfV0YDZ2B4bqlRo/s1600/folderAPPLY" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOHFOm8E7H1Nn0JKQhRoho6QSNY6WJpyDKs5y2x7B1aD71eLLpTw9uzTZRhS7d5VYz4JwGaW1Hz6YBRQOpmFTUVGmZKCVPDFCBOna6WvP1DVYKz0Vjgv4oGgXrhavrGfV0YDZ2B4bqlRo/s200/folderAPPLY" width="84" /></a>Our first step is to duplicate the background layer twice, for ease of identification an organization put the duplicate layers in a group and rename them. I've renamed the bottom duplicate layer color and the top one texture as well as renaming the group to retouch. This allows us to easily identify the layers we are working on and know what they're doing. At this point, hide the texture layer and select the color layer. Apply a slight blur to the color layer using gaussian blur, just enough to blur the fine details but don't go overboard with it. By hiding the texture layer we can see the effect of the blur on the color layer.
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Moving on, we want to unhide and select the texture layer. Go to image - apply image. Your source is the file that you're working on. Under layer select 'color', and channel should be set to RGB.
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If you're working with a 16 bit file use the following settings:<br />
Invert: Unchecked<br />
Blending: Subtract<br />
Opacity: 100%<br />
Scale: 1<br />
Offset: 128<br />
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If you're working with a 8 bit file use the following settings:<br />
Invert: Checked<br />
Blending: Add<br />
Opacity: 100%<br />
Scale: 0<br />
Offset: 0<br />
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Preserve transparency and mask should both be unchecked.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBkqwUU94BezN2f_tf2WNRdRiiy0Gp4LC_oyLQROJhO1RUT0HwbaF0kInbGdJZBXdPVSLwjXf7uozAJZ_2a5MNip8WH9egYW10A1weXvfmJm4TpilEpua11N9iG00OY8kg-PzELVc_Bx0/s1600/applySCALE-OFFSET.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBkqwUU94BezN2f_tf2WNRdRiiy0Gp4LC_oyLQROJhO1RUT0HwbaF0kInbGdJZBXdPVSLwjXf7uozAJZ_2a5MNip8WH9egYW10A1weXvfmJm4TpilEpua11N9iG00OY8kg-PzELVc_Bx0/s200/applySCALE-OFFSET.jpg" width="200" /></a>
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You should have a mid-grey layer with a faint outline of the image. You now want to changing the layer blending option to 'linear light' What this does in effect is create a layer that acts much like the unsharp mask filter, but since we've created two separate layers we can work on the color and texture of the image independently.<br />
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To do this, start by again hiding the texture layer and selecting the color layer. I find it easier to start by retouching the color layer without texture so we can see just the effects of the color. Smooth it out using the clone stamp tool or your other favorite method, we want a layer that has even and smooth skin texture with soft gradations in the shadows and highlights. Make sure if using the clone tool that your source is set to current layer. This is why we use a small blur initially, so as to preserve some of the fine edges such as boundaries between the lips and skin or eyes. Once we are satisfied with the color we can unhide and select the texture layer and clean up the texture using the same technique.<br />
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Our final image should have a smooth skin but still retain the texture of skin. It's important for the realism of the portrait that there is still texture such as pores, a blurred skin looks fake and should never be acceptable. Using the frequency separation technique outlined here can provide high quality results and can be done quickly. Total time for me on this sample was around 6-7 minutes.<br />
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Compare the original photo above to the final retouched version by clicking on either for a larger image.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxEdkcyaNDshBiMhjHdK8LT_kGCTUTNaoLQ5Ni1zEzsznKgI8W6bLX7o98NX7PVE1l3L1eQiS6nsttEAf0gLwg8fcMAK7SsN11zoGHCrzf2prCOVnK8FmzS5x8EK2lIXcz-1CHHnNipzE/s1600/042278final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxEdkcyaNDshBiMhjHdK8LT_kGCTUTNaoLQ5Ni1zEzsznKgI8W6bLX7o98NX7PVE1l3L1eQiS6nsttEAf0gLwg8fcMAK7SsN11zoGHCrzf2prCOVnK8FmzS5x8EK2lIXcz-1CHHnNipzE/s400/042278final.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-70801098625719264572012-04-22T08:43:00.002-07:002012-04-22T08:43:58.178-07:00How to use a beauty dishA beauty dish creates a nice semi-soft, semi-directional light that has a slightly more defined shadow edge than a soft box or umbrella and the directionality and focus of a reflector. The sweet spot for a beauty dish is about 1 to 1 1/2 times the diameter of the dish.
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<a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share2.php?i=20120324_173028_005613" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.paulpardue.com/share.php?i=20120324_173028_005613" align="right"></a>
For this shot of Lauren Jennings I set up the beauty about a foot and a half away from her on camera right and slightly higher than eye level to give a nice paramount (butterfly) type lighting pattern. The beauty dish was metered at f/11. The fill light was a 40x40 soft box 2-3 feet away and was camera left and just slightly below eye level to fill in the shadows and give a nice soft overall light. It was metered just under the main light. The back light was a bare reflector metered the same as the main and placed low to give a nice glow on the hair.
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<a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share2.php?i=20120324_165656_005482" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.paulpardue.com/share.php?i=20120324_165656_005482" align="left"></a>
This shot uses largely the same type of set up, with the dish and soft box being further away. By setting the dish further back the light is harsher and more directional producing a more distinctive shadow. The beauty dish is lower and further right creating a loop lighting pattern, with the soft box being closer to on axis to give an even light. The hair light is bare reflector camera right and up high, with a red gel to compliment the color of the bra. The main light is metered at f/8, the fill around 1/2 to a full stop under, and the hair light at about the same and feathered slightly.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-20991115862984883222012-02-22T12:58:00.014-08:002012-04-21T17:02:45.625-07:00Veronica<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Went down to the river today with the lovely Veronica and got some great shots. Playing with my new lenses and trying out some new lighting as well. Overall it was a great shoot and I'm excited to have some new photos to post.<br />
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<a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share2.php?i=20120222_123527_004752" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.paulpardue.com/share.php?i=20120222_123527_004752" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-13764596027757462742012-01-10T15:09:00.000-08:002012-04-21T14:56:40.663-07:00fashion and beauty photographyI've compiled a slideshow of some of my fashion and beauty photography on youtube. Please enjoy. :)<br /><br /><iframe width="400" height="225" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lGzQdns-ZsE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-28725748873196810112010-07-21T12:39:00.000-07:002012-04-21T14:29:00.550-07:00Sarah Williams<a href='http://www.paulpardue.com/share2.php?image=20100718_100246_059447&r=s'><img src='http://paulpardue.com/share.php?image=San_Fransisco_Fashion_Photography_20100718_100246_059447' alt='San Fransisco Fashion Photography' title='San Fransisco Fashion Photography' align='left' /></a>I had the pleasure of shooting with a wonderful new girl the other day. We went down to the beach and shot some amazing stuff.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-3714295158346875742009-12-31T19:48:00.000-08:002012-04-21T14:45:14.696-07:00retouching VIDEO!in a follow up to my last post, I've finally gotten around to using my youtube account for something more than <i>watching</i> videos; I posted my first video today! I basically recorded the screen as I retouched a photo, then compressed that 58 minutes down to under ten.<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; white-space: pre; "><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_KPAEvPrqA">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_KPAEvPrqA</a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 11px; color: rgb(25, 25, 25); -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share2.php?image=20091217_201142_546225&r=s"> <img src="http://paulpardue.com/share.php?image=Sacramento_Fashion_Photography_20091217_201142_546225" alt="Sacramento Fashion Photography" title="Sacramento Fashion Photography" align="left" /> </a></span></span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-80387182735003685812009-12-17T23:13:00.000-08:002012-04-21T14:47:40.247-07:00Ashley Ybarra<a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share2.php?image=20091217_200932_546211&r=s"> <img src="http://paulpardue.com/share.php?image=Sacramento_Fashion_Photography_20091217_200932_546211" align="left" /> </a>This last month has been an odd month for me, I've felt really down about my photography as if i couldn't do anything right at all. Well, I'm back! Today was such a wonderfully wonderful day of photography. I've yet to go through all the photos from today, since I shot well over a few hundred, but so far I'm liking what I've seen.<div><br /></div><div>Shot with a new girl today, she'd never modeled before, but i think if she sticks with it she's got a shot at the 'real world'. Hopefully, I'll be there and famous at the same time that she is and our paths cross again. Needless to say I <i>had</i> to work on at least one of today's photos so I spent the past hour working on one of my favorites; and trust me, it was a hard choice to pick just ONE photo to work on. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share2.php?image=20091217_175942_546154&r=s" > <img src="http://paulpardue.com/share.php?image=Sacramento_Fashion_Photography_20091217_175942_546154" alt="Sacramento Fashion Photography" title="Sacramento Fashion Photography" align="left"> </a>I hope to work with her again soon, I think now that my photo juices are flowing again we could stand to make some great art, or at least some good photos. :)</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-75488071407338803042009-12-15T22:49:00.000-08:002012-07-02T01:23:07.765-07:00Nicole Bell<a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share2.php?image=20091003_155322_052718&r=s"> <img align="left" src="http://paulpardue.com/share.php?image=Sacramento_Glamour_Photography_20091003_155322_052718" /> </a>Reworked an old shot of <a href="http://www.modelmayhem.com/820389">Nicole Bell</a> today after looking through my library. Something that I'd marked but never done anything with. I tried out a new toning process and am somewhat pleased with the results. Again, I like to do everything manually and have a bunch of custom toning procedures that I created and I think this one might get added to the list.<br />
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These kinds of nude are by far some of my favorite, where the model is nude but there isn't anything shown. There is something calming and tranquil about Nicole's pose here that I really love. Being that she's a former gymnast and currently dances does nothing but help. Great model to work with.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-17896646795069546982009-11-29T22:03:00.000-08:002012-04-21T14:48:26.533-07:00Aliciya Angel<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(233, 230, 228); white-space: pre; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'Lucida Grande';font-size:11px;"><a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share2.php?image=20091127_191744_544980&r=bs"><img src="http://paulpardue.com/share.php?image=Sacramento_Fashion_Photography_20091127_191744_544980" align="left" /></a></span>I shot with my good friend Aliciya Angel (<a href="http://www.myspace.com/aliciyaangel">myspace</a> / <a href="http://www.facebook.com/AliciyaAngel">facebook</a> ) on Friday. She's a very talented musician and I wanted to portray her in the spot light so i decided on a large front light and a snoot behind her and shoot with an angle that would give a lens flare. She's an up and coming star and I know she'll go far and shine brightly for some time and I hope that my photography plays on that concept.<div><br /></div><div>She's been played on the radio and has played many live shows and I know she's already got a following locally. I recommend checking her out, you might just like what you hear.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-52378806363660419392009-11-24T21:01:00.000-08:002012-04-21T14:49:10.132-07:00Becky B. photo shoot.I shot with the wonderful Becky again today. We went out to a field near sacramento and did some nudes as the sun set in the distance. I love shooting outdoors when the light is warm and low in the sky. I used a flash for fill but it was mainly the sun doing the lighting.<div><br /></div><div>Post work was minimal, just some clean up and some curves. I toyed with the notion of black and white but I just couldn't stand to loose that beautiful warm sun light. in the end I'm glad I left it as is.</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Lucida Grande', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;font-size:-webkit-xxx-large;"><br /></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Lucida Grande', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;font-size:-webkit-xxx-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(233, 230, 228); font-family:'Lucida Grande';font-size:11px;"><a name='more'></a> <a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share2.php?image=20091124_171944_544755&r=s"><img src="http://paulpardue.com/share.php?image=Sacramento-Glamour-Photography-20091124_171944_544755" /></a></span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Lucida Grande', serif;color:#E9E6E4;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;font-size:-webkit-xxx-large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Lucida Grande', serif;color:#E9E6E4;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;font-size:-webkit-xxx-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'Lucida Grande';font-size:11px;"><a href="http://www.paulpardue.com/share2.php?image=20091124_171212_544725&r=s"> <img src="http://paulpardue.com/share.php?image=Sacramento-Glamour-Photography-20091124_171212_544725" /> </a></span></span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-48565335566073894252008-10-29T13:20:00.000-07:002008-10-29T15:42:31.294-07:00The lens myth explained<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCoWtFrkGz-It9i4ZPcUFlkQHObzHpih6-HmwiistIqqujPL5RA94DScWt6S6eBLRlu943i_gZBEjg7KLVC9zN9ucOdY8hycIUWSd95pFOxoBDG13g6Dbs2hU1pfO2j0QgjpH6dZMKsL8/s1600-h/green.jpg"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3I8pxYmpwYJ8LQm_cQtUVTxl6agULzdN_kf1RX9VpKyD4JTamXlVGRbbSj5ZwnN_VIdh93hVMb2a5KaAOk9dx3kpFoBWILELegRmxsz0JRM7UE2s9zzM2nBTondscVLNHET28D9sVPTk/s1600-h/lens.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 106px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3I8pxYmpwYJ8LQm_cQtUVTxl6agULzdN_kf1RX9VpKyD4JTamXlVGRbbSj5ZwnN_VIdh93hVMb2a5KaAOk9dx3kpFoBWILELegRmxsz0JRM7UE2s9zzM2nBTondscVLNHET28D9sVPTk/s320/lens.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262696238967799842" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>It's a common misconception that the shorter a lens, the more distortion the image will receive. And while this may seem like what happens based on what we see, the simple fact remains that it is the object's relationship to the field of view that affects the final representation in the camera.<div><br /><div>If we can assume an object to extend out beyond it's edge on a plane lying perpendicular to the camera lens we can extrapolate the size of that object's plane in relationship to the field of view and further express that as a percentage of the camera's frame.</div><div><br /></div><div>Basically, at any given distance from the camera we want to find out how long of a length is covered perpendicular to the lens. We can then use that information to determine the percentage that a given object has in relation to the fame size.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the above diagram there are 4 "cameras" and 3 "objects". The red camera and the blue camera share the same field of view but a different position. The charts below show the effective size and the percentages of each of the objects in relationship to that specific camera's field of view.</div><div><br /></div><div>The important thing to note is that while the objects remain stationary and their lengths unchanged, the relationship they exhibit to one another changes in a scalar form as the distance between the object and the lens changes. This is most apparent with the red and blue cameras which both share the same angular field of view with only a change in the distance from the objects.</div><div><br /></div><div>As we move our position (the camera) from the position of the red camera to the position of the blue camera the difference in relationship of each of the objects to the field of view changes until eventually each of the objects has a 100% of the frame's size in which each object overlaps the one behind them totally.</div><div><br /></div><div>Continuing on, as we approach the green and subsequently the purple camera positions the effect of each object in relationship to each other continues until we reach the point where the difference in each field of view becomes greatly distorted. At the point we reach the position of the purple camera the 2nd object which is 150% the size of the first object becomes distorted to <i><b>appear</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"> to be half the size (or thinking of it in reverse, the smaller object appears twice as large as the (in reality) larger object.</span></i></div><div><br /></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">This happens simply because the object fills less of the frame since it's relationship to the field of view represents a smaller percentage within the total coverage for an object at that distance. </span></i></div><div><br /></div><div><i>(it should be noted that the view's for the green and purple camera's have a cut out in the top left 1/4 of the first object to show where the subsequent objects would fall in relationship. The blue and red cameras both show a representation of how the objects would stack normally)</i></div><div><br /></div><div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcZLLb5TbKhbrWb2QyZK04eWgzXAlEJJTQj6ut6nYF_Aondoo6nmie05f6Ita1l8pT3p_U9MAsrD2upG7dIkw809iKYR_8QdU82DXvB0MYt6mQyi_JzVfRkT8J23xa4f3qtoOpoRphx1M/s320/red.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262686035363749698" /><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis2LvcOjBUAKeldQdb9fRKm88DuqTMZEaGTUWSrHKFxB1Z_gzPxsWrbTX5MidP5LgFhVYi7aUBH5-oOeu07MjtE3t22WG720mDbacv_5qVJifrKB_LzNm1-BX0UDd6O15qUu3w_AyO9bg/s320/blue.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262686036434630450" /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><br /><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCoWtFrkGz-It9i4ZPcUFlkQHObzHpih6-HmwiistIqqujPL5RA94DScWt6S6eBLRlu943i_gZBEjg7KLVC9zN9ucOdY8hycIUWSd95pFOxoBDG13g6Dbs2hU1pfO2j0QgjpH6dZMKsL8/s320/green.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262696241977791922" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 160px; " /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaQu-wLFbFTyA7XRVGCg0eejVNW-UP1uv43FhZHvsh6TCK2SPxD4R_KpBzXPNd7e4poYYJW71ND1A0z2Nnrq9f5jMmSA1vpSv6Q_8BEKtvJOYnboEABudSCrldJVpK88ajcjeAm5QiXWY/s320/purple.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262686047271863282" /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>What we can get from this is that in order for an object of the same size to fill the same amount of space in the camera's frame we must use a wider lens as we move closer and a longer lens as we move away. In fact, both the red camera and the green camera represent object 1 as 66% of the frame. This is evidenced by both the charts as well as the first diagram where the intersection of object 1's plane is shared by both the red camera and the green camera's field of view.</div><div><br /></div><div>An interesting change in the relationship happens however if we were to move the purple camera to the position of the red camera (a distance 6 times as far). If we move the purple camera object one will fill 0.083 percent of the frame, object 2 0.093 percent, and object 3 0.1 percent of the frame. The reason this is interesting is that the relationship of the sizes of each object remains roughly equivalent. 66% is 83% of 80%, whereas 0.083% is 83% of 0.1%, therefore the relationship of objects at any distance remains roughly equivalent at any given field of view.</div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-7356084631532422572008-07-11T14:10:00.000-07:002008-07-11T15:50:06.740-07:00Photoshop 101 : Levels<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyu6Blb7daSY9BazTToMQWcAcbF3HXMbV5CQzdwqN3EAf_FAPGSO0WUzcMctFCdAKutIiEg6pPJ7Xw8WlViz6rNaxcliiR6Hjj2gebrKbSyFKG73m11Zf9T4Z7zJY6_2E_V_uk8c1UYaQ/s1600-h/037907.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyu6Blb7daSY9BazTToMQWcAcbF3HXMbV5CQzdwqN3EAf_FAPGSO0WUzcMctFCdAKutIiEg6pPJ7Xw8WlViz6rNaxcliiR6Hjj2gebrKbSyFKG73m11Zf9T4Z7zJY6_2E_V_uk8c1UYaQ/s320/037907.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221867429868625026" /></a>Last week I went over how to set up a product shot using just a few supplies from around the house. Today I am going to work on some basic image control techniques. I would like to stress a small pet peeve I have about calling this editing or photoshopping; first is that editing is the process of selection, and second is that photoshop is not needed for any of the techniques below since most <i>any</i> photo manipulation software can do this.<div><br /></div><div>I mention that last one for those that are using photoshop elements or some other program, since the buttons and names may be different. If you aren't using photoshop or similar and would like to have a decent photo manipulating without any cost to you (and legally too), consider GIMP. I've not used it myself but it is an option to you. gimp.org</div><div><br /></div><div>To begin our tutorial I am using a photo I took in a junk yard. Notice how the colors are lifeless and the photo is flat. For this exercise (and anytime you talk about photos), the term flat is used to denote an image that has low contrast, or range from darkest to lightest. A histogram such as the two in the levels control windows below shows a map of the concentration of values along the tonal range of the image. Sound complicated? It's not... Starting at the left of the histogram is the darkest spot and we get continuously brighter as we go further right. The far right is the brightest spot. The funny looking shape inside the window is the histogram itself, and is just a representation of the percentage of pixels that are that particular level of brightness.</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7NhbFnz7VnGHQMhUgQ9dIrJMfKxwhGb5iWFPGrxDf8OoTr26DqNQld285GU31ZZhpM2zxrPl_leEkZzwHVJpqRZZiTOYQ_vPZpuanEyaurhRzZtGBXxsqbrPvXaQoTbmxICVYPqIlTmI/s1600-h/Picture+1.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7NhbFnz7VnGHQMhUgQ9dIrJMfKxwhGb5iWFPGrxDf8OoTr26DqNQld285GU31ZZhpM2zxrPl_leEkZzwHVJpqRZZiTOYQ_vPZpuanEyaurhRzZtGBXxsqbrPvXaQoTbmxICVYPqIlTmI/s320/Picture+1.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221867427515220530" /></a></div><div><br />Looking at the levels dialogs there are</div><div> three controls under the histogram, those little triangle are the controls we are going to use for this exercise. Now, I stress that using tools like auto levels may be a one click adjustment, but in my mind it is not a solution. Auto levels picks these points for you; we are here to learn how to pick them ourselves. To do this, we need to remember that the histogram is just a range of the current image's tones, the triangles on the bottom are <i>where</i> our white mid and black points will be after clicking okay.</div><div><br /></div><div>Why is this important you may ask? Well, each image and hence each histogram is different and we want to be able to learn how to move the controls appropriately. Remember those bell curves from school where the teacher took the highest grade and the lowest grades and made those the tops and bottoms of the test and your grade fell somewhere between them? Well, that's what we're going to do with levels.</div><div><br /></div><div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_sjuHuL9zQ9b5pRgOOfbw9p7zlKtpoDl1RiYZmcADyJl-LOxd1TYSUujmLeVZtWspudIaImrLT6UdoZxuNOybpYvQo_vXtMh_JyVkA5vPHlw8rvUYrM1zMyGNEnWSEmc9pyKC4Oiq5vc/s320/Picture+2.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221867431620061218" /></div><div>In my sample image's histogram above you can see how the image is not distributed evenly, it has very little in the darkest areas. What we've done is move the dark triangle to the right. We are effectively saying that this point above the triangle is where we want the bell curve to fall. In this case, we've moved the black triangle to just slightly past the first little bit of of the hill. Why did we do this? Because moving it into the area rather then just at the beginning will give us a slightly punchier contrast which is what we want.</div><div><br /></div><div>I also moved the grey slider a little bit to, it controls the mid point of our bell curve. We usually want to adjust our mid points to control the contrast of our highlights OR our shadows. This one is also more subjective and depends on the individual image so you should play around with this one yourself.</div><div><br /></div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGUP2x68mXmo9PTHjIwxycrkjuv40cjTf3SE5tulZAa0hEP7WFxF66vc-IWEPbDAyTLoSpooJZTN0LAsrKqBJoP38ZqhoP2JwMsecIFARhA0QURCZAzgMFPFwGtVhll6j1EwUBeME3ivk/s320/Picture+3.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221867438561837842" /><div>Lastly I felt that image looked fine tonally, but the color was a little lacking. So I opened up the hue/saturation tool and pulled in a bit more saturation here. BUT, in a step that is often over looked, I used the drop down menu to work on the red channel (and the yellow channel as well) since I felt the rest of the spectrum (blues and greens) looked fine. Here I added a small amount of saturation to the reds channel and yellows to bring out the rust of the cable and the yellow paint. This added a bit more pop to the image which to me was exactly what was needed.</div><div><br /></div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWesSOUdKZlBuJ4E96PE8U2gAWfsy8vA3dRjiC04CMKZQMUk9aSkawW2awUA2Hn1c1KMHbg-VmjzHsZeojsTHSAl1M7AZDljlNOKrngh61LkQdKYbXtxGh9haVGnS8QTTUACOW-vSSDzQ/s320/037907.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221867441116224386" /><div>In looking at the image before we did any corrections to it to our final image we can see a huge increase in the image's tone and color. We started at a washed out flat image and ended up with something that has a full contrast range and has colors that pop. End the end, we've only used two tools and a few clicks of the mouse but we've had complete control the whole time. It may be a little more then clicking auto, but in this sample clicking auto would introduce a magenta color cast and leave us with a flat image.</div><div><br /></div><div>I hope that this tutorial has provided you with some tips and a little more info on how to use photoshop to enhance your images. I'd love to see some before and after photos.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-79924830715660856812008-07-08T19:07:00.001-07:002008-07-11T15:49:41.819-07:00Photography 101 : Products<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpD-1yVTcPrKHxoeuHdS4_yBCZuqYlAekDK4aBNFk60Gq4gFThgxDiqqeHMo-iHDXaIhyphenhyphenlGarei61qymUEvCN7C1ZC2RaoovMW7Wly5-ue90PNLqHmefwIWGchQ1pYntt6m65VM-RT8Vk/s1600-h/039608.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpD-1yVTcPrKHxoeuHdS4_yBCZuqYlAekDK4aBNFk60Gq4gFThgxDiqqeHMo-iHDXaIhyphenhyphenlGarei61qymUEvCN7C1ZC2RaoovMW7Wly5-ue90PNLqHmefwIWGchQ1pYntt6m65VM-RT8Vk/s320/039608.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220837174594109874" /></a><br />As an aide to those interested in shooting small objects such as jewelry or in this case a tape measure I'm going to start off my tutorials with a tabletop product shot demonstration. First thing I want to point out is I am in fact not using fancy equipment (other then my dSLR) to achieve this. Most of what you'll need you can find around the house already, or improvise where needed. So first, what is needed for this shot?<div><br /></div><div>Materials:</div><div><br /></div><div>1. Camera (any kind will do with one caveat, your life will be a million times easier if the camera has a manual mode. I'll go into this in a minute)</div><div>2. Product</div><div>3. Five sheets of typing paper</div><div>4. Table lamp.</div><div>5. Tripod (or something to rest the camera on)</div><div>6. Tape or 2 paper clips</div><div><br /></div><div>Let's build our set shall we? First, take a sheet of paper and fold it in half widthwise. Then fold that in half what would have been lengthwise. Fold both sides of that to make a letter W (or M depending on which way you folded). You want to end up with a W shape however. Now, take another sheet of paper and tape the top edge to the arms of the W... You want this sheet to rest against your table and curve up in the back. This is the stage where your product will sit.</div><div><br /></div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisTu6ynsxNtos4p1DtCBHzXj3X4hJmAGqdGFk-Wbl0_QqCKsTHe30CXHr70F1Qs3kwJ5PR32ZKWbG4_rcI7PEymEqipMja8YwS-KtFrMboTudSCkCGr5ij_Kz3cAZUPIGn-tdAWdsxLxA/s320/039617.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220843076755681154" /><div>Take two more sheets of paper and fold each in half widthwise and set them on either side of the stage fold side up. Take your last sheet and make a small accordion fold along the center</div><div> lengthwise. Open it back up and smooth it out only a little (you should have a notch running down the paper, but you don't want it to high, this is only for structural support). Take this sheet and lay it on top of the two folded sheets on the sides, you should have the accordion fold facing up.</div><div><br /></div><div>Take the table lamp, hopefully it's the kind that is on the arm that you can move around since what we want to do is put the light over the top sheet of paper. What we've done basically is create a tent with the product in the center. The sheet on the back swoops up so it looks like we have a white surface that goes on indefinitely, just what we want.</div><div><br /></div><div>Place the camera on a tripod or other steady surface (we want the camera above the item and looking down on it). It helps to to back up and zoom in rather then stay close. Make sure you aren't catching any of the edges of the sheets. Having the camera on a tripod or steady surface helps to eliminate motion blur since we're not usually getting a ton of light from the lamp.</div><div><br /></div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3DvpawoYQRIZTNQzGd7aKSseOHWL2D7Em1o-JHX4qx3PJbhHAuVm1Uso9hvuTEyGW_UktuQz7XuWQBOu3URNOzFfHY6XsVtFf3HxpcQXY6fzoRGcsE_wTrhORZADDHRYkUImuCXwEHpw/s320/039618.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220846824779967682" /><div>Now for that caveat I mentioned about the camera. You can get through this even if your camera doesn't have a manual (or at least exposure compensation) function. The problem is that we want to overexpose the scene. The camera takes an average of what it sees and guesses at the exposure. It tries to put this at a mid grey exposure, so that large area of white is going to look grey if you let the camera do it's thing without intervention. If we can let in more light now we can save ourselves some trouble in having to adjust it in the computer later. If your camera doesn't let you change the exposure we can adjust that in the next tutorial.</div><div><br /></div><div>That's it. We've just taken our first product shot and if you've done everything right you probably won't need to do much post-processing work. If you do, we'll cover that in the next tutorial.</div><div><br /></div><div>I would love to know if you use this technique, leave a link in the comments section.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thanks, Paul</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9205283789844443954.post-39666032865170975432008-06-15T20:29:00.000-07:002008-06-15T22:28:47.108-07:00The path of being a genius<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGRN6ie-0uNWHvfTAkw_zpMhDa0Ls1OgUjo7rFHNYSRNgi82Rys5hafi0GrJEZERTkKL6OmaWKVwa4VgXzO8zX47MRlZ51NEcDQuRIcbXblhQBj2NYNbBsEX_mGXHFd7N9Pb42bAqBkQw/s1600-h/039036.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGRN6ie-0uNWHvfTAkw_zpMhDa0Ls1OgUjo7rFHNYSRNgi82Rys5hafi0GrJEZERTkKL6OmaWKVwa4VgXzO8zX47MRlZ51NEcDQuRIcbXblhQBj2NYNbBsEX_mGXHFd7N9Pb42bAqBkQw/s320/039036.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212317618030914802" /></a><br />is oft shared with that of being insane. Case in point... Ripping apart a 20 dollar plastic toy camera, folding up some paper bellows and rubber banding it all together to a digital camera body.<div><br /></div><div>Not that anyone could ever consider it to be a quality camera or well crafted, but that's a holga for you. But, anyone one taking it apart and putting the lens onto a camera that costs 75 times as much is shear lunacy. What do I expect out of this? Probably not much more then bragging rights. Lens is crap, the bellows are held on by rubber bands, and the exposure is all over the place. It was fun and gave me something to do on father's day since no one did anything for me.</div><div><br /></div><div>edited for posterity, Jonah did call at 9:12 to wish me a happy fathers day</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1