First Bridals

[spphoto]

Well, I've been hiding in the shadows long enough, it's time to put myself out there! Here's a set of some post wedding bridals I did (didn't shoot the wedding though) for fun. I did it for free and mostly as samples for myself and the makeup artist. The effects I also did mostly as samples.

[spphoto]

And two more...

[_Jo_]

Hi...experimenting is fun! Finding out what works best for you.

1) The image is soft, nice for a close bridal although maybe sharper in the eyes? I also feel the crop is a little too close.

2)I like the overall idea but feel this needs to be toned down a little - looks a little overexposed?

3)I like that the bride is looking at the camera - the colourization technique is always a good one in moderation and it works nice here with the red roses. Bride is a little dark on my monitor though?

4)Very nice pose - although bride is not looking directly at the camera and she look's a bit too orange? Once again, could be my monitor!

Good stuff - thanks for sharing and would love to see more of your work!

[spphoto]

Thanks for the advice! I definatly learned a lot with these shots and your comments!

1 - I wish I had taken more with this set up, my flash ran out of batteries shortly after. I LOVE the colors here. I tend to shoot very close crops, so maybe I have to back it up a little too, I've gotten some comments that I need more wide shots. That's something for me to work on!

2 - The original is from the same series as the first, with no overexposure. Even the edit nothing is actually blown out. Maybe toning it down a bit would recover some of the high light detail.

3 - I actually hate this effect, but have had some requests for samples of it by people who love it, so I went ahead and did it anyway. She doesnt look too dark on my monitor, but the black & white sections are fairly high contrast, that might be the problem.

4 - again more playing with effects. This is and effect I've had a bit of a love affair with and need to let go of. I love the drama it gives, but it does screw up the skin tones. The posing was a learning experiance too, I'm always shooting against walls and curtains and such when someone said "why doesn't she sit and you shoot against the carpet?". Which ended up being the best shots from the shoot because the carpet was a nice grey tone which really brought her out.

Maybe I'll re-edit some of these and post them again.

[_Jo_]

Thanks for responding! It's fun learning - I am just delving into Photoshop after using other programs and feel like I am drowning! Watch this space so you can give me some comments also.

[spphoto]

For sure.

I've been using PS every day for about 10 years now, some of that teaching courses on it, and am still learning every day. I have a couple of redo's on these ones that I'll be posting as soon as my FTP decides to behave.

[xandria]

1) The image is soft, nice for a close bridal although maybe sharper in the eyes?

2)I like the overall idea but feel this needs to be toned down a little

3)I like that the bride is looking at the camera - the colourization technique is always a good one in moderation and it works nice here with the red roses. Bride is a little dark.

4)Very nice pose - although bride is not looking directly at the camera and she look's a bit too orange?

Good stuff - thanks for sharing and would love to see more of your work!
*ditto*

[spphoto]

OK, here's two redos. I fixed the color on the first and the highlights on the second.

[spphoto]

I also just noticed that my sensor needs a cleaning...

[CyberPet]

As the portraits are so close up, you might want to "fib" reality a bit, add a bit softening to the skin, remove some spots, etc. Not totally distort the reality, but make it a tad better.

[CyberPet]

A quick one... soften it a tad, removed a few spots, added funky frame. :D

http://the-halls.se/edited/bridalportrait.jpg

[spphoto]

Cool! Nice job on the frame too. I don't usually go for elaborate frames when I'm posting online, just a thin white or black border usually, but yours is really nicely done.

[CyberPet]

Stefanie, I don't normaly do frames either much, but this image would look good in a frame like this, so I added it for the effect on how the portrait would look on the wall. It's a great shot you've taken! :D

[spphoto]

Thanks Petra! I really wanted to get some natural light stuff but by the time everyone was there and ready to shoot it was too dark (though we did try, none of them turned out). I ended up sticking the model in the corner at the stairs and bouncing the flash straight out (up but on a vertical camera). It was a bit of an 'ah ha' moment when I saw the result, I'm used to bouncing off ceilings, but this was new. I'll definatly be using that technique in the future though! (oh, the first shot I posted was shot like that too)

[CyberPet]

Yeah, I love bouncing the flash in odd ways... I have a cord on my camera so I can aim i anywhere I like - especially during a party!

[_Jo_]

A quick one... soften it a tad, removed a few spots, added funky frame. :D

http://the-halls.se/edited/bridalportrait.jpg

I love this! You did a great job here.

[spphoto]

Ya, it does look nice. The only thing I noticed just now is that Petra removed a lot of freckles, which I wouldn't have done. Maybe for a portfolio shot, but not for the client's copy. They're part of who she is and shouldn't be removed unless she'd asked for it. But job well done none the less :p

[Kiddo]

Very nice!!!

[CyberPet]

Freckles? I didn't see them. :D I did removed some "zits" in her skin... the rest was the softening so that might have toned down any freckles.

[spphoto]

Heh, those were all freckles. The makeup artist actually did a very good job of covering up any blemishes she had, as well as a huge burn mark on her chin from the curling iron.

[CyberPet]

Oops... well I'm sorry, I didn't know. I saw something that looked like bumps from them being covered up. I really didn't mean to offend anyone! She's a gorgeous girl, with or without freckles or zits. :D

[spphoto]

I'm sure no feelings were hurt, and I understood that you didn't mean anything by it. You did a great job zits or no zits!