My Wife

[Toogy]

Just messing around taking some pics of my wife today, here's some that I thought turned out alright

http://www.pbase.com/toogy/image/41219690.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/toogy/image/41219773.jpg

http://upload.pbase.com/image/41219916.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/toogy/image/41219755.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/toogy/image/41220261.jpg

The first two I was messing around with fill flash and I think I got the effect I was looking for.
Yes there has been some Photoshoping done to them, my wife likes the sepia tone of the first one, the other two had their white balance altered in raw processing.

[ayotnoms]

Nice shots. #1 and #3 are the best; although I'd try cropping #1 to see if there's improvement with a tighter shot. #2 looks like she's reacting to bright light...that or she's thinking, "I hope he doesn't drop that expensive camera". 8-)
#4 is a nice candid but doesn't showcase her more appealing features. Lastly #5 a little too stiff...posed, if you will.

...not that you were looking for a 2 cent critique, but I what I really wonder about is how is it that all these forum members have such good looking wives. :-)

Thanks for sharing.

[serissolutions]

Shot 1 looks overexposed on same areas. What happened to that one?

[Toogy]

Too much fill flash perhaps? Doesn't look that bad to me?

[scottbergerphoto]

#2,3,and 4 are good shots. A little selective sharpening of the eyes, lips and hair in all three and some skin softening in #2 would make them really good shots.
Scott

[Toogy]

Ok, I guess I Have to ask, how do I selectively sharpen using CS? I have heard about this before and I really want to try it out.

[scottbergerphoto]

Ok, I guess I Have to ask, how do I selectively sharpen using CS? I have heard about this before and I really want to try it out.
Usually when sharpening a portrait, particularly of women, you want to get the eyes and lips nice and sharp but you want to leave the skin soft. Here's what I do:
1.Make a copy of the picture on a new layer prior to shaprening CTRL-J.
2. Apply USM to the entire copy layer to get the sharpening you want on the areas you might want it. Don't worry about how the rest of the picture looks.
3.Type "x" to make the foreground color black
4. At the bottom of the layers palate click on the New Layer Mask Icon while holding the ALT key. This will hide all the sharpening you just did with a Layer Mask filled with black.
5. Type "x" to change the foreground color to white.
6. Use the brush tool from the tool box to paint in the sharpening you want (eyes, lips). Painting with white reveals the sharpening. If you make a mistake just hit "x" to change the foreground color back to black and paint over it. Layer Masks are great!
7. Use the Opacity slider to adjust the intensity of the effect.

To soften the skin, you can follow the same procedure, except that you substitute: Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur for USM. You paint in Gaussian Blur instead of sharpening.
Reference: Photoshop CS for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby
Regards,
Scott
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[Toogy]

Cool! Thanks, I will give it a shot tonight.