Admiration of a local Photographer

[ChrisMc73]

Hello all, I'm really new to photography and I have found a local photographer who's work I'm absolutely in love with, having just had a newborn baby myself, her work with the newborn kids is amazing to me! I wanted to share her web site with you all, and no I'm not marketing for her, she doesn't even know I exist!

I wanted to get some feed back from you all on how you think she's getting such brilliant colors in her work, is it post processing with software?
Or just great equipment? Or a combo of both? I don't have an eye for post processing so I'm hoping you all can chime in on that.
I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I wrote her and asked some questions, explaining my love of her work and my newness to the photography world.
I don't want to steal her style, I just want some insight on how she gets such great color out of her work, etc...I want my own style once I know what I'm doing!

Use the link below to find her site, and visit her gallery, oh and please enjoy...

http://www.bethjansenphotography.com

[jgrussell]

She certainly does do beautiful work. Some of the great color comes from the lighting used, some from the props and some from processing.

[brennasg]

She has beautiful photos! Well she uses natural light..so you dont have to worry about fancy lights. I think she has a great camera, and is a great at photoshop. I strive towards those colors as well..but with a not great camera..I cant even get close. She also uses a ton of vibrant props. so that helps. thanks for sharing!

[ChrisMc73]

I'll share with you all what she tells me when I contact her, you are right her props are very colorful.

[swimchic]

Oh yes - she is awesome! I've been following her work for a long time now :)
It is post processing for sure, and yes, I know she uses natural light. Like said her props are always so vibrant too!
This is as close as I can get to her color popping without ruining my skin tones! She does such a good job at that! I only love the look on certian photos though.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f272/swimchicjen/IMG_9353.jpg

[petersmart]

Onr thing to notice about these great pictures is the sharpness of the eyes.

If you are trying to be a portrait photographer that is the ONE thing which must be pin sharp.

Apart from that don't forget these are mainly (probably) studio shots where everything is under control, apart from the kids!

And believe me, since I used to be a professional in the bad old days BD (before digital), getting shots of children in ANY environment is extremely difficult, and the difficulty escalates with the number of children in any shot.

So to produce such pictures takes years of work and expertise.

Really great professional pictures.

[petersmart]

Here are a few shots I took recently.

377197

They were taken on a trip with my niece to a local park.

377200

I used my Canon 350D with the 70-300mm IS USM lens, which allowed me to photograph them as they played.

I prefer that method because they are totally unihibited and you can catch them as they really are.

It was a very bright day and the pictures were produced using Photo Dynamic HDR and then processed further.

[Deckham]

Nice photos, and she certainly has a great feel for harmony and colour. My only critique would be - a little too heavy on the processing - mainly the eyes. But I guess that's what people want...

[Deckham]

Onr thing to notice about these great pictures is the sharpness of the eyes.

If you are trying to be a portrait photographer that is the ONE thing which must be pin sharp.

Apart from that don't forget these are mainly (probably) studio shots where everything is under control, apart from the kids!

And believe me, since I used to be a professional in the bad old days BD (before digital), getting shots of children in ANY environment is extremely difficult, and the difficulty escalates with the number of children in any shot.

So to produce such pictures takes years of work and expertise.

Really great professional pictures.

I photograph children daily - I do not use props, nor light other than ambient - though I do use the sun as a lamp. I'd like to think my work is pretty good - without the processing. I can share links, but cannot display publicly.

[ChrisMc73]

Nice photos, and she certainly has a great feel for harmony and colour. My only critique would be - a little too heavy on the processing - mainly the eyes. But I guess that's what people want...

Yeah the eyes in each picture stand out really well, I like it a lot for some reason.

And I missed this text on her front page which explains a little bit about her work:

Beth Jansen is Oklahoma City's premier children's portrait photographer, Specializing in natural light, candid portraiture of newborns, babies, children and families. Beth offers sessions for the Oklahoma City and surrounding areas and travels for shoots throughout the continental US.

Its great that all her shots are done with natural light, is that usually a photographer preference? Like are some of you just solidly against a flash and others use them a lot in your work?
I haven't bought a flash yet, and really enjoy natural light, of course I'm sure in darker situations one is needed. Whats the purpose of a diffuser? Can computer software not do the work a diffuser does?
I'm still trying to figure out what my next purchase should be; tripod or lens or speedlight or more CF cards? I'm new and just building up my gear.

[EOS_JD]

There's a lot of PP work going on in Beth's work. Colour saturation, eye contra.st pop and selective blurring of the surroundings. All adding up to very nice colourful images with strong compositions.

Great work

[ChrisMc73]

I guess how you find your own style, is to take bits and pieces from other peoples work you like, and create one for yourself...?

[Digital_zen]

If you duplicate your background layer, then convert to LAB color mode then go to curves you can pull the corners or top and bottom end of the "A" and "B" curve the angled line (other than "L"ightness) toward the left at top, and right at bottom, a bit (usually no more than about half way into the first grid box) and even them out so the angled line still goes through the center point you can achieve a lot greater amount of saturation than the Hue/Saturation dialogue box can offer before it gets all crazy.
How's THAT for a run-on sentence?
OK, now you can convert the mode back to RGB or whatever colorspace you work in normally. The main reason for keeping this on separate layer is that once you do this you might very well end up with Martian subjects, but since you were so smart you now have a layer right there under your Martians with regular ole humans, so you can just soften the edge of your eraser some and erase the Martian skin revealing the beautifully natural and quite humanesque (I know, not a real word) skin tones.
Sometimes it actually helps to lower the opacity of the eraser so your skin is still a bit "popped-up" in saturation also, experiment, have fun,...but not too much, Martians can be quite difficult to get along with.
P.S. Same goes with softening, except you gausian (sp?) blur your top layer then erase around the eyes and a bit around the mouth and nostrils. Drop the blurred layer's opacity to somewhere between 90% and 65% depending on how bad aunt Martha's skin is, or how much softness you want. Also if like the saturation poppy you can do this same thing but set the blend mode to "multiply" (don't worry not as mathy as it sounds) BUT if you do, you have to raise the brightness of each layer by about 50% (in CS, for some reason I have found that in CS3 it's closer to25%). Once you have your top layer multiplied and both brightened you can then blur the top layer until your gradations look right, erase a bit around the eyes, and you have what is commonly referred to as "the Orton effect".
Some love it, some hate it,...it's a decent way to add both softness and higher saturation at once while also deepening the shadows. Conversely do the same thing but use the blend mode screen, for a more high-key effect.

[ChrisMc73]

That just went way over my head...what program are you referring to?

[Sgt.]

Nice photos, but I cant stand music on web pages!!!

[ChrisMc73]

Nice photos, but I cant stand music on web pages!!!

You can always turn it off using the controls on the left hand side.
Its when you can't control it, thats what bugs me.

[taquito]

She does amazing work.
always good to see another okie. :)

[Digital_zen]

Photoshop.

[ChrisMc73]

Photoshop.

What do you mean "Photoshop"?

[Digital_zen]

That just went way over my head...what program are you referring to?
Was just answering this Q: :-)

[ChrisMc73]

That just went way over my head...what program are you referring to?
Was just answering this Q: :-)

Oh yeah ok, I gotcha. I don't know Photoshop that well yet.

[Mikefromearth]

Its great that all her shots are done with natural light, is that usually a photographer preference? Like are some of you just solidly against a flash and others use them a lot in your work?
I haven't bought a flash yet, and really enjoy natural light, of course I'm sure in darker situations one is needed. Whats the purpose of a diffuser? Can computer software not do the work a diffuser does?
I'm still trying to figure out what my next purchase should be; tripod or lens or speedlight or more CF cards? I'm new and just building up my gear.


Natural light is great, but flash allows you to augment the lighting in any situation to achieve a look that you would not be able to without. Yes some photogs don't like flash, some dont leave home without it!

The purpose of a diffuser is to make the light source larger, which softens shadows. The bigger the light source = the softer the shadows.

Personally I use flash all the time. I use it at night, use it during the day.. etc. It allows me to reduce shadows and bring light from angles other than those the sun provides me.

[shannyD]

she has excellent work..

there area set of actions that i like to use on my kiddos.. they are called childs play actions. and they punch up color a lot, and contrast. and even have something t make the eyes sparkle.

maybe you might want to check them out too.. nichole van has some actions for sale as well.

shan

[bobbyz]

You can always turn it off using the controls on the left hand side.
Its when you can't control it, thats what bugs me.

Better yet, no speakers. I must be getting old.

[Karl Johnston]

I don't see any controls on the left hand side...the photography is pretty good, cool conceptual kid photographer. Man that music drives me up the wall, though. :(

[sued5320]

gotta hover the mouser over the lower left white border to see the controls...

Great photos...loved the two of the newborns on the piles of colored towels and cute hats!

[ChrisMc73]

she has excellent work..

there area set of actions that i like to use on my kiddos.. they are called childs play actions. and they punch up color a lot, and contrast. and even have something t make the eyes sparkle.

maybe you might want to check them out too.. nichole van has some actions for sale as well.

shan

Actions for...Photoshop? Or Light Room? Or Aperture? I think actions are in Photoshop if I remember correctly, remember I'm still new and haven't become an expert in these PP tools yet. Or my camera for that matter! ;)

[ChrisMc73]

gotta hover the mouser over the lower left white border to see the controls...

Great photos...loved the two of the newborns on the piles of colored towels and cute hats!

Yep its kind of hidden to the left of that white border, hover near there and you'll see it pop up. Love flash...

[jdetmold]

If you duplicate your background layer, then convert to LAB color mode then go to curves you can pull the corners or top and bottom end of the "A" and "B" curve the angled line (other than "L"ightness) toward the left at top, and right at bottom, a bit (usually no more than about half way into the first grid box) and even them out so the angled line still goes through the center point you can achieve a lot greater amount of saturation than the Hue/Saturation dialogue box can offer before it gets all crazy.
How's THAT for a run-on sentence?
OK, now you can convert the mode back to RGB or whatever colorspace you work in normally. The main reason for keeping this on separate layer is that once you do this you might very well end up with Martian subjects, but since you were so smart you now have a layer right there under your Martians with regular ole humans, so you can just soften the edge of your eraser some and erase the Martian skin revealing the beautifully natural and quite humanesque (I know, not a real word) skin tones.
Sometimes it actually helps to lower the opacity of the eraser so your skin is still a bit "popped-up" in saturation also, experiment, have fun,...but not too much, Martians can be quite difficult to get along with.
P.S. Same goes with softening, except you gausian (sp?) blur your top layer then erase around the eyes and a bit around the mouth and nostrils. Drop the blurred layer's opacity to somewhere between 90% and 65% depending on how bad aunt Martha's skin is, or how much softness you want. Also if like the saturation poppy you can do this same thing but set the blend mode to "multiply" (don't worry not as mathy as it sounds) BUT if you do, you have to raise the brightness of each layer by about 50% (in CS, for some reason I have found that in CS3 it's closer to25%). Once you have your top layer multiplied and both brightened you can then blur the top layer until your gradations look right, erase a bit around the eyes, and you have what is commonly referred to as "the Orton effect".
Some love it, some hate it,...it's a decent way to add both softness and higher saturation at once while also deepening the shadows. Conversely do the same thing but use the blend mode screen, for a more high-key effect.

this sounds very interesting but maybe im not following right, all my colors got dull. care to post a screen shot of the adjustments you made to "a" and "b"?

[shannyD]

Actions for...Photoshop? Or Light Room? Or Aperture? I think actions are in Photoshop if I remember correctly, remember I'm still new and haven't become an expert in these PP tools yet. Or my camera for that matter! ;)

you dont need to be an expert for actions.. they kinda do all the math for you. you just have to adjust opacity.. its for photoshop.

[Digital_zen]

JD, would be happy to but I don't know how to get screen shots in PS. basically what you want to do is move the top and bottom of your curves line more toward the center (just a bit, not to the center) but just slide them across the top and bottom, if you slide the top down or bottom up any you start messing with the density or contrast (which I gather is how some ppl are getting that "lomo" or a bit of a cross-processed look).

[jdetmold]

JD, would be happy to but I don't know how to get screen shots in PS. basically what you want to do is move the top and bottom of your curves line more toward the center (just a bit, not to the center) but just slide them across the top and bottom, if you slide the top down or bottom up any you start messing with the density or contrast (which I gather is how some ppl are getting that "lomo" or a bit of a cross-processed look).

ok that works better for whatever reason I was moving them up and down not right and left that looks much better thanks for the tip!!!

[Digital_zen]

No problem, just remember to switch it back if you save your images as jpgs, you won't be able to LAB mode.

[hofajoab]

Her works is really nice! Really vibrant without being over the top (imo). Good to see people still using natural light, although you can get great results from flash (any time of the day) I feel working with natural light has the same 'feel' as using 'film'.. you know, a sort of 'organic-ness' to it :lol:

Thanks for the tip Digital_Zen, works a treat! I've been using LAB colour a lot more but this is a new one to me.

[ChrisMc73]

Her works is really nice! Really vibrant without being over the top (imo). Good to see people still using natural light, although you can get great results from flash (any time of the day) I feel working with natural light has the same 'feel' as using 'film'.. you know, a sort of 'organic-ness' to it :lol:

Thanks for the tip Digital_Zen, works a treat! I've been using LAB colour a lot more but this is a new one to me.

True.