Johnny Mathis in Concert, May 25th, 2006 [Large Images Warning]

I shot Johnny Mathis about three weeks ago. I have been up to my ass in alligators ever since with boxing matches, VIP events, Kool and the Gang (in the pipeline) and Los Tigres del Norte (in the pipeline), plus some RAW shooting at a wedding of the daughter of a friend but just as a guest plus my day job. I also started a Blog (see my .sig) to supplement the stuff I put here in my Q&A and other posts.

Johnny Mathis is a class act and while he is getting a bit long in the tooth (someone said 71) he looks great and does a fair job. So, without further ado, here's Johnny:

#1 Note: I tried "cut outs" ala Chris Fritchie "Taygull here at POTN" and my client loved them.

Dwight, don't rush the poor guy (DOB 9/30/35).
...and what's this about RAW shooting?? another omen of the impending Apocalypse, I figure.

Well, you've done another exemplary job with the photos my friend.

Cheers!!

Dang Dwight... those are incredible! All of them!
What is the pattern that is intermixed with the background photo in #1.
Is there a tutorial for the 'Chris Fritchie "Taygull here at POTN" ' method online somewhere?

I noticed some tearing in the first cut out shot, left hand subject shoulder. ( I realize you were rushed, but also wanted to let you know)
I used the smudge tool to close up the gap then the blur tool to soften the cutout on the background...

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Dwight, as I told you last week those are fantastic.

Guys I've tried many ways to do the cutout. The most important thing is to have some contrast between the subject and the background. If you play around with the "extract" tool in filters in Photoshop it seems to work the best. If you use the "smart highlight" option you can really do some nice work. Play around with the features that is the best tutorial.

The thing I like about the extract tool is when you are cleaning up the edges you can hold down the alt button and it will fill what ever you have removed. Where I tend to make a mistake is not zooming in enough and using a small brush.

You need to play around with the hardness of your brush and size of your brush. It is not uncommon for me to zoom in 400% and use a 1 or 2px brush at times.

Here is where I spent maybe 6 or 7 minutes cutting out Johhny from Dwights background. It was easy because of the contrast.

What I did was use the extract tool under filters and worked on the left shoulder a touch. I did not add a small drop shadow as this would have made the edges look even cleaner. I did use a 1 px brush to clean it up a bit.

What happens a bunch in cutouts is if the same color is in the foreground you can sometimes erase it by mistake if you use the lasso or a tool like that (which I never use).

Dang you Dwight...now I've got to do one with three or 4 cutouts!

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Dwight, I have to ask, did he sing on pitch? Last time someone I knew attended a recording of his, he said poor Johnny couldn't get the right notes and had to stop. Maybe he had a bad day, and I hope he was most impressive for you. I loved hearing him when I was younger and every Christmas, the radio stations here love his songs.

Great pictures, again! Your point of view is truly amazing and the colors and exposure, dead on! Congrats.

My oldest (of three) sisters is a huge Johnny Mathis fan and has been for probably the past 50 years. I've been a fan through osmosis.

He looks great, and as always so do your pictures.

May I go OT for a moment? Having just done my first pro gig (a wedding) and after shooting 500-600 pictures in one night, having held my camera and flash bracket, which must weigh in around 10 pounds for four hours, I wasn't too keen to take pictures the next day.

Do you get burned out as far as "fun" picture taking is concerned after doing it for work?

mark

He looks terrific for a 71 yr old. Wonderful work Dwight.

Thanks taygull. I appreciate you explaining that. I hope to give this a try soon. Thanks again...

Right, I'm pushing him along! Yes, I would like to master RAW for studio/people work.

Oh, and thank you!

The background "pattern" in the collage is a "treatment" of the #4 image in PhotoImpact.

Thank you for the tip on smudging ... I will be posting some boxing images in Sports this week with another cutout collage where I really could have used this suggestion ... the tearing isn't as bad because I used a softened cutting technique but I got "lumps" and couldn't figure out what to do with them. Maybe I'll post up the cutout from that collage separate and see if someone can show me how to deal with it ... but it will be Post Processing forum ... I'll try to remember to come back here and add a note and link.

I did my cutouts in PhotoImpact using the "smart lasso" tool. It also has an extract function. I really need to migrate to Photoshop ... I have the latest version of Adobe Studio and it is still in the box.

He had some trouble from time to time but I don't think anyone cared ... he got a great review from the local reviewer (I'm not sure he ever gives a bad review.)

Thanks for the complements.

Mark, I rarely have time for "fun" pictures, so I don't get burned out so much as can't make the time. I always have so many things to try or research or experiment with in addition to the paying work that I don't have time for "burn out". Oh, yes, a 1D Mark II with 300mm f/2.8 gets heavy after an hour or so, eh?

Elisabeth-Ann, yeah, he looks better at almost 71 than I do at almost 61, sigh.

Thanks for the info on the background.

Smudging is great for filling in holes and closing gaps.
After you have all the gaps closed your friend will be the Blur tool to soften the transition of the cutout subject to the background.

Thanks again...