Newbie with bridal portrait - need help!

I have been reading around these threads for quite some time now - probably close to a year and have learned so much from you fine people! I knew the day would come when I would be posting with my own question...and well, that day has finally come.

I'm Amber...guess it would be nice to introduce myself, huh?

In a learning attempt for me as a complete amateur photographer, and a chance for my sister to see what her complete wedding ensemble would look like together, we thought we would take her outside and take a few shots. This wasn't really a planned shoot from the beginning, it was a trial "hair and makeup" run for the bride-to-be that just evolved from there. When we got back inside and looked at the pictures, she really liked this one and wants to print it. I'm not happy with it yet. There is a lot of detail in the back of her dress that you can't see due to the highlights. I've played with the curves in Photoshop, but I can't seem to get it quite right. How can I darken the back of her dress without darkening her face - or without morphing her into an Oompa Loompa straight out of Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory...because at one point last night, that's what she looked like.

I'm a total newbie - please help me out! In addition to the dress highlights, what other suggestions do you have for this photo? I would like to make it as good as possible if she is going to print it, and I'd also like to learn as much as possible. Did I mention that I'm new to all of this and still have the "sponge" brain and am soaking in as much as possible? What could I have done differently to have improved this shot?

BTW - I shot this in RAW.

Barnes and Noble is on the agenda for tonight. Anyone have a suggestion for a great beginners book - I'd like a great starter book for both photography (I have Understanding Exposure right now and have loved that!) and also one for Photoshop.

Thank you in advance for any help, suggestions, critique, comments, etc that you can offer. I am really eager to learn from my mistakes in this one as I know it is not perfect. I see little things that are bugging the crap out of me with it - but the bride likes herself in it, so that has to speak for something, right? LOL

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Welcome to the forum Amber. The shot you have posted is a wonderful shot. You didn't mention what version of Photoshop or what platform of computer you are using so I am going to guess CS2 and Windows. I am not on my calibrated monitor to see how bad the dress is but here is what I would normally do.

1. Open the shot in ACR (Adobe Camera RAW) which is the RAW converter for Photoshop.
2. Turn off the Auto settings by pressing CTRL + U.
3. Set your WB accordingly (probably somewhere between daylight and shade). You can also use the WB eye dropper and click on part of her dress for starters.
4. Adjust the Exposure slider while pressing Alt. This will set your white point and show you when and where clipping is occurring. Adjust the slider until the screen goes black then go up just slightly making sure that there are no white spots on anything where you want to retain detail.
5. Adjust the Shadows slider the exact same way but here you want the screen to look completely white then reduce the shadows just slightly. This sets your black point.
6. Now, adjust the Brightness slider to taste. This is setting your midtones.
7. Go to the curves tab and adjust the curve depending on how much contrast you want.
8. Click Open to send the file to Photoshop for any further edits.

You can also try the Shadow/Highlight tool in PS but I always start with the best possible from RAW before doing any PS work.

As far as books go take a look at Scott Kelby's books for photographers. They are excellent step-by-step books with easy to use instructions, pictures, and even downloadable images to try out the steps.

OK, I went home and checked and there are no blown details on her dress. The prblem is that there is no contrast because of the lighting in that area. To really get that detail to show you would need to create some shadows with sidelighting. I played around for a second in Lightroom and came up with this which is actually lighter than your version but still retains all the highlights.

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Looks like it should be no problem to bring some detail back into that dress if you shot in RAW. You can take a 3/4 to 1 stop out of it and also correct for the color cast to even it out. If you use Lightroom, it'll just take a few seconds. Then, send to PS if you want to get artsy with the coloring. If you can supply me the RAW file, I can give you an example.

You guessed right with the CS2 and Windows - sorry, I didn't even think to post that part. See...newbie here.

I'm going to try again from scratch with your workflow and see if it comes out any differently, if for nothing else than to learn. I'm all about learning.

I really like your version. It stands out much more than mine. I'm not real clear on how you did it though - how do you add the sidelighting in Photoshop? Is there a neat little tool for that, or is it pretty in depth work?

Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to look and help me out.

I'm also not working on a calibrated monitor...at least, I don't think so. How would I know? K...maybe this should be a good time to mention that I'm not only a newbie, but I'm also a blonde newbie...but a blonde newbie with a sense of humor!!!!!

I have never used Lightroom - I'll go look it up instead of asking the obvious.

I can absolutely supply you with the RAW, Rumjungle. I'm at work at the moment and only have the jpg with me, but as soon as I get home, I can get you the RAW. What is the best way to get it to you? I would love to see an example!

Lightroom is another program by Adobe that is more geared towards photographers. However, Mike is right, shadows created by side lighting would really bring out the texture in that dress. However, I think there's still room to pull back the exposure and enhance the existing shadows. I won't know for sure until I see the RAW file.

I looked it up! I'm downloading Adobe's trial tonight and can't wait to play around with it. It looks like a fun new toy. I feel like a kid at Christmas all of a sudden...

tweenkal wrote in post #3519134
You guessed right with the CS2 and Windows - sorry, I didn't even think to post that part. See...newbie here.

I'm going to try again from scratch with your workflow and see if it comes out any differently, if for nothing else than to learn. I'm all about learning.

I really like your version. It stands out much more than mine. I'm not real clear on how you did it though - how do you add the sidelighting in Photoshop? Is there a neat little tool for that, or is it pretty in depth work?

Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to look and help me out.

I'm also not working on a calibrated monitor...at least, I don't think so. How would I know? K...maybe this should be a good time to mention that I'm not only a newbie, but I'm also a blonde newbie...but a blonde newbie with a sense of humor!!!!!

If you don't know if your monitor is calibrated then it isn't. The best way to calibrate your monitor is with a hardware/software device/program. I use the Spyder 2 Express and absolutely love it. There is also the Huey and several others. A search here will yield lots of threads to read through on that. It is essential though if you plan on editing your shots.

Here is what I did in Lightroom.

Upped the Exposure until I clipped the highlights then used the Recovery slider to get those highlights back. Added some Clarity and some Vibrance. Then I switched the Curve to Strong Contrast and used the Point Source adjustment tool (I think that is the correct term for it) to raise the midtones, tone down the shadows and the highlights just a tad. I then tried to focus on the details in the back of the dress with this same tool to make them stand out more. But the dress needs to have some sidelighting when shooting, not in photoshop. While it could be done with some dodging and burning it would be easier to do it in the field, not on the PC. I then opened it up in PS for some sharpening at USM 80/.5/0.

tweenkal wrote in post #3519152
I have never used Lightroom - I'll go look it up instead of asking the obvious.

I can absolutely supply you with the RAW, Rumjungle. I'm at work at the moment and only have the jpg with me, but as soon as I get home, I can get you the RAW. What is the best way to get it to you? I would love to see an example!

I wouldn't mind playing with the RAW either. The Jpeg was easily workable but of course the RAW would be much better.

Rumjungle wrote in post #3519271
Lightroom is another program by Adobe that is more geared towards photographers. However, Mike is right, shadows created by side lighting would really bring out the texture in that dress. However, I think there's still room to pull back the exposure and enhance the existing shadows. I won't know for sure until I see the RAW file.

Yup, with the RAW there might be a way to bring out those details a little more. It might require blending two seperate images as well.

In2Photos wrote in post #3519391
It might require blending two seperate images as well.

I was thinking the same thing.

You can level out the exposure using a selection & a Layer mask. See post #9
A question about sky

yo Amber! where in VA? im in alexandria!! welcome to the best photography forum on the net!

PhotosGuy wrote in post #3522241
You can level out the exposure using a selection & a Layer mask. See post #9
A question about sky

Awesome!!! Thanks for linking that PhotosGuy! Lots of info in that one post for me to play with - I really appreciate it -

I have more homework for tonight! Yay!

roeddel wrote in post #3522263
yo Amber! where in VA? im in alexandria!! welcome to the best photography forum on the net!

Hi Roeddel - I'm in the land with far less traffic! I'm in Tidewater. And yet, I still gripe about the traffic on a daily basis... haha! I was up in your neck of the woods just a few weeks ago! I love it up there, just don't like the traffic...or the cost of living.

I did a couple more edits from the RAW file that Amber sent me. Doing anything with those details on the back would take quite a bit of work IMO. Others may have a better/faster way though. One thing I do want to mention is that I think your settings for this shot were a little off. EXIF shows 42mm on your 17-55 IS, 1/250, f/2.8, ISO 100 and flash used. I probably would have gone for something more like 1/60, f/5.6, ISO 100 or 1/125, f/5.6, ISO 200 and flash, adjusting FEC to taste.

Let me know if you want me to email back a DNG file with the Lightroom edits made.

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