Katie - head shots for her portfolio -

Fantastic!

Slaterza wrote in post #9089207
Nice stuff Pham thanks for the setup shot as well it is good to see it in practice. I think the comment about number 5 cloning is actually a resizing issue that appeared at teh smaller size. Great work as usual.

i think it is a resizing thing too, but my post processing skills is no where it where it should be.. i am working on that this winter.. http://www.lynda.com/ or http://www.kelbytraini​ng.com/online/ here i come !

VanklePhoto wrote in post #9089226
Wow Phamster. Excellent work!! Really really nice lighting. I might have to go pick up one of those beauty dishes

do it right now.. .it is a great modifier and can be used in many ways.. well i use it in 2 ways, but i am sure you can come up with other ways.. lol..

drdiesel1 wrote in post #9089261
Hey Pham.
Is that an Octobox on the boom, or is that your PLM with the white front diffuser and black outer cover on it ? Thanks.

Nice work as usual. Thanks for the setup info and boom link. I like how some users post setups. It really helps and gives us more ideas for better shooting.

taknbyd wrote in post #9094705
What type of umbrella are you using in those shots...? The one with the boom stand... Thanks Pham.. I love to see how your lighting is... It's a really huge help!

PLM is 64 with white diffuser not the shoot thru with black backing .. it is the silver version.

Damian75 wrote in post #9089947
Great work as always phamster I took a quick shot at an edit of the 100% of her forehead the one you did does look a little blurred in the wrinkle areas I would suggest using curves layers and masks to fix that kind of thing.

| Byte size: ZERO | Content warning: NOT AN IMAGE

Also how do you like the Westcott boom is it pretty stable?

dude.. i have to learn how you did that.. i will google the curves layers and masks method.. because it looks 10 times better than what i did.. lol.. really maybe 20 times better..

i think the westcott is fine for what i am using it for.. it is the only one i have.. so i don't have any other ones to compare with..

mattaura wrote in post #9090094
that 2nd photo..the b & w one....phew...fantasti​c stuff

thanks. i like that one and then i didn't ...... and then i like it again.. haha.. on the boarder with it.. but you now see what i thought i saw.. so it is now validated !

Benji wrote in post #9090550
Waaaaaayyyy to much skin for a head and shoulders image. When I looked at the first six images all I saw was a head swimming in a sea of skin. Impact is where it is at in a head shot. While I'm at it the lopped off fingers of her right hand look bad, and she rolled her shoulders forward in nearly ever shot which is distracting and looks odd.

Benji

like i said benji.. first time doing head shots.. i am a full scene photographer, i create the full effect, but when it comes down to just doing headshots.. i am like.. wow.. this is too weird. .a tight crop of a head shot? too easy, but it seems i still messed up.. haha..


i am thinking you wanted me to put her in a dark turtle neck style cloth and just show her face? right? i thought about that.. she is wanting more edgy stuff vs. classic head shots.. so we discussed the output desired and went from there..

she is submitting her stuff to Helen Wells, Elite, and Ford..

but here is her recent stuff..
http://www.campusgirls​usa.com/gallery.php?p=​501&i=1

to be 19 and with a bright future ! no doubt she will make it some where in front of the lens..

bobbyz wrote in post #9091553
Very nice shots but I would have got some better boom arm.

which one would you recommend and have you tried the westcott version.. and what is not good about it.. i need to know..

JayJphoto wrote in post #9092963
Very nice shots. IMO, I would fill in some shadows opposite of your key light next time. It will smooth things out a bit on her skin.

i have some of the photos with the fill on the dark side.. maybe i will post some of those.. i just like the contrasty shadowed better, but it is all subjective and i can see your point..

Karl Johnston wrote in post #9093441
Excellent work pham..I will have to use my boom more now that I have a studio space

I find it such a pain to set up the alien bee version. So cheaply made and put together I half wonder if its going to fall apart on me and have everything crashing down..so I stopped using it so much.

cheaply made, the alien bee has a boom arm? or you talking about the alien bee flash head?

Pham,

I typically see where you were going with the dark/contrast look. One thing I've found is that it's easier to darken in post. So, leave some shadowing there, but make sure the detail is there too. If it's too dark in-camera, then things get a little "muddy" in the shadows. I typically would shoot a few darker, and shoot a few with more fill. If the processing adds more contrast, and darkens things; 9 out of 10 times I find the photo with more fill looks better.

It's always a very fine line to get it just right, but I can see what you were looking for.

Damian75 wrote in post #9089947
Great work as always phamster I took a quick shot at an edit of the 100% of her forehead the one you did does look a little blurred in the wrinkle areas I would suggest using curves layers and masks to fix that kind of thing.

| Byte size: ZERO | Content warning: NOT AN IMAGE

Also how do you like the Westcott boom is it pretty stable?

Damian, care to give us a quick workflow on the processing? It's amazing.

Jon.

Cool stuff man, I like a lot!

Jon Foster wrote in post #9101565
Damian, care to give us a quick workflow on the processing? It's amazing.

Jon.

I am glad you like it. Basically it is a mix of a few techniques, first I create a duplicate layer I never work on the background layer then 2 curves adjustment layers are made one to lighten the dark area of the wrinkles and one to darken the light areas, both layers are fully masked off and then using a very small soft brush set to low opacity 10-20% you go in on the adjustment layers and reveal what you need. It is pretty much a very controlled and non destructive dodge and burn.Then create a new layer with all adjustments added Cmd+Opt+Shift+E, from that layer I make a selection of all the skin and copy that to a new layer and apply a highpass filter basically creating a texture layer from the skin and set the layer to overlay and turn off the layer so I can see the one below. I then run a surface blur on that layer and then turn back on the skin layer to return texture back to the skin. Then it is a matter of playing with the layer opacities to get the desired look. Christy Schulers website http://www.christyschu​ler.com/retouching.htm​l has a great tutorial on the skin texture technique. The only other thing I did was add a slight dark ring around the iris using a custom brush I made, and an overall curves and levels adjustment.

absolutely beautiful work! well done!

^ +1

Thanks for the set up shots,,, very helpful

Damian, thanks for the info and the link!!!

You "boomed" your PLM? Gangsta!

Hi Pham,

LOVE YOUR SHOTS... What light are you using? link to purchase them? what lens did you use? i'm a newbie and want to buy some lights that why..

thanks,

-Alex

WOW all inspiring man!!!

Damian75 wrote in post #9104138
I am glad you like it. Basically it is a mix of a few techniques, first I create a duplicate layer I never work on the background layer then 2 curves adjustment layers are made one to lighten the dark area of the wrinkles and one to darken the light areas, both layers are fully masked off and then using a very small soft brush set to low opacity 10-20% you go in on the adjustment layers and reveal what you need. It is pretty much a very controlled and non destructive dodge and burn.Then create a new layer with all adjustments added Cmd+Opt+Shift+E, from that layer I make a selection of all the skin and copy that to a new layer and apply a highpass filter basically creating a texture layer from the skin and set the layer to overlay and turn off the layer so I can see the one below. I then run a surface blur on that layer and then turn back on the skin layer to return texture back to the skin. Then it is a matter of playing with the layer opacities to get the desired look. Christy Schulers website http://www.christyschu​ler.com/retouching.htm​l has a great tutorial on the skin texture technique. The only other thing I did was add a slight dark ring around the iris using a custom brush I made, and an overall curves and levels adjustment.

dude.. i am still trying to learn all of this editing.. so thanks so much for your edit to show, and how to do it , that link really is helpful

phamster

ocalexoc wrote in post #9159699
Hi Pham,

LOVE YOUR SHOTS... What light are you using? link to purchase them? what lens did you use? i'm a newbie and want to buy some lights that why..

thanks,

-Alex

thanks alex

the light i am using are the alien bees ab1600, and lens is a canon 85

http://www.alienbees.c​om/flash.html

phamster

Great stuff man! She so pretty.