While Rhowan may be the current queen of drama and posing in our household – see my last post if you're not sure what I'm talking about – it would be fair to say that Harmony has a slight edge when it comes to looking cute :)
Most of the time, when I'm processing an image I have a clear idea about how I want it to turn out. In this instance though I struggled a bit as I couldn't decide whether to go for black and white or colour. In the end, mostly because I liked the contrast between the towel and her skin tones, the colour version won out.
On a related note: take a look at the difference between the towel (over her right shoulder) in the straight version and the final image. As you will probably notice, a lot of the detail is missing in the straight shot as a consequence of the fact that the highlights in the red channel were clipped in the original exposure. Fortunately though, clipping in one channel can be compensated for by either dropping the exposure (as you convert the RAW file) or by lowering the saturation. In this instance I used the second method, and partially desaturated the image using the Channel Mixer.
Other than that, the post-processing was relatively straightforward and followed most of the techniques in my Portraits: part one tutorial; i.e. I used a couple of masked curves to adjust the tonal balance of the image and another masked curve to add some light to her eyes.
captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped?
2.20pm on 2/6/09
Canon 1Ds Mark II EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM
200mm
f/3.5
1/30
aperture priority
+1/3
evaluative
200
no
RAW
ACR
minor
Amazing to see how totally different she looks here and previous photo.
The sweet look here is 180 degrees from the almost dark 'gaze' she had on the previous photos.
Striking actress ;)
comment byBrooks at 07:24 PM (GMT) on 3 June, 2009
She definitely does reign supreme in the cuteness dept. Good processing but I personally find the slight out-of-focusedness of the left eye (her right) to be a bit distracting in this one. I think part of this is because the curve adjustment on the eyes makes them especially striking (ie accentuating the softness a bit, in this case).
Ilan: sorry, I probably didn't make things overly clear. This is Harmony, our six year old, while yesterday's shot was Rhowan, our seven year old.
Brooks: good point, but the reason it's a bit soft is that I was handholding at 1/30 @ 200mm. I should have upped the ISO, but by the time I'd realised she'd run off to get dry :)
comment byMirko Herzner at 07:35 PM (GMT) on 3 June, 2009
Another amazing child portrait here. You are right about the contrast between the towel and her skin. Works out so nicely.
comment byJennifer at 07:41 PM (GMT) on 3 June, 2009
Love what you've done with the colour and yes a real cutie!
A lovely portrait of a beautiful girl. You must be working with virtually no dof. I can see a clear difference in sharpness between Rhowan's left and right eye. That said - I'd personally be very happy with a shot like this.
comment byCarlos Garcia at 01:10 PM (GMT) on 4 June, 2009
Wonderful portrait. The cute factor is off scale, but, again, those eyes are beautiful and somehow they convey her spirit... the wonder that often fills a child's world. Okay... cute factor has now shattered all records! :)
C.
comment byDan Kaufman at 04:24 PM (GMT) on 4 June, 2009
beautiful again !!! and thank you much for the post-processing notes and in particular the note on the channel clipping and how to compensate in RAW conversion. I have a (current) shot that is both slightly over exposed and also clipped in the red channel. Maybe I can save it.
Dan: give me a shout if you get stuck with your image.
comment byLightningPaul at 08:18 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2009
I don't like this one so much. Despites one eye is very sharp, it looks like a not properly focused image. Most of the face is un-sharp while it does not look blurry or has a nice bokeh.
comment bywill pattison at 02:14 AM (GMT) on 10 June, 2009
many of the greatest images ever made with a camera weren't "properly focused."
While Rhowan may be the current queen of drama and posing in our household – see my last post if you're not sure what I'm talking about – it would be fair to say that Harmony has a slight edge when it comes to looking cute :)
And if you're interested, the original is here:
.../archives/after_the_rain_2.php
Most of the time, when I'm processing an image I have a clear idea about how I want it to turn out. In this instance though I struggled a bit as I couldn't decide whether to go for black and white or colour. In the end, mostly because I liked the contrast between the towel and her skin tones, the colour version won out.
On a related note: take a look at the difference between the towel (over her right shoulder) in the straight version and the final image. As you will probably notice, a lot of the detail is missing in the straight shot as a consequence of the fact that the highlights in the red channel were clipped in the original exposure. Fortunately though, clipping in one channel can be compensated for by either dropping the exposure (as you convert the RAW file) or by lowering the saturation. In this instance I used the second method, and partially desaturated the image using the Channel Mixer.
Other than that, the post-processing was relatively straightforward and followed most of the techniques in my Portraits: part one tutorial; i.e. I used a couple of masked curves to adjust the tonal balance of the image and another masked curve to add some light to her eyes.
camera
lens
focal length
aperture
shutter speed
shooting mode
exposure bias
metering mode
ISO
flash
image quality
RAW converter
cropped?
Canon 1Ds Mark II
EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM
200mm
f/3.5
1/30
aperture priority
+1/3
evaluative
200
no
RAW
ACR
minor
Amazing to see how totally different she looks here and previous photo.
The sweet look here is 180 degrees from the almost dark 'gaze' she had on the previous photos.
Striking actress ;)
She definitely does reign supreme in the cuteness dept. Good processing but I personally find the slight out-of-focusedness of the left eye (her right) to be a bit distracting in this one. I think part of this is because the curve adjustment on the eyes makes them especially striking (ie accentuating the softness a bit, in this case).
Ilan: sorry, I probably didn't make things overly clear. This is Harmony, our six year old, while yesterday's shot was Rhowan, our seven year old.
Brooks: good point, but the reason it's a bit soft is that I was handholding at 1/30 @ 200mm. I should have upped the ISO, but by the time I'd realised she'd run off to get dry :)
Another amazing child portrait here. You are right about the contrast between the towel and her skin. Works out so nicely.
Love what you've done with the colour and yes a real cutie!
A lovely portrait of a beautiful girl. You must be working with virtually no dof. I can see a clear difference in sharpness between Rhowan's left and right eye. That said - I'd personally be very happy with a shot like this.
Wonderful!
Wonderful portrait. The cute factor is off scale, but, again, those eyes are beautiful and somehow they convey her spirit... the wonder that often fills a child's world. Okay... cute factor has now shattered all records! :)
C.
beautiful again !!! and thank you much for the post-processing notes and in particular the note on the channel clipping and how to compensate in RAW conversion. I have a (current) shot that is both slightly over exposed and also clipped in the red channel. Maybe I can save it.
Thanks everyone :)
Dan: give me a shout if you get stuck with your image.
I don't like this one so much. Despites one eye is very sharp, it looks like a not properly focused image. Most of the face is un-sharp while it does not look blurry or has a nice bokeh.
many of the greatest images ever made with a camera weren't "properly focused."
i'll leave it at that.
wp.