This shot started out as an attempt to photograph all five of our daughters, but the younger two (almost three years old, and 16 months) didn't really want to cooperate. My eldest, the one in the middle (who visits in the holidays but lives with her mum the rest of the time) asked for a portrait of her sisters for her birthday. So when she was up this weekend I thought I'd try and shoot all five of them at once. But, not surprisingly, none of them worked out at all well. I almost managed it, but every shot had at least one of them blinking, looking out the window, pulling someone else's hair, or any number of other things that didn't exactly add to the shot. So I gave up, and went with this shot instead (and there are some distracting elements, but on the whole I'm quite happy with it). Next time she's up I might try again, but for the time being three out of five seems like the best I can do.
It's also a good shot to put up today as it's my birthday, and what better thing to celebrate than family and children :-)
As for how this was done: it's a version of a technique I've talked about before. The diffuse effect, in this instance, is the result of adding two duplicate layers, both Gaussian blurred, both set to Soft Light blend mode. I duplicated the base layer, blurred it by 12px (on the full size image), changed the blend mode, duplicated the new layer, and blurred it again (by 20px). I then used the channel mixer to extract the red channel (resulting in a black and white image) and set it's opacity to 50%. The net result of this is that the image is desaturated and the luminosity of the skin tones is raised somewhat more than the surrounding detail (I think).
camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length image quality white balance
Canon G5
11.51am on 6/6/04
f2.8
1/60
aperture priority
+0.0
evaluative
50
23.0mm
RAW
auto
On this way, i want to say that i really like your photos! I'm always surprised and stunned in once! Great work, go on and on and on and on...!
Kind regards from switzerland
pezzi
comment byforrest at 08:31 AM (GMT) on 8 June, 2004
David, I really appreciate the fact that you take the time to explain in such nice detail the techniques you use to get the images that you post. As I am just getting into digital photography (I have been doing standard, classic photography for some time) I find it greatly helpful. It is one of the features of your site that keeps me coming back.
Thank you very much as I know it must be a challenge for you to maintain, as I am sure you have some other aspects to your life besides maintaining your site ;)
"David, I really appreciate the fact that you take the time to explain in such nice detail the techniques you use to get the images that you post. [...] It is one of the features of your site that keeps me coming back."
That's true, I always read your comments to an image to get some knowledge'bout editing an image. Thanks a lot for that.
Happy Birthday Dave!..... personally, I love all of the portaits that you put up. This one is right there with the best of them. Amazing detail and angelic looks. Now you should put up the same pic turned around 180. Wonder how that would look. Whenever I have tried the duplicate layer-overlay-gaussian blur technique, i am left with an image that needs a looooooot of work around the eyes! You should, maybe someday, write a book or article on these techniques. I am sure I would lap up all that info happily. ;-) Happy Birthday again.
comment by Tom B at 01:37 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2004
Happy Birthday, hope you get to do something fun.
In your tradition this portrait type shot is very nice and has a fantastic tone to it. I love the eyes and the expressions.
hello :)
ur children are gorgeous. drop dead stunning.
anyway,
I played around in photoshop today and decided to use 1 picture from your gallery (I don't know what name it is, but it has a pair of baby shoes in it)
And since I'm really new to photoshop, I guess it cam out quite.....weird. I think. But anyway,
here it is : http://ningx.operaglasses.org/photoshopped/
tell me what you think :D
Maybe recommend me one of those great pictures you have taken!
ah..I understand. I won't be using it then.
Pretty understandable :)
Thank you :D
comment by Latrini at 03:45 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2004
Two things:
1. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
2. I LOVE YOUR PICTURES!!!!
congratulations for both!
comment byJoe Holmes at 06:13 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2004
Dave, I'm sending you a bill for the damage done to my PowerBook when I turned it upside down to see the other two daughters. All right, all right, kidding, kidding. Happy birthday! It's wonderful to hear that your daughter's idea of a great present is a picture of her sisters! My 9 and 12 year olds are going through a, um shall we say, less warm stage right now...
comment by Jenny at 06:13 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2004
This is a fabolous site! It has inspired me to now create my own photoblog!
The most important things in life are health and love.
I can see the love here in that pic, so I hope too many good and healthful years more to you mate.
I, too, would like to thank you for always explaining in detail some of the Photoshop effects you do. I've tried one on my photographs before, and this one sounds interesting as well. It certainly works very well for this picture. You're quite inspiring, you know that? :)
Dave -- Happy Birthday! Great kids... great photo... and nice tutorial... I'll have to give it a go myself sometime... have a lager on me! You old dog...
comment by Phil at 12:25 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2004
Happy birthday also. I'm another that you have inspired to start a photo blog.
Oh this is wonderful! They are stunning.. poor you. LOL.. 5 girls? Sleepless nights ahead. :-) Im going to keep this composition in mind . My daughter is expecting her second this august and I would love to try this for her..
Happy Birthday. I hate that maintaining your site and posting pictures is stressing you out. Take your time. I guarrantee you're not going to lose your audience. I love your site and will visit whether you post a picture a day or not....
comment by djn1 at 08:46 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2004
Thanks everyone :-)
comment by Donna McMahon at 09:05 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2004
I found your website via an article in The Guardian, I love your photographs. Thanks for sharing them. :)
Hope you had a smashing birthday!
I will try your technique ASAP on one of my own pictures.
and, even it is a little bit late, 'Happy Birthday' to you! ;-)
-hd
comment by Maxine at 01:46 AM (GMT) on 16 June, 2004
The girls are absolutely gorgeous and the photo is just perfect! The balance between the look like twin sisters upside down and the other one looking inside the viewer eyes is just sublime. Thanks for that :)
Your daughters are stunningly beautiful! Really, they all are. This is an amazing picture. I wish I had a picture like this with my own sisters (I have three).
comment byIrene at 10:38 PM (GMT) on 21 June, 2004
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear David
Happy Birthday to you
Okay, a bit late but I only returned from holiday yesterday ;)
comment byLeilani at 01:09 PM (GMT) on 8 October, 2004
Very beautiful shot. The soft light really brings out a feeling of purity and innocence that comes with childhood. When reading the description, all I had in my head was this framed collection of all your attempts of this photoshoot and this one picture in the middle. I think that would be a fine gift for your daughter because it captures a memory of the moment from 6 different perspectives.
comment by Alan at 01:47 AM (GMT) on 24 January, 2005
David,
That's my "glow"!
You've now convinced me to go digital.
I didn't think I could duplicate the look and feel of my b&w and colour photos in PS.
And now, I'm ready to trade my darkroom for a desktop. Thank you.
Beautiful photo. Beautiful kids.
Regards,
Alan Young
comment bySimon at 12:05 AM (GMT) on 10 March, 2005
Hey,
I know you read that a lot, but I'm pretty sure you and your daughters like to read it anyway :-)
They are *beautiful*, these eyes are amazing and in ten years they will be gorgeous!
Best,
Simon
comment by belinda at 02:38 PM (GMT) on 20 July, 2005
Reminds me of me and my sisters - three girls always together. We always ended up naked and kissing after moments like this; we still end up naked and kissing.
comment by Jessica at 07:06 PM (GMT) on 20 July, 2005
Your daughters are stunning! You'll be busy keeping the boys, as well as some girls, away from them. You've capture their beauty, their sensuality, the essense of their erotic beauty, in one simple, inviting photograph. Truly your lense is an art brush in the hand of a master painter.
comment by Don Carter at 08:37 PM (GMT) on 23 September, 2005
Just came across your site via the BBC Web site. Opened this thumbnail and am simply stunned! Simply amazing! As is the rest of your stuff.
It gives me hope that digital photography does have a future.
This shot started out as an attempt to photograph all five of our daughters, but the younger two (almost three years old, and 16 months) didn't really want to cooperate. My eldest, the one in the middle (who visits in the holidays but lives with her mum the rest of the time) asked for a portrait of her sisters for her birthday. So when she was up this weekend I thought I'd try and shoot all five of them at once. But, not surprisingly, none of them worked out at all well. I almost managed it, but every shot had at least one of them blinking, looking out the window, pulling someone else's hair, or any number of other things that didn't exactly add to the shot. So I gave up, and went with this shot instead (and there are some distracting elements, but on the whole I'm quite happy with it). Next time she's up I might try again, but for the time being three out of five seems like the best I can do.
It's also a good shot to put up today as it's my birthday, and what better thing to celebrate than family and children :-)
As for how this was done: it's a version of a technique I've talked about before. The diffuse effect, in this instance, is the result of adding two duplicate layers, both Gaussian blurred, both set to Soft Light blend mode. I duplicated the base layer, blurred it by 12px (on the full size image), changed the blend mode, duplicated the new layer, and blurred it again (by 20px). I then used the channel mixer to extract the red channel (resulting in a black and white image) and set it's opacity to 50%. The net result of this is that the image is desaturated and the luminosity of the skin tones is raised somewhat more than the surrounding detail (I think).
capture date
aperture
shutter speed
shooting mode
exposure bias
metering mode
ISO
focal length
image quality
white balance
11.51am on 6/6/04
f2.8
1/60
aperture priority
+0.0
evaluative
50
23.0mm
RAW
auto
Happy Birthday David!
On this way, i want to say that i really like your photos! I'm always surprised and stunned in once! Great work, go on and on and on and on...!
Kind regards from switzerland
pezzi
David, I really appreciate the fact that you take the time to explain in such nice detail the techniques you use to get the images that you post. As I am just getting into digital photography (I have been doing standard, classic photography for some time) I find it greatly helpful. It is one of the features of your site that keeps me coming back.
Thank you very much as I know it must be a challenge for you to maintain, as I am sure you have some other aspects to your life besides maintaining your site ;)
congratulations, david, on your birthday: i wish you and yours a year of wonderfulness!
"David, I really appreciate the fact that you take the time to explain in such nice detail the techniques you use to get the images that you post. [...] It is one of the features of your site that keeps me coming back."
That's true, I always read your comments to an image to get some knowledge'bout editing an image. Thanks a lot for that.
greez
How nice!
I try to take my daughters' foto!
thank U!!
Here's my fotos!
Happy Birthday!
I hope you get a lovely day!
all - in - white
Don't worry David, I'll make sure to drink plenty tonight in your honor! Happy Birthday !
Beautiful portrait and great models too. I really like that Photoshop touch of yours. Thanks for explaining the technique.
And Happy Birthday! :-)
Oh God...
Just stunning.
Your eldest is gorgeous.
Your children have such beautiful eyes.
Beautiful portrait by a beautiful photographer.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy Birthday Dave!..... personally, I love all of the portaits that you put up. This one is right there with the best of them. Amazing detail and angelic looks. Now you should put up the same pic turned around 180. Wonder how that would look. Whenever I have tried the duplicate layer-overlay-gaussian blur technique, i am left with an image that needs a looooooot of work around the eyes! You should, maybe someday, write a book or article on these techniques. I am sure I would lap up all that info happily. ;-) Happy Birthday again.
Happy Birthday, hope you get to do something fun.
In your tradition this portrait type shot is very nice and has a fantastic tone to it. I love the eyes and the expressions.
Happy birthday dad! Thankyou for this - great birthday presentx
hello :)
ur children are gorgeous. drop dead stunning.
anyway,
I played around in photoshop today and decided to use 1 picture from your gallery (I don't know what name it is, but it has a pair of baby shoes in it)
And since I'm really new to photoshop, I guess it cam out quite.....weird. I think. But anyway,
here it is : http://ningx.operaglasses.org/photoshopped/
tell me what you think :D
Maybe recommend me one of those great pictures you have taken!
:)
ah..I understand. I won't be using it then.
Pretty understandable :)
Thank you :D
Two things:
1. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
2. I LOVE YOUR PICTURES!!!!
congratulations for both!
Dave, I'm sending you a bill for the damage done to my PowerBook when I turned it upside down to see the other two daughters. All right, all right, kidding, kidding. Happy birthday! It's wonderful to hear that your daughter's idea of a great present is a picture of her sisters! My 9 and 12 year olds are going through a, um shall we say, less warm stage right now...
This is a fabolous site! It has inspired me to now create my own photoblog!
First of all "Happy Birthday!!" and then: this is such a beautiful and well done shot. Congrats!! beautiful girls you have!
Yeah, man... Happy B-Day!
The most important things in life are health and love.
I can see the love here in that pic, so I hope too many good and healthful years more to you mate.
Enjoy the life!
Happy birthday Dave!
You have some beautiful kids!
Happy Birthday!
I, too, would like to thank you for always explaining in detail some of the Photoshop effects you do. I've tried one on my photographs before, and this one sounds interesting as well. It certainly works very well for this picture. You're quite inspiring, you know that? :)
a modern Three Graces, simply gorgeous. Happy birthday, I hope the coming year brings you as much joy as your photos bring me.
happy birthday!! may it be a wonderful one :)
Dave -- Happy Birthday! Great kids... great photo... and nice tutorial... I'll have to give it a go myself sometime... have a lager on me! You old dog...
Happy birthday also. I'm another that you have inspired to start a photo blog.
Congratulations - and another great photo.
Phil
Absolutely gorgeous. I'd love to see a shot of them giggling (sort of like a before and after shot) :)
Oh this is wonderful! They are stunning.. poor you. LOL.. 5 girls? Sleepless nights ahead. :-) Im going to keep this composition in mind . My daughter is expecting her second this august and I would love to try this for her..
Happy Birthday. I hate that maintaining your site and posting pictures is stressing you out. Take your time. I guarrantee you're not going to lose your audience. I love your site and will visit whether you post a picture a day or not....
Thanks everyone :-)
I found your website via an article in The Guardian, I love your photographs. Thanks for sharing them. :)
Hope you had a smashing birthday!
Happy Birthday! Your girls are beautiful!
ELLAS SON TAN HERMOSAS QUE QUEDE ATONITO. EN SUS OJOS SE VE UNA PROFUNDIDAD QUE JAMAS EN MI VIDA HABIA OBSERVADO. REALMENTE ME ENCANTARON SUS OJOS.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :)
great shot and lovely picture!
I will try your technique ASAP on one of my own pictures.
and, even it is a little bit late, 'Happy Birthday' to you! ;-)
-hd
The girls are absolutely gorgeous and the photo is just perfect! The balance between the look like twin sisters upside down and the other one looking inside the viewer eyes is just sublime. Thanks for that :)
Your daughters are stunningly beautiful! Really, they all are. This is an amazing picture. I wish I had a picture like this with my own sisters (I have three).
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear David
Happy Birthday to you
Okay, a bit late but I only returned from holiday yesterday ;)
Very beautiful shot. The soft light really brings out a feeling of purity and innocence that comes with childhood. When reading the description, all I had in my head was this framed collection of all your attempts of this photoshoot and this one picture in the middle. I think that would be a fine gift for your daughter because it captures a memory of the moment from 6 different perspectives.
David,
That's my "glow"!
You've now convinced me to go digital.
I didn't think I could duplicate the look and feel of my b&w and colour photos in PS.
And now, I'm ready to trade my darkroom for a desktop. Thank you.
Beautiful photo. Beautiful kids.
Regards,
Alan Young
Hey,
I know you read that a lot, but I'm pretty sure you and your daughters like to read it anyway :-)
They are *beautiful*, these eyes are amazing and in ten years they will be gorgeous!
Best,
Simon
Reminds me of me and my sisters - three girls always together. We always ended up naked and kissing after moments like this; we still end up naked and kissing.
Your daughters are stunning! You'll be busy keeping the boys, as well as some girls, away from them. You've capture their beauty, their sensuality, the essense of their erotic beauty, in one simple, inviting photograph. Truly your lense is an art brush in the hand of a master painter.
Just came across your site via the BBC Web site. Opened this thumbnail and am simply stunned! Simply amazing! As is the rest of your stuff.
It gives me hope that digital photography does have a future.
D. Carter
Seattle WA
USA