"School of Portraiture" - Lesson 07 - Introduction to Gels

oh dear oh dear you will get me in trouble ;)

I went to the flash workshop yesterday - as mentioned b4 these dear chaps had no new ideas than yourself and others here - but it is good to get away from the computer and interact with real people once in a while....not that I doubt the reality of your own good self, but you know what i mean.
Anyway it wasn't sunset - but we did have a play with an orange gel and some tungsten WB.
I will edit a couple of others later in a general thread - but in the interests of the 'lesson plan and curriculum' :rolleyes:

Here are my gel shots ....I did even get to use a grid in some - :)

http://i56.tinypic.com/2qbyscy.jpg


http://i55.tinypic.com/do2cus.jpg


p.s
If you get a chance to send me a wee plan of how to attach an umbrella and speedlight to a monopod....I would be eternally grateful.
I think I could even try it without transmitter/receiver with the 7D wireless capability as long as I get line of sight position...

Should I have explicitly invited comments for the photo I posted?
I'm interested in what people think.

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Originally Posted by Class A

Should I have explicitly invited comments for the photo I posted?
I'm interested in what people think.

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Hi Class A,

Looks good to me. The only comment I can make is that - personally - I'm not a big fan of hair through eyes (although it happens to me quite often when shooting).

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Originally Posted by wilgk

I went to the flash workshop yesterday - as mentioned b4 these dear chaps had no new ideas than yourself and others here - but it is good to get away from the computer and interact with real people once in a while....not that I doubt the reality of your own good self, but you know what i mean.

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I'm really just a computer, and I never make mistakes make mistakes make mistakes make mistakes mak ... ***SWAT***

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Here are my gel shots ....I did even get to use a grid in some - :)

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Looking pretty good, although I think you're WB is off a little on the skin tones.

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If you get a chance to send me a wee plan of how to attach an umbrella and speedlight to a monopod....I would be eternally grateful.
I think I could even try it without transmitter/receiver with the 7D wireless capability as long as I get line of sight position...

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It's just a bracket, like this one ...

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Electronics...-348574095.htm

They're a dime a dozen, just pop on to your favourite online camera store / auction site and seatch for flash bracket umbrella, should do the trick :)

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Originally Posted by Colin Southern

Looks good to me. The only comment I can make is that - personally - I'm not a big fan of hair through eyes (although it happens to me quite often when shooting).

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Thanks, Colin.

I think in this instance the hair helps to have the focus on just one eye and I think it works here.

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Originally Posted by Class A

Thanks, Colin.

I think in this instance the hair helps to have the focus on just one eye and I think it works here.

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What also helps, I think, is that the 'stray' hairs don't look as if they escaped from an otherwise perfect 'coiffure'

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Originally Posted by Colin Southern

You're very welcome Mohamed. Let us know if we can help with gear purchase.

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Thanks Colin, I gave my sony to my brother and placed my order for Canon EOS 7d , flash 430 EX II, 40" 5 in 1 reflector with stand and arm (not high quality though), white shoot-thru-umbrella with stand and accessories..

I received them except the camera !! :P I hope to get it next week worst case.

I have just come on this series a short time ago, fantastic. I read through and learnt lots, although it is a lot of reading. I take pictures of my daughter (age 2) each day as my photography outlet so am always looking for portrait ideas. One thing in these threads that stuck out for me is the reflector idea of boosting light on the subject.

I have one and use it to modify light in terms of contrast, but had never thought of it as a tool to make the background relatively darker.. great. That is something I am always trying to do by choosing my angle or situation, had never thought of doing it by raising her light levels... brilliant. Here is one where I have attempted to bring down teh background by raising her light level up. The reflector in this case is the white house behind me and the sun is behind her to the right. We are on the edge of open shade.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5260/...0e6fcdd9_m.jpg
Mail by Tony and Rachel, on Flickr

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Originally Posted by dsptony

I have just come on this series a short time ago, fantastic. I read through and learnt lots, although it is a lot of reading. I take pictures of my daughter (age 2) each day as my photography outlet so am always looking for portrait ideas. One thing in these threads that stuck out for me is the reflector idea of boosting light on the subject.

I have one and use it to modify light in terms of contrast, but had never thought of it as a tool to make the background relatively darker.. great. That is something I am always trying to do by choosing my angle or situation, had never thought of doing it by raising her light levels... brilliant. Here is one where I have attempted to bring down teh background by raising her light level up. The reflector in this case is the white house behind me and the sun is behind her to the right. We are on the edge of open shade.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5260/...0e6fcdd9_m.jpg
Mail by Tony and Rachel, on Flickr

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Hi Tony,

Glad you're getting some good ideas.

Another one that helps to highlight a subject in the middle is to simply put a vignette around the image (but adjust the controls so that the vignetted area is quite broad. And when you've done that, often you can go a step further an increase the lavels overall a touch more too :)

OOHH NOOO I've got a some reading to do! That'll teach me to venture away from this forum!!! :o Nice work Colin :)

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Originally Posted by Ricko

OOHH NOOO I've got a some reading to do! That'll teach me to venture away from this forum!!! :o Nice work Colin :)

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Thanks Richard.

To be honest, I'm kinda-sorta leaving the future direction of the portraiture lessons up to the members ... I think we're probably at a point where most won't be investing in lots of high-end gear, so at this stage I'm quite content to just sit back and help people one on one with any thing they'd like to do. Kinda like a bit of a free for all.

Let me see if I got this right. When you use the orange gel, you add blue, and the skies get bluer. And when you use a blue gels, you add orange and the skies get more orange and red like a more "traditional" sunset? I just bought some gels but haven't got them yet.

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Originally Posted by pono

Let me see if I got this right. When you use the orange gel, you add blue, and the skies get bluer. And when you use a blue gels, you add orange and the skies get more orange and red like a more "traditional" sunset? I just bought some gels but haven't got them yet.

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Hi Shane,

The only rule is that there are no rules :) You can do it that way (as I often do), or you can match the gel to the temperature of the ambient light. Try both and see what you like.

Thanks Colin! I just started reading the rest of the lessons, and they're super helpful.

I had a question about the PP part. After all the things are done in ACR, what are some of the things you do in Photoshop? What tools do you use?

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Originally Posted by pono

Thanks Colin! I just started reading the rest of the lessons, and they're super helpful.

I had a question about the PP part. After all the things are done in ACR, what are some of the things you do in Photoshop? What tools do you use?

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Hi Shane,

Glad they're helping :)

In Photoshop (no particular order) ...

- sharpening
- resizing
- cloning (although spot removal can be batched if done in ACR which can save a LOT of time)
- local enhancements

Pretty much anything that's not suited to ACR (generally pixel level stuff).

Here is my first attempt at a nice portrait. This was before I read any of the threads. I wasn't using a reflector, and it's natural light. It was in a greenhouse type thing, and the light was diffused by a screen thing. The background may be a little busy, and it was too bright, and she was too close to it. I think if I had a reflector, I could've made it so the background was darker, but I darkened it in PP a little. I also enhanced her eyes a little, and some spot healing.

Same shot, one color, one not.

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/fo...3&d=1299138118


https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/fo...2&d=1299138118

Hi Shane,

Did you shoot this RAW?

Yes I shot it RAW. Do you have any suggestions?

Won't be posting. Too busy taking notes and trying out your techniques. Learning so much in such a short time. Thank you for your brilliant series of seminars which are full of in-depth, complex technical information and yet are so lucid and easy to comprehend. It really should go against the grain for an Ozzie 'to dip his lid' to a gent from the Land of the Long White Cloud. "But in your case I does it willingly and with as much grace as I can. After all, it is only photography we are talking about and not the really serious stuff like cricket! :D" Thank you for an excellent series from which I personally have learned so much.
ucci

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Originally Posted by pono

Yes I shot it RAW. Do you have any suggestions?

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Hi Shane,

Just a couple of things come to mind ...

1. I think the lady's arms look a bit "lost" - I suspect that it's better to either keep them out of the composition, or pose them to make the shot look a little more dynamic.

2. I think there's more to be wrung out of the processing - would you like to send me the RAW file and I'll have a look at it for you?