Portraits and Portrait Enhancements

As said before one of my favorite subjects to photograph are musicians. It’s one thing to capture a portrait of someone in good lighting, but to include something that tells more about the person brings out more substance. This lifestyle portrait shoot focused on the environment of the musicians and it was great to hear both play songs they’ve learned over the years.

Most of the light source came from a large window on the east side of the room. At times we used the silver reflector to bounce a little light on the pianists face to brighten her up more. The reflector also acted as a soft back light for the violinist in one of the her portraits.

Individual – Side Composition

Individual – Headshot

Individual – Headshot

Individual – Full

 

Group – Candid

Group – Posed

Portrait – Environmental

Portrait – Environmental

Enhancements

The photo below was edited to cover up a few blemishes using the spot healing healing brush. After a few clicks to clear up the blemishes I used the soften skin brush in light room along her forehead, nose and closest cheek.

Portrait Touchup

Match Color

After opening two images I placed the one that needed corrected on top of the “Source” photo. After applying the match color tool under adjustments, I brightened the photo up again and it resulted in a cooler feel that resembled a more accurate color.

Color Source

Color Correction Needed

After Color Correction

Replace Color

After grabbing the replacement brush tool I used the color of the pianist’s as a source to change the violinists jacket. It’s darker than the skirt, but it’s only a different shade of the color. This process required zooming in close and changing the brush preference to find edges for accurate edits.

Before Color Replacement

After Color Replacement

May 31, 2016May 31, 2016 by Brooks McFadden Categories: Blog Post, PhotographyTags: instrument, lifestyle, music, musician, people, Photography, piano, portraits, viola, violin 6 Comments

Lighting with Reflectors

A useful tool to adjust for natural lighting is a 5-in-1 reflector. A personal favorite is the diffuser, but the silver, and white are very helpful as well with lighting a model.

The diffuser had to be held nearly straight above the model, because of the time of day, but it provided  very soft light. The white reflector also provided a soft light in the profile shot. The reflector was held straight in front of the model. As for the silver reflector it was mainly underneath to match the reflection of the sidewalk near by.

Diffuser

White Reflector

Before Silver Reflector

After Silver Reflector

Truth Be Told

If the assistant isn’t using the reflector to blind the model, he/she will probably hit them with it. Assistant: Shayla Davis

 

May 28, 2016May 28, 2016 by Brooks McFadden Categories: Blog Post, PhotographyTags: after, before, lighting, portraits, reflector Leave a comment

Macro – Up Close and Personal

I’ve had a hunger to learn more about macro photography, but never took the time to dive into it. I discovered the need to light the subject you are working with. The subject requires more light than usual, because I used macro tubes for the examples below.

First Try at the Macro Tubes

I used my 17-50 mm f/2.8 tamron lens with the macro tube and boy did that give me a headache. the length of the lens wasn’t enough and the depth of field was far too shallow, but I somehow got a few shots in focus.

Round 2 with the Macro Tube

This time around I used an 28-135 mm with a f/3.5-5.6 aperture. I used the light of the window sill as a soft window light as well as for a place for direct light. I used two sheets of paper to even diffuse and reflect some light for the shots of the apple.

May 24, 2016May 24, 2016 by Brooks McFadden Categories: PhotographyTags: apple, canon, close up, droplet, focal length, focus, fruit, lens, macro, Photography, water, water drop 3 Comments

Composition – Perspective of 12

As I searched for a subject to photograph with different angles and perspectives my thoughts went to product photography. I remembered a watch I owned that tended to bring a lot of attention because of it’s bold appearance. While I used a model for the shoot with the watch I kept his face out of the pictures to bring more focus to the product. the shoot required me to find different ways to show off the product and using different angles did the trick.

Photos in Collage

Photos Outside of Collage

Texture Blend Photos

Texture from www.textures.com

I blended the two above images in photoshop. I created a background copy and blurred the wood. With the texture image I used a mask to make the watch appear above it. I decreased the opacity of the texture slightly as well as burned and dodged to create highlights and shadows. I applied gaussian blur to the texture and with a mask I created a sense of depth of field to make it more realistic.

May 18, 2016May 18, 2016 by Brooks McFadden Categories: Blog Post, PhotographyTags: angle, canon, collage, Photography, portrait, product, watches 4 Comments

Tutorial: Sharpening Images

You know the excited feeling you get when you print a photo you took? I eagerly wait for the printer to push spray the ink on the paper so you can show it off to friends and family. You snatch the paper from the tray after it prints, or pick it up from the store after they printed it for you, and when you open it up it’s not what you had hoped. You see it isn’t as in focus as you thought. It was focused on the screen on the back of the camera and the computer so why did it happen?

It’s not out of focus per say, but you realize it’s not as crisp as you had liked. Photoshop helps us out with this problem with options of sharpening our images. I find it especially beneficial with portraits. I want the eyes to be sharp and clear on the screen and on paper, so sharpening in photoshop allows me to do that.

Here is a link to my How to Tutorial in PDF form to break down the simple process in a few short steps.

Here’s the original photo used in the PDF and Video Tutorials.

5-2-16
Rexburg
45 mm
f/2.8
1/250 sec
Canon EOS 60D

 

May 11, 2016May 11, 2016 by Brooks McFadden Categories: Photography Leave a comment

Depth of Field

Shallow Depth of Field

I find myself using shallow depth of field more than deep. I use it mainly in portraits, but I chose to explore different ways of using it in an abstract way. The first photo is a demonstration of shallow depth of field with portraits the rest pushed me to use more creativity. All of the photos were edited in Lightroom slightly increasing the exposure and shadows, decreasing highlights, sharpening, and bumping up the contrast.

Floral Engagement
5-6-16
6:15 p.m.
BYU-I Campus
50 mm
f/2.0
1/320 sec
Canon EOS 60D

Dead Flower Close Up
5-4-2016
3:50 p.m.
BYU-I Campus
50 mm
f/1.4
1/640 sec
Canon EOS 60D

Abstract Bark
5-4-16
3:45 p.m.
BYU-I Campus
50 mm
f/1.4
1/400 sec
Canon EOS 60D

Lights and Rain Drops
5-7-16
1:30 a.m.
Rexburg, Idaho
31 mm
f/2.8
1.6 sec
Steadied camera on dashboard of car

Deep Depth of Field

I rarely use deep depth of field, but that’s because I generally am hired to do portraits. Landscapes aren’t my strong point, but diving into something different is good for me. Makes me think more about my composition and surrounding elements while framing the shot.

Branch in the Water
5-10-16
8:40 p.m.
Rexburg
17 mm
f/22
3.2 sec
Shot with a tripod

Pipe and the Pond
5-10-16
8:45 p.m.
Rexburg
17 mm
f/22
3.2 sec
Shot on a tripod

Swampy Pond
5-10-16
8:50 p.m.
Rexburg
17mm
f/22
3.2 sec
Shot with a tripod

May 11, 2016May 11, 2016 by Brooks McFadden Categories: Blog Post, Photography 2 Comments

Motion Shots

I’ll be honest when I say it had been a while since my last photoshoot. I’ve lost a little creative edge getting used to very posed and uniform portraits. I’m slowly working my way back on the saddle with more creative shots. I scheduled a shoot with a mutual friend and we came up with a few ideas of how to capture and freeze motion.

Freeze Motion

Feet in the Creek
5/2/16
5:50 P.M.
Rexburg, Idaho
50 mm
f/2.8
1/500 sec
ISO 100

Flipping Out
5/2/16
6:43 P.M.
Rexburg, Idaho
50 mm
f/2.8
1/640 sec
320 ISO

Blur Motion

The first image is of the friends from the previously mentioned shoot, but the second was a last minute shot where I had my camera on hand while walking by the snow building. I asked a the guy drumming if I could take a photo and he kindly agreed. I felt afraid of coming across as a creep, so thank goodness for cool guys like him.

Vintage Bike Ride
5/2/16
6:35 P.M.
Rexburg, Idaho
42 mm
f/5.6
1/100 sec
ISO 100

 

 

Practicing Drummer Boy
5/3/16
5:06 P.M.
Rexburg, Idaho
50 mm
f/10
1/8 sec
I used a cement wall to steady the camera

May 4, 2016May 4, 2016 by Brooks McFadden Categories: Blog Post, Photography 3 Comments

Photobook Design

While mentally sketching out ideas for the layout I realized I needed to focus on the most important part of the project, which are the photos. I sorted through the past photos I wanted to display and it gave me an idea of the color I wanted to use. I also aimed for a clean and simple design. It’s a flat styled look where I wanted the design to enhance the photographs rather than distract from them. Placing the photos I saw the need to reflect horizontally to lead the viewer in towards the design. For example the far left image, I switched to look inward and the bottom right images as well.

April 26, 2016April 26, 2016 by Brooks McFadden Categories: Blog Post, Photography 6 Comments

Past Photos

My name is Brooks McFadden and I enjoy photography like Ella Fitzgerald, a singer nicknamed Queen of Jazz likes her music. She once said, “The only thing better than singing is more singing.”

Growing up in Rexburg, Idaho I learned in high school principles of lighting and portraiture. On top of that I’ve begun to dabble more in landscape and product photography. In high school I saw photography based on the value of light and how “cool” it looked, but now I see the impact of the message can send to the viewer.

I originally studied business and switched to Communications with an emphasis Video Production, but I found myself back into photography studying Communications with an emphasis in Visual Communication.

Here’s some photos I’ve taken over the past few years. These range from weddings and portraits to product photography. I hope to improve in portraiture with weddings and getting more into macro and landscape photography.

I went through a musician phase getting shots of people with their instruments. Funny thing, half the time they couldn’t play the instrument. In this case the guitarist could though!

I took this photo for the Comm 130 class during Fall 2015. I hadn’t used off camera flash for over two years and it felt good to get back in the saddle.

A practice shoot to get back into shooting portraits. I love portraiture and missed taking high school senior style shots.

Some nights I stay up photographing whatever I find in my room. When I lit this I couldnt find something low enough to hold the flash except for one of my shoes. It was the first time I attempted to photograph something like this and it was fun to figure out what worked with reflectors and such.

This wedding took place only 6 days before Christmas and I loved the back light we used for this shot. I had my friend hold the light stand to keep it steady above the stage. This wedding just might be my favorite one yet!

I traveled to Utah for a two day shoot for a company called Epic Dental. We took lifestyle portrait shots with the product and some lifestyle of just the product. The window in the kitchen lit up the whole room, but we used a silver reflector to light up the front of the product more.

April 22, 2016April 23, 2016 by Brooks McFadden Categories: Photography Leave a comment