What do you mean by putting a camera in my face? How could you do such a thing to such a dog? Seriously. Why?
Playing with Portraits 3
Just so my home page doesn’t look like a stalker page (and I needed a change of scenery), I decided to switch things up a bit with today’s Photoshopped portrait post.
This should be the last one for awhile–I’ve managed to work my way through most of the pile of portrait tutorials I have found interesting over the past few months but have been too lazy to try out.
This is the original shot I started out with today.
This is the final version–a high key black & white shot. Not bad, if I do say so myself, though the effect might be more interesting in a shot with less contrast.
Enter one of my beautiful sisters in law, Kim. We took a bunch of pictures of family this Thanksgiving, and this has to be one of my favorites. Not only is my sister in law a looker, she’s also a talented photographer (among other things like mom, planetary do-gooder, super smart and a professor to boot) and very easy to take pictures of.
This is the original shot.
I blew this shot out making it high key and I kind of like the effect. I might keep that in mind for the future and do a really blown out set.
This effect increases the grunge, making the picture almost metallic looking. This I will definitely keep in mind, since this is just about the effect I was after when looking for tutorials in the first place. What I was initially looking for before getting waylaid was how to make photos look like the History Channel’s new shows, specifically the deep blacks and interesting contrast on American Pickers. So, maybe the effect is just on the show’s main title sequence and hasn’t made the transition to stills. A quick Google search pulled up plenty of great pics of Danielle (and her tatts), but not exactly what I was looking for. If you haven’t seen the show, you’ll just have to imagine.
This is the old Hollywood glamor shot effect and I rather like the results, especially for portraits of women Soft focus hides a multitude of sins, and I just may go back and dig up a few shots of myself to apply this technique to.
The Takeaway
What has this little exercise taught me? I need to take more pictures of people! Macro is great, and food is endlessly fascinating and all, but people. I need more people. That, and that Photoshop is a really useful tool for creating interesting, artistic portraits. I already knew that, only now I won’t be quite so lost with a few helpful processes under my belt.
April 7, 2011
Today’s picture. No where in the rules does it say I have to smile (Dad) ;p
I figured I would go ahead and get my POD out of the way during work so I don’t have to interrupt the mass amount of sewing I need to do tonight. More on that later .
Playing with Portraits Of My Dearest Part 2
Original shot.
Light photo correction, mainly exposure and levels.
Warmed up a bit.
Curves adjusted for a vintage wash.
In this version, I used a mask to make his skin lighter for a washed-out (sloppy) vamp effect.
This version looks a lot like the warm version, just achieved a different way.
April 6, 2011 – Playing with Portraits Of My Dearest
I’ve had it in my mind for awhile to play with portraits in Photoshop and have recently found a bevy of tutorials to help with inspiration.
With this first set, I decided to eschew the tutorials and instead play with one of my favorite effects, lomography, and different textures.
This is the original untouched version, taken during lunch this afternoon.
This version incorporates some light color correction and some fairly hefty blurring/halftoning of the background. I hate the car, but short of creating a mask and running the risk of making my DH look like he was somewhere he was not, I decided to (almost) live with it.
This version was run through a simple lomography action set in Photoshop. I love the green tones and popped colors.
This version incorporates two different textures with the lomo (see below); a distressed metal/burned film texture and a copper bokeh pattern. I like the end result; my DH says it makes him look old and vaguely creepy. I don’t see the old, and I happen to like vaguely creepy portraits. Bonus: I hardly even notice the hated car in the background.
April 5, 2011
Finally! At long last, the split pea soup my DH has been asking for for months. (yeah, I know, bad wife. Better late than never)
April 4, 2011
A portion of the Star Wars lego tableau staged on my headboard run through a Lomography action in Photoshop. What? You doubted I was an utter geek? Star Wars is awesome. Star Wars + Legos is even better.
Thrown Together Simple Tomato Pasta
After stopping to photograph the heirloom tomatoes for posterity, I threw this quick pasta together for lunch in under 10 minutes.
1 Serving rice noodles
Olive Oil
Double handful tomatoes
1 clove garlic
1 handful parsley
Big pinch red pepper flakes
Salt & pepper to taste
Take 1 serving thin angel hair-style rice noodles, place in a medium pot. Add cold water until half full, place on burner on High. Cook according to package directions (approx. 3 mins.) drain.
While you’re waiting for the pasta to cook, slice 1 clove garlic super thin and chop 1 handful parsley. Rinse a double handful tomatoes.
Over medium-high heat, bring 1 Tbsp. olive oil up to just shimmering; add garlic and stir. Add tomatoes and cook, stirring frequently to avoid burning, until tomato skins begin to split and garlic is deeply golden (but not burnt!)
When pasta is done, add it to the pan, salt & pepper to taste and add a shot of olive oil if the mixture looks dry. Add parsley and a pinch red pepper flakes. Toss to combine and serve.
Serves 1 for lunch.
Tiny Heirloom Tomatoes
These globes of summer sunshine came in my last CSA box and looked so good, I thought I’d take a picture.
April 3, 2011
Table detail at The Daily Creative Food Co. where we ate an early lunch.
Gastography 