Young Soldiers In Highland Village

Caleb and Joshua grabbed their airsoft gear and let me make a some portraits of them.

Usually these guys don't like this sort of thing, but they suffered through it like champs. I used a three light setup and one very small soft box. The light on the right of the image was gelled to give an amber appearance like the sun. The only thing that was edited in the images was some very minor skin touch up.

Thanks for looking.

EJ

P.S. For Facebook users who see this post, you must select the BLUE link at the bottom of the entry that says "View Original Post" in order to see the images.

She Lost A Tooth But She Still Looks Charming

Here is Jacque who recently lost one of her front teeth. The mission was to make a new portrait to update Mom's wall, but Jacque didn't want to show her new "gap" in the front.. So, we decided to go for a different look. This image was converted to black and white and also retouched. It has a formal and slightly dramatic look. I hope you like it.

This portrait was done using a four light set-up and a reflector. One light on the background, one for the main light, one for the hair light, one for the fill light. The reflector was also used to control contrast on the shadow side of the face.

If you like the portrait, let me know.

Regards,

EJ

P.S. For Facebook users who see this post, you must select the BLUE link at the bottom of the entry that says "View Original Post" in order to see the images.

The Pretty Red Head, Not So Red

Greetings again from Highland Village. This portrait has been edited again. No, the skin touch up etc.. was not done again, but rather the following was done to it:

- A vignette was added to the portrait

- It was converted to black & white

- It was also tinted slightly with some color

It continually amazes me how different an image looks when converted from color to black and white.

I hope you enjoy looking.

EJ


P.S. For Facebook users who see this post, you must select the BLUE link at the bottom of the entry that says "View Original Post" in order to see the images."

A Pretty Red Head In Highland Village

Greetings and Happy July 4th Weekend.

I decided to take a moment to show once again the importance of retouching an image even though it is created under controlled lighting conditions in a studio. The following pictures are of Jessica. As you can see she is a very attractive young lady. I can brag a little bit because she is one of my daughters.

The first picture was taken after taking a custom white balance and carefully metering the lights to ensure proper exposure. It's a very complimentary picture, but it is being seen directly out of the camera without any retouching. You can even see evidence of some sensor dust from the camera in the image.

The second image is the same image after doing some of the following. Retouching the eyes, retouching the skin, adjusting the hue of the skin and removing some dust spots. Even if your skin is as smooth as Jessica's if you light a portrait correctly it will reveal the smallest of flaws.

The point I'm trying to make is that retouching a portrait is a must although the levels of retouching will vary.

I hope you enjoy viewing the portraits.

Thanks for looking,

EJ

P.S. For Facebook users who see this post, you must select the BLUE link at the bottom of the entry that says "View Original Post" in order to see the images."

Now, I think I'm even cuter

I was just doing a little photoshop practice today. I'm taking two of the same images to show what a little skin softening can do for an image. This skin touch up was VERY slight. If you apply too much it can make the image begin to look like plastic. Which image do you prefer?

Thanks for looking.

EJ

I'm really cute now.

Another portrait day in Highland Village, TX.

This is another picture made during the June 26 session. Now, he's not trying to scare me and just playing around with me. This portrait is also one light and a reflector, but it was not converted to black and white.


Thanks for looking and Happy July 4th.

EJ