Sometimes I get a very strong feeling about an image, that it should be cropped just so, it should be color/b&w/sepia, it should have a border effect etc. In those instances I am brave, strong, courageous and decisive. Other times I can’t make up my mind to save my life, with endless fields of possibility streaming out. Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t…..oooh, that was lame. Anyway, those are the times I am content to play around with all the various and sundry toys in my box.

Some of my favorite toys are Photoshop Actions and Lightroom Presets. They’re quick and easy ways to manipulate images, and if you don’t like something, just drag and drop a layer into the trash or hit the ‘undo’ button. You can also use them as a foundation and then make small adjustments to your liking.

I was recently digging around through my back catalog of images for something to amuse and I came across this session I did with a lovely young lady I met through Model Mayhem. I was drawn to this powerful profile image and decided to play around with it a bit.

Here is the image straight out of the camera, below:

After cropping into a square format, I used Totally Rad’s Basic Lightroom Presets in this order – A Beginning/Lite, Auto/Contrast, Electric Skies/Lite and Sharpen/Sharp Cheddar. The image was quite lovely at that point, but I felt it needed a bit more sharpness, so I added +50 on the Clarity slider in Lightroom. See below:

I wasn’t finished playing yet, so I exported the image to Photoshop and used Totally Rad’s Photoshop Action ‘Prettyizer’ at 100%. This action has a subtle softening effect which is quite nice. It does not overtly flare the highlights nor does it block up the shadows. It just makes things…..prettier. See Below:

Sometimes I fall into a rut, always going the same predictable way with my image processing. Most of us are creatures of habit and tend to like the same things done the same way over and over. Lately I’ve been browsing through books of old photographs and observing the different ways people used to make imagery. I was feeling thus inspired to try something a little outside my ‘usual’.

So back to the drawing board Lightroom. I decided to keep all of the original Lightroom adjustments (A Beginning/Lite, Auto/Contrast, Electric Skies/Lite and Sharpen/Sharp Cheddar) and layer on top of those. I selected the BW/Sketchy/Darker preset from Totally Rad this time. The result looks like an old sepia plate that has oxidized with time. I really liked this direction and decided to keep pushing the edges of it. This image now looks and FEELS completely different. It’s like something out of another time and place. See below:

I think the image above is just perfect the way it is. But I was on a playing spree and decided to let my muse run. I next added/layered another Lightroom preset. This time it was from the Totally Rad Vignettes & Toning Presets. I chose Fade Highlights/Lite. That lightened, sharpened and increased the contrast of the image. While I feel the image above could stand on its own, I think this one needs some additional work. See below:

Back to Lightroom for another layer. This one is also from the Totally Rad Vignettes & Toning Lightroom Presets. I chose the Michelangelo vignette and REALLY liked it. It added just the touch of depth I was looking for. It also created the illusion of a lovely ‘halo’ of light around the subject’s head. See below:

I wanted a bit more richness and depth, so I played around with the settings in Lightroom. I zeroed out the Fill Light slider and pushed the Blacks slider to +5. For such a small adjustment, quite an amazing transformation occurred. The tones in the image darkened, adding a luscious feeling of drama and mystery to the image. See below:

At this point I was curious about how certain of Totally Rad’s Photoshop Actions might affect the image, so I exported to Photoshop and started playing. After trying and discarding several actions, I really liked what happened when I used the aforementioned ‘Prettyizer’ action, set to 75%. It puts a subtle but polished finish to the image. There is still a lot of drama, depth and mystery and I love the subtle separation of the subject from the background with that little bit of a halo around her head. It also added a touch of warmth to the overall color balance of the image. See below:

I like MOST of the images above and would be hard pressed to choose only ONE way to experience this image. If absolutely pressed to pick only one, I would probably choose the last one. Or the third one. Yes. Definitely the last one. Or the second one.

If you’re curious about Totally Rad’s Photoshop Actions and Lightroom Presets, check out my comprehensive reviews:

New Lightroom Presets From Totally Rad Really Deliver

Totally Rad Lightroom Black & White Presets Produce Glorious Images

New Totally Rad Lightroom ‘Effects’ Presets Add Visual Interest to Photographs

Totally Rad Lightroom Presets Total Package

Totally Rad Actions Rule

© Deborah Wolfe for Studio on a Shoestring, 2011. All rights reserved.| Permalink |

B & H is currently offering a really sweet deal. If you’ve been fence sitting about ordering a new camera AND Lightroom 3, now’s the time to do it. If you order ANY camera over $300 you automatically get $100 off Lightroom 3.

© Deborah Wolfe for Studio on a Shoestring, 2011. All rights reserved.| Permalink |

Doug Boutwell over at Totally Rad Actions is throwing an absolute BLOW OUT sale for one brief, shining 24 hour period. Nothing in the store will be more than $109, but you better put your bunny shoes on and be prepared to hop fast – the sale runs for one day only – Friday November 26, 2010 (midnight to midnight, PST.)

I LOVE Totally Rad Actions and Lightroom Presets. My ‘favorite’ Totally Rad Action of ALL TIME is Boutwell Magic Glasses, which I use on my images at least 75% of the time. Take a look at the difference it made in this image I shot for a commercial client:

After cropping and basic retouching I ran the Boutwell Magic Glasses action and BAM! Detail so sharp and crisp it looks practically 3D. To fully appreciate the detail click on the image below to enlarge:

You can read about my fantastic high flying adventure to get this shot which involved a ride in a state-of-the-art cherry picker equipped truck and blocked off traffic right in the middle of downtown on Peachtree Street.

Check out my reviews for all of Doug Boutwell’s Totally Rad Lightroom Presets:

Review: New Lightroom Presets From Totally Rad Really Deliver

Review: Totally Rad Lightroom Black & White Presets Produce Glorious Images

Review: New Totally Rad Lightroom ‘Effects’ Presets Add Visual Interest to Photographs

Review: Totally Rad Lightroom Presets Total Package

© Deborah Wolfe for Studio on a Shoestring, 2010. All rights reserved.| Permalink |

THE USUAL RECAP:

This is the fourth and final in a series of reviews about the new Totally Rad Lightroom Presets offered by Doug Boutwell over at Totally Rad. The first three reviews focused on the Basics, Black & White and Effects. This review will focus on the Vignettes and Toning presets.

GROUND RULES:

Same as the other three, except I worked with ALL of the presets as I saw fit for this review. Once again, the images are first shown straight out of the camera and other than using the presets, have had no other Lightroom or Photoshop adjustments.

METHODS:

Lots of fun clicking and note taking. Still using my favorite Wonder Woman notebook : )

IMAGES:

The first image was taken outdoors in rather low natural light. I shot this with a Nikon D70 (appropriate substitutes would be the Nikon D90 and D300).  Here it is straight out of the camera:

I did some Basics adjustments first (Contrast, Brightside/Lite and Highlight Hero/Medium) then from the Effects presets I chose Golden Age/Strong. The image still wasn’t as refined as I wanted it to be, so I next used See-Pee-Ya!/Lite from the Vignettes & Toning presets. I really like how the image is starting to look very painterly:

I decided to go back to the Basics and see what might happen. I quickly clicked through the entire list of presets and liked a combination of Brightside/Lite and Electric Skies/Lite best. The results are quite lovely. The image is still warm and has a dreamlike painterly feeling, but there is more black and therefore more detail in the shadows:

I wanted to up the drama factor, so I selected the Michelangelo vignette. The result is stunning. The background falls away, yet detail remains and the subject appears to be almost spotlit:

My next image was shot in the studio with a Nikon 24-120 f/3.5-5.6 lens. This is not a fast lens, but as I was shooting with studio strobes I didn’t need a fast lens. Here is the image straight out to the camera (Nikon D70) and it is just perfect the way it is. The exposure, color balance and contrast are superb. I LOVE studio lighting! I also love this tulip colored paper:

Despite the fact that the image is perfection straight out of the camera, I couldn’t resist tinkering with the Basics….just to see what I could come up with. Zowie! Talk about some super saturated color and POP! Check out the results of using A Beginning/Strong, Contrast, Shadows & Blacks, Electric Skies/Lite, Highlight Hero/Medium and Smack My Pix Up/Lite. It kind of has that hot, stylized David LaChapelle look. Almost:

This is my last review of these presets and I wanted to go back to the Black & White presets. I really love these beauties. I took the image above, with all those adjustments from the Basics and applied the black and white preset Riot Juice. What a perfectly lovely black and white image, with beautiful tonal range. The shadows have detail and so do the highlights. Incredibly dreamy stuff:

This image could also go either cooler or warmer. I decided on warmer and went back to the Vignettes & Toning presets and selected Chocolate Rain/Light. The result is a warm, brown image that still retains all the hallmarks I outline above of a well exposed and ‘printed’ black and white photograph:

To round out this final review, I chose Donatello from the five available vignettes. Perfection. It added just the right touch of depth and drama to an already fabulous image:

PROS-

As with all the other presets in this set, the Vignettes & Toning presets are a super fast, easy and fun way to create a wide variety of looks to your photographs.

CONS-

A bit heavy overall on the yellow side of the color spectrum for my personal taste.

CONCLUSION:

GOOD STUFF. When you take the entire set of Totally Rad Lightroom Presets together, you have a POWERFUL set of image post-processing tools at your fingertips for a surprising low price. Presets like these help make Lightroom a phenomenal image management and post-processing system, either alone on in concert with Photoshop. They can also help streamline work flow. Depending on how heavy your shooting load is, they could drastically reduce your hours in front of the computer.

Bottom line? I’m happy to have them loaded on my machine.

Would you like to read more? Then check out these articles:

Review: New Lightroom Presets From Totally Rad Really Deliver

Review: Totally Rad Lightroom Black & White Presets Produce Glorious Images

Review: New Totally Rad Lightroom ‘Effects’ Presets Add Visual Interest to Photographs

High Key Lighting Tutorial

Low Key Lighting Tutorial

How to Set Up a Photo Booth in Your Home

Using Bold Color in Portraiture – Tips and Techniques

Studio Lighting for Headshots Tutorial

Photographing Young Children with Low Key Lighting Tutorial

© Deborah Wolfe for Studio on a Shoestring, 2010. All rights reserved.| Permalink |

A BRIEF RECAP:

In my previous two reviews about the new Totally Rad Lightroom Presets,  I discussed the Basics and Black & White presets. This review will focus on the Effects presets. As mentioned in those earlier posts, these presets are offered by Doug Boutwell through Totally Rad in four sections; the Basics, Black & White, Effects and Vignettes and Toning.

GROUND RULES:

All photographs in this review were taken by me. Other than the Totally Rad Lightroom Presets, they have had no other Lightroom or Photoshop adjustments. I show each image straight out of the camera, and then follow with a series of image versions which show the different effects achieved with various preset combinations.

As with the Black & White review, most images are the result of first running some presets from the Basics section and then adding Effects.

METHODS:

In my earlier reviews I clicked a lot. This time, to keep my mind limber and receptive, I did a Bathroom Cleaning Mediation before beginning. This is similar, yet different, from the Zen practice of chopping wood and carrying water. Other than that, I still clicked a lot and paid attention to the results. Per usual, I wrote copious notes in my trusty Wonder Woman notebook.

IMAGES:

This first image was taken in Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island in Pensacola, Florida. I shot it with one of my favorites cameras, a Canon PowerShot A590IS. These little cameras have a fantastic wide angle lens that can be tilted off axis with some stunning results. Reminder to self: do tutorial on how to ROCK point and shoots with wide angle lenses.

Back to the topic at hand. Here is the image straight out of the camera. I would love to see SOMEONE do a fashion shoot in this location:

First I ran it through the Basics, using Highlight Hero/Strong and Electric Skies/Lite. Then I added a combination of Eddie Would Go/Strong and Golden Age/Strong to produce the effect below. There is a lovely, soft and warm glow about the image. So many of the presets in this section remind me of movies I have seen. I expect the spiritual ‘savior’ of your choice to walk through these doors at any moment:

I always struggle with giving up detail in an image. All that softness comes with a price; loss of detail. So I returned to the Basic’s and added A Beginning/Strong to this image. I really like how this added more black to the overall image and made the shadows more distinct:

The last thing I did was add one of the five different choices of vignettes offered with these presets, in this case Raphael. They are in the last section of these presets I will be reviewing – Vignettes and Toning. I really LOVE the depth and texture this particular vignette added. Once again, I am reminded of a movie and I refer to this as the 300 look. I could totally see Leonidas striding vigorously through that door.

My next image was taken outside in natural light with my trusty Nikon D70 (an comparable substitute would be the D90 or D300) with a 50mm f/1.4 lens. This is the image straight out of the camera. Overall, it’s pretty good. Exposure is spot on and color balance is pleasingly neutral, although the contrast is a bit flat:

I started with the Basics (A Beginning/Lite and Auto/Brightness), then went to the Effects and selected Friendly Confines/Strong. The result was bright, golden and a bit contrasty. There is a noticeable color shift towards yellow and it shows mostly in the hair. That said, I really like it in all its bright liveliness.

If warm and fuzzy is not your cup of tea, not to fear. Just hit the skids. Or at least the Skid Row effect. Here I used it set to medium and got instant ‘corpse-ification’ (and cue quote from Joss Whedon’s Firefly “Here lies Zoe, my autumn flower, somewhat less attractive now that she’s all corpse-ified and gross.” ) Now my secret is out; I’m a complete sci-fi NERD. But back to the subject at hand. The Skid Row effect still falls well within the desaturated color and inky blacks of the earlier mentioned 300 look.

For a desaturated look that is a bit warmer and less harsh, I undid the Skid Row preset, then used Sweating Bullets/Strong. The blacks and shadows are still blocked, but the skin tones are warmer. It is an interesting effect.

The last image in my line up was also taken outside in natural light with that same D70 and 50mm f/1.4 lens. Here it is straight out of the camera. Much like the image above, it is basically good to go. A little flat, contrast wise, but still quite acceptable:

First, the Basics ( Auto/Tone, Auto/White Balance, Brightside/Lite, and Highlight Hero/Lite). Lovely really, isn’t it? The image now has more snap and pop. The skin tones are warmer, cheeks rosier, eyes livelier and the contrast level has come up. Altogether a fully ‘finished’ image, good for delivery to the client or customer:

However, this review is all about the Effects, so lets get some effects up in this house.  I selected the Golden Age preset set to medium. The result was a very soft and gently warm toned image. Of course, you do lose detail when you basically added a big jolt of yellow into the ‘filter pack’ on your ‘enlarger’. That’s old school speak from back when we printed ‘photographs’ onto paper in a ‘dark room’. Which we rode to in our horse and buggy. Anyway, it is a nice effect, but I’d like to see something a bit snappier.

So I put it in full reverse and went back to the Basics and added Auto/Tone. That brightened things up a bit. Actually I really like this one. It’s soft and warmly reminiscent of ads shot back in the late 1960s and early 1970s by Sarah Moon:

Finally, I wanted to use the desaturated look in a less extreme way. I undid the Golden Age preset and applied Sweating Bullets/Strong and the Basics preset Brightside/Lite. The result is just slightly desaturated:

PROS-

The Effects presets are a fast and easy way to create some of the more trendy looks currently hot in photography. They play well with the Basics used either as a foundation or as a supplement after the fact.

CONS-

I admit I’m not so much into the ‘degraded, color shifted snapshots ripped out of some random family’s beat up album from the 1960s and 70s’ look. I realize mine is most likely the minority opinion on this matter. Entire recent photography careers have been launched and propelled with these types of effects. That said, I suppose it isn’t really a drawback, if you like these types of effects. Besides, they come bundled in with all the other presets, which I am totally happy with.

CONCLUSION:

I don’t personally care for these presets for people photography. However, they do have fantastic potential for landscape, architectural and product shots and I will be using them for such.

In my next and final review of the Totally Rad Lightoom Presets, I will be discussing the Vignettes & Toning section.

If you would like to read more, check out these articles:

Review: New Lightroom Presets From Totally Rad Really Deliver

Review: Totally Rad Lightroom Black & White Presets Produce Glorious Images

Review: New Lightroom Presets From Totally Rad Really Deliver

High Key Studio Lighting – Tutorial

Low Key Portrait Lighting – Tutorial

Outdoor Portraiture – Overcoming Challenges

Depth of Field – Photography Tutorial

© Deborah Wolfe for Studio on a Shoestring, 2010. All rights reserved.| Permalink | 2 comments

FIRST A BRIEF RECAP:

As I mentioned in my last post/review, New Lightroom Presets From Totally Rad Really Deliver, I recently received the new Totally Rad Lightroom Presets. These presets are offered by Doug Boutwell over at Totally Rad with four different categories – Basics, Black & White, Effects, and Vignettes & Toning.

My first review covered the Basics portion and this review will focus on the Black & White section.

GROUND RULES:

For this review, I will demonstrate the differing results between using the Basics to create a foundation for the Black & White, and using the Black & White presets alone. All images in this post were taken by me, and are straight out of the camera. I did some basic Lightroom touch up, such as spot/blemish retouching and skin smoothing, but NO exposure, color correction/enhancement etc.

METHODS:

Much like my earlier review, I clicked. A lot. Paid attention to the different results and made note of which combinations I liked best. Then I wrote it all down in my favorite Wonder Woman notebook.

IMAGES:

I started with an image taken in VERY dim natural light with my Nikon D700 set to a very high ISO. ISO 4000 to be exact. I used a Nikon 85mm f/1.8 lens set to f/2.8.  The resulting image was lovely and very ‘grainy’. Here it is basically out of camera, cropped and with a bit of skin smoothing:

I started with the Basics and used A Beginning/Lite and Auto/Contrast. I was tempted to just stop at this point. The resulting image is so appealingly delicate and ethereal. I learned from many long years spent in a communal darkroom that exposure is in the eye of the beholder. I usually like my images on the super-saturated side. But I can also fully appreciate the beauty of an image printed to the lighter, more delicate side of exposure and color balance.

Since this review is focusing on the Black & White section of Totally Rad’s Lightroom Presets, I wanted to create an image with a ‘real’ black and white feel. I used the Riot Juice* preset and it hit the target spot on. Notice the beautiful, soft skin tones with their ‘creamy’ feel. It reminds me of one of my favorite types of film, the chromogenic film Ilford HP5. It was known for it wide exposure latitude, and exceptionally fine grain from which beautiful prints with particularly lovely skin tones could be produced:

Here is the same image, straight out of camera, no Basics presets used and ONLY the BW/Riot Juice preset. As you can clearly see, the Black & White presets work best building on a foundation created with the Basics. This image is under exposed and very flat or low contrast:

The next image is architectural. That is where a strongly graphical image can really shine in black and white. This image, taken straight out of camera, was taken with a point and shoot Canon PowerShot A590IS:

I started working with the Basics; Auto/Contrast, Auto/Exposure, Auto/Shadows & Blacks, Brightside/Strong and Smack My Pix Up/Strong to create this:

Once again, this was a tempting place to stop. The image has already been greatly enhanced well above and beyond your ‘typical’ point and shoot fare. However, I really wanted to see it in black and white. I layered the BW/Grey Matter preset over the Basics presets to create a stunningly graphical architectural shot which makes me think of the great building era in America during the 1930s:

Here is the same photo straight out of camera and using only the BW/Grey Matter preset. Once again, it is clear the Basics presets really create a strong foundation to build on, as this image is not as strong as the one above:

My last image is from a personal project I shot in the studio. Here it is straight out of the camera with some spot/blemish touch up and skin smoothing:

I started with the Basics; Auto/White Balance and Electric Skies/Lite. Stunning. Simple perfection. There is nothing about this image I would not proudly either display, sell to the client or use in my portfolio:

There were so many GREAT options in black and white for this image. All three of the images below are different and I’ll tell you what I like about each effect. In the first one, I used the BW/Great White preset. This is a fantastic dramatic effect. Notice how the light falls off at the edge of her face. There is still good separation between subject and background, yet the blacks are deep and velvety. As important, the highlights also have good detail and aren’t blown. Her face is front and center and those eyes are really highlighted:

#1

In this next version I layered BW/Great White with the BW/Concrete Jungle preset. This one is darker and moodier, yet the subject is still separated well from the background and good detail still found in the shadows and highlights:

#2

Below I once again used the BW/Great White preset, but this time I layered it with BW/Riot Juice. The results are between the first two. The shadows are not as deep as in version #2, nor are the highlights as dramatic as in #1. It is a good, solid black and white image with velvety blacks, creamy highlights and the subject is well separated from the background:

#3

My favorite? Number one.

The Black & White presets have a number of ‘warmer’ effects as well. I usually prefer my black and white straight up, but do sometimes avail myself of other ‘toning’ options. Here is our lovely Miss using a combination of BW/Great White and the BW/Bodie preset set to Lite. This is a fairly close approximation of what an image shot with low key lighting then sepia toned would look like:

PROS-

Using the Basics in combination with the Black & White presets, it is not only easy, but FUN to create absolutely stunning black and white images. There’s not a lot of guess or grunt work, just click, watch and decide which effect you like best. I particularly like the results towards the darker end of the spectrum and feel these presets are extremely well suited for either architectural and landscape images.

CONS-

I found it impossible to get good results for skin tones in the dark olive category. As you can see, my examples were of a fair-skinned child and a dark-skinned black woman. I tried to work with some images of a pair of Indian sisters and an Indian man. I was not pleased with the results. That said, I acknowledge I always find it difficult to get good black and whites of people with olive or sallow skin. Perhaps I was hoping for a ‘magic button’ that could erase this problem with one click of the mouse. Nope. So I don’t think I can hold Doug Boutwell personally accountable for my failure in this area.

I would also like to see more straightforward black and white presets and less of what I consider to be ‘trendy’ and strange warm and brown effects. That is simply a personal preference on my part, as really good black & white digital conversions are still one of the trickiest feats to achieve.

CONCLUSION-

Overall, a powerful tool to have in your toolbox. Totally Rad Lightroom Presets work very well in combination with each other, as a set of ANYTHING should. I know I will be using the Basics and the Black & White presets often. They are a fast and easy way to streamline work flow and used in combination with other Lightroom adjustments, can help round out a complete image post processing system.

My next review will focus on the Effects presets in this set. If you are interested in reading more, check out these articles:

Review: New Lightroom Presets From Totally Rad Really Deliver

Review: New Totally Rad Lightroom ‘Effects’ Add Visual Interest to Photographs

Review: Totally Rad Lightroom Presets Total Package

Low Key Lighting Tutorial

Photographing Young Children With Low-Key Lighting

Black & White Conversions Using Lightroom and Photoshop

*Don’t you just love Mr. Boutwell’s way with words?

© Deborah Wolfe for Studio on a Shoestring, 2010. All rights reserved.| Permalink | 2 comments

I just received my copy of Doug Boutwell’s Totally Rad Lightroom Presets and excitedly set right to work with them. This is some pretty dreamy stuff.

EXPOSITION:

This set of Lightroom ‘actions’ comes bundled in four categories; Basics, Black & White, Effects, and Vignettes & Toning. I decided to start at the beginning, so this review will cover the Basics. The next review will cover Black & White, which I’ve already had my sticky little hands on and OH MY GAWD do I love it.

GROUND RULES:

I approached these presets from the perspective of the beginner and/or novice. From the point of view of the individual that doesn’t have much experience with Photoshop and is possibly a bit intimidated by image post processing in general. That said, all images in this post were taken by me and the ONLY thing done to them, other than utilizing the Totally Rad presets, was some cropping. I began with images straight out of the camera with no additional touch up or Lightroom/Photoshop enhancements. In other words, I wanted to see what could be accomplished using ONLY the presets.

METHODS:

I clicked a lot. I paid attention to the effect of each preset. I decided which effects I liked best for each image and I wrote it down in my favorite Wonder Woman notebook.

IMAGES:

This first image demonstration is very subtle, so I’ll guide you through it. Here is the straight out of camera image. It is decently exposed but slightly flat:

I enhanced this image by first clicking Auto Contrast and then Electric Skies/Medium. Notice the richer skin and hair tones, the deeper blues and browns. Altogether believable and ‘natural’ and all it took was two clicks of the mouse:

Okay, let’s take the training wheels off and get a little wild and crazy. The next image is a little underexposed straight out of the camera. Who am I fooling? It’s really about 2 stops underexposed. DO NOT ask me what a stop is, or I’ll be forced to tell you in excruciating detail.

But with a mere four clicks of the mouse (Auto Exposure, Auto Shadow & Black, Smack My Pix Up/Lite and Auto Brightness) we go from dark and dull to bright and dynamic. The final result is a bit contrasty, but overall not bad:

This next image is one of my favorites and was taken in a bathroom with perfectly diffused daylight filtering in. As you can see, straight out of the camera it is a little dark and flat.

With a little clicking about I was able to turn this into a little jewel of liveliness. Notice the greatly improved hair color and texture as well as the bright yet believable skin tones. Presets used - A Beginning/Medium, Auto Brightness, Auto Tone, Electric Skies/Medium and Smack My Pix Up/Lite:

Next I wanted to see if images could be pushed HARD using only the ‘basics’, so I picked the following image for all its bright, possibly even LURID colors. It’s actually pretty good straight out of the camera, but I am a complete COLOR WHORE. There, I’ve said it. Ahhhhh, I feel so much better now.

And so I turned all the pretty knobs and dials all the way to right, as they say. Notice the thick, syrupy, gooey color goodness. If this stuff came in a jar, you could spread it. This reminds me of the old school days of shooting Kodachrome 64 and underexposing it by 1/3 stop to super saturate the colors. The recipe? Auto Contrast, Auto White Balance, Electric Skies/Lite, Landscape/Lite and Smack My Pix Up/Strong:

Sometimes we’re not looking for bells and whistles. Sometimes we just want to do a little basic grunt work, like color correction. How well do these presets work in this arena? This next image was a bit yellow-orange straight out of the camera and I wanted to see if I could achieve a ‘normal’ color balance:

Well yes I can get a more natural and ‘realistic’ color balance. A little dash of Auto Contrast, a splash of Auto White Balance and a sprinkling of Electric Skies/Lite does the trick:

And if all of that clicking is just too much work for you, how about the one click wonder:

Pretty impressive, no? What WAS the one click? A Beginning/Strong.

PROS-

Overall, I’m impressed.  I have to say that by using just the ‘basics’ section, the results are surprisingly good. It really is possible to take an image straight out of camera that is anywhere on a 3-7 stop range of exposure, and with 1-5 clicks of the mouse, produce an image with punch and pop.

CONS-

A bit much on the contrast overall. That said, contrast is in the eye of the beholder. Not enough and images are flat and dull. Too much and images are brittle and flinty with blocked shadows and flared highlights. The contrast levels are not extreme, just a bit hot. Most of the images could do with some additional Lightroom/Photoshop tweaks. However, Mr. Boutwell does NOT claim these presets are a complete replacement of other types of image post processing. Remember, I am doing this demo from the perspective of the beginner/novice.

CONCLUSION:

A beginner or novice could use these presets and working solely in Lightroom could produce very lovely, lively images. Lightroom is an incredible tool for both image management AND post-processing and can serve one very well, either in the absence of or in combination with Photoshop. I’m happy to have these presets loaded onto my machine and will definitely use them to enhance my own images.

My next review will focus on the Black and White portion of the Totally Rad Lightroom Presets (see products section). I can already tell you I feel like the set is WELL worth the money just for that section.

If you are not interested in working with Lightroom presets and would prefer instead to use Photoshop actions, check out  Totally Rad Actions Rule – Elevate Your Portraits to Art With Photoshop Actions.

If you would like to read more, check out these articles:

Review: Totally Rad Lightroom Black & White Presets Produce Glorious Images

Review: New Totally Rad Lightroom ‘Effects’ Presets Add Visual Interest to Photographs

Review: Totally Rad Lightroom Presets Total Package

High Key Studio Lighting – Tutorial

Using Bold Color in Portraiture – Tip and Techniques

Outdoor Portraiture – Overcoming Challenges

© Deborah Wolfe for Studio on a Shoestring, 2010. All rights reserved.| Permalink |

My parents are retired, but not retiring. As a matter of fact, they’ve begun to range far and wide. Over this past summer, they set off on what I’ve begun to refer to as their Grand Adventure. They recently purchased a gigantic ‘Monster Bus’, a sort of land yacht RV thing, the type of thing you might see certain rock stars ensconced in. My mother had never seen the great American west or southwest and it had been decades since my father had. They set off on a 45 day ‘walk about’, following the setting sun.

My mother took a little point and shoot with her, to document their adventures. The images in this post were taken mostly by my mother, Patricia Sims.  A few were taken by my father, Wayne Sims. My mother is an incredibly creative individual who has tried her hand successfully at a great many endeavors.  Among other things, she has:

• Built a beautiful field stone patio, single handedly
• Learned to sew  and applique’ beautiful garments
• Taught herself to crochet and created lovely sweaters, afghans etc
• Created incredibly intricate and unique art with decoupage
• Created lovely art with gathered and dried lichens, bark, flowers, seed pods etc
• Painted truly wonderful oil paintings of a great many subjects
• Created the MOST fabulous outdoor courtyard with lush greenery and burbling fountain
• Is a fabulous cook with an innate understanding of how to prepare wild game

Don’t tell anybody…..most especially her…..but I think my mother is an artist.

My mother has never taken a photography class, but has become a keen observer of what I do : )  I gotta say, she’s been a great ‘student’ and has a fantastic eye. She emailed all these images to me, just to share. They came directly out of her camera and were all rather ‘flat’. I couldn’t resist taking them into Lightroom and doing that voodoo that I do. Then I exported them to Photoshop and also ran some ‘actions’ on a few of them. Enjoy! This first one was taken through the moving RV window, hence the ‘grid’ effect.

© Deborah Wolfe for Studio on a Shoestring, 2009. All rights reserved.| Permalink | 3 comments

I take a rather old school approach, referring back to the acknowledged master himself, Ansel Adams. He came up with the zone system. It’s all rather detailed and complex, but the gist of it is this; a really great black & white image encompasses the entire tonal range, from brilliant highlights to velvety shadows, with detail present at both ends of the spectrum. Highlights are not blown nor are shadows blocked. With that said, to each his own. I love a well lit, beautifully exposed and perfectly printed image. I also love creative license. I’ll repeat what I wrote in my very first blog post (High Key Lighting Tutorial – Studio Lighting for Small Spaces.) Learn the rules first and then break them with impunity later.

Let’s start with an image I post processed with Adobe Photoshop CS3, prior to learning to use and fully appreciate Adobe Lightroom for the image editing program it is.  Here is the original image, straight out of the camera.

I  liked the spooky quality of all those vines and wanted to really get them to ‘pop’.  I started by selectively dodging them.  I decided to use separate layers so I could easily undo sections if I didn’t like the overall effect.  I also did a levels adjustment and sharpened the image slightly.

Well, that was nice, but it still wasn’t what I saw in my ‘mind’s’ eye.  So I decided to take it a step further and desaturate it.  Now we’re getting somewhere.

I was still intrigued to see if I could achieve a heightened sense of ‘gothic’ drama.  I dipped into my tool box of ‘actions’ and selected Super Old Skool HQ from Doug Boutwell’s Totally Rad Actions Photoshop actions.  I love playing around with Photoshop effects just as much as the next person, but freely admit I don’t mind strolling down a pre-paved path either.  Ah….now we’re getting really close to the feeling I wanted this image to convey.

The Super Old Skool HQ does a vignette and blur, among other things, and that gives this image the feelings of being an old daguerreotype, like the one below by Louis Daguerre himself.  If you’re interested and want to know more about this process, click the image below.

Back to my image.  I still felt like it needed that little something extra, so I went in search of the perfect border.  Here’s what I came up with.  Click the image and see the ‘final’ product in my Etsy gallery.

For the opening image, I began with Adobe Lightroom.  Here is the original, straight out of camera image of my client’s Emmy award.

I was inspired by this video by Jon Armstrong over at blurbomat.com.  I did the black & white conversion in Lightroom, basically following Jon’s suggestions.  I then exported it to Photoshop and touched up all the scratches in the metal.  It was AMAZING how many ‘irregularities’ there were in the surface of this magnificent piece.  I LOVE the ‘liquid’ quality of the metal in the final editing.  Click the image to see it large.

If you would like to read more, check out these articles:

High Key Studio Lighting – Tutorial

Photographing Young Children With Low Key Lighting – Tutorial

Studio Lighting for Headshots – Tutorial

How to Set Up a Photo Booth in Your Home

How to Photograph Large Groups in the Studio

Photographing Babies, Birth to One Year – Tips and Techniques

Using Bold Color in Portraiture – Tips and Techniques

© Deborah Wolfe for Studio on a Shoestring, 2009. All rights reserved.| Permalink |

A lot of people want to better understand the differences or potential benefits between shooting in camera RAW as opposed to JPG.  There are a great many people who put their foot down firmly on one side or the other of this debate.  I’ve seen arguments get heated in certain forums, with each side claiming the high ground.

Jennifer Leigh, Karyn Christner, Robert Wallace

Me?  I shoot RAW.  Why?  Because I like to endlessly tweak things.  I come from a background of printing ‘old school’ and really like to get my hands in it and mess it around a bit.  Then maybe change my mind, erase it all and start again….and again.  RAW allows that freedom.  I also find JPGs to be more ‘contrasty’, both tending to blow out my highlights and block up my shadows.  Dude, if anyone is gonna block my shadows, it better be me.

Than there’s the whole debate around Adobe Lightroom vs Apple Aperture.  I use Lightroom.  And so does Jon Armstrong over at blurbomat.com.  Jon is the husband and web master extraordinaire for his wife Heather (the ‘dooce’ of dooce.com fame.)  Anyway, Jon is a talented photographer in his own right.  Which brings me around to the entire point of this post.  His post.  Or rather, his video on RAW vs JPG.  It demonstrates very well the compeling reasons to both shoot in RAW and use Lightroom.  So go check it out.  Tell him I sent you.  Don’t forget to scratch Coco behind the ear.

If you would like to read more, check out these articles:

High Key Studio Lighting – Tutorial

Photographing Young Children With Low Key Lighting – Tutorial

Studio Lighting for Headshots – Tutorial

How to Set Up a Photo Booth in Your Home

How to Photograph Large Groups in the Studio

Photographing Babies, Birth to One Year – Tips and Techniques

Using Bold Color in Portraiture – Tips and Techniques

© Deborah Wolfe for Studio on a Shoestring, 2009. All rights reserved.| Permalink |