First Behind the Scenes Video

A few weeks I did a random shoot for fun with my friend Kyle.  The theme was Clark Kent and it came out pretty awesome.  We also did a bts video and there will be more videos of shoots in the future.

Critique Journal. Entry 1

A few months ago I had an idea to critique my own work and post it here on this blog.  I figured that it would help not only myself but also the viewer in learning from mistakes or even how to make something better next time.  I learned the most effective way of doing this is dependent on time.  Even with editing I dont edit all of a picture at once.  I will do what needs to be done and go onto another picture.  I will go back to that one image and I will see what I could do better which I wouldn't have been able to do before.  Dont spend too much time on one photograph, spread it out and you will have better results.

Whatever makes you free.

So in a constant pursuit of trying to make my mark in the photography world, I always check out other people's work.  I end up getting into a mind set of try to do what they do.  Well on the surface this is great because you need to see what is working on the outside world of making a career of photography.  You wouldn't show a magazine photo editor a portfolio that has a bunch of work that has a style that they wouldn't use.  So yeah, you need to be showing work that they want to see, so study up people.

However........

How to: Beautifying tips in Photoshop

Everywhere you go, you see the beautiful people filling the covers of magazines.  If you dont know by now, a lot of the work is done in Photoshop.  But what are some of the techniques used to make your model look perfect?

Here is a typical head-shot session.  Im going to skip the color correction and save that for another time.  But for now, lets focus on the retouching of the model.

Ok, before I do ANYTHING else, I always duplicate the beginning layer.  I use a Mac so its J

Really simple but very necessary incase things go bad, you always have it to revert to.  Its also good practice to continue doing this throughout the edit.

It isnt until you zoom into your subject do you start to see the flaws, dont worry, every single person has them.  Everybody has some form of acne or wrinkles so lets figure out how to get rid of them.

Above you can see that I have pointed to the Spot Healing Brush.  This is a tool I use constantly.  all you do is make the brush size to fit your need (not too big of course) and just start clicking away at acne or sunspots.  

Sometimes though, you cant fix it with the spot-healing brush.  This is where you have to use the actual Clone Stamp tool.  You can get it by just typing "s".  How it works is that you pick a spot to clone from by holding "alt/option" (on a mac that is) and then clicking your target area.  Make sure you click on an area that you want to clone and then start brushing over the "bad area"  I recommend using an opacity of about 30%, its just much easier that way to get finer details.  The clone stamp takes a lot of practice, but it always gets the job done.

Ok, after a lot of clicking to get rid of sunspots and other unwanted features, we can see that we actually did a lot to improve our picture.  Yet there is still more to do here.  We want to really smooth out the subject's face. 

This is where I show a really cool trick called the History Brush.  I never started using it until a couple of months ago, I never knew what it was and thought it was a worthless tool.  I was very wrong, its a very convenient tool and it comes in handy in situations like this.

Ok, how do we smooth out the face?

Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur.  When the window pops up, set it to about 10px.

Now your picture is blurry beyond recognition.  This is where the brush comes to life.

In your History box you will see the Gaussian Blur at the bottom.  Go ahead and click on the little box to the left of it and you will see a little icon take its place.

After this, make sure you backup a step, click on the last action to take place right before you did the Gaussian Blur.  Now you will notice that the picture is no longer blurry.

Now all you have to do is click on the History Brush icon or just press "Y".

Using a lower opacity and soft edge brush, about 30% or lower is best for opacity, you want to start brusing over places like the forehead and other areas that have a lot of detail.  What this is doing is smoothing out the face by applying the Gaussian Blur in small amounts.  Make sure to leave some of the areas alone, like the eyes of course.

So after you are happy with this, you might want to lighten up a few areas by using the Dodge or Burn brushes.  But if not, you ought to be done.  Go head and compare the finished result with the very beginning picture.  You will notice a huge difference.

Latest shoot - Jason Taylor

Recently a friend sent me a message saying he has a friend who needs a shoot last minute.  I said sure go ahead and send him my way.  The next day we met up and headed to the Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles.

Jason Taylor has just finished up his album and I got a sneak peak of it as we finished up the artwork.  The album is called love Revolution and will rock your socks off.

Here are a few shots from the photo-shoot.

Jaden Michaels Shoot. - how to shoot in direct sunlight.

Last Monday I went out to Venice Beach with an awesome friend to do a quick promo shoot for her up and coming album.  We ended up finding quick chemistry to get some really great shots.

I got to really see how my old 50mm 1.4 lens handled in the sun.  I also got to stretch my knowledge of lighting while over-powering the sun with a strobist kit.

I used my Canon 430 EX II speedlight synced with Cowboystudio's RF-604 sync system.  The whole kit was inexpensive to buy and I havent had too many quality issues with it.

The shots taken were with the sun in the background.  This usually causes a problem with dynamic range.  But using the strobist kit, I was able to fill in the shadows on her face.  There has to be a delicate balance in order for the shot to come out just right, otherwise the picture will look amateurish.

What you want to do is make sure that the background is a little underexposed, you have to meter the shots beforehand and then set it up using your manual (M) mode.  Here is where we come face to face with an obstacle.  The great thing about the 430 EX II flash is that you can do high sync speeds with it.  When shooting in direct sun you usually have to have a high shutter speed so its great to have this handy.

However, the Cowboystudio sync system only allows me to sync up to 1/250th of a second where I would want it to be over 1/2000th of a second.  In order to get a proper exposure on this day, I had to change my f-stop to about 18 which isnt a problem.  Not a big deal, just have to make sure you get a good balance.  With this I also had to have the flash on full power in order to get the balance.

This made for a fun learning experience and Im very happy with the pictures and how they came out.  

Garsteck Photography: Utilizing the strobist mentality.

A few months ago, I decided I would start getting lights for a future studio.  I looked more into this thing called "Strobist" and I was very intrigued by it.  I felt God tell me, "Pray for lights" and I said, "Ok" and I did.  And now, I have lights, well, a light.

I researched and priced out my initial strobist kit.  I already had a Canon 430 EX II strobe so I was good on that end.  All I needed to get was a: stand, sync cable or a wireless sync system, umbrella, and an adapter for my flash.  No big deal right?

Well I found a cheap and workable set on Amazon.com and now its all here and set up.  It works like a dream and I am pretty happy with it.

Along with said equipment, I also bought a tripod, new lens caps and a remote for my canon (to essentially use my bulb exposure).

whats the big deal with using off camera flashes?  They arent as powerful as a monolight strobe and they cost the same thing, if not more.  This is true, however, they are very portable and lightweight.  If I wanted to get a monolight kit, I would have to have portable power.  Care to guess how much they cost?  Yeah, a lot of money.

The strobist kits are way portable and lightweight.  Not to mention they allow you to get creative with your setups by allowing you to use less.

I plan on getting another light and stand and all that.  I will have a two light strobist kit eventually.  I also plan on getting a nice two light setup from Alien Bees.  They also have great wireless sync systems and I am looking forward to eventually replacing my $20 setup.