This week, Michèle Grenier taught us how to remove redness from cheeks and noses in the new LuminarAI, while Julie Powell presented some great tips on capturing the holiday spirit through food photography.
Sara Kempner walked us through how to expose for the snow, while Jemma Pollari taught us how to make a DIY lens filter for some special holiday-themed bokeh. Finally, Joy Celine Asto highlighted photographer Angelika Ejtel and her creative black and white reflective self portraits.
How to get rid of redness in cheeks and noses in LuminarAI - Looking to get rid of those red cheeks and noses of your subjects during cold-weather outdoor portraits? It’s easy to get rid of unwanted facial redness with the new LuminarAI. 1) Neutralize the red tint The first thing is to neutralize the red tint. What is red’s complementary color? That’s right — green! By adding green to the red hue, we will cancel it out. (Don’t be afraid, I swear Uncle Gary won’t look sick.) To do so, go to the Essentials tab and open the Color tool. Then, expand the HSL options and select Hue. Select the red color and move the slider to the right to neutralize the hue. The whole face will look weird for a moment but keep on observing the effect it has only on the nose and cheeks. 2) Increase the luminance Next, we need to increase the luminance of the red color to harmonize it with the rest of the face. To proceed, stay in the HSL options, but this time select Luminance. Slightly increase the Luminance of the red hue by moving the slider to the right. 3) Paint a mask As you can see, this green effect is currently being applied to the entire face — which is not great … I grant you that. The last step consists of applying the correction only to specific areas of our subject’s face (hence the nose and cheeks). To paint a mask, click on the small mask icon in the upper right corner of the Color panel. I suggest you decrease the radius of the brush for more precise work; you can do this with the slider or by using the bracket keys on your keyboard. Paint the “anti-redness” effect on the affected areas. Complete the look Once the redness has been neutralized, you are free to continue editing your image or export it as is. I strongly suggest the AI tools Portrait > Face and Skin tools which will allow you to improve, among others, the eyes and skin texture in no time. Long live winter! Take advantage of the cold season without fearing red cheeks and noses ever again! Get out there and be more creative than ever with your photography! Getting fresh air is good for everyone … for the heart as well as the mind ;) Don’t have LuminarAI yet? Get your copy today and save $10 with the code PHOTOFOCUS!
Creative self-portraits reflect the surreal worlds of the soul - I find creative self-portraits to be incredibly tricky to pull off. By that, I mean photos that go beyond the vain, clout-driven selfies that flood social media. I’ve always been impressed with photographers who manage to transform themselves into different characters to tell thought-provoking stories. It’s one thing to use portraiture to build a narrative, and another to star in your own show, so to speak. Upon discovering the work of Dallas-based, Polish self-portrait artist Angelika Ejtel, I also realized that self-portraits can also take us on a journey to self-discovery — exploring our dreams, fears, emotions and rumination. She considers her work to be poetry in images, and her ongoing series “The Art of Reflection” definitely fits the bill. Channeling “The Art of Reflection” According to Ejtel, the series took its title and inspiration from the book of the same title by Marsha Meskimmon which explores women artists’ self-portraiture in the 20th century. To make this series her own, she turned to her desire to explore the different sides of her self. “I wish to experiment with all kind of surfaces to reflect my selves. A journey into surreal worlds of the soul.” Using mirrors to literally and figuratively play with the idea of reflection, Ejtel is able to illustrate her thoughts and perspectives of the many different versions of the self, alongside self-discovery and self-expression. Her choice to present her work in sepia and monochrome reminiscent of wet collodion photography heightens the emotive nature of her ideas by bringing our attention to composition and contrast. The art of creative self-portraits At a time where many photographers are still confined to shooting at home, I’ sure a big portion of us have no choice but to do self-portraits or at least consider it. I also understand that it may not be easy for photographers to stand in front of the camera instead of behind it. Still, I look at the works of self-portrait artists like Ejtel and I am amazed at how much trust they put in themselves to execute their concepts and ideas. Since the visual style she chose for her work also includes the flaws and quirks distinct to wet collodion photography, her focus isn’t on technicality, but her message. It doesn’t have to be perfect. All it needs is to be a genuine expression of multiplicity of “selves” in all of us. “I consider my photographic creation as a poetic experience in which I drown and infuse myself and, as a result, it gives me the feeling that I am reborn with each portrait into a new being. Although, all of my photographs are self-portraits, they shouldn’t be necessarily read as self-presentations, rather they should be revealed as the multiplicity of ‘selves’ available to one individual. To put it succinctly, my attitude toward the self is more of an exploratory journey between an awareness of self and an unawareness of some aspects of oneself.” Don’t forget to visit Angelika Ejtel’s Behance portfolio to see more of her work. All photos by Angelika Ejtel. Used with Creative Commons permission.
Capturing the holiday spirit through festive food photos - It’s that time of year again! All thoughts turn to the Holiday Season. Whether that’s Thanksgiving or Christmas, or something else entirely. If it’s festive, chances are there are bound to be friends, family and of course, food. Capture festive food photos with all that sparkles, glistens and shines with a few fantastic ideas below. You don’t have to bring the big guns out — mobile cameras these days are fantastic too. Sprinkling Capture the action of dusting baked treats with icing sugar. Remember to use a slower shutter speed for soft dreamy effects. Or, speed the shutter up to get more action. Sparkling Add in some pretty LED lights or holiday lights for some sparkly bokeh in your shots. Slightly darker lighting helps amplify the lights. Glistening Grab a spray bottle with water and gently spray on fruit for that just-picked, farm-fresh look. Lovely natural light works well with this too. Don’t forget — once you’ve captured all the yummy food and are happy with your festive food photos, sit back, relax and enjoy it with good friends or family.
Give your bokeh Christmas flair with this DIY lens filter - Feeling crafty? This easy lens modifier is a fun one for the holidays and only takes a few minutes to prepare. Bonus: Your kids will love it! I love shooting wide open to capture beautiful bokeh behind my subject: The blurry, out-of-focus blobs that are characteristic of wide apertures. Bokeh takes on the shape of the aperture, which is why high-end lenses are built with lots of curved diaphragm blades (the iris that lets light through the lens) to get the aperture as perfectly round as possible. In this DIY, however, we’re going to deliberately change the aperture shape, thus sculpting the bokeh into fun holiday shapes! It’s kitsch but fun: In other words, perfect for Christmas. Don’t worry, this is a non-destructive craft: No modifications to the actual lens are required, I promise. How to create bokeh shapes with a wide aperture lens You will need: A wide aperture lens of at least f/1.8, such as a nifty fifty (50mm f/1.8 lens). The 50mm f/1.8 will work well for this activity on both a full frame or a crop sensor camera. Whatever lens you choose, make sure it has at least 50mm for the focal length (longer would be even more effective). A step-up ring for your lens (a step-up ring is used to fit filters that are larger than the lens thread). The smaller diameter of the ring needs to match your lens thread diameter. If you can’t get a step-up ring, use Method 2 below instead. A sheet of thin (e.g. 2mm) black craft foam, the kind you would use for scrapbooking or card-making. Craft knife (e.g. an X-ACTO knife or similar). Scissors and a pen. Optional extras and alternatives: If you can’t get craft foam or a step-up ring, an A4 sheet of black cardboard and sticky tape will work (see Method 2 below). Hole punches in different shapes, small amount of black cardboard, and glue (for Method 3). Method 1: Shaping bokeh with craft foam and a step-up ring This is the easiest method and takes only a few minutes. Here are the steps: Trace the wider diameter of your step-up ring onto the craft foam. Cut out the circle, on the inside of your traced line. Carefully trim the edges until the foam circle fits firmly inside the wider diameter of your step-up ring. In the center of the foam circle, draw your shape (e.g. star, heart, etc.). It should be about 1 cm in size. Cut out the shape with the craft knife. With the foam circle fitted in the wide diameter of the step-up ring, screw the ring onto the end of your lens. Your lens should now be covered with the black foam, with the shape cut-out in the middle. Now you’re ready to shoot! Method 2: Shaping bokeh with a cardboard cap If you don’t have a step-up ring, this cardboard method works well: Cut a strip of black cardboard about 5 cm wide from the long side of your A4 sheet. Wrap the cardboard around your lens to make a tube. Tape it closed. Slide the tube off the lens and trace the end to make a “lens diameter” circle on the remaining cardboard. Draw (by hand) another circle around the traced one, about 1 cm (half an inch) bigger. Cut out the bigger circle. Snip the bigger circle at regular intervals, back to the “lens diameter” circle, to make tabs (see the diagram below: Cut the dotted lines). Fold the tabs inwards so they sit at 90 degrees to the circle. Draw and cut out your 1 cm shape, as in Method 1, in the middle of your circle. Tape the circle to the end of the tube using the tabs. To shoot, slide the tube onto your lens so that it’s capped by the cardboard circle. Method 3: Making an interchangeable bokeh shaper If you’re an advanced craftsgineer, you might like to try this method. Here, we make cardboard “slides” with different-shaped holes, and a “bracket” on the circle to slip them in. I like this method because the hole punches give cleaner shapes than I can cut with the craft knife. Also, you only need to make one “cap” and can change the bokeh shape on the fly. You can make this bracket on either the foam circle/step-up ring modifier (Method 1) or the cardboard cap (Method 2). Make your cap as above, but instead of cutting a specific shape, cut a 1.5 cm square in the center. Cut two 0.5 cm by 3 cm strips of cardboard or foam, and glue one on each side of the square cutout (as per the red rectangles in the diagram below), to make the “bracket.” Only put glue on the very ends of the strips (blue dots in the diagram). Cut “slides” approx. 2 cm wide x 3 cm long. Punch each slide with a different shape. When the glue is dry, push a slide under the bracket so that the punched shape of the slide is over the central square cut-out. Now you are ready to shoot, and changing shapes is as easy as slipping one slide out and another in. Next time I’ll share some tips and tricks for using your modifier. Until then, happy crafting!
Tips for exposing snowy scenes - We’ve all felt the excitement of watching the first snowflakes of the season drifting down from the sky. As photographers, we know that a fresh blanket of snow can present an entirely new perspective on familiar scenes. Photographing in the snow can be a great way to get yourself out of the house while creating unique images for your portfolio during the winter months. However, the white, fluffy stuff can also present challenges for photographers who are trying to capture the winter wonderland around them. Below are a few ideas to help you produce a technically sound image when photographing in the snow. Bump it up It’s important to understand that your camera’s metering system takes an average reading of the light that it sees. It then tries to create what it thinks is a proper exposure for the given scene. Keeping in mind that the light in our scene is averaged, we can understand that the brighter parts of our scene will be averaged darker. Alternatively, the dark parts of any photo will be averaged brighter. Consequently, when your camera’s meter sees a bright, white snowscape, it will average it out to darker than what you actually see in front of you. This may result in an underexposed image with gray or blue colored tones in the snow. Your camera meter doesn’t understand that you want all of that bright whiteness in your scene. Bumping up your exposure can help to capture the snow in its true to life brightness. Experiment by going up to 2 stops above your base exposure depending on if you’re in the bright sun or in the shade. You can do this by using your exposure compensation dial. You can also adjust your shutter speed or aperture accordingly if shooting in manual. This will help get rid of any dull gray tones in your snow. A balancing act Finding the correct white balance while photographing snow can be tricky. Luckily, our digital cameras allow us to experiment and see the results right away with image playback. Experiment with different white balances and see which one works the best for your scene. Often, especially on overcast days, snow can read on the bluer side of the temperature scale. This means you may need to warm up your white balance slightly. Try using the shade or cloudy presets, or manually play with your temperature scale until you get the right results. Just keep in mind that a little bit of blue is better than having a yellow cast. We all know what yellow snow symbolizes! Another way to ensure that you can get the perfect white balance is to shoot in RAW. Shooting in RAW allows you to adjust the white balance settings in post to make sure you can get your snow crisp and white. I always shoot in RAW, but I also always try to get my image as close to perfect as possible in camera. It’s good practice to do your best in the field while providing yourself the option to tweak and perfect images when you’re back at the computer. Watch your highlights After you’ve composed your scene and compensated for the bright snow, make sure to check your histogram. A typical snow scene will be “exposed to the right,” which means most of your histogram information is on the right, or highlight side, of the histogram. Bumping up the exposure can help you, but it can also cause blown out highlights if you take it too far. This will cause you to lose image details and is not something you can recover when editing. Generally, you want your highlights to just be reaching the right side without any large spikes. However, as with any rule, there will be exceptions. Sometimes you will have blown out parts to your images when shooting in snow. Whether or not this is “correct” is ultimately up to you and the composition that you’re creating. Extras Take a lens hood out in the field with you to help reduce lens flare in the reflective snow. You can also try using a polarizer to cut down on glare in the snow or ice. Just like when you put on polarized sunglasses to be able to see better in the bright sun, a polarizer will allow your camera to retain detail in the brighter areas of your image. Photographing snowy scenes can be a great way to pass the winter while keeping your camera in hand. Just remember that relying solely on your camera’s metering system to set your exposure is a guarantee for underexposed and dull images. Hopefully now you have the tools you need to go out and capture the beauty of the winter season around you!
