Her Mother and I do.

Your thoughts are welcome.

I like these details. They're intimate and sweet without being sappy. Having said that, though, i wonder why all the extra photoshopping? I suspect the photo would stand out just as much without it. Also, the digital effects on this make the subjects look less human. It does a disservice to the piece, which is so, so human.

Thanks for asking my opinion. I think the effect is really very well accomplished :) The only thing I notice is that the space between his fingers, while correctly exposed, because of the lightness, it makes his hand look a little strange. I would selectively adjust the levels in this area to darken just the space between his fingers for effect. Otherwise, The crop & composition are super! The exposure is so well accomplished, the detail in the whites is spectacular! Not an easy feat! It looks painted with a dry brush & I happen to love this effect :)

Thanks so much Jayme for stopping by to comment. I do so value your critique. I have had a couple folks notice the hands in this shot. As the father of the bride he was quite elderly, and his hands are crippled a bit from arthritis. I struggled with weather to change them or not but in the end left them.

 

Your effects are so wonderfully done. Would love tips on smoothing our skin tones and especially love the way you make your black and white shots look like sketches. Do you use plug ins of some type?

With regard to the sketches, no plug-ins, but they are fairly simple. I first over-expose the shot when I take it. Shoot in RAW, Over-expose by about 1 1/2 stops. Usually, I do this on a white background. Makes it easier. Then in Raw pull back in the exposure. Usually the skin is what gets blown (which is OK) & the eyes, nose, lips & hair can be pulled back. Then, once I open them in PS, I check each channel. If one of the channels has more detail then the actual image, I copy & paste it on top of the original in a separate layer. I adjust the layer mode to usually overlay or soft-light. Then flatten & change to B&W. I am partial to the chocolate & white conversion. I do have an action filter that I found somewhere, I'll email it to you & then I found a really nice glamour blur action filter. I'll email you both. With the Pro-chocolate, I adjust the chocolate layer to about 37%, I want it very light. It makes it's own copy. So I usually select all/copy & paste it over the original. Adjust from there.

 

I still use the "gothic glow" action I got from you a few years back. In fact, I used it the other day :)

 

Just a few tips about the Sketches: 1-White background 2- over-expose (I know, it's really hard for me to do too. On the camera screen, it looks horrible! So don't fear, it does work out:) 3- Check out the RBG channels. 4 Always shoot in RAW. Let me know how it works out for you. I love shooting them in the studio. I like them better than most of my clients do :) So... the best part is I usually shoot these as the first few test shots :) They never know!