bill_johnson18

<p>Ok thanks guys. I don't like to use tripods because I like to jump around and get all kinds of crazy angles but if you are saying you can still get blur with high shutter speeds (1/400) and strobes then I guess that might be my problem. I seem to remember using a tripod though and still getting some blury shots when I think about it. <br>

<br /> But the bottom line is that eyes, nose or lips *should* be perfectly acceptable things to focus on and they AF should be able to lock on it - right?</p>

<p>I don't have a great sample handy now but I'll try to post one later.</p>

<p>It's definitely a D70 I have.<br>

This SB600 looks like an on camera flash for the hot shoe. But they way you are talking about commander mode it sounds like you are suggesting placement of it elsewhere and it would be triggered by the built in on camera flash through "commander mode" - is that right or did I misunderstand you?</p>

<p>Thanks for all the tips.</p>

<p>It's definitely the D70 I have i just checked. Thanks for all the tips.</p>

<p>Great thanks. Well some must be willing to share something no? I agree start with healing brush or whatever which is what I do, but I have not found a better way than putting a very translucent layer of blurred skin on top. <br>

I would like to know whatup with all the real PROs that go so overboard with the skin too...</p>

<p>No I'm in Europe right now and being a student I don't really have a budget. What do SB-600's go for though out of morbid curisioty? I didn't know Best Buy carried that kind of gear. </p>

<p>What's camander mode? I never even heard of that. I have quantum radio slaves. Maybe I screwed up my camera model number - I have the old 6.2 megapixel one - isn't that the D70?</p>

<p>Nothing is in focus everything is just a bit soft usually when it doesn't work. Light would just be the modeling lamp from my studio lights or the natural light outside. I always have the AF assist light turned on on my camera. </p>

<p>I doubt I would be getting camera motion blur with strobes????</p>

<p>Peter, thanks for the input this is very helpful.</p>

<p>1. where can I read up on this new technique or find a good tutorial?<br>

2. I forgot one critical step - I back down the opacity significantly so it doesn't totally destroy my contrast and some skin texture still shows through. I have not tried the method you recommend but 2-3 hours seems a little steep. I disagree with this though and also think it depends on who you call pro. There are plenty of pics in magazines where the skin just looks like a mannequin or plastic. I don't really care for that look but some use it. If they aren't bluring I can't imagine what they're doing to get that look. Come to think of it most playboy shots are a good example the skin does not look real, it looks ok but if you look closely it doesn't look like real skin and looks heavily "shopped" what are they doing if not bluring? simply healing won't give that look. I'm looking for something between just healing and the completely fake playboy look.</p>

<p>4. I said they used to look terrible coming from the camera raw plugin that came with CS - now with CS4 the same shots look fantastic with no manipulation whatsoever. </p>

<p>5. Any tutorial suggestions for doing hte curves the way your'e suggesting? I'm guessing "neon cloth" is a filter?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Hey guys I understand perfectly all the concepts you're talking about. What I'm saying is even when using a lense and aperature that should produce a reasonable depth of field I am focusing on eyes and getting the confirmation beep for AF lock and the damn eyes still come out soft. <br>

So what I'm wondering is are there certain facial features (or body features) that provide better contrast from the AF system than others or is the eyes? nose? lips? generally a good target? Is my AF possibly f'd up?<br>

I will do a series of portraits and find that only a shockingly small number of them are razor sharp yet I haven't changed any of the settings and will get the autofocus beep every time generally focusing on the same point (eyes or lips).<br>

If I didn't mention I have a Nikon D70 I have a 35-200 mm zoom lens but I am confident I know enough about whats going on that this isn't a depth of field issue.</p>

<p>Cool thanks, maybe this will help. Would recommend always using the fill flash? How will I know what kind of exposure settings to go with in this secenario? Obviously in the studio I would just use a light meter but I'm not sure how to measure for the fill flash. Also isn't there control on the on camera flash power - do you recommend doing anything with that?<br>

Any tips for shooting without the flash?</p>

<p>A friend is setting me up with a decent model and I don't want to look like an amatuer idiot so i'm trying to get my ducks in a rowe in advance.</p>

<p>I generally know those tools but I am not getting the results I'm looking for. A tutorial would be great. I am going for an edgy fashion/editorial look and this guy nicovision is one of my favorite examples. <br>

<br /> I have been out of the game for a while and I upgraded from CS to CS4 so I'm kind of rusty to begin with and trying to get used to all the new bells and whistles. I havent really shot since 2006. <br>

<br /> This guy is another fav: http://www.sabawa.com/port/index.htm<br>

<br /> They both have these great images with a number of techniques I want to learn, also this desaturated look, and kind of a desaturated "old photo" look as well as great B&W's. <br>

<br /> When I do B&W I can often get part way there with a curves adjustment but I often find once I get the contrast im looking for something parts of the image get blown out.</p>

<p>Lastly can you jsut clarify - is adobe camera raw a seperate program? Does it come with CS4? I have been able to open my NEF raw files directly into CS4 and I'm generally pleased with the results on default settings. I remember in CS they looked awful and i resorted to tiff or jpeg generally.</p>

<p>I don't have lightroom (doesn't appear to be included in my version of photoshop) and i'm not sure i shoot enough for it to be worth getting this second piece of software. Can we focus on photoshop?</p>

<p>The method that I generally use on my photos which gets me close to this look but not quite is as follows....<br>

Clean up blemishes using patch, clone heal... (for some reason I usually find patch gives the best results but I think I'm doing something wrong with the other tools)<br>

Select just the skin and put it on a new layer (i erase any hair, eyes, lips, etc. that i select by accident).<br>

I run a blur action on skin layer to give it that perfect flawless look. I use the original skin selection to trim it so that the blur effect doesn't go out of bounds. I'm also looking for improvement in this area because the only drawback to this method is that it really softens the contrast on the skin, so if you WANT shadows this lessons them anywhere on the skin.<br>

Then for highlighting and sharpening I take a copy of the whole image and run a high pass filter (could also use unsharp mask) and then switch this layer to overlay mode. I create a quick mask and unmask just the areas I want to sharpen and highlight - eyes, nose, lips certain parts of clothing, hair, jewlery, if there is something that should be really shiny like chrome on a car, etc.<br>

That's basically it. This gets me close but I feel like the images aren't quite as crisp as they could be. Sometimes this sharpening / highlighting method leaves me with features that look a little bit too fake. It also jst seems like the images aren't quite as crisp as they could/should be and the colors aren't quite as vivid and surreal as i'm going for. <br>

<br /> Here's some more exaples: http://www.modelmayhem.com/pic.php?pic_id=444c67ba0a8e1&date=2006-04-24%2000:48:37&id=19713&pid=633126&the_count=41&group_id=20378&ua=<br>

http://www.modelmayhem.com/pic.php?pid=11811971&group_id=&ua= <--- I guess in this one the background MUST be desaturated selectively. Also I believe that neat makeup job was done in photoshop - anybody know how to do that neat trick?</p>

<p>Please critique / improve where you see fit.</p>

<p>Well what if I didn't shoot in raw? and if i did what are you doing in LR or LCR specifically to get those effects? Thanks.</p>

<p><br /> <!-- message --> <!-- google_ad_section_start -->Can anyone give me any tips on shooting outside? I'm a pretty advanced photographer but I've mainly worked in the studio where I have full control over the light sources. I have done some outdoor shoots but results have been mediocre at best. <br /> <br /> I am on vacation and I only have my Nikon D70 and one small photoflex reflector at my disposal and only the crappy built in on camera flash. I had some decent results on cloudy days or at dusk using slow shutter speed to pickup some neat backgrounds and a softbox on the model but unfortunately i don't have anything like that at my disposal this time around.<br /> <br /> Any tips for me?</p>

<p>I have trouble getting blury images occassionally even though my AF locks and gives me the beep confirmation. <br>

Can some pros please tell me what you use at a focus point giving maybe some suggestions for up close portraits and also full body shots from more of a distance? Thanks.</p>

<p>Brad, Sorry, what's LR / ACR?</p>

<p>Patrick can you give me some more details? My photos just dont end up looking like that color wise. I have no problems with the lighting and makeup. </p>

<p>Yes you guys impressed me, I thought I would wait days for a response here.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Ok i'm asking here too see above. I just thought there had to be a much more active place dedicated to the topic.</p>

<p>I understand this is one place but there HAS to be a more active forum dedicated specifically to digital retouching and photoshop isn't there? There is just one subforum here dedicated to the topic and the last post before mine was 6 days ago - that's not very active.</p>

<p>Anyway I'll give some examples here but I would still like to know where there are more active forums more specifically dedicated to all aspects of post processing if anybody knows...</p>

<p>Here is one example to start but I have a lot more: http://www.modelmayhem.com/pic.php?pic_id=4894081d96256&date=2008-08-02%2003:09:22&id=19713&pid=7811155&the_count=5&group_id=20377&ua=<br>

In this example I'm wondering how specifically you get such sharp vivid surreal colors. Also a little bit on the skin but I think I'm already pretty good with that. </p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

 

<p>What is hte best free and most active forum specializing in photo shop and photo retouching for photographers?</p>

<p>I have some advanced questions and some example photos that I want to ask some pros how the look was accomplished. Thanks.</p>

<p> </p>