If you want to get ahead...

[Pete Askew]

Get a hat!

One of a series of portraits / hats shot in the studio this weekend.

Hasselblad 503CW + 60mm at f/4.0 / PhaseOne P20. PP in LR/PS/Nik

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Wouldn't keep the rain off - what were they thinking!

Very dramatic - how about a croppage version - 16:7, from the chin to the forehead?

 

[Pete Askew]

Well, feathers work on a duck!!

Not sure about a narrow crop. I think it would be too abstract then, but I'll have a play when I've finished printing the main series.

 

[Hamish Gill]

What's the pp?
I quite like the framing!
Interested to see the rest!
Whats the story behind doing these then?

 

[Pete Askew]

The PP is a little more complex than it looks. Lighting and framing as is but shot using modelling light only so I could use a large aperture f/4.0. White balance was left for flash (used for the main series) and then only partially corrected to keep the warm tones. No corrections in LR but opened in PS to create a monochrome layer from SilverFx Pro 2 (titanium tone). Reduced opacity to 50% and then added 15 px border and merged the layers. Used an adjustment layer (Levels) to completely blow out the background as there was a slight tone in it from the very slightly off-white studio wall (don't forget I was using tungsten lighting at this point) and an adjustment mask to keep Izabella correct. Then used the Glamour Glow effect in Nik ColorFX Pro 3 and again reduced the opacity (it also gives a nice softness to borders which is why I created the border first). Added an adjustment layer (curves) to fine tune contrast and then flattened the image and saved it back to LR. No dodging, cloning etc was required.

This is part of a series of shots but they were taken for a friend's daughter's daughter who is over in Germany from California for the summer. No model release so this is only one I will post for now. But the hats were supposed to be photographed at some point anyway (these are Ina's hats but the hat maker would like some more taken) and so that might change. As you cannot see the model I was happy to post this one.

 

[Hamish Gill]

I thought the pp looked quite complicated to be honest mate ... that's why i asked!
More reason for me to look into the nik software ... Great!
not so sure about the glow on the top of the hat where the fluff is... otherwise i like the effect!
the desaturation on her back works well for me ... i did a similar effect on a shot of Barry in the mirror in my living room...

 

[Vic Shaw]

I like this Pete, makes an interesting shot. Crops good and works for me ( it's not like I didn't have a look at others). The only thing I see is some slight banding (orange glow ) around the shoulder/neck line. I did find a great video on how to blow out the background in a real easy way, of course in my normal way I didn't learn it I'll have to find it again and post it.

Vic

 

[Pete Askew]

Thanks Vic. Yes, I was aware of the banding. It's a result of out of gamut colours I think, amplified by the JPEG conversion. No hint of it in the print version though (there the transition is smooth and without banding) so I wasn't too worried about it.

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Pete - hope you don't mind - I still like the idea of this 16:7 croppage

You get all of the key curves that define the female model - and the intrigue of the hat

 

[Vic Shaw]

I couldn't help myself either, here's my edit. Hope you don't mind!

Vic

 

[Vic Shaw]

you know what would look cool? would be to process it like a 40's-50's Hollywood publicity shot. I've always wanted to do one like that but never had the model.

 

[Pete Askew]

Chris, Vic, I don't mind at all. Yes, you are right the crop works well emphasises the eyes / hat - bit of a Breakfast at Tiffanys thing going on. Nice correction Vic - a much cleaner background and slightly lighter tone on the face. What was your process?

 

[Vic Shaw]

Pete,

I actually didn't do that much, all I did was remove the feather from in front of her eye I didn't touch it in any other way.

Vic

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Nice one Vic - hadn't spotted that, but now you mention it - nice!

 

[Vic Shaw]

Ha found it! could never use it myself but it looked a nice way to get a white background linky

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Ta muchly Vic - will be using that

 

[Pete Askew]

Thanks Vic. Interesting, I thought you'd shifted the background slightly as your version looks slightly brighter when side by side with mine! 40's style, now there's an idea.

 

[Hamish Gill]

vote for the 40's style version!

 

[Pete Askew]

I'll give it a go.

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Crowd sourced portraits - that new technology for you!