Posted by Janet Bentley on October 24, 2006 at 5:36 PM
I've been busy working up a bunch of wedding photos that are fairly difficult. The event took place in a woodsy setting on a day with the worst possible lighting (direct, overhead sun, not a cloud in the sky for diffusion, and it was early in the afternoon with sun high in the sky. Lots of dappled lighting and deep shade in the forest. Virtually nothing in between
In struggling with developing up from RAW, deep shade is my biggest challenge. Does anyone have any recommended tools that would be able to pull up about 1/2 to 3/4 stop without getting the ugly blotchies? I can Ninja the noise out of these shots, but it takes more than I like and creates a bit too much softness at this level.
I shot everything with my Canon20D and used fill flash with my 580ex when possible. Here's my first attempt at the important bridal portrait - our NPN format drops out quite a bit of detail, but the real thing has loss of detail as well.... ARGHHHH!
Posted by Rick Lamb on October 24, 2006 at 5:46 PM
Hi Janet, ya might try using Adobe Lightroom beta 4.1. It has quite the tool palette for adjusting just this kind of thing.
Go to: Adobe Lightroom to get the download. If you happen to be in the Seattle area Friday evening the 27th we are doing a workflow session here at the Lamb Residence. You are welcome to join us! Email me for directions.
I'd say that based on the above image you did a pretty darn good job under those conditions!
Posted by Darren White on October 24, 2006 at 9:27 PM
The girl looks great in this image....skin tone is good and the dress is nice and white....I think that the subject placement could have been different. the whole image looks a bit soft to me....maybe some sharpening?? but not too much!
Posted by John Lehmkuhl on October 25, 2006 at 12:18 AM
One thing I see is the really bright leafs around her - I'd use the burn tool set to highlights to try to remove that brightness so that SHE is brighter than them. I like the exposure but hope that you have a version of this that includes all of her dress?
Man, weddings are about the toughest photographic assignment I can think of... good luck !
Posted by Rick Lundh on October 25, 2006 at 12:40 AM
Wonderful shot. I cant tell you how much wedding images stress me out. I dont do them anymore, because everything has to be perfect...at least in my mind. If you have some particular tough ones you want to make work, you may want to think about playing it a little artsy creative. Something like maybe making her one layer and in color...and the background all black and white and gaussian'd like crazy with maybe an orton glow. Kinda like this...
I've usually gotten away with bad dynamic ranges by doing something similar and they loved it...
Posted by Janet Bentley on October 25, 2006 at 1:58 AM
Sure appreciate all the suggestions... Weddings stress me out too, especially when they are in difficult light circumstances. I have hundreds of photos to go thru - and a bunch of them need to look pretty good or I'm gonna be in the hot seat!
(Yes I do have frames with the whole dress in - this is a cropped version.)
Janet B
Posted by Ned Fenimore on October 25, 2006 at 10:15 AM
You might look at Photokit the plugin. It has some nice features to create soft edges and diffusing. Here is an example of a subject I did just a while back...
Discussion
6 repliesIn struggling with developing up from RAW, deep shade is my biggest challenge. Does anyone have any recommended tools that would be able to pull up about 1/2 to 3/4 stop without getting the ugly blotchies? I can Ninja the noise out of these shots, but it takes more than I like and creates a bit too much softness at this level.
I shot everything with my Canon20D and used fill flash with my 580ex when possible. Here's my first attempt at the important bridal portrait - our NPN format drops out quite a bit of detail, but the real thing has loss of detail as well.... ARGHHHH!
Go to: Adobe Lightroom to get the download. If you happen to be in the Seattle area Friday evening the 27th we are doing a workflow session here at the Lamb Residence. You are welcome to join us! Email me for directions.
I'd say that based on the above image you did a pretty darn good job under those conditions!
Man, weddings are about the toughest photographic assignment I can think of... good luck !
I've usually gotten away with bad dynamic ranges by doing something similar and they loved it...
(Yes I do have frames with the whole dress in - this is a cropped version.)
Janet B
http://www.oregonlightsphotography.com/senior2.jpg