Whether you believe the approaches are passé, amazing, or just reasonably useful, frequency separation persists in the photography industry still, and has for years. Here's how to use a new method I created that expands control over all three main ranges: highs, mids, and lows.
Whenever Paul C. Buff, Inc. releases a new product, the industry always pays immediate attention. After all, Buff gear is beloved far and wide for being, hands down, the best "bang for buck" lighting option in studio strobes for photographers, myself included.
Full disclosure: I am about to tell you about my new Photohop plug-in, and yes it's a product of mine, via the new brand NBP Plug-ins. It's called Freqsep Control, and I intend to show you why I think it's so amazing, and a little bit about the history behind its development which began at the start of 2017.
When you are especially particular about your adjustments and want your dodging and burning to utilize the maximum amount of image data possible, nothing beats Raw Smart Objects for the task. This is also ideal when you're making significant changes to exposure, whether it's for dodging and burning or other adjustments. In the end, more data almost always amounts to smoother, better looking changes.
If you're one of the countless photographers seeking out the best way to perfect skin on your portraits, then you've certainly been on YouTube tracking down video tutorials in hopes of unlocking the secrets behind the process. And if you're just starting out, invariably you've run into some hurdles. For most experienced retouchers, the tried and true technique for proper skin retouching in portrait work is, of course, the seminal "dodge and burn" method, and for good reason: it works. But perhaps you are brand new to the concept of dodging and burning for skin retouching and still haven't found much success with it? If so, read on.
Back in 2015, I produced some home-grown lighting and shooting video lessons for my very first subscription-based photography tutorial channel on YouTube. The first wave of feedback I received was various forms of "YouTube offers a paid subscription service?", and the second wave of feedback was more or less "Rad!" After almost a year idle, I am relaunching this channel under a slightly modified premise. As such, a few of the tutorials from the original channel are now available at no charge.
Whether you're just getting started on portrait retouching or have been at it for a little while, there comes a time when you will realize you're doing it all wrong (I know I did). The list of things that can go potentially awry in the beginning is massive, so I've narrowed it down to 10 amateur mistakes I've seen most often in this video.
Recently, while on a speaking engagement in St. Louis, I had some time to chat up several glass manufacturer reps at the conference and ended up testing several lenses, including a side-by-side comparison of the new Sigma 135 f/1.8 Art and the manually focusing Zeiss 135 f/2 Milvus (read that here if you missed it). I also snagged a new 85mm option from Tamron, the 85 f/1.8 Di VC USD, and spent a couple of hours with it. How did it go? Well, let's just see.
It's been a good while since I've bothered reviewing any gear, so when presented with a bevy of manufacturer booths at a conference I was speaking at in St. Louis recently, I decided it was time to once again test some equipment and babble about it a little. In this case, I pitted the brand new Sigma 135 f/1.8 Art against the year-old Zeiss 135 f/2 Milvus, because why not.
I have been asked countless times over the past few years about how I go about culling and selecting portrait shots from a shoot. Frankly, I have had so much trouble trying to organize my thoughts on the matter into a cohesive tutorial, I opted to simply never do one. Until quite literally this morning. My approach was to click record and improvise whatever popped into my head. So, as the catchphrase says, "Here goes nothing!"
If you've been shooting any type of portraiture for a significant amount of time, you will likely find yourself working with a handful of subjects (or perhaps even just one) on a recurring basis. Most of us have been there, or are there right now. Perhaps you have one specific model that you've worked with for years (your "muse" as it were), or maybe you go in phases with a different select model for a few months before moving on to another. But is this practice a good idea or not?
I'm back today with another utility Action for you all to download, for free, and see how it works for you. It deals with luminosity mask level control of what I often call the Big Three of image control: highlights, mids, and shadows. It's the most common use of luminosity masks, so, why not streamline it into an Action?
It's been a little while so I reasoned some new free Photoshop Actions were in order! As you may recall, I create Actions based on simple processes I find myself doing regularly in my retouching workflow, mostly in the interest of convenience and efficiency. Today, however, I've essentially updated a previous Action I gave away, now dubbed Smart Flare. Let's break down what it does and why.
Short version of the story: I love issuing challenges to the awesome readers of Fstoppers, but I also have this wild schedule of mine that changes at a moment's notice this year. So, without wasting more of your time, I'll just say "my bad" and get right to the Capture One Pro EIP Challenge winner.
Adobe Photoshop is a visual cacophony of tools, tools, and more tools. There is seldom just one way to accomplish the look you are after, and beginners endlessly scour YouTube seeking the end-all answers to their questions only to find 27 different ways to, say, "add contrast." It can all be a bit confusing until you remember one key thing: There is no right and wrong. If you get the result you like, and those viewing your work seem to like it, then you've succeeded. To that end, I wanted to review one (of the dozens of possible) ways I utilize Gradient Maps for my color work in Photoshop.
I'm back with yet another editing contest, but this one has a twist you'll either love or hate. As I was recently in San Francisco teaching alongside Dave Gallagher, CEO of Capture Integration, for our course on CreativeLive, it occurred to me that almost no one (at least) that I knew personally edited solely in Capture One. That is, taking an image to completion using nothing but Capture One, which would mean not using the sacred Adobe Photoshop in any way. Challenge accepted?
Way back when, before traveling and scheduling became a bit crazy for me, I issued a second Retouch Challenge to Fstoppers readers, offering up a raw file from a shot I did of model Anna Truett in St. Louis. After receiving a couple hundred submissions, I have finally (no, really) selected my favorite ten edits. Let's take a look!
If you've seen my quick tutorial videos about the Photoshop actions that I make and use in my workflow before, then you know I am obsessed with detailed control of everything from shadows and highlights to color and texture. Today, I'm reviewing one of my newer actions, high and low contrast boost control, and showing you why I use it.
A few months back, I mentioned that I had been given an exclusive invitation to spy on the Shoot The Centerfold seminar in Miami. This much celebrated glamour photography event features the pinnacle of models and educators in the genre, and goes down twice a year alternating between Miami, FL and freaking Santorini, Greece or some other insanely exotic location.
The iconic AlienBee has been one of the most popular strobe units ever since their debut in 2001, and for good reason. Developed to be the perfect balance of price and quality (which is something that's tricky to pull off in the world of gear) their reputation spread quickly. Sure, you can always spend many, many, many thousands of dollars on studio lights in order attain top quality equipment, but it's never been easy purchasing a strobe rig when more restrained budgets are a concern. Enter Paul C. Buff.
