When you are just taking pictures for fun, I guess you usually have time to check your pictures right after you shoot them, but that’s not always the case when you’re shooting photos for work. You usually have to go from place to place, indoor to outdoor, darker room to brighter room and so forth. And for each locations and settings, you will need to adjust your camera settings… But sometimes, you are just too busy capturing photos and forget to fix the settings… So here is what happened last week.
Even if you are a professional photographer, it doesn’t mean that you will never going to mess up the photo shoot. Sometimes, things like this will happen. But professional photographers are those who know how to fix them. Who knows how to handle the “mess” calmly.
BAD EXAMPLES
I shot these for work last week. But my camera setting was wrong and these were what I got! But thankfully I shot them in RAW so I was able to rescue them :)
“Bad Face Day?” (How to “smoothen” skin in Photoshop Elements)
Originally, I was planning to use a picture of someone else, but than I realized that it will be like I’m saying “Oh, you had a very rough skin that day! So I had to fix it!”. I hope you don’t mind seeing my face 5 times in a row :P
Before
After
Duplicate the “original” photo.
Apply “Gaussian blur” to one of the photos (3.0pixels).
Place “Gaussian blurred” photo heath the “original” photo layer.
Use an “Eraser” tool (blurred edge + opacity 80%) and erase the “original” photo to bring out part of the “blurred” skin.
GREEN GERMS ALERT! Not. I added a solid color background under the “original” photo layer. So that you could see where I “smoothened” my skin.
More Samples (I know you’re tired of my face. Me too.)
These are the photos I took using just natural lighting from the window on the left and the white wall in my house.
You can find more pictures I took with similar set up here.
Canon EOS Rebel T3i / Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM
ISO 400 | 30mm | 1.67ev | f/1.6 | 1/160
This is where and how I shot the pictures.
This is how wide the “white wall” was…
Peter Mahar took these photos at his studio, using studio lightings, backdrops and probably an umbrella or something.
Don’t forget to check out Peter Mahar’s latest project “Face Study” on http://petermahar.com/ ;)
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Peter Mahar is best known for his life style photography, making his clients feel calm and right at home. His documentary approach enables him to capture the essence of the mood in the moment. He has done a little bit of commercial photography, shooting for a fashion designer, hair salon, and chef. His fresh outlook on life helps his photos stand out from the crowd. (http://www.petermahar.com)
