For the record, this was Adrienne’s idea
I draw blanks when it comes to photo shoot theme ideas, so thank goodness for her!

She did the make up on herself and on her fabulous sista-n-law, Sarah, who Adrienne then photographed.

Just fooling around on this one. This is so different from my usual portraits and I had no idea how to process it. It just sorta evolved into the greenish-blue conglomeration that you see here. I then tried to take it in another direction, and couldn’t for the life of me get rid of the color cast. Wasn’t crazy about the crop, so decided to not take too much time on it… it’s *a little* over done as it is…

After:

Retouch Comparison:

Yes, this IS the same girl

Set Up:

Lighting Info:
All lights AlienBee B800′s

- Two strip boxes (with grids) on camera axis and placed next to each other, separated by about a foot or so
- Strobe w/7″ reflector behind model, facing Thunder Grey seamless background
- 2′ x 3′ piece of white foam core attached to a light stand and placed just out of camera view above model’s head
- 4′ x 8′ white V-flats, made from insulation material from Home Depot, on both sides of model. I have no idea why I used them

Don Giannatti showed me the foam core above head technique and you can see it in use in this video:

Photos by Regina Pagles

I agonized over the post processing, trying 4 different backgrounds before just settling on this one, taken at Fred’s family farm back in Wisconsin. I stared at this image for a solid week, pushing sliders around and trying different things in Photoshop, until I just finally gave up in frustration. I kept thinking I could do much better. But I couldn’t. This was all I got. It’ll have to do…

After:

Composite images:

All together now:

Set up:

Lighting Info:
5 lights, all AlienBee B800′s

- 5′ Octabank camera left, very close to subject and angled only slightly toward her. She is sitting a few inches behind the light, to take advantage of the feathered edge.

- Strip box camera right, for fill

- Two strip boxes w/grids behind subject, for rim

- Light on background with 7″ reflector

- Triggered with Paul C. Buff Cybersyncs

- Grey seamless background

Photos by Regina Pagles

After:

Retouch comparison:

Close up:

Detail:

For those that missed it…

More videos from the weekend workshop here on Fstoppers.

Lighting Info:
All lights AlienBee B800′s
4 strobes, each inside a 32″ Westcott umbrella.
Umbrellas were placed on top, bottom, left and right of subject, producing the catchlight that you see.
Subject was about 2-3′ from the lights

Photo by Regina Pagles

After:

Retouch comparison:

Close up:

Detail:

Lighting Info:

- 5′octa camera left, placed very close to model. Almost 90º, but angled slightly toward her. She was sitting about 6″ behind the light, to take advantage of the soft feathered edge.

- Silver reflector camera right to provide a little separation for the hair against the dark background.

Photos by Adrienne Beacco
Retouching by Regina Pagles

Here is the first one that I processed…

After:

Side by side comparison:

Close up:

Set up:

Lighting Info:
5 lights, all AlienBee B800′s

- 5′ Octabank camera left, very close to subject and angled only slightly toward her. She is sitting a few inches behind the light, to take advantage of the feathered edge.

- Strip box camera right, for fill

- Two strip boxes w/grids behind subject, for rim

- Light on background with 7″ reflector

- Triggered with Paul C. Buff Cybersyncs

- Grey seamless background

Photos by Regina Pagles

Don will be appearing on CreativeLIVE this coming Thursday, Friday and Saturday (April 5, 6 & 7th)
from 9-4 pm. I absolutely CANNOT wait!

It’s FREE to watch while it’s happening live (all three days) and it also reruns again each evening for those in a different timezone. You can also purchase the workshop for $99.00 while it’s going on, or $149.00 after it ends.
I’m positive it will be worth every cent. Don is a fabulous teacher and just a wonderful person all ’round.

And if it means anything, he set the light up for this image and I think he did a pretty good job

After:

Retouch Comparison:

Light Set Up:
-AlienBee B800 in 5′ Photoflex octabank directly in front of model, who was being lit with the bottom feathered edge of the light.
-Silver Lastolite Trigrip reflecter below, chest level.
-There was a piece of white foam core above models head to reflect some light on to hair.

Here’s the video of the shoot:

Broke down and purchased Portraiture from Imagenomic after seeing this tutorial from Sean Armenta (FStoppers) on YouTube:

I used his settings almost exactly and I really liked the results. I know Sue Bryce uses the default settings, but I found those lacking. There is much more that you can do with the program and it’s nice that you can target the highlights and the shadows of the skin area separately.

Photos by Regina Pagles

The photo must be shot against a gray background. Make a rough selection of the subject with the quick select tool, it doesn’t have to be very precise. Drop in a new texture, and change the blend mode to either soft light or overlay. That’s it!

Better yet, here’s Calvin describing it much better:

He also describes his masking technique on his English version of Calvinize, and I do believe during some of his teachings for Kelby Training. Both worth every cent!

This was taken during the Don Giannatti workshop. Special thanks to him for setting up the lights!

I applied the techniques learned from the two YouTube videos I just watched on applying eye makeup and fixing the lip line. Let me just say… they worked! Sometimes, after watching or reading a tutorial, I’ll try it and it works nothing like it’s supposed to
Not this time, both worked like a charm. Highly recommend both techniques.

After:

Retouch Comparison:

Photos By Regina Pagles

Lighting Info:
-AlienBee B800 in 5′ Photoflex octabank directly in front of model, who was being lit with the bottom feathered edge of the light.
-Silver Lastolite Trigrip reflecter below, chest level.
-One B800 with 20º grid on each side, behind and pointed back at model to illuminate hair.

Here’s Don’s video of the shoot again (only didn’t use the white card & added the hair lights):

And here’s those Photoshop tutorials again, incase you missed the post:

Well I love this image of Adrienne, but unfortunately the post is nothing special
I just have to let it go and move on.

After:

Retouch Comparison:

Lighting Info:
AlienBee B800 in 5′ Photoflex octa camera left of model
AlienBee B800 in Paul C. Buff beauty dish with grid camera right
White seamless background
Triggered with Cybercyncs

Closest thing I have to a ‘Set Up’ shot:

Photo by Regina Pagles

Photo by Regina Pagles

Here’s the article: The Fight To Save Salvation Mountain

Natalia, you rock!

And here is one for ‘smokey eyes’ that also great…

Adrienne – After:

Retouch Comparison:

Closer Up:

Eyes”

Here’s another, this time of Adrienne, using Don Giannatti’s ‘Four Umbrella Madness’ setup. I spent quite a bit of time on this one, and in the end I feel like I could have done better. It just feels like it’s missing something… not sure what.

I find it rather amazing that most of the post I did, other than warming the tone and removing skin imperfections, is barely noticeable.

Here’s a brief synopsis of what I did do:

Basic color adjustment in Raw
Double raw processed to enhance detail
Natalia Taffarel’s skin retouching Technique
Healed skin
Darkened lips
Darkened eyebrows
Added eye shadow
Added eyelashes
Fixed eyeliner
Dodged & burned uneven patches of skin
Darkened edges of face
Lightened highlights of face
Increased highlights in hair
Added contrast to pupils*
Added background texture
Added background effect using brushes
Added vignette
Reduced saturation selectively ( reds & yellows)
Added OnOne Software PhotoTools filter ‘Punch Drunk’
Nik Software Color eFex filter ‘Tonal Contrast’ applied to face selectively
Additional healing
Additional dodging & burning
Darkened top of head and bottom edge

* Did not increase the brightness of the white in the eye. I know it looks like I did, but I never do this!
I may remove/lessen the red veins on occasion, but I didn’t do this on this image. I think just adding the warm tone brightened the appearance of the whites in the eye somehow.

Looking at the close up of the eyes, I see I missed a few things :0

Here’s the view of the ‘Four Umbrella Madness’ setup from behind (That’s Megan, Carisa & Don back there)

Photos by Regina Pagles