Behind the Scenes 6: Retouching

 

 

Behind the Scenes 6: Retouching

The last few days I've been finishing up the students at my friend's school -- I love it because I've been able to get some practice shooting different skin colors, face shapes, and body types, as well as smoothing skin surfaces. Here are a couple before & afters I think turned out pretty good. (Photoshop + Lightroom software). (Click once to enlarge)

 

Behind the Scenes 5: Wacom Intuos 4 Professional Tablet

  

After having some trouble with my wrists (and seeing live demos at the photography convention in Pasadena), we finally bought a Wacom Intuos 4 Professional Tablet (small). I've only had it for 3 days and it's a little hard to get used to, but already I can feel the difference... no more wrist pain, no more fatigue from editing, even after several hours... and I still haven't learned all that it can do. You can see a video of the tablet being used here. I'm happy the tablet also has compatibility with drawing programs (I actually think that's what it was originally meant for) because I'm hoping that my husband will get back into drawing by using it too.

Behind the Scenes 4: Adobe Lightroom

          Finally, I have Lightroom 3, the latest software in professional digital photography! I was using Photoshop Elements for a long time--then they sent me a promotion in the mail to buy Lightroom for only $99 (it's usually $299). What a buy! I have been incredibly busy with schoolwork lately, but my good friend Vivien asked me if I would photograph her 11th grade students for their poetry books. Over the weekend I loaded Friday's shoot into Lightroom and was surprised at how intuitive it really is. I love the "punch" feature and of course the vignetting, a style lots of photographers use for portraits.

          Friday's shoot was exhausting but a lot of fun. I only photographed 37 students and still was exhausted! (This one was one of my favorites... it makes me want to shoot seniors!) I'm going back this Friday to shoot more. So at least, behind the scenes, I'm pushing on! (click once to enlarge)