Black & White

I absolutely love black and white photos. It's actually comical to me that we've come so far with digital photography, to where the quality of digital is on par or has exceeded that of film, yet there is and always has been a strong desire to go back to the grass roots. I routinely convert my photos to black and white, and even add vignetting to them in Lightroom. A great way to isolate your subject btw, without using a wide open aperture. Naturally just like any other technique, it is a fine art and can be easily overdone.



I also find the models I shoot tend to really like black and white photos. They say it helps to hide blemishes and imperfections. I don't know if I completely agree with that, as I feel that it shows an individual in their true tones without the bias of color, which can cast an individual in as many shades as the photograph holds moods. Though with black and white, it is definitely important to differentiate it with a simple grayscale conversion. Such a thing leaves an image flat and easily passed over. Contrast is the intent of a b/w photograph, and as such, crucial that it be accentuated.



Other than the normal adjustments I usually do in Lightroom, I also do two curves mask adjustments in Photoshop: one for highlights, and one for darks. The effect can probably be easily mimicked in Lightroom, but I am able to accomplish it quicker in Photoshop at this time. Naturally this may change in the future, but when editing dozens, possibly even hundreds of photos, efficiency is definitely quintessential to a timely product...and preserving your sanity.



There are other additional adjustments done, but you get into the whole is it art or true photography area, where the hardcore elitist sticking hard to the belief that if it isn't straight from the camera, then it isn't a true photograph. To be honest, for me, it is all vision. What is it that you envision as the photographer, and the final result of your labor. Just as an easel is the embodiment of a painters vision, thus too is the muse to the camera sensor. And least we not forget that it is art, so while you may be entitled to your opinion, I most certainly do not have to agree with it.

Sheet Magic

I've been wanting to get a soft box for a little bit now. I do just fine with the 3 brollies that I have, but of course you always want to diversify, and it would be nice to have at least one in your repertoire. Unfortunately its number three on my list. The wonderful thing I've seen about soft boxes (other than the price) is that it gives you a nice controlled and soft light that just gently washes over the subject like a gentle breeze.

In lieu of that, I used the next best thing: a sheet. Using my hallway, I hung up a sheet to the left of the models, and placed the strobe behind it. Now granted, I was just shooting with some captive friends and probably would not do this on a paying shoot, but it gave me an idea of what I could expect.


One of the things I learned from the incredible Strobist site is the larger the light source and the closer it is to the subject, the softer it is. I unfortunately didn't think to take a photo of the setup, but the subjects were at average about 2-3 feet from the light source, at a 45" angle. The strobe was placed slight above eye level and set at about 1/8th power.

In Lightroom, I brought the color temperature down from 5900 to 4900 to give a cooler, early morning window light feel, and a few other minor retouches (adjusting exposure, lowering saturation) as well as applying a few custom filters. Hard to resist the urge to over process and leave them as they were, but the models actually insisted on it, so the decision was kind of made for me.