Cinema lighting for beauty photography

At first glance, this picture seems both straightforward and complicated. Makeup is the key here—it’s all about cosmetics (the lighting only highlights this).

Photographer: Neil Snape

In order to make a dramatic image like this, especially one that looks decent on paper printed on a rotary (helio) press, a hint of hard light keeps the contrast believable and adds a bit of dimension.

During my time at Publicis—the agency that does most of the beauty and cosmetics advertising in Paris—the chief art buyer told me that you need to make your pictures appear as if they’ve been shot in daylight rather than a dark studio.

Every time I shoot, I remind myself of this, and since then I’ve shot more with daylight than studio clinical flash. Furthermore, clients sincerely appreciate photographers who can shoot both stills and video. This is also something I will work on, hence the raison d’être for this picture.

Camera

First, the details: I captured this image using a handheld, but I shouldn’t have done that. Why? Even when shooting with flash, there is always some motion blur. Also, learning to shoot video insists on more rigor, and a fluid head is the key to making smooth video, short of using a steady cam.

It was shot on a Canon 5DMKII, ISO 200, wide open at f2.8 on a 100mm Macro non IS.

Distance from camera to subject was about 1.5 m (approximately 5 feet). Now, handheld is already hard enough, but I also had to wave the aqua azure filter (Rosco sample filter pack) in front of the lens to try to find a reflection of the window behind me. The filter was close to the lens, but not so close that it obstructed the window reflection behind.

The girl was propped up on her elbows, with one hand resting against her cheek, so it was fairly easy for her to maintain this comfortable pose. She did have some trouble with the lights in her eyes, which made it difficult for me to get pictures of her without her squinting.

Lights

This is a case where the main light is not necessarily the brightest light. It is a mix of lights, and contrary to best practices, there is no true main light priority.

The best directional light is a spot Fresnel— a 150 W modeling light that has an 80B blue correction filter with a 2X neutral density. The Fresnel was open to allow a large circle of area, so the model could move without drastic light changes. For still photography sometimes the light can be more precise, but that requires models that don’t move about. It is about 0.5m slightly to the right of camera and just above the horizon as seen in the nose shadow.

There is also a light to the right of the model, higher and outside the windows 80B filter. I used it to add additional ambience to the background, and I turned it to add just a hint of shading to the face.

To the left of the camera is a P65 (large bowl reflector), filtered 80B and four leaf barn doors. The doors are closed in a lot to restrict the light to the face more than the arm.

Behind the camera is a huge window that faces southwest. There were overcast skies that day. That is what makes her eyes so clear and the fill light creating very gentle wrap around light.

Behind the couch are two lights, and two reflectors or mirrors.

The first is one for effect and drama, a snoot on a Pulso head with an 80B filter. Normally, I’d remove the handle on the flash using Photoshop, but I left it in for now. That’s what’s adding a bit of flare, and I shot without a lens shade on purpose to allow the flare in the pictures.

The second light is a Pulso head on a boom (you can see the boom stand) but not filtered. It is in fact this light that is making most of the flare, and the rim lighting.

All modeling lights were at full power, yet the filter reduces the light by two stops. Ambient light was just under the continuous light f2.8 ISO 200 1/125^th s).

There is a mirror to the left and behind and a metallic fabric on a polystyrene board to the right, which provides ambience. We tried to find the right angle for the board, and the right small folds to break up the large reflection.

Not much retouching needed, just a bit of tinkering in LightRoom.

Adding light to your beauty photography

I want to show you that even if you have limited equipment, you can still produce excellent results with the simplest of images.

The lighting for this photo was mostly window light coming from behind the camera in a medium-sized room with white walls. The light that day was grey, and the sky was overcast, but it was not raining. The light was coming through a double door, which also had windows on both sides of it.

However, I also added an additional light for a bit more sparkle and volume. I set a large bowl on a flash head (P65) with barn doors to limit the light’s coverage. The tungsten halogen bulb was 650 watts max, although I adjusted down to what was needed for a WYSIWYG balance. The light was slightly high and to the left of the camera. The distance was no more than one meter (or three to four feet).

The trick to the photo was filtering the artificial light in order to make it look more like daylight. In order to do this, we used what we call full carat, or full correction, blue filters (often labeled as 80B). Since it was a grey day, the color of the light was a bit bluer than it would have been if it were a sunny day.

When shooting with cloudy skies and mixing filtered tungsten lights, it’s best to use a tripod to reduce the number of rejects due to camera movement. To keep the photo’s softness you can shoot at the chosen aperture, and raise the ISO a little to avoid long exposures.

There was also a polystyrene board angled towards the shadow side of her face, and it was placed at around the same distance as the girl was to the camera (this was done in order to fill, not destroy or create, double shadows).

Shot at ISO 200 1/45^th at f4.0 with a 100mm f2.8 Macro on a 5DMKII.

It could have been at ISO 400 too at 1/90^th with little difference. (IMAGE BELOW)

Let’s see how it was developed and processed.

First off, the raw file CR2 was a bit underexposed. I find that Canon files are better underexposed when shooting a white background, because there are problems in the light tones that are not easily changed or corrected. I think this is because when near the brightest points of capture, the differences in skin tone then becomes too hard to separate, hence the color banding problem. I’ve seen this on others files, so I assume it’s a question concerning hardware limitation.

Once the shot is in Lightroom, my base metadata template adds copyright information, keywords and renames the files. I always do a couple of test shots and find a preset that looks good, then tweak that and save it out as a new preset. Then it is very easy to set the development settings to this for making the previews of all incoming images set to this preview. It is not permanent, only a set of controls you can use to create a look from the untouched raw files.

I added the preset to make the RAWs lighter by 0.55 + exposure, a bit of magenta tint +7 to the grey blue daylight, some fill +0.7, reduce blacks from the default of 5 to 3, lots of clarity +23, some added vibrance +7, saturation -2.

Tone curve +9 highlights, +5 lights, -3 darks and +19 shadows. Some corrections in color were also needed (see screen captures).

All corrections are recorded in the screen captures and in the preset in the zip at the end of the tutorial. (IMAGE BELOW)

Then, I used Photoshop for pixel level clean up. There was very little clean up needed, just some spotting with the spot healing brush, and a quick mask around the eyes to brighten and increase contrast. There was also too much yellow in the skin tones, so I used a curves adjustment layer with the blue channel targeted to reduce the yellow slightly.

I did a quick dodge and burn on the light and dark greys, but this could be done just as easily in LR before or after editing.

Save out and return to LightRoom. Make a virtual copy. You can rename the copy in the metadata section of the Library module if you want to keep track of which is which.

Apply some further edits on this virtual copy of the file. I save out as PSD, but some say layered TIFFs would be a safer bet. However, I have confidence in Adobe, since they’ve been around for a long time!

The advantage of making a virtual copy of a file is that if you edit the original, a choice you have if you re-export or edit, you can work on the original and not a copy. When you save this original again, the edits are reflected in all virtual copies thereafter. Hence, your further tweaks in LR are updated on all virtual copies!

After returning to LR, I add visual tweaks for a pleasing result (no right or wrong, simply pleasing visual results). I added +1 blacks, a small change, but added a huge change in the tone controls.

+7 highlights, 0 lights, +31 darks, and -94 shadows. The region sliders were also altered as well.

For a more pronounced effect, I also played with a high contrast, almost silhouetted image.

Here the settings are a bit messed up: temp +11, tint +34, exposure -0.10, recovery 22, fill light +73, blacks +59.

Clarity +41 vibrancy -27, saturation -46. Tone controls, highlights +13, lights -25, darks -35, shadows -43.

Color blue H -44 S +13 L -60   purple  H +77 S -92 L -27   magenta  H +35 S 0 L +46

There are no limits. Make as many virtual copies as you like and play until you find your magic.

On Mac, the presets are saved in your home pictures folder: ~Pictures/LightRoom/Lightroom Settings/User Presets

The files in the zip if placed there will be in your presets after relaunching LR.

Click here for the zip with the presets.

Modeling news roundup

This week’s highlights: Elle Macpherson out as Fashion Star host; Jessa Hinton, Leticia Farr and Shana add to their list of credits; and more…

Elle Macpherson out as Fashion Star host

Australian supermodel Elle Macpherson will not be returning to host “Fashion Star.” She will no longer be on the show, but she will remain as executive producer. Elle has done a great job as a model and host, and we’re sure that she will continue to exhibit her excellence as an executive producer. H&M is also moving on from the show after deciding that sponsoring it is no longer a good fit for their business. Elle stated that she has been “involved with ‘Fashion Star’ from the beginning and [I] am very proud to see it come to life, not only in America, but globally.”

 Jessa Hinton in Ultimate  Magazine

Model: Jessa Hinton; Photographer: Dave Alan

Model  Jessa Hinton is no stranger to being published since she was the Playboy Playmate July 2011. This time, she will be featured in Ultimate  Magazine. Congratulations to Jessa for her outstanding achievements!

Latinas advancing in plus size modeling industry

The Huffington Post has an interesting blog about Full Figured Fashion Week and the emergence of Latinas in the plus size modeling industry. It’s an excellent piece by Monique Frausto that lists some of the models making a name for themselves, like Fluvia Lacerda, Madeline Figueroa Jones and Denise Bidot.

Monique also discusses the struggle young women face accepting their body and how these models can be an inspiration to them, and she closes by saying, “For me these women are more than plus size models; they’re a representation of today’s hard working, accomplished, perseverant and proud Latina.”

 Leticia Farr spokesmodel for 5 Round Fury

Model: Leticia Farr; Photographer: Dave Alan

Congratulations to Model  Leticia Farr on being chosen to be the spokesmodel for 5 Round Fury nutritional supplements. Leticia will be appearing at many UFC events. In addition to having been published in Ultimate  Magazine, she was also chosen by Ultimate  magazine to interview UFC and  fighters and she will have her own section in Ultimate  magazine. The girl is rocking the industry, and she is only at the start of her career!

Shana in The Ring magazine

Model: Shana; Photographer: Dave Alan

Congratulations also to Model Shana on being in the current issue of America’s premier boxing magazine, THE RING. She is a beautiful model, and we look forward to seeing more stunning shots of her in magazines!

Model turned actor – Sandra Linz

And finally, examiner.com reports that German model Sandra Linz broke into the industry at a young age. After achieving success as a model, actress and singer in Germany and Japan, she relocated to Los Angeles and studied at the famous Stella Adler Academy of Acting.

Since moving to LA, Sandra’s list of credits for movies, TV commercial and modeling has grown rapidly. No doubt her looks and acting ability played a huge part, but in addition “Sandra speaks fluent Japanese, German and some French and Korean and is also able to perfect other accents including British and Russian.” As if that isn’t enough, she also lists martial arts, dancing, combat and voiceover work as some of her additional skills.

Let us know about your success

We want to celebrate the success of  Members. Want to be in the next  News Roundup? Send Aviva a message titled “ News” and let us know what you’ve done. (Include any relevant links and photos that you have permission to use.)

The importance of tear sheets

I’m working with a new face who is getting started here in Miami, and she’s visited a number of agencies looking for representation. However, she questioned me on why I was introducing her to some of the commercial agencies instead of the upper-end editorial agencies. Certainly, she has a good look, and at 5’11”, she’s tall enough for editorial fashion. But, the issue was simple: age. At 22, she’s too old to be a new face, and while the editorial agencies expressed interest (I finally did take her into see a couple of them), they explained to her that most established models her age had “developed” books.

“What does that mean? Aren’t my pictures good enough? What exactly is a ‘developed’ book?” she asked.

Magazine Cover and Editorial

Photographer: John Fisher

Well, the short answer comes down to this: tear sheets. For those of you who are unaware, tear sheets are photographs of a model taken directly from a publication that said model is featured in. Models with Elite, Front, MC2 or Next (who are over twenty) have photo books with tears—good editorial tears, and if the client is strong, even commercial tears.

“Still, they are just pictures,” she said. “If mine are good, what difference does it make if they are just pictures or if they are legitimate tear sheets? And why do I have to have tears, but the younger girls don’t need them to get accepted?”

Experience matters

All good questions and the answers are neither short nor simple. The deal is this: everyone knows that new faces are inexperienced. Most of the time, we cut them some slack when they’re getting started; not a lot, but we do. The development curve is steep, but if they are sent on an assignment, the photographer shooting the model should expect to provide them with more input than they would with an older model. But a model over twenty is competing with other experienced models, and if the agency sends a model on a go-see and she’s booked for the assignment, it’s expected that she can produce quality work on demand. That’s what tears tell the client and the agency—not that the model is beautiful (or has nice pictures) but that she has produced good images in a defined limited time frame with people she may not have worked with before. The models over twenty with Front, MC2, Next, Elite, Wilhelmina, etc. have those tears and the experience that comes from producing them.

Catalog - As We Change, Miles Kimball Company

Photographer: John Fisher

How does this relate to the 22-year-old model who is trying to get started? If she wants to work, she has to start with smaller agencies who will give her the chance to get those tears. The jobs will be smaller, the pay more conservative, but with luck and a little push, she might put together a book of work which will make her more attractive to the larger agencies. A couple of good editorials, even in smaller magazines, a string of strong commercial assignments (fashion related), and all of a sudden the model has the credentials to open the door at Wilhelmina or Ford.

Magazine Cover - focus on shoes

Photographer: John Fisher; Model: Inga Buketova; Styling: Nicole Florio, Chicago

So, why would a smaller agency take on a model that Elite has shown no interest in signing? Well, the smaller shops don’t get first crack at the hot 16 year old models, and they aren’t really in the development business anyway. The best talents they can book have the look, but are over twenty. If they are sent on a go-see, book the job and bomb, well, the agency reputation wasn’t really on the line. But, catch a break and do a good job, and things can really open up. Anyway, we will see how things work out for her this season. It’s a tough business at best, and only the toughest survive.

Retouching Tutorial: Using camera RAW

My name is Mike Caffrey, and I’m a freelance retoucher and editor with over a decade’s worth of experience using Photoshop. I’ve created a series of tutorial videos exclusively for Model Mayhem that walk through the basics behind digital retouching.

This first video highlights my preferred retouching process using Camera RAW, as well as a bit of advice on color balance, addressing issues of the skin and hair masking.

Other retouching topics that I plan on covering in subsequent videos include:

• Frequency separation for skin retouching and sharpening
• Whitening eyes and teeth
• Dodging and burning
• Re-coloring
• Background removal
• Reshaping
• Adding make-up and eyelashes

Throughout the series, I’ll be working on one single image (the supplied RAW file) so that viewers can both see and follow step by step should they choose to do so.

As I mentioned, the first video highlights my own preferred retouching process—it’s pretty much what I do with any image I work with, and it should serve as a solid base for anybody unfamiliar with working on RAW files. Please keep in mind that my videos aren’t Photoshop tutorials; they’re more like retouching tutorials. That means that I’ll often skip a section when talking about a particular tool or palette simply because I don’t use it. Much of what we do as retouchers falls under the subjective, but there are (of course) technical considerations that we need to keep in mind—unless we’re going for a particular look, which in that case these considerations can often be ignored. It’s all about how the image looks to us (or the client); consequently, I don’t believe that there’s a right or wrong way to retouch a photo—just use what works for you!

And, here’s the link to the RAW file:
http://www.imagocentric.com/files/mm_tutorial.CR2

I’m always happy to receive feedback from viewers (positive or negative), and I’ll try to incorporate advice and ideas into what I do, or at least try them and see if they fit. Depending on the level of feedback, I may produce a final ‘review’ video using all of the review highlights!

Photoshop Retouching with live model shoot

You're in for a treat with the first of our Photoshop seminars...

 

If you haven't heard of him already, Glyn Dewis is a very talented photographer and retoucher.  We met him at Scott Kelby's seminar recently when Scott Kelby brought him up on stage to show the audience some of his editing techniques.  If I remember correctly Scott Kelby's exact words were 'This is Glyn Dewis, keep your eye out for him, he's a rising star.'

Glyn is a professional Photoshop trainer andphotographer who shoots promotional and commercial material for industry professionals. You can see his work here: www.glyndewis.com

In this seminar Glyn will show a series of images, discuss how they were taken and give insight into the retouching.  He'll then move in to set up a live shoot for a  character portrait similar to this image of the Editor, where you'll see everything you'll need to create a unique look with complete flexibilty for altering later.

With the use of lighting and retouching Glyn will show how to add dimension and character to a protrait, plus how to add a coloured and spotlighted background very quickly behind your subject AND how to change it to any colour at any time aftwerwards. Glyn will also cover some quick fire Photoshop techniques for photograpers that will enable you to work faster, smarter and be more creative.  Glyn will show how to light a scene using Photoshop by adding in realistic spotlights, window and sunlight.  He'll also demonstrate how to remove unwanted shadows wihout losing detail. Learn how Photoshop can be your personal assistant, how to place your subect into a completely new scene at lightning speed, and how use beauty retouching techniques (add make up, body shaping etc).  PLUS... if you shoot in a studio learn how to clean up that white seamless floor in under 1 minute! This has the makings of a fabulous seminar, hope to see you there!

All levels of Photoshop users are welcome.

NB: You do not need to bring a laptop for this event. It's often better if you watch and take notes so you catch everything.  But if you want to bring one along make sure it is fully charged as there are no outlets in plug in to.  Compatible with Photoshop versions CS3 to CS6.

If you need to change your attendance status please change your rsvp to no and check the refund policy.

Contact: Alex 07956 264049

Gry Garness Beauty Retouching Techniques in Photoshop

Tutorial

Gry Garness Beauty
Retouching Techniques in Photoshop
format MOV | full 2xDVD | 13h.46min.
sample resources | 6.81 Gb

This is an educational tool aimed at intermediate to advanced Photoshop users. It's effectively a 13 hour one-to-one with Gry Garness, an experienced trainer and London-based retoucher, demonstrating graphics tablet based professional retouching through a great variety of images, with models and non-models. 

It's adaptable to all types of retouching - not just favouring one particular style. All methods are based on Gry's vast practical knowledge within photography, hair & make-up as well as retouching. The tips she offers are both visual and technical, giving you an insight into a retoucher's thinking during the work process. All the techniques are editable and are perfect for commissioned retouching where the brief often changes by the hour. 

The 54 tutorials are presented on a 2-disk set DVD-rom. Tutorials are Photoshop CS5 updated, but relevant for all CS versions. They are straightforward and conversational in tone, but with advanced content and crystal clear instructions. A set of Tool Preset and a limited set of training images is supplied.

EXTABIT LINK
http://extabit.com/file/27avn5mw16kmj/beauty_retouching_techniques_training.part1.rar
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TURBOBITLINK
http://turbobit.net/xaj08fj3ljs6/beauty_retouching_techniques_training.part1.rar.html
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