Sometimes when I am caught up in the day to day business of running a portrait photography studio, I don't consciously think about light. At one time, I thought about Light all the time, especially on people's faces. I liked to study the play of light in different situations. The challenge is to understand how the light that I see will look when it is photographed and printed on paper. This is the biggest leap that photographers have to make.
I never really forgot about the Light. It is just so intuitive to me know in familiar portrait situations, that I don't have to think about it. This allows me more time to focus on my client and their emotions and expression. I always want to make them look their best, but I don't have to work too hard with the lights to make that happen.
Now, I am consciously studying lighting again. I am paying attention to how the light affects everything I see. I must never forget that it's all about the light.
Damon Leo, Austin, TX
1/27/2008
The Truth about Digital
To put it simply: digital photography is very time consuming, if you want to get the most out of your images. The file from your camera is only the starting point on the way to creating the finished product. For one thing, it needs to be properly sharpened since digital camera files are all a little soft.
Since I am a portrait photographer, my workflow is geared to making skin look its best. Just working with huge 12meg Raw files and very huge 150megs or more 16bit Photoshop psd files takes a lot of time and disk space.
Time is money and I spend way too much time working with my digital images, so digital is very expensive in terms of time. Of course the equipment is expensive and has to be replaced more often than film cameras to keep up with the state of the art.
Of course, I would never go back, and will continue to pursue the Holy Grail of the perfect Workflow.
Update August 14, 2014
Things are better all around. Photoshop CC 2014 is faster than ever and has amazing tools. Portraiture plugin has made skin retouching much easier if used with care. However, I still take way to long to retouch a single portrait. It's my perfectionism, but I've learned to not make the image too big on my screen, so I don't waste time on tiny details, and I'm better at saying "Enough. The client will never notice or appreciate all my labor anyway, so why bother."
Since I am a portrait photographer, my workflow is geared to making skin look its best. Just working with huge 12meg Raw files and very huge 150megs or more 16bit Photoshop psd files takes a lot of time and disk space.
Time is money and I spend way too much time working with my digital images, so digital is very expensive in terms of time. Of course the equipment is expensive and has to be replaced more often than film cameras to keep up with the state of the art.
Of course, I would never go back, and will continue to pursue the Holy Grail of the perfect Workflow.
Update August 14, 2014
Things are better all around. Photoshop CC 2014 is faster than ever and has amazing tools. Portraiture plugin has made skin retouching much easier if used with care. However, I still take way to long to retouch a single portrait. It's my perfectionism, but I've learned to not make the image too big on my screen, so I don't waste time on tiny details, and I'm better at saying "Enough. The client will never notice or appreciate all my labor anyway, so why bother."
12/16/2004
Black and White photography
What's old is new again. Isn't it interesting how black and white photgraphy is so popular again? Even with the proliferation of digital cameras that only take color pix, there is a tremendous interest in the old school. Before color came about, photographers developed their own film and made their contact sheets and prints. It was all done inhouse. Then with color film, they had to send it out to a lab for processing and printing. In many ways, this was much cooler because it freed up a lot of time, although it increased the overhead due to lab processing charges. Basically the photographer became a runner for the lab...a middleman as it were.
Now the situation has come full circle. The digital photographer "develops" his own "film" in his darkroom (Photoshop), shows the proofs online, and prints on his Epson 2400. He only uses the lab for very large prints or for proofing.
And now, eveyone wants black and white prints. Creating a great b&w print is not that easy. There are at least ten ways to convert a color image to b&w in Photoshop, and only a couple of them are really great. And they rely on some decisions by the photographer to pick the best contrast settings. Then there's the challenge of printing on a printer that was designed for great color. It takes a lot of reading and testing to achieve acceptable or great results, but it is possible.
Update August 14, 2014
Well, things are looking up for black and white photography. Anyone can make a decent B&W photo on their smart phone using Instagram filters or other apps. It's a wonderful thing. And it's much easier for the pro photographer to make a beautiful print that rivals traditional silver and chemical methods. Photoshop itself has several great ways to convert a color file to black and white, and there are a few wonderful plugins that produce amazing results. And Epson continues to advance the state of the art with new printers, inks and papers.
The bottom line: Black and White Lives!
Now the situation has come full circle. The digital photographer "develops" his own "film" in his darkroom (Photoshop), shows the proofs online, and prints on his Epson 2400. He only uses the lab for very large prints or for proofing.
And now, eveyone wants black and white prints. Creating a great b&w print is not that easy. There are at least ten ways to convert a color image to b&w in Photoshop, and only a couple of them are really great. And they rely on some decisions by the photographer to pick the best contrast settings. Then there's the challenge of printing on a printer that was designed for great color. It takes a lot of reading and testing to achieve acceptable or great results, but it is possible.
Update August 14, 2014
Well, things are looking up for black and white photography. Anyone can make a decent B&W photo on their smart phone using Instagram filters or other apps. It's a wonderful thing. And it's much easier for the pro photographer to make a beautiful print that rivals traditional silver and chemical methods. Photoshop itself has several great ways to convert a color file to black and white, and there are a few wonderful plugins that produce amazing results. And Epson continues to advance the state of the art with new printers, inks and papers.
The bottom line: Black and White Lives!
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