Who is your Inspiration?

While photography is my life long passion, I am strongly drawn to the world of fashion and the art of fashion photography.  There are many legendary fashion photographers that I draw inspirations from, but two in particular stand out the most - Steven Meisel and Steven Klein.  

Their work is explosive and full of emotion.  Each photograph portrays a story.  I believe that their style is one of the closest to Helmut Newton's style that we have today.  Their use of black and white to capture the raw emotion of their subjects is absolutely phenomenal.  Their photographs demand to be noticed.

Steven Meisel for Vogue Italia

Steven Klein for W Magazine

Images courtesy of Vogue Italia & W Magazine

The Magic of Displacement Maps!

Displacement Mapping is all about utilizing different textures. Essentially the depth of the one image controls the distortion of the other.

Creating a realistic water surface in Photoshop is extremely challenging. The displace filter is an excellent tool for making this distortion. We've transformed the image below into a unique image with calm waters surrounding the beautiful scenery of Stowe, Vermont utilizing the power of the displace filter in Photoshop.

BEFORE

AFTER

And here is an example of an image edited using the method of displacement masking by utilizing the texture of one image of dirt and overlaying it over a portrait to create a unique and fun effect!

The Power of Blending Modes

The most common reason for using PS Blending Modes to a layer(s) is to achieve a certain result or perhaps to fix a specific problem. For instance, if you were to duplicate an image, switch the duplicate layer's blending mode to Multiply, and the result is always darker. On the other hand, if you were to switch the Blending Mode to Screen the result is always lighter. Here, you already have a quick and simple recipe to fix overexposure and underexposure.
The ways of using Blending Modes described above can be used as a means to an end or in other words for tactical use.
However, Blending Modes in PS could be used in a much more useful and creative ways. For instance where the image is copied into multiple layers and each layer's blending mode is carefully determined. Unlike tactical use of Blending Modes, using Blending Modes for creative purposes gets a bit more complex. You may not necessarily know off the bat when and when you might want to use the Blending Modes. What is helpful is to think of using Blending Modes as an alternative - an alternative method to PS filters, an alternative to using certain tools to enhance an image, or even sometimes when the only alternative is discarding an image altogether.

One of our favorite blending modes is the Pin Light. Pin Light can be used to create a fun, colored, line-drawing effect (as displayed below). Using the Multiply blending mode can darken the image, but of all the contrast increasing modes, Pin Light will produce the most natural effect.

Digital Metamorphosis

One of our favorite Photoshop tools is "Dodge" and "Burn."  These tools are extremely powerful and can be used in a variety of ways.  Often times in order to play with the light in the photo, we will dodge and burn the photo to emphasize/minimize highlights/shadows (especially for photos receiving B&W treatment). 

For this particular photo of a good friend, we've decided to add digital makeup using the process of dodging and burning.

BEFORE

AFTER

The Power of "Curves!"

While "Curves" is probably one of the most complex tools offered by various Photoshop products, it is also one of the most powerful.  In more recent versions of Photoshop (specifically PS4) using this powerful tool has become significantly easier. While PS offers Level and Brightness/Contrast tools, we believe Curves is a much better tool for adjusting contrast in photos.  Unlike Levels and Brightness/Contrast, Curves makes more precise adjustments resulting in beautifully toned images.

The power of this tool is clearly demonstrated in the image below.  By simply utilizing Curves, we've taken a dark and bland image and turned it into a beautifully toned photo! 

 

Our 10 Favorite Destinations to Photograph

Inspired by this month's article in Popular Photography Magazine, we've decided to compile a list (including our own captured photos) of our favorite destinations to photograph.  We found these cities to be some of the most amazing subjects to capture on camera!

(in no particular order)

Santorini, Greece

New York City

Chicago, IL

San Blas Islands, Panama

Florence, Italy

Stowe, VT

Ketchikan, AK

  Victoria, British Columbia (Canada)

Sorrento, Italy

Marrakesh & High Atlas Range, Morocco

Photoshop's Healing Brush - Quick & Easy Retouching

One of our favorite Photoshop tools is the Healing Brush.  There are so many ways to use the Healing Brush: removal of signs of aging/wrinkles, removal of scars, removal of sweat spots/hot spots, removal of acne, etc.  This tool provides endless creative possibilities.  One of it's best features is the ease of use. You don't have to be an advanced Photoshop user to master this tool.

  To quickly touch up the photo below we've used the Healing Brush to gentle remove wrinkles around the eyes and forehead.  If this tool is used correctly and in moderation it provides fantastic and natural results.  While the subtle difference in the "before" and "after" images may not be noticable to a naked eye, the results greatly satistied our customer that submitted this photo for editing. 

HDR Processing: Taking It Too Far?

The human eye can process the dynamic range (variation between highlight and shadows) of a scene 30 - 40 times more efficiently than even the best modern camera.

High-Dynamic Range Image (HDR) often explained as "seeing more like the human eye," HDR imaging combines several shots of a given scene to overcome the exposure range limitations of traditional single-shot photography - and the final results have much more detail from shadows to highlights, and everywhere in between.

As digital sensors attain progressively higher resolutions, and thereby successively smaller pixel sizes, the one quality of an image which does not benefit is its dynamic range. This is particularly apparent in compact cameras with resolutions near 8 megapixels, as these are more susceptible than ever to blown highlights or noisy shadow detail. Further, some scenes simply contain a greater brightness range than can be captured by current digital cameras-- of any type.

The "bright side" is that nearly any camera can actually capture a vast dynamic range-- just not in a single photo. By varying the shutter speed alone, most digital cameras can change how much light they let in by a factor of 50,000 or more. High dynamic range imaging attempts to utilize this characteristic by creating images composed of multiple exposures, which can far surpass the dynamic range of a single exposure.

We would suggest only using HDR images when the scene's brightness distribution can no longer be easily blended using a graduated neutral density (GND) filter. This is because GND filters extend dynamic range while still maintaining local contrast. Scenes which are ideally suited for GND filters are those with simple lighting geometries, such as the linear blend from dark to light encountered commonly in landscape photography (corresponding to the relatively dark land transitioning into bright sky). In contrast, in scene whose brightness distribution is no longer easily blended using a GDN filter is a perfect candidate for an HDR Image.

Some may argue that post processing an image using the HDR method is taking it too far. Many of us might have seen instances where we feel that the editing simply took over the image and it no longer represented the image that was produced from the camera. However, if used correctly, we believe that HDR could greatly enhance specifically landscape images (as illustrated by the image above).

We would love to hear your thoughts regarding this topic!

WELCOME

Thank you for checking out our website and this blog. We will be blogging our hearts out relating to all things we love about photography and digital art. Stay tuned!!!