I used to, with the help of the strobes, get photos overexposed in-camera, but now I've resorted to post processing because a normal in-camera exposure would give me more flexibility on whether to give the photo a normal or a overexposed/high-key look later on. So, this photo was original not overexposed.
Post processing for this photo: I've used a multiply layer to darken the eyes and a soft light layer to add more contrast to the eye brows and eye lashes. In order to convert the photo to B&W, I have used two hue-saturation adjustment layers: the top layer (blending mode set to 'color') to desaturate the photo completely and the bottom layer to change the hue for different B&W effects - the bottom layer acts as a variable B&W filter. The final step would be to adjust the contrast and brightness of the photo using an s-curve. The 'belly' of the curve was pulled towards the upper left to increase the brightness of the midtones to get the overexposed/high-key effect.
I have a minimalist mentality in mind when post processing this photo. My aim was to draw the viewer's attention to the model's beautiful eyes; to do this I found that overexposing the facial details actually get rids of some visual distractors and effectively leaves the face as minimal as possible so that the viewer's attention would not linger too long where I do not want it to be but will be drawn to the eyes. The image might do better with more forms given to the nose, lips and chin; I have tried doing this but found that these facial elements if too explicit will contend for attention; so I have resorted to leave them suggestive instead of explicit.
That's all. Hope it helps!
2007年9月14日星期五
High-Key Portrait
3-Layer Orton Video Tutorial
Orton Effect is a mixture of softness and sharpness in an image. It's useful for many images including portraits to create a kind of dreamy softar-like effect. Here's a video to explain how to go about it:
Flickr Orton Group here.
Flickr Orton Group here.
2007年9月8日星期六
2007年9月7日星期五
2007年8月30日星期四
2007年8月22日星期三
Sunrise
Woke up early in the morning for this shot but was disappointed to find out that the sky was cloudy and was about to rain. Almost lost hope, I nevertheless decided to wait for a few more minutes and was pleasantly surprised as this scence showed up in front of me - there was a gap in the middle of clouds just enough to let the sun break through. This scene lasted for a couple of minutes before the sun went behind the clouds again.
Droplets
Taken using Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro with Kenko 12mm extension tube. The shutter speed was set at 1/200s to freeze motion and aperture at f/11 for deeper DOF; studio flashes (600Ws and 300Ws) with blue and red gels, respectively, were used to light up the scence.
Droplet macro photography as such is really a tricky business; I literally went through almost a thousand shots to get these images. The setup: a plastic bag filled with water hanging at a distance above a basin - also with water. Poke a very small hole beneath the plastic bag and let the droplets form and drop from the plastic bag to the basin, hitting the water surface. Let this stabilize until the droplet falls to a fairly consistent location on the water surface. Get a toothpick or anything else accurate enough, slowly position it at the position where the droplets hit the water surface. Now, with the camera and lens set on a tripod, focus on the positioned toothpick using manual focus. You can then start zapping maybe with the help of the remote shutter release. I think the best time to release the shutter is when the droplet hits the water surface, try it out!
But before this, there are in fact a few more things to take into consideration: I've used Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro with some extension tubes to take these shots - the DOF is really shallow. So, one needs to really size down on the aperture (I've used f11) to get maximum possible DOF. At this aperture, lighting becomes a really important factor. In order to get enough light for good exposure, I've used two strobes (600Ws and 300Ws) - one with a blue gel on camera left and the other with a blue gel on camera right, respectively; with these I managed to shot at f11, 1/200s and ISO 200. One really can't afford to push the ISO higher because the noise would probably ruin the 'silky' look of the image. Droplet photography as such is really a probability infested endeavor - the droplets simply do not fall on the exact spot each and every time and with such shallow DOF more often than not the droplet would not be in focus. So, one needs to really shoot shoot and shoot against chances to get the a successful candidate.
2007年8月11日星期六
Glass - A Study of Diffused Lighting
Direct harsh light doesn't work well with glasses due to specular highlights. To evenly lit them, one needs diffused light.
2007年8月3日星期五
2007年7月21日星期六
2007年6月15日星期五
Packer's "God Has Spoken" - Some Quotes
"I hold the heady doctrine that no pleasures are so frequent and intense as those of the grateful, devoted, single-minded, whole-hearted, self-denying Christian."
Parenting - Some Quotes
"If you want to mold the shape of the tree, begin when it is a twig." - Malayan Proverb
"A nagging parent is a defeated parent." - Positive Parenting, Mike Constantine
"Discipline can win a child's respect, but encouragement wins his affection." - ibid.
"Be patient with others, others have been patient with you." - ibid.
"A nagging parent is a defeated parent." - Positive Parenting, Mike Constantine
"Discipline can win a child's respect, but encouragement wins his affection." - ibid.
"Be patient with others, others have been patient with you." - ibid.
2007年6月8日星期五
2007年5月9日星期三
God's Guidance - Some Quotes
"The fundamental mode whereby our rational Creator guides his rational creatures is by rational understanding and application of his Word. It is not a matter of inward promptings apart from the Word but of the pressure on our consciences of the portrayal of God's character and will in the Word, which the Spirit enlightens us to understand and apply to ourselves." - Knowing God, J. I. Packer
"Trouble should always be treated as a call to consider one's ways, but trouble is not necessarily a sign of being off track at all: for as the Bible declares in general that 'many are the afflictions of the righteous' (Ps. 34:19, KJV), so it teaches in particular that following God's guidance regularly leads to upsets and distresses which one would otherwise have escaped." - Knowing God, J. I. Packer
"Our God is a God who not merely restores, but takes up our mistakes and follies into his plan for us and brings good out of them." - Knowing God, J. I. Packer
"God's guidance, which brings us ou of darkness into light, will also bring us out of light into darkness. It is part of the way of the cross." - Knowing God, J. I. Packer
"If you are thinking that you know the will of God for your life and you are anxious to do that, you are probably in for a very rude awakening because nobody knows the will of God for his entire life." - Eternity, Elisabeth Elliot
"Trouble should always be treated as a call to consider one's ways, but trouble is not necessarily a sign of being off track at all: for as the Bible declares in general that 'many are the afflictions of the righteous' (Ps. 34:19, KJV), so it teaches in particular that following God's guidance regularly leads to upsets and distresses which one would otherwise have escaped." - Knowing God, J. I. Packer
"Our God is a God who not merely restores, but takes up our mistakes and follies into his plan for us and brings good out of them." - Knowing God, J. I. Packer
"God's guidance, which brings us ou of darkness into light, will also bring us out of light into darkness. It is part of the way of the cross." - Knowing God, J. I. Packer
"If you are thinking that you know the will of God for your life and you are anxious to do that, you are probably in for a very rude awakening because nobody knows the will of God for his entire life." - Eternity, Elisabeth Elliot
2007年5月3日星期四
Memory of UK
Title：Memory of UK
Medium: Charcoal on paper
Dimension: 200cm*120cm
Year:2004
记忆是模糊而破碎的，那些留在记忆里的片段；或许是有趣的，还是苦涩，都是经过过滤，筛选和重组的过程。- 琳
2007年5月2日星期三
英国之旅
我 喜欢英国这地方，闷闷的。(或许和我的个性有关) 十六个多小时的飞行, 我看见了飞机有东往西,太阳升起又落下的美景。第一次看见沙漠,雪景,还有云层上的天空。心里想："为了这次的residential study, 之前再辛苦筹钱也值得". 我的生活就打算"活到老,学到老"，钱没了再赚，若时间过了有钱也买不回吧!
我已经用最快的时 间“地毯式”的参观大多数的画廊，逛得双腿发麻毫无感觉。我想能目睹我的偶像们的作品，死而无憾！艺术家们常常不因时间的长短因素而不去 创作，所以我才能看一幅幅完成的和未完成的伟大作品。就像我,誓必逛完主要的几个画廊和博物馆一样!哈哈！ 我常常在想,伟大的人是会留下一些“东西”才离开世界的，例如：音乐家的乐章,艺术家的作品，学者的论文和科学家的发明等。不是吗？
在英国,我的心情是非常极端。一时坠入绵绵古旧的情怀，一时又被前卫的作风警醒。我常常对着那些摸不着头脑的作品发呆，又对那些神秘的建筑物着迷。脑里不停的思索：这里(英国)到底发生过什么事？什么事会让这里变成这样呢？
这次的旅程我着魔似的我对英国依依不舍，至今还想重游一遍。
琳
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