[Photography] Basic Portrait Post-Processing Workflow Tips to Help You Save Time and Stay Organized

This article will walk you through some tips for how to set up a basic portrait post-processing workflow that can help you save time and stay organized.

The problem

When you’re new to photography, everything is exciting. Every time you come home with a full memory card, it’s a mad rush to the computer to see what you have captured. You’re eager to see every image and each one is treated as a separate entity with every technique you’ve come across. This is great. That excitement is what will keep you moving forward with photography and it is how you rapidly learn and grow as a photographer. That’s how it was with me, at any rate.

What happens, however, as you start taking more and more images? For example, regular portrait sessions a couple times a week can lead to an overwhelming amount of photographs. Approaching every frame as an individual becomes time-consuming and inefficient. If you’re not careful, you’ll have a backlog of images going back months and months. Often, many of your photos will be forgotten at the wayside.

The solution to this problem is to develop a portrait post-processing workflow.

Defining workflow

Straight out of the camera before any adjustments in Lightroom or Photoshop.

After portrait post-processing workflow steps in this article were applied.

In the simplest terms possible, a workflow is a checklist of repeatable actions that you work through as you go through a task. If it helps, in business the equivalent be would systems and in manufacturing, it could be compared to an assembly line.

You can have a workflow for any part of the photographic process, from planning and coordinating sessions to setting up and tearing down equipment and finally the post-processing stage.

This article will outline the steps of the post-processing workflow that I’ve been using on my portraits for a few years.

Starting point

Because every photographer has their own way of importing, organizing and editing their images in Lightroom (and other software), this article starts at the beginning of the post-processing stage for individual images. It assumes you will have already imported your photos into Lightroom and you have already edited (culled) down to the keepers.

Lightroom

This workflow uses both Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. Each program offers its own strengths. To take advantage of them, consider using both with the Adobe Photographer membership – get 20% off (only $7.99/month) by using this link only for dPS readers.

Color corrections

The first step is to conduct any color corrections to your image. I do this in one of two ways. The first involves a ColorChecker Passport. If you don’t have one, just skip past it (or purchase one here on Amazon.com and follow along).

Xrite ColorChecker Passport

In your Lightroom catalog, find the photo you took with the ColorChecker Passport in it. Go to File>Export and export the image as a DNG to a folder where you can find it.

To work in the ColorChecker Passports proprietary software, you need to export your image as a DNG.

Now open the software that came with your Xrite ColorChecker Passport, and import the DNG you just exported into it.

The software does a pretty good job of aligning the photo to the ColorChecker, but if it fails, just follow the instructions on the screen.

The Xrite ColorChecker Passport’s software allows you to create custom color profile unique to each lighting setup.

Press the Create Profile button and give it a name that has something to do with the images you are going to be working on. For example, if you’re working on portraits of Jane Doe in a wedding dress which you took on April 15th of 2017, you could name the profile: JaneDoeWeddingDress041517. That’s optional, of course, but it will help you should you decide to revisit these photos in six months time.

Now, reopen Lightroom, find the image of the ColorChecker Passport, and open it in the Develop Module. Scroll down the panels on the right until you find the Calibration tab.

At the top, there will be the word Profile followed by Adobe Standard. Click there and choose the profile name that you just made in the external software (in the example below I called it “PortraitWorkflow”.

Once created and imported into Lightroom, color profiles can be returned to at any point in the future.

This process has built a custom color profile, individual to the lighting present in the scene. This is a vital step if you want to get the most accurate colors in your photographs.

White balance with the ColorChecker Passport

In the right-hand panel, scroll back up to the top basic panel. Select the eyedropper. To correct the white balance in your image, click in any of the white or gray boxes on the ColorChecker in your image. That will correct your white balance automatically. Each box will have a different effect on your images, so feel free to go through them all to see which works best, or which you prefer.

Any of the white and gray squares can be used to set your white balance. They all have different effects, so experiment until you’re happy.

Press CTRL/CMD+Shift+C and in the dialog box click the Check None box. Tick off only the boxes for Calibration and White Balance, and then click Copy.

Setting the color profile and white balance to an entire set of images at once can save you heaps of time.

With your settings copied, you can go back to the Library Module and select all of the photos that you want these settings applied to. Select them and press CTRL/CMD+Shift+V to do this.

Make sure you deselect the group of images afterwards by pressing CTRL/CMD+D.

White balance in Lightroom

If you don’t have a ColorChecker Passport, you can set your white balance manually by using the eyedropper (click on something neutral in the image) and sliders at the top of the Basic tab. Once you’re done, you can copy and paste the settings to the other images in your set as described above.

To adjust white balance manually, use the eyedropper and sliders at the top of the Basic panel.

Lens Corrections

The next step is to find the Lens Corrections tab and click both the Enable Profile Corrections box and the Remove Chromatic Aberration box.

Enabling lens corrections will correct any distortion, vignetting and chromatic aberrations in your images.

Doing this will correct any distortion caused by your lenses and it will usually deal with any chromatic aberrations. It’s a simple step, but it can make a world of difference to your final images.

Before you move on, however, always zoom in and move around your image looking for any chromatic aberrations (look at the edges of the image) the software failed to correct. It’s usually very good, but sometimes it will fail in tricky lighting situations where there’s a lot of backlighting. For portraits, pay close attention to catch lights in the eyes. If you find any chromatic aberrations there, simply go to the Manual section of the Lens Correction tab, choose the eyedropper and click into any color halos that you find.

Basic Adjustments

For portraits, I try to keep my basic adjustments at this stage to a minimum. I will use the exposure slider as needed, the White and Black sliders minimally, keep the Clarity slider between +15 and -15, and often reduce the Vibrance to -10.

For more natural portraits, keep your adjustments subtle.

The reason for keeping these adjustments minimal is that they are global adjustments (apply to the entire image). I prefer to work with local adjustments in Photoshop, which give you much more control over the image. But, it is also possible to do local adjustments in Lightroom using the Adjustment Brush, Radial Filter and Graduated Filter if you would prefer.

Client proofs

NOTE: When working on proofs to send to clients so they can make their final image selections, this is where I usually stop. There is little need to spend up to an hour retouching a photo that will never see the light of day. Colour corrections and maybe a few small contrast adjustments are almost always enough at this point.

Black and White (optional)

If you intend to work in black and white and you like doing your conversions in Lightroom, this is the stage where I do the conversion process using the black and white sliders.

If you intend or prefer to do your conversion in Photoshop, then skip this part and make it the first step once your image is opened inside Photoshop.

Export

With the Raw processing complete, it’s time to export (or open) your image into Photoshop. Press CTRL/CMC+Shift+E to bring up the Export dialogue box. Choose a location and name appropriate to your own organizational system and export the image as a TIF or PSD (either of those formats will retain all your layers when you save your work). Close Lightroom and open your image in Photoshop.

NOTE: Alternatively you can open your RAW file directly from Lightroom into Photoshop by right-clicking the image and selecting: Edit In > Edit in Adobe Photoshop – OR – Edit In > Open as Smart Object in Photoshop.

Photoshop

Blemishes

The first step of this workflow in Photoshop is to remove temporary blemishes from your subject’s skin. Create a new empty layer by pressing CTRL/CMD+Shift+N and pressing OK.

You can use either the Spot Healing Brush Tool or the Healing Brush Tool, or a combination of both. Once you’ve selected your tool, ensure that the All Layers option is selected in the drop-down menu labeled Sample. Also, ensure that you are working on the new empty layer (you just created above) in order to keep things non-destructive.

While using the healing brushes, zoom in to at least 200% on your image and use a brush that is only slightly larger than the blemish you are trying to remove. If you are using the Healing Brush tool, take a new sample after every click by pressing Alt/Option+Click to ensure the best results.

How far you go is going to be a matter of personal preference. I like to limit this step to only temporary blemishes and leave scars and beauty marks unless I’m asked to remove them by the subject.

Before blemish removal.

After blemish removal.

Note: It is possible to remove blemishes in Lightroom, but it is a time consuming and awkward process compared to Photoshop in my opinion. If Lightroom works better for you, go ahead and use it.

Color casts

Although we already covered color corrections in the first step, I like to revisit it at this stage. For example, in this image, the background is still too warm for my taste. Create a new Hue/Saturation adjustment layer.

In the Properties tab, find the icon that looks like a pointing hand. Click it and then find a place in the image you want to adjust the colors. In this image, it’s in the background.

With the pointer selected, click into any area of a colour cast you want to change.

Now adjust the sliders in the Hue/Saturation Layer until it has the desired effect on the color you are trying to change.

In this image, the background and the subject shared a lot of the same warmth. To keep them separate, use a layer mask. Click into the layer mask on your Hue/Saturation layer and press CTRL/CMD+I to invert it (hide all).

Now select the Brush tool (B) and set your foreground color to white and your opacity and flow to 100%. Paint into the areas (on the mask not the layer) you want to be affected by your Hue/Saturation layer. If you mess up, just switch your foreground color to black and paint over the mistake.

Before Hue/Saturation Adjustments

After Hue/Saturation Adjustments

Dodging and burning

The next step is to deal with contrast. Instead of using the contrast sliders at the raw processing stage, it is best to use a technique like dodging and burning for small, local adjustments to get the most control over your images. There are a lot of different methods for dodging and burning, but I prefer the gray layer method.

By using multiple layers, you can obtain really fine control over the contrast and the tones in specific parts of your image with little effort. For example, you can have a set of layers for skin tones, another set for the clothes, a set for hair, and another set for eyes all independently adjusted. You can learn how to dodge and burn here.

Before dodging and burning.

After dodging and burning.

High Pass Filter

The last step of my workflow before saving is to use a High Pass filter to sharpen things up a bit. To use the High Pass filter, merge all of your existing layers into a new one by pressing CTRL/CMD+alt+Shift+E. Zoom into 100%, select the layer that was just created, and go to Filter>Other> High Pass.

As long as you are working with a high-resolution file, set the radius between two and five. If you’re working with a smaller file, move the slider to the left until the preview image looks like a faint outline of your original image (as seen below). Press OK.

It’s pretty easy to go overboard with the High Pass filter. Try to keep it as subtle as possible.

On the Layer Palette, change the blending mode to Soft Light or Overlay. This is more personal preference than anything, but Overlay will give a far more pronounced effect than Soft Light. I prefer Soft Light for portraits and Overlay for other subjects. The last step is to reduce the opacity of the High Pass layer. Zoom into 100% and move the opacity slider to the left until you can barely see the effect.

Use either the Soft Light or Overlay blending modes for your High Pass layer. Soft Light will be more subtle, while Overlay will be more pronounced.

Saving your image

When the image is finished it’s time to save it. This will different for everyone depending on your own organizational system, but I prefer to save files as 16-bit TIFFs with layers intact. Doing this means that you can go back and adjust any part post-processing at any time. It also means you can go back to your full resolution file at any time to create smaller images for web use and the like without potentially losing them. The downside to this is that 16-bit TIFF files can get very large and they do take up a fair amount of hard drive space, but to me, the peace of mind is worth it.

In the end

Straight out of the camera and before any adjustments in Lightroom and Photoshop.

After adjustments and retouching in Lightroom and Photoshop.

The amount of time it takes to get through this workflow varies from image to image. Some photos take five minutes, others take closer to an hour. Overall, having a workflow like this will save you countless hours of work. Knowing exactly what steps you’re going to take before you sit down removes a lot of guesswork and saves time. This is invaluable when you start doing sessions a couple times a week.

Obviously, this exact workflow may not be for you. However, I encourage giving it a try and then developing your own workflow that fits in with your style and existing skills.

The post Basic Portrait Post-Processing Workflow Tips to Help You Save Time and Stay Organized by John McIntire appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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[Photography] First Look: Polaroid BrightSaber Travel LED Wand

Portable light sources are essential to your photography toolkit when you’re ready to progress beyond natural lighting and take your images to the next level. While off-camera flash photography can be intimidating, LED lights can be quality solutions that are much easier to operate. One of the leading LED lights for photographers is the popular, yet pricey, Westcott Ice Light. If you’re looking for a similar solution that is significantly more affordable, the Polaroid BrightSaber Travel LED Wandd might be for you!

BrightSaber Pro Versus BrightSaber Travel

As its name suggests, the Polaroid BrightSaber looks very much like a sci-fi lightsaber, so it has the immediate bonus of functioning as a fun conversation piece or photography prop. But the main intent of the BrightSaber is to serve as a handheld portable continuous (LED) light source for photography or videography.

To be clear, there are two versions of this light, and they are quite different. The Polaroid BrightSaber Pro looks more like the Ice Light; it is more powerful, and thus more expensive at $169.99. There is also the BrightSaber Travel, which is less powerful, yet much more affordable at $69.99. This article is focused on the travel version.

BrightSaber Travel Specs

• Dimensions of 16.4 x 5.4 x 2.1 inches
• Item weight of 1 lb (450g)
• Array of 98 efficient, low heat 32000k bulbs
• 10 power settings for variable lighting output
• Three included color filters and diffuser
• Easy disassembly
• 50,000 hour LED life
• Tripod screw at the base for mounting on a light stand or tripod

What’s in the Box

• Polaroid BrightSaber Travel portable lighting wand
• Detachable wand handle
• 3 color temperature filters and diffuser
• Rechargeable lithium ion batteries and battery charger
• Battery charger cables

Pros

Intuitive and easy to use

Out of the box, the devices arrives in two separate pieces that must be snapped together. The button controls are located on the handle, which is also where the two included lithium ion batteries must be inserted. For most people, assembling the BrightSaber Travel will be a pretty intuitive process. Once assembled, the light works as advertised. The few buttons enable you to turn the light off and on and choose from 10 power settings to adjust the level of brightness needed. Unlike most other lightsaber LED lights out there, the BrightSaber Travel is flat rather than round. A thinner profile truly makes it easier for traveling.

Nice quality of light

The BrightSaber Travel packs an array of 98 low-heat 32000K LED bulbs that produce a very nice quality of light. If you wish to change the color temperature, you can simply slide on one of the three color gels included, or snap on the included diffuser panel. Due to the specific size and shape of the BrightSaber, it’s not very easy to get your hands on other color gel choices without resorting to a DIY solution.

Lighting was done with the Polaroid BrightSaber Travel LED Wand

Affordable

It’s really difficult to argue about the low price point of the Polaroid BrightSaber. Even the Professional version is significantly more affordable than the popular Ice Light, and the Travel version is even cheaper! While there are other competitively priced light saber-esque LED lights on the market, none of them are produced by as reputable a brand as Polaroid.

Cons

No bag included

As mentioned above, there are quite a few moving parts to the Polaroid BrightSaber Travel. There are the two pieces that must be snapped together, two lithium ion batteries, three color gels, and one diffuser.

Unfortunately, there is no bag included that will hold all of these pieces together, thus increasing the chance of losing parts. The lack of a bag is especially perplexing since this device is intended for travel use and its unique shape and size make it difficult to fit into standard camera bags.

Non-standard batteries

Another downside to the BrightSaber Travel is its use of two non-standard batteries. They look like elongated versions of double AA batteries, and in my experience, they take an extremely long time to charge. It would be preferable for the device to use either one single rechargeable battery like the BrightSaber Professional does, or to use two standard batteries that can be more easily replaced.

In Conclusion

If you’re seeking a portable, handheld LED light to one-up your photography, I highly recommend checking out the Polaroid BrightSaber. It comes in either the BrightSaber Pro version or the more affordable, slightly less powerful Travel version. Both work very well at extremely affordable prices.

The Polaroid BrightSaber Travel LED Wand next to the Ice Light.

Side by side with the Ice Light

The post First Look: Polaroid BrightSaber Travel LED Wand by Suzi Pratt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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[Photography] Tips for Photographing Your Own Kids

Are you one of those parents whose kids were born being comfortable in front of the camera? Are your kids complete naturals with no stage fright or anger management issues when you yell, “Look at me…for the last time…please look at me and don’t close your eyes”? If so, then just skip this article and move on to the next one that probably teaches some amazing tips and tricks on night photography, or posing or Lightroom tricks.

But, if you are like me, a camera obsessed parent whose children sprint at what seems like a-mile-a-minute when they see you, camera in-hand, and a determined look on your face, coming towards them to snap a frame, then keep reading. I have a few tips and tricks to help you maintain your sanity and snap a few Kodak moments of your pride and joy that you can “oohhh” and “ahhh” at for years to come! In other words, top for photographing your own kids.

Is this a family portrait you can relate to?? Imperfect timing + Imperfect expression = Perfect Family Photo

Note: Some of the images in this article are not edited and some are technically flawed – they are simply used to drive home the tips shared below. The images that I print of my family are edited to my particular style. You will find a lot of rules broken here but I am okay with these as my focus was not on photographic perfection but on capturing the moment.

Know when to click and when to back off

This one is a game changer in your relationship with your kids and your camera. Yes, the very definition of being a parent is that we are insanely in love with our kids and want to freeze every moment of their childhood, teen, and adult lives forever in our brain and forever in photographs. I mean, what parent doesn’t want to whip out images of their babies years later at their wedding. Not as a means of embarrassing them but as a way to cherish all the fun times they have had in their parent-child relationship.

But sometimes, just sometimes, it is completely okay to skip that insane urge to freeze the frame and instead BE in the moment. I still remember many of my children’s “firsts”. Even though I may not have photographs to prove it, I have my memories that I have documented in their journals and talked about with them. I am okay with neither of us remembering these things decades later because I know that every day we create new memories that simply replace some of the old ones.

I tried for a good 20 minutes to try and get both of them to look at the camera and smile at the same time…but alas, this was the best I could get. But this is one of the most precious memories because a few months after this was taken, I lost my mom to cancer. So this grandmother-grandson memory is priceless…in all its flaws lies its perfection!

Embrace the chaos

This one is a little hard to digest because as photographers we tend to be perfectionists. The lighting has to be right, the styling has to be perfect, and the angle and composition has to be one of the allowed rules. You know, all those things that we learn in Photography 101, Photography 201 and perhaps even Photography 301!

But guess what, all of that doesn’t quite matter when you have all of three seconds to take the shot. Most of the time that my family is together is in the evening hours. When the night is fading and I am only left with either using the overhead florescent light or pop on an off-camera flash, neither of which I really like. But sometimes it is okay to break the rules and just go with the flow. Yes, every frame here will not be PERFECT and more than likely, it will break all the rules of the photography but

But sometimes it is okay to break the rules and just go with the flow. Yes, every frame here will not be PERFECT and more than likely, it will break all the rules of the photography but that’s okay. It may be more important to capture that fleeting moment than to be technically correct.

The first Lego car that he completed all on his own. I was just an observer and had one shot. The light was terrible, his clothes were completely mismatched, but it was a moment I wanted to cherish forever.

Another moment that means nothing to him but everything to me. My boys just hanging out doing their thing – reading and napping!

A creative lighting exercise gone wrong – thanks to a sleepy and nervous dog who was scared of the shutter clicking!

Follow their lead

This one is a little harder to experience especially if you have little ones. Right now, my kids are at the age where they are opinionated on what, where, and how they want to be photographed.

My son plays soccer and insists I take pictures of his games every weekend. My daughter, who is an equestrian rider, wants several hundred shots of her horse – from every angle, covering every detail. But I have found that if I oblige their photography wants, they are more likely to listen to me when the tables turn (a.k.a a little bribery never hurts). Besides like any parent, I know that these moments are just as precious as their traditional portraits even if they are blurry because I missed focus when he was kicking the ball or when she rides her favorite horse.

Besides like any parent, I know that these moments are just as precious as more traditional portraits – even if they are blurry because I missed focus when he was kicking the ball or when she rides her favorite horse.

A technically flawed image (out of focus) for my daughter. A shot of her favorite horse and her favorite instructor.

Something a little bit more my cup of tea – an action shot that makes me hold my breath every time she jumps!

This was the highlight of my son’s soccer game…for me and for him!

Hand over the reins

A few years back there was a beautiful article that was written for moms who were also photographers. This really hit home to a lot of us moms. It encouraged moms who are generally behind the camera to be brave and exist in photographs with their kids, for their kids. It is absolutely acceptable if your hair is not perfect, you are in your sweat pants, and have no makeup on. Being present in photographs is more important than taking several hundred photos where you are nowhere to be found.

Since that day, I take the photos that I want but also hand over the camera to my husband or a stranger who volunteers to take our picture. Sometimes I even use the remote trigger so I can be a part of my kids’ childhood just as much as their dad, especially on important occasions like family vacations and birthdays.

The MUST have photo of any birthday party. Heads chopped off, goofy faces and partial cake – thanks to a helpful, willing volunteer! But I am with my child and that makes me happy!

Because out of focus photos are so very artistic! For a clearer picture, try switching to Auto mode and then handing the camera over to a willing helper!

The magic of a remote trigger! Our family in our element!

What are some tips and tricks that work when you photograph your own children? When all else fails, perhaps chocolate and candy are the way to go, for adults and kids alike! Please sure your tips and photos in the comment section below.

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