Sep
7
Beyond taking a picture
Filed Under Before & Afters | Leave a Comment
It’s been a while since I have posted some Before & After images. Considering Xmas is fast approaching and families/parents will be looking to have some Xmas portraits taken, and 2008 brides are in the process of choosing their photographer, I figured now will be a good time to post some Before & After images. I’ll explain why at the end of this post.
The following image of Melvina and Jamel, is nicely composed image and they both have wonderful skin tones. However, I wondered how this image would look with some creative processing.
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE - With this next image, I cloned out the electrical outlets on Shayla’s left (below her elbow) and the electric outlet on [brown] wall. Then I added a little vignette on the edges of the picture to put more of the focus on Shayla.
AFTER - Shayla and Curtis ordered a 30 x 30 canvas print of this image to hang on their wall in their home.
BEFORE
AFTER - Typically, I’m not one who favours bright colours in an image but with the conversion of the image below, I like how the orange in the necklace and head piece makes them stand out.
BEFORE - This next image looks beautiful straight out of the camera. However, when I reviewed it on my computer, it was screaming to be converted to black and white.
AFTER
BEFORE - An image I created of Jate’e that looks beautiful straight out of the camera; it’s a great shot as is.
AFTER - However, with a little enhancement, this image says WOW! If I was her parent, I would have this image printed to at least a 20×30 canvas print. (Hint hint Tammy….(o: )
BEFORE - Great pose by Millie but the white column is very distracting.
AFTER
BEFORE - In this image, I cloned out the white banner on the left and converted the image to black & white. Personally, I think the black & white conversion puts and emphasis on the muscles and you aren’t distracted by the bright colours of their trunks.
AFTER
The reason why I wanted to show some of my Before & After images because the 1/2 “work” startes AFTER the photo has been taken. Don’t choose photographer A based soley on the fact that he/she is less expensive then photographer B. You, your children and your children’s children will be viewing your images for years to come. In a nutshell, what I’m trying to convey is that when choosing a photographer [for whatever purpose], choose one who thinks beyond just making an image.
Antwan
May
4
Before & After
Filed Under Before & Afters, Weddings | Leave a Comment
I think it is fair to say that the world we are living in today is far different then the world from 20, 10 or even 5 years ago. We now have HDTV, iPod’s, online banking, constant chnages in cell phone technology, automobiles that can drive themselves, and the list can go on and on. Why is it then, that some wedding photographers are stuck in the rut of shooting/thinking as they did 5, 10 or 20 years ago? Wedding photography doesn’t have to be the same ‘ole same ‘ole. No, I don’t have earth shattering ideas but from time to time I like to think outside the box and try something new and/or different.
The below pictures are from a recent wedding I shot and I wanted to share with all of you what I did to create the final image. I will show you the final image first and then walk you through what I did to create it:
AFTER
Ok, here are the steps.
I walked into the groom’s bedroom and this is what I saw:
It was a small wedding party, 1 bestman and 3 groomsmen. I asked Ryan (the Groom) to close the blinds, turn off the lights and then asked all the guys to sit on the edge of the bed. I then grabbed a table that Ryan’s mom had in the hallway and placed some candles (yes, I travel with candles) on the table in front of the guys. This was the result:
Can you see what the problem is with this image? Go ahead, take a look and I’ll wait a moment for you to find it (music from Jepoardy is playing)……Did you find the problem? No? Ok, I’ll tell you what bothered me. The main issue I had with this image is the light coming through the window. The green blind stands out like a sore thumb and was an ‘eyesore’. Hmmm, how to remedy that? The easiest and simplest thing to do was to change my angle of view - in other words move my feet and go to another location. So, I moved to my right and captured this picture:
Ok, this was much better but now the candles bothered me. Why? The human eye is always drawn to the brighest part of an image; in this case, your eyes would’ve been drawn to the candles. When you first look at the picture, is your initial thought that the groom and groomsmen are having a good laugh? Nope! I wanted your eyes to be drawn to the people in the picture so I decided to crop the candles out:
Now, the lamp above Ryan’s head was an issue for me and I wasn’t feeling the image in colour. The last thing I did was to clone out the lamp and convert the image to B&W. Here are the Before & After images for you to do a comparison:
BEFORE
AFTER
Doesn’t this image look 10 times better? There aren’t any distractions in the After image and your immediate thought (at least mine is) is that these guys are having a good laugh at something. So there you have it - wedding photography doesn’t have to be the same ‘ole same ‘ole. Don’t be afraid to Think Outside The Box once in a while, you’ll be amazed at what can be created!!
One last thing - as you can see, this picture isn’t tack sharp. That was my intention for this particular image so don’t think that it was a mistake.
From time to time I will post some BEFORE & AFTER images of wedding and non-wedding photography. Be sure to check back often.
Antwan