Lilith
Processed with Lighroom, retouched with Photoshop.
Model: Lilith
H&M: Lisa Niehoff
Dec, 2015Views
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kathleenweetman
December 08, 2015
I like that you have won the Editors choice award....A very pretty portrait...k
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Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was taken at our studio in Hanover, Germany. We're a studio community of three photographers at this great location.Time
Since several months I try to work with natural light at anytime it's possible, specially for portraits. We've met around 11 a.m. and started with make-up. This image was taken quite at the beginning of the photoshoot – at 12.15 p.m.Lighting
While taking portraits, I'm sitting most of the time on the low window ledge from the two large windows behind me. The model sitting on a stool in front of the windows and me. To brighten the lower part of her face and neck, a white or silver coated bouncer doing a great job. So it's only natural light.Equipment
This was shot on a Nikon D700 with an AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8G, my favorite lens. Since I've got a D810, I'm using the D700 much less than before. But for black and white portraits, I love the handling of this camera and the tonal contrast the D700 gives me in the RAW files.Inspiration
I'm working on a portrait series, where all images will be taken under nearly same conditions: same location, same equipment, etc. – you know what I mean :) Lilith and me worked in the past for two fashion photo shots. She is such a friendly and nice person with a great expression and I love to work with her. So there was no excuse, I had to ask if she wants to become a part of the series.Editing
Usually I'm always doing the post-processing in Capture One for images taken under natural light conditions and Lightroom for photos with ambient lighting. For the Retouching work: Photoshop. This series and hence this photo is an exception and I started with Lightroom where I set a Camera profile, the White Balance, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, Blacks and the Tone Curve on the coloured version of the photo. In Photoshop I've used some tools from the Beauty Retouch CC and Retouching Toolkit Panel (both Panels are really helpful): Frequency Separation to remove blemishes, Gradient Map Maker and D&B on two 50% gray layers are the most important steps. Luminosity Masking is great to darken the background without the hassle of traditional masking. For black and white conversion I like the way how Alien Skin Exposure works. A custom preset based on a Film emulsion is the starting point for the last step.In my camera bag
Two Camera Bodies (Nikon D700 and D810), my most frequent used lens the AF-S 85mm f/1.8G, a nifty fifty – the AF-S 50mm f/1.8G and a Sigma 35mm F1,4 DG HSM A. Those things, that you don't want to forget at home: Memory Cards, Card Reader, Laptop, Rocket-air Blower, battery packs, cleaning wipes, plaster, etc.Feedback
Soft and natural light behind you, a wide open lens between 85mm and 135mm (you don't need f/1.4, but that's just my opinion – from f/1.8 to f/2.8 is great) and a simple background, it should not be too complex. And don't be afraid to use the manual focus.
