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My Daughter

By glazzaro  
Good Evening

How many times have you taken a good family member shot just to have it offset by a lot of distractions in the background? For me it seems to happen all the time since it is difficult to get my eldest daughter and grandchild anywhere but at social settings like birthdays. Anyways I took this shot about a year ago of the two of them and loved the shot but hated the background. Before when taken I knew little about Layers, lately I have been instructing myself in there use and was able to come up with some things I like, this shot included. So let me know what you think, did I get it right or was I in left field. Thanks for looking. See you out on the site later, have a great weekend.

Greg

PLEASE VIEW MOD SECTION FOR ORIGINAL SHOT

Physical Setup:

1. Taken at a birthday party, no special setup.

Camera Setup:

Location: Virginia (Daughter’s Home)
Flash: SB600, Front Curtain, Balanced i-TTL
Weather: Indoors.
Tripod: Free hand
Camera: Nikon D2X
Lens: Nikon 24-120mm f3.5 VR
Focal Len: 34mm
Flash: No
Exposure Mode: Program Auto
Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
White Balance: Auto
Exposure: -0.7
Shutter: 1/60
F Stop: F 4
ISO: 100

Post Editing:

1. Created adjustment layers and modified the colors, levels, and curves and sharpening. I merged the layers visible with opacity set to 80%
2. Created backup layer, select the BG, used levels, midtone to black out the distractions. Merged visible 100%
3. Created duplicate layer, used Gaussian blur on duplicate, set the blending mode to multiply, then merged visible at 50% opacity.
4. Converted to B/W toned using Power Retouche.

Tags: Portraits Close-up and macro Portraits and people

Voters: PatrickSmith, cheesey, chrissd and 58 more

Readers' Choice Awards are given to photos that get over 30 votes

Uploaded:
26 Mar 2007 10:00PM
Camera:
Nikon D2X
Lens:
nikon 24-120mm vr
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Comments


Rachy1821 16 3 England
26 Mar 2007 10:14PM
Brilliant use of PS to create this lovely family image!!

Rachel
geniehawk 15 181 United Kingdom
26 Mar 2007 10:41PM
Dont understand all of the technical details but do like the end result!

Jeannie.
LisaRose 15 172 4 United States
26 Mar 2007 10:43PM
You've done a great job with the b/g. Is it possible to do that black b/g but leave her in color? I really do like this shot, it's just when I saw the original the first thing I noticed was her beautiful coloring.

Smile

Lisa
tonymarq 16 1 United States
26 Mar 2007 11:15PM
Greg excellent b&w capture on both and love there expressions! Greg agree 100% on the background and for me it's tough with the pc but think you did a great job!

Greg excellent work on the website!!!

stay well
tonymarq
thearmsofvenusdemilo 18 644 10 Ireland
26 Mar 2007 11:20PM
Top take Gregg. Very attractive must take after her mom lol

Colin
starliz 18 1.6k 3 England
26 Mar 2007 11:25PM
beautiful girls I assume it runs in the family then Smile this a lovely shot you have done a wonderful job with BG the image works well BW,one to be chuffed with Greg.
User_Removed 16 16 England
27 Mar 2007 1:03AM
Superb Portrait and cracking composition. The totally black b/g works so well here. Definitely worth all the effort. I ought to look at this layers technique myself, it's almost vital at times.
Andrew
TyChee 17 275 1 United States
27 Mar 2007 1:22AM
Great job with PS! You too a common snapshot and turned it into a work of art. The monotone treatment is perfect for this. Well done!

Ty
taggart Plus
17 47 15 United States
27 Mar 2007 3:25AM
Well lit -- I wouls like to learn how you do the BG--

And such lovely subjects-- how could you go wrong!

Jennnnnnn
chrissd 16 304 United Kingdom
27 Mar 2007 4:24AM
you have done an excellent job on this Greg, excellent portrait work
chris
cheesey 16 2 United Kingdom
27 Mar 2007 8:45AM
Excellent work Greg, Lovely portrait, Regards Cheesey.
brownsilent 15 7 2 United Kingdom
27 Mar 2007 8:58AM
Lovely, and somehow timeless.
Johanna
franken Plus
19 5.5k 4 United Kingdom
27 Mar 2007 9:32AM
A superb portrait, excellent work.

Ken
Rogerex 16 32 12 Australia
27 Mar 2007 9:36AM
I would never have guessed this originally had a distracting background. You have done well.
Roger
tull 19 181 United Kingdom
27 Mar 2007 9:45AM
You've done a great job Greg.

Mark.
Mavis 20 143 2 England
27 Mar 2007 9:54AM
You did well Greg . A great double portrait without any distracting background xx
Jou©o 18 56 Finland
27 Mar 2007 11:46AM
excellent work, Sir Greg!

Jouko
MaryMac 16 258 1 United Kingdom
27 Mar 2007 3:01PM
One for the sideboard Greg its a lovely portrait of your girls
Mary
thorn 18 124 2 Scotland
27 Mar 2007 3:27PM
Hi Greg,
Your photograph of the girls is brilliant and your ps work is top class too.Outstanding image.Take care.AnnSmile
GillyB 17 317 8 United Kingdom
27 Mar 2007 3:59PM
Such a beautiful portrait Greg, you must be so proud of all your girls!
Fantastic work!

gill
nolongeramember 17 38
27 Mar 2007 4:34PM
Outstanding portrait and beautiful light..
and you daughter is absolutely stunning..!!! and grand daughter so sweet..

Beautiul image. Priceless moment

NikkiSmile
dianah 15 24.5k 4 United Kingdom
27 Mar 2007 6:42PM
Wonderful portrait and superb composition..excellent in mono.
Di
lifesnapper Plus
16 8 3 England
27 Mar 2007 6:45PM
A really lovely picture Greg. It's so nice to see great photographers in a certain field, do something like this. It shows what a star you are.
John (-:
All the best to you all.
Maiwand 15 3 73 England
27 Mar 2007 7:18PM
Greg you are a lucky man ( no more than you deserve I'm sure! ) A daughter as beautiful as that will always be a blessing.
Ron
Herbert_Catania Plus
15 30 1 Malta
27 Mar 2007 7:35PM
Fantastic work Granps Greg !!! may god bless you all ...
Bert
PatrickSmith 17 1.2k 2 United States
27 Mar 2007 8:11PM
This is really seamless Greg. Excellent processing and the light looks subdued but natural, as though she is in a darkened room!

Patrick
Possum 15 148 England
27 Mar 2007 8:28PM
Excellent work with layers to create this brilliant conversion. You managed to retain the lovely light on your beautiful daughter's face and hair. Good job!
Allie
didgpix 15
27 Mar 2007 10:04PM
Checked out the original pic and I have to say you have done a superb job.
trissie 16 United Kingdom
27 Mar 2007 10:46PM
A wonderful portrait Greg, looks great in mono.

Trish x
StrayCat 18 19.1k 3 Canada
27 Mar 2007 11:36PM
Good work Greg. Layers take a bit of getting used to, but you've done well here. They're both beautiful by the way. Our son and his wife are coming to dinner today with Lauren, their 14 month old daughter. We're looking forward to it.
Chriscj 16 96 1 England
28 Mar 2007 9:14AM
Much better Greg, worth the extra effort.

I know what you mean about disracting backgrounds, but I think you can get to tied up about composition and backgrounds and miss the shot altogether, and as you've proved here you can always work on the background.

Chris
jan 1 18 12 Netherlands
29 Mar 2007 6:36PM
Hello Greg.
Congrats with this perfect result and with such a beautiful daughter and lovely grandchild.
You can be proud on it.
Jan
Phoebecat 16 1 Italy
29 Mar 2007 6:36PM
Missed this lovely shot - she's so proud and I guess, like me, you can remember that feeling too!

Matt
User_Removed 17 825 Lithuania
29 Mar 2007 8:43PM
fine catch Greg`!.... one to look back on in the years to come for sure!

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