Ways to improve the quality of portraits taken outdoors
All of us love to take on-scene portraits. Normally, we want
to go beyond portrait and add a little bit of digital magic in the darkroom to
improve the image quality and create more dramatic pictures.
In this column, we will share the techniques that you can
use to add colors and dramatics to your portrait- techniques that can make your
portrait look more professional.
This is a raw file I use to create the opening portrait for
this column. As can be seen, it lacks dark color and needs a little cropping.
This is a raw file
I use to create the opening portrait for this column.
After cropping the image, we added some colors by using one
of the Bi-Color filters in Color Efex Pro of Nik Software. Some different color
combinations are available in this filter, and you can adjust the position in
the frame that you want to set each color and the way to combine it.
Besides, I used starburst effect by setting the aperture at f/22.
I carefully arranged the sun so that it can only emerge behind the boots of the
cowboy. I also arranged the position of the cowboy and the horse carefully so
that they could have the light illuminate the background. And, to make the
cowboy be realistic in the picture, I asked him to look to the right so that I
can have a powerful section in the photo. If he looks into or out of the
camera, he will look like any other cowboy.
After cropping the
image, I added some colors by using one of the Bi-Color filter in Color Efex
Pro of Nik Software.
If he look into or
look out of the camera, he will look just like any other cowboy.
In a portrait, one technique is to make the subject pop up
from the background. At the field, we can do that by using telephoto lens set
up at wide aperture.
In digital darkroom, we can quickly and easily make the
background blurred by using many techniques and blur filter.
But you need to do the first thing first. I took a photo of
this cowboy girl in a dull day so it looks a little boring. As many people,
especially online people loving outstanding photos, I increased the contrast.
When you do this, be careful not to increase it too much, or you will dilute
the highlights and block the shadow in the image.
One of the newest and most amazing to blur the image areas
selectively is to use the Iris Blur filter in Photoshop CS6. When using this
filter, you can control the position of the effects and the effect level by
using the anchor points and the circular slider in the center of the control
area. This filter does an amazing job in capturing simulation at wide aperture
with telephoto lens. If you don’t have Photoshop CS6, the choices of other
software used to blur the background include Bokeh of Alien Skin, FocalPoint 2 of
onOne Software and Topaz Lens Effects of Topaz Labs.
This is my original image. Actually, my first step is to
erase the branch causing neglect on the left of the frame. The final step is to
use Dodge tool in Photoshop to whiten the eyes of the cowboy girl a little bit
more. That’s the technique many art directors of fashion magazines use to
attract your attention to the model. Let’s try, you will like it.
This is my
original picture.
Use Dodge tool in
Photoshop to whiten the eyes of the cowboy girl a little bit more
. 
Let’s try, and you
will like it.
I hope this quick advice will inspire you to add a little
bit of artistry to your portrait.
