Skin : The Complete Guide to Digitally Lighting, Photographing, and Retouching Faces and Bodies

by Varis, Lee; Sammon, Rick

• ISBN13: 9780470592120
• ISBN10: 0470592125
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-08-09
• Publisher: Sybex

Summary

Revised and thoroughly updated, this practical guide to photographing people is better than ever!What is the color of skin? You may think you know, until you enter the world of digital photography and try to reproduce what you see. Differences in software, lighting, computer calibration-everything has an impact on color. And that's all before you get into differences between people in terms of skin types, ethnicities, age, gender, and more! Hollywood-based photo-illustrator Lee Varis guides you step-by-step through the maze.This new edition covers the very newest trends and techniques in photographing, lighting, and editing skin-and offers plenty of tips, examples, and valuable advice from the author's own professional experience in the field. Shows you how to digitally capture all skin types: male, female, young, old, different skin tones and ethnicities, with makeup or without, wrinkled, tattooed, and more Covers a wealth of topics in addition to photo editing, such as how to obtain model releases and compose shots, how to shoot groups, and how to create promotional headshots Incorporates the latest on working with Photoshop and Lightroom Showcases exceptional work from a variety of photographers and artistsIf you're photographing people, you'll want this valuable and unique guide on your shelf.

Author Biography

Lee Varis is a photo-illustrator working in Hollywood. He has been involved in commercial photography for three decades. His images have been featured in National Geographic, Newsweek, and Fortune magazines, and both his writing and photography have been featured in trade journals such as PDN, PEI, Design Graphics, and others. His work has appeared on movie posters, video box and CD covers, and in numerous brochures and catalogs. Varis conducts seminars and workshops for APA, PPA, ASMP Maine Media Workshops, Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, and LIGHT Photographic Workshops. He is the president of LADIG (Los Angeles Digital Imaging Group).

Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Digital Imaging Basics, Workflow, and Calibration

Chips and Pixels

Your Monitor and Calibrator

Basic Digital Capture Workflow

Setting Up a Lightroom Catalog

Calibrating for Digital Capture

Building a Camera Calibration

Using Camera Profiles

Editing Camera Profiles for Better Skin Color

Working with Your Calibration

Calibration Review

Testing Procedure Overview

Putting Color Management in Context

Lighting and Photographing People

Lighting Technology

Basic Portrait Lighting

Rembrandt Lighting

Natural Light

On-Camera Flash

Breaking the Rules

Advanced Lighting Techniques

Ring Light

Combination Lighting: Daylight Plus Flash

Controlling Natural Light

Action Stopping Lighting

Experimenting with Light

The Color of Skin

White Points, Black Points, and Places In-Between

Zone System: Contrast and Tone

Neutral Color: Using Balanced Numbers

Curves: The Basic Color and Tone Tool

Contrast Control: The Basic Curve Shapes

Info Panel: Reading Basic Numbers

White/Black Point Correction

Adjusting the Numbers for the Color of Skin

The Family of Man: Cultural and Psychological Issues

Cultural and Personal Color Bias

Tone and Contrast: Color and B+W

Converting to B+W

The Channel Mixer

Split Channels: Layer Blending

Luminosity Blending

Instant Tan

When Color Overwhelms: Look for the Good Channel

Hue/Saturation Toning Effects

Split-Toning

Gradient Map Colorizing

The Power of B+W

Retouching

Basic Image Repair

Hue/Saturation Color Repair

Skin Smoothing

Beauty Retouching

Subtle Retouching

Figure Thinning Techniques

Special Effects

Soft Focus

Basic Diffusion Effect

Screen Diffusion

Multiply Diffusion

Overlay Diffusion

Depth of Field Effects

Lens Tilt Effect

Film Grain and Noise

Cross-Processing

Grunge

Tattoos

Enhancing Existing Tattoos

Faking Tattoos

Final Notes

Preparing for Print

Sharpening

Unsharp Mask

Smart Sharpen

Multiple Sharpening Layers

Octave Sharpening

Overlay Sharpening and High-Radius Effects

Color Management for Print

Translating from RGB to CMYK

Profiles and Look-Up Tables

Soft Proofing

Desktop Printing

Print Options

Output Simulations

Creative Print Finishing

Background and Canvas Options

Edge Treatments

Last Minute Fixes

Parting Shots

The Creative Workflow

Future Developments

Index

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