How´s It Done: Frozen Moments

As you may know I´m working on series of portraits called "Frozen Moments". In today´s post I´d like to show you editing of one of the portraits belonging to this set.

I recorded the whole process of editing.
In the article you can find two videos. Both show the same process but one is sped up and meant to those who don´t have enough time or aren´t interesting in watching the long version but still would like to know how I achieved that effect. Second version of video has normal speed and in an hour and couple minutes shows exactly what I did.


Place mouse over the image to see how the image looked before editing. (It may take few seconds before the second picture shows up.)

In videos you´ll mainly see:
  • how I use the Liquifity filter,
  • how I adjust lights and shadows with Levels,
  • how I convert photo into black&white,
  • how I increase contrast with adjusting only parts of the image.



1. Quick Version
Here you can see quick version of the video. Ideal if you don´t have enough time but are still interested in how I achieved the effect.


2. Long Version
For you, who want to see exactly every step of post processing.


Notes to Videos

  1. I usually don´t do so many changes with the Liquifity filter. Romana doesn´t need the changes, I was just practising with that filter.
  2. Originally I wanted to add narration but I´ve got really funny accent (English is not my native language), plus speaking English is much harder for me than writing.
  3. If you change eyes with Liquifity be very careful with shape of pupils. Every little distinction is very visible and most of them don´t look realistic.
  4. The way I adjust lights and shadows is described in this article - "Dodge and Burn Technique: Retouch Skin Like a Pro!".
  5. I would be happy to answer your questions about post processing I did in videos!

Frozen Moments project

I started this project at the beginning of 2011. I really like to work on different projects and what can be better time to start one that beginning of new year, right? :)

I really like B&W photos and wish to have more of them but most of the time I try to convert colorful photo into monochromatic I start feeling sorry for all the colors I will loose :) That is the reason why I started this project - to learn how to work with black&white colors, how to make conversions and how to shoot them.

To make the photos of the project consistent they should have following features:
  • shoot in B&W,
  • landscape orientation,
  • women with flying hairs as subject,
  • shallow depth of field.
If everything goes right I´ll try to shoot every model I will be working with also for this project.
In first phase (which I´d like to finish in 2011) I´d like to have 10 portraits. In the second phase (not sure about the deadline yet) I´d like to have 20.

Below you can see more photos from this project.





Conclusion

Thank you for reading this article. If there is anything you´d like to discuss I would be really happy to see your comment!

Have a beautiful, sunny a spring day!
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