Image Enhancement

Interesting isn't it? for this portrait it only took me less than 10 minutes to finish it. Let me share my  processing skill with you.

Image 1

• This is my how my raw image looks like, i did a mistake by shooting it a bit overexposed. I supposed to shoot it under so i wont lost the detail.
• For the shot I use my Sony Alpha full frame DSLR a850 with and a Minolta 85mm f2.8G(D).
• To get a great smile and moment I choose to shoot on Aperture priority and it really does work for me all this while.
• Here is my exiff data :-

             - iso 100
             - aperture at f2.0
             - Center weighted metering
             - Auto White balance
             - D range - off

• 
  
• I make sure that both the bride and the groom pose align so i can get sharp image on both of them
• After i compose on my viewfinder  I shoot it and kill it :P
• Simple isn't it?

          Image 2

• After I import the image into my Lightroom Library I straight away choose my image to enhance. the setting is very simple, check it out

             exposure : -0.3
             recovery  : 6
             fill light     : 20
             clarity       : 30
             vibrance  : 50
             Sharpening at 100(masking at 80)
             vignetting : -20

• Try it and find out

1. Image 3

• After I enhance my image on Photoshop Lightroom i export the image to Photoshop CS. I only use Photoshop CS3, the reason it simple, what I do on my picture I only need Photoshop CS3.
• Please follow this step and put some effort on doing some downloading in youtube. Checkout the steps below.
• What I do I duplicate the original image and change the image mode from RGB to Lab Color and adjust the colour contrast to 50 instead of 100. After that change back the image mode from Lab Colour to RGB. (Find Lab Color enhancement on Youtube)
• Then I choose "selective color" on Adjustment Layer icon. What I do I reduce the black on Red Channel and Yellow Channel to get the perfect skintone. Then I press CONTROL + BACKSPACE and finally I brush on the skin on the image.
• I repeat the same step but this time I increase or decrease the black on every channel depends on my personal view/taste. After that I erase the skin so the current effect wont effect on the skin tone.
• Next, I choose Saturation on Adjustment Layer and I increase all the colour based on my eyes. Then I did the same thing where I erase the skin area.
• Then I Dodge and Burn on the area that I wanted based on personal Range and Exposure percentage. Normally Just use 20% on the exposure.
• There are times where I play with curves to get the best contrast for my image.
• finally I remove spots and soften the skin of the bride and groom> for soften skin you can find the steps on Youtube. 

(sample 2)

Really hope that you find this entry useful. Remember, try and error is the best lesson for us, so does respect each other. Good Luck 

Me & my Minolta 85mm f1.4G D (review)

(iso 200, f4 on aperture priority)

I just bought myself a Minolta 85mm f1.4G D. Do I love it? hell yeah. So, for the past two weeks I've been testing the lens. Surprisingly the lens really impressed me.

(iso 200, f1.4 on bounce flash, unedited)

The picture above is a picture of my handycam taken on full aperture and unedited. Just look at the detail, bokeh, colour, contrast and the depth, really awesome right?

(my first shot with the lens)

The Minolta AF 85mm f/1.4G (D) is one of the old professional grade lenses by Minolta. Obviously it is a discontinued item now because Sony took over Minolta's photo department back in early 2006. In the meanwhile the lens has been replaced by the Zeiss ZA 85mm f/1.4 - not exactly a cheap lens so used Minolta AF 85mm f/1.4 G are in high demand on the used market where they seem to sell around 700 €/US$ vicinity at the moment. On APS-C DSLRs such as the Sony Alpha 100 (used for testing) its field of view is equivalent 128mm so it doesn't really leave its primary scope (portrait photography) here.

(source : www.photozone.de)

As from my point of view, the lens really performs well for its price and it also depends on the user himself. Some user owns a kick ass gear but come out with a crappy result and some just us a basic gear but the result really good. In my opinion, the only lack about this lens is slow focusing, chromatic aberation at f1.4 and it quite expensive for a used lens but worth every penny. Lemme share with you some of the results. My first session with the lens I've made a mistake by set the exposure to Zero, some how the picture turn up to be brighter in my PC. So, what I did I set it to minus 1 on the exposure, check this out:

(iso 100, f1.4 on aperture priority)

(iso 100, f2 on aperture priority)

(iso 100, f1.4 on aperture priority, shoot at low angle)

(iso 100, f1.4 on aperture priority, shoot at low angle)

For your information, the pictures above I didn't increase the saturation, what I did was I just adjust the colour contrast in lab color mode then adjust the black on every channel and finally burn on few places. What do you think? Oh ya, smart sharpen(motion blur) at 100 and margin at 1

(iso 100, f1.4 on aperture priority, shoot at low angle)

Good contrast produced by the lens, check out the sample above.

(iso 100, f1.4 on aperture priority, shoot at low angle)

I really love the dimension produced from the lens, the subject somehow pop up from the background. Frame your picture well then just snap.

(iso 100, f1.4 on aperture priority, shoot at low angle)

Look what happen when I burst the colour, wow isn't it? hehehehehe

(iso 100, f1.4 on aperture priority, eye level. Normal tone)

(iso 100, f1.4 on aperture priority, eye level. warm tone)

(iso 100, f1.4 on aperture priority, eye level. Look at the dimension and colour contrast)

(iso 100, f1.4 on aperture priority, eye level. Look at the dimension and colour contrast)

(iso 100, f2 on aperture priority, eye level. Backlight, with proper camera handling the result will be like this, not forgetting you Photoshop skill also)

(iso 100, f1.4 on aperture priority, spot metering, eye level. Backlight, with proper camera handling the result will be like this, not forgetting you Photoshop skill also, this is not a good shot but I love the tone)

(iso 100, f1.4 on aperture priority, low angle. This is my personal favourite shot)

(iso 100, f1.4 on aperture priority, eye level. I really love the depth)

(iso 100, f1.4 on aperture priority, eye level. I really love the depth)

Conclusion, the reason I bought this lens is because I don't have to stand or sit far away from the subject especially wedding couple so my instruction will be clear because before this i used my Minolta 200mm f2.8G APO. The best part about the lens is the dimension produced by it and surprisingly the lens can capture sharp image at f1.4. CA is not a problem for cause I can always Photoshop it. What I'm trying to say here is to all portrait lovers out there 85mm is a must have lens doesn't matter if its a f1.2 or f1.4 or f1.8 or f2.8. Maximum the usage of the lens and you will get what you want :)

Have fun photo shoot :)

Something I Wanna Share

In this entry I wanna share 3 stages of my picture processing. I will use one of my studio shot that I took during a session organized by Haris aka Aaron at The Scope Studio owned by Taufik Zakir. The lighting was setup by Haris himself.

(Picture 1 - the original picture)

If you look at Picture 1, you notice that the picture is under. The reason why I shot it underexposed is because I can easily enhance the colour, lighting and exposure without disturbing the detail. I'm very confident with it because I shoot RAW. These are my exiff data;

Iso : 100

Focal Length : 70mm

Aperture : f13

Shutter Speed : 1/200

I'm using my Sony a850 with Sony 24-70mm f2.8 CZ for the whole session.

(Picture 2 - Photoshop Lightroom enhancement)

After I import my pictures into Photoshop Lightroom, I did the crop and basic enhancement. These are my Enhancement ;

Exposure : 1.0

Light : 20

Clarity : 30

Vibrance : 50

Orange Luminance : 30

Not that much right? Its simple, try it and find out.

(Picture 3 - Final touches on Photoshop CS3)

The keyword here is "Put Some Effort". The reason why I said this is because you can always find the tutorial on youtube.com Its because I did the same thing. What I did on this picture is very simple which is;

1. Remove spots and blemishes

2. Enhance Colour

3. Soften skin

4. Curves

Just add "How to ____________ in photoshop" in the search area, the search engine will find it for you. One more thing, understand "add layer mask" tool in photoshop. Trust me, It helps a lot

All the best and happy processing

Sasa Idris - bokeh creamy habes

(introducing Sasa Idris)

Hai Malaysian, its been a while since my last entry right? I've been busy la huhuhuhu. tu la org nak buat blog aku pun nak buat blog hahahahaha! ape yang aku bz sgt nih? aku sibuk dengan keje peribadi aku, itu punca pendapatan utama aku, tanak aku makan duit haram sape nak kan? tambah pulak photography ni mcm bonus tambahan ja.

(cute girl)

untuk entry kali ni aku perkenalkan Sasa Idris dari Ipoh. a Cute, chicky and giggly girl from Ipoh. Kalau lama2 stay dgn aku bole jadi mangsa buli aku hahahahahaha! yang pasti selepas sesi tu baru aku tau rupe-rupenye Sasa ni hotstuff dkt Ipoh. Ramai yang nak shoot dia tapi tak dapat peluang. Aku agak bernasib baik sebabnya dapat recommended dari good friend aku Ayunee Azmee. Ayunee bg bbpin aku dkt Sasa then dia add aku pastu malam tu kami merapu terus set outing hik hik hik. Lucky me :D

(selambe habes)

Yang sebenarnya aku hampir putus asa dengan Ipoh sbabnya aku kena bertugas di sana selama 6 hari dan selama 3 hari pertama aku si sana aku tak dapat respon dari org Ipoh, agak pelik untuk aku. Tapi tah camana tak aku boleh borak2 dengan Ayunee then dia rekemen kawan dia 2 org. Sorang lagi tadapat shoot sebab demam. Bila sembang dgn Sasa dlm bb dia kata dia nak bawak kawan dia lagi 2 org, aku cakap boleh ja. Alhamdulillah skang ni aku ada kawan-kawan photography dari Ipoh, yeay!

(lalala skali skala lalala)


Sasa ni cute orgnye, sbb tu aku set kan casual ja. simple cukup taperlu dahsyat2, kakng bila mai presentation terus kantoi hahaha! Aku mmg sepenuhnya gunakan ke"cute"tan budak ni hehehe. Camana aku tau dia ni cute dan selamba? the moment dia approve aku dalam fb aku terus tgk album Profile Pic dia. Penting untuk kita yang meminati portrait untuk kenali karakter model kita. nanti senang untuk kita plan dan shoot. dalam palahotak da set siap2 da apa nak buat. Oh ya, Sasa ni ada senyuman yang manis, korang tak caye korang try shoot dia hehehe, bila dia tak senyum nampak mcm makcik tapi bila dia senyum nampak mcm kanak2 riang hik hik hik :P



(ini je aku gune fiftiememwanpoenfor bukak efduepoenlapan)


Disebabkan aku tak familiar sgt dgn Ipoh jadi Sasa datang amik aku dan kami shoot di Taman DR. Not bad jugak kt situ sbb ada banyak framing, Photog-photog di Ipoh sangat beruntung sebab ada banyak taman2 macam tu. Kalau ada chance aku akan ke sana lagi untuk shoot. Outdoor wedding mungkin heheheheheh korang tunggu aku 7hb ni hehehe



(satu-satu muka dia yang tak senyum)


Kalau aku tak cakap pun rasanya korang perasan. Disebabkan aku gian teramat sgt, dengan sengajanya untuk sesi kali ni aku tekan Creamy habes bokehnya. Seperti korang tau aku ni mmg big fan kepada long focal with big aperture. Ini tips aku, Zoom habes then frame siap2 pastu stay dekat sedikit dengan subjek, lock focus, frame then shoot. pastikan background tu infiniti, sure dapat creamy. Try is and find out hehehe



(Capixx mmg suke awek2 comel cenggini)


Selain tu jugak, aku ada explore beberapa plug in yang ada dalam CS aku yang berkaitan dengan warna. Experiment tak hengat hahahaha! skali skala wei. korang pun ada mcm2 plug in kan? blasah je hahahaha! Plug in ni adalah short cut yang dia baut oleh user yg asas controlnya juga dari Photoshop, jadi warna photoshop takkan lari. Anyway, have fun shooting and experimenting, see you in the next entry



(typical me)


Special thanks to Sasa, Azha, Matt Derr, Jack Sullivan dan group LensaPuaka. Next time kite pi Vanggey pastu shoot hahahaha takpun lepas shoot kita p Vanggey

Nana Farhana - Me & my 50mm part 3

(Introducing Nana Farhana)

Seriously aku suke awek ni. Atok Power & Ryme dari Taiping yang kenalkan dia dekat aku. Tinggi, long leg, nice figure, rambut oren dan cheerful giggly character. first time aku jumpa dia aku cakap aku suka dia disebabkan karakter dia. Yang nak best nya, bila aku tanya Atok Power dia cakap biasa ja, korok die biase hahahaha! Anyway, outing aku kali ni bukan aku sorang ja tp dgn Atok Power, Khairulhafifth Radzi, Faiz Salleh, Agiegie & Azim Naqiuddin. Best jugak merapek pagi2 buta kt taman tasik tu.

(my personal favourite)

Apa yang aku nak kongsikan disini adalah tentang kemampuan 50mm. Aku tak kata hgpa semua kena ikut macam aku tapi cuma satu benda yang aku nak share dan dengan sengajanya aku bukak full f1.4 org selalu cakap kalau bukak full akan jadi soft but I prove them wrong hihihihihi. 

(swirly swirly swirly)

Sapa kata 50mm taboleh shoot full body? boleh je kan? yang penting adalah dapatkan angle yang betul, background yang catchy. Tips dari aku, shoot diwaktu cahaya matahari cantik supaya biasan cahaya pada daun tu bagi efek yang menarik dalam gambar kita

(Almost creamy bokeh)

mcm aku cakap tadi la kan,angle+background infiniti. boleh je kalau korang nak try. just to make it clear with you guys, ini bokeh original dan bukan lens blur effect dari Photoshop

(saye biaseje)

Yang penting adalah berani mencuba, nak tiru pun xpe, tanak tiru pun xpe. terpulang pada korang. Kenapa aku share sampai part 3? sebabnya ramai yang ada 50mm tp tak menggunakan sepenuhnya. Prime lens ni unik, dia ada dimension yang tak boleh dihasilkan oleh zoom lens. jadi guna lah sepenuhnya. have fun guys, all the best

Sorry, kalini aku tak membebel banyak, next entry aku akan membebel banyak sikit. Aku cuma nak share angle, komposisi dan gambar

Setting aku

Mode : RAW

Aperture - f1.4

ISO - 100

Shooting mode : Aperture Priority

Metering Mode : Center weighted & Spot Metering

Picture enhancement : Photoshop Lightroom 3.5

Final Touches : Photoshop CS3

How to process your picture like I did

Entry aku kali ni satu gambar ja, jadi rajin-rajin la membaca ye. Anyway kalau tgk gambar diatas adalah progression gambar aku dari asal ke final touches. Ini cara-cara aku hasilkan gambar ni ;

Gambar 1

Ini adalah gambar asal yang direct dari camera. Kalau korang perhatikan angle dan komposisi gambar aku diperingkat awal dah cun dah. Seperti yg kebanyakan tahu untuk shoot portrait aku gunakan "aperture priority" dan RAW sebabnya mudah nak di shoot dan banyak benda yang aku boleh adjust dalam Photoshop Lightroom. Ini exiff untuk gambar ni

iso : 200

Aperture : f1.4

EV : 0.5

W.B : auto

Gambar 2

Ini merupakan enhancement yg aku buat dalam lightroom, kenapa aku pilih Photoshop Lightroom untuk process RAW file aku? sebabnya aku malas nak cari update untuk Sony Alpha untuk Photoshop CS hahaha! anyway ini enhancement aku

Exposure : 0.3

Fill light : 20

Clarity : 30

Vibrance : 50

Setting lain aku tak kacau pun.

Gambar 3

Ini merupakan final touches aku dan aku pilih Photoshop CS3 untuk final touches aku. Untuk apa yang aku buat aku tak perlu CS4 atau pun CS5, jadi jangan tanya kenapa aku tak guna CS5. Lagipun aku bengap gila guna photoshop ni, memang tak pandai. Ini step aku ;

3.1 duplicate layer untuk spot healing dan juga clone(untuk background) then merge

3.2 duplicate layer dan tukarkan dari RGB mode ke Lab Colour dan ubah ikut apa yang diberitahu dalam youtube.com pastu tukar balik ke RGB mode

3.3 pastu aku main warna mengunakan "selective colour" yang ada pada "adjustment layer". Biasanya aku untuk skintone aku pilih warna merah dan kuning dan brush ikut sesedap rasa then merge

3.4 aku ulang step yang sama tapi kalini untuk background pastu merge

3.5 selepas itu aku pilih "saturation" yang ada pada "adjustment layer dan aku adjust warna ikut sesedap hati aku. dan aku erase bahagian skintone aku supaya ia tak menjadi merah atau kuning

3.6 pastu aku adjust curve untuk tona yg sedap mata aku memandang

3.7 sekiranya aku nak naik sikit detail, aku apply "high pass" dalam gambar aku.

3.8 sebelum resize aku gunakan plug in soften skin bernama portraiture pastu aku resize.

Senangkan processing gambar aku? Tak susah sangat, nak tau lebih lagi hgpa tengok youtube.com atau masuk ja mana-mana forum yang ada. Kalau nak cari yang dekat Malaysia susah sikit sebab tak ramai yang nak share jadi cari yang luarlah. Kalau tak faham Bahasa Inggeris itu salah korang sebab cikgu korang dulu sampai kering tekak ajar korang tapi tanak dengar. Anyway, all the best ya Have Fun



(best kan kalau boleh buat macam ni?)

Me and My 50mm f1.4 part 2

(introducing Kharulnisa Nadira)

Hahahahaha! Baru aku perasan, untuk entry ni da dua kali aku gunakan model yang sama hahahahaha! What the hell lah. Anyway, untuk kali kedua aku nak share apa yang aku boleh buat dengan 50mm f1.4 aku dan aku tak kisah kalau korang gunakan pose dan angle ni sebagai rujukan. Aku tak nak katakan angle dan cara aku shoot ni betul dan cara org lain tu salah aku cuma nak kongsi faveret angle aku hehehe.

Viewers selalu tanya aku camana gambar aku sharp. Jawapannya adalah, diperingkat awal gambar aku mmg sharp, kalu tak sharp sekali pun asalkan ada detail dah mengcukupi. Lepas tu, guna la filter smart sharpen yang ada dalam Photoshop CS. Yang sebenarnya banyak faktor dan teori pasal gambar sharp ni selain turn on "Steady Shot" untuk Sony Alpha, VR untuk Nikon dan IS untuk Canon. Tak pun tangan yang steady. Ni nak share le ni

Ini teori yang selalu amalkan; pemilihan metering adalah faktor dan biasanya aku akan pilih "center weight" ii adalah kerana cameraakan beri arahan kepada sensor untuk fokus cahaya disekeliling subjek dan seolah-olah subjek akan mendapan cahaya biasan. Selain tu value Shutter speed mesti lebih tinggi dari focal length. Sebagai contoh, untuk shot di atas aku gunakan 50mm f1.4 jadi sememangnya focal length aku 50mm. Shutter speed aku untuk shot ni adalah 1/500sec. Jadi memang sharp la hik hik hik. Ini satu lagi teori aku, kalau korang nak tau aku dissable Steady Shot aku(aku gune Sony Alpha ok). Alasan aku, tangan aku steady, shutter aku tinggi dari focal length, metering aku cun kalau aku enable Steady Shot, maka motor dia akan bergerak untuk dptkan gambar yang tak sharp sedangkan formular aku semua da betul da. camni lah, try it and find out.

(best kan bokeh pusing-pusing and bolat-bolet tu? hehehe)

(aku suka dimension mcm ni, nampak unik)

Pemilihan aperture pun penting, kena faham bahawa aperture yang besar (nombor kecil f1.2, f1.4, f2.8) akan memberi DOF yang besar. Bermakna focusing nya kecil dan ruang lens blur dia luas dan boleh menghasilkan bokeh yang yummy. Sekiranya aperture kecil(nombor besar f4 - f22) akan memberi DOF yang kecil. Bermakna detail akan lebih tinggi dan boleh menghasilkan gambar yang sharp. Sekiranya aperture dibuka f5.4 ke atas maka bokehnya akan kurang tetapi detail keseluruhan gambar akan meningkat, jadi tepuk dada tanya selera hehehe. Sebagai contoh gambar-gambar dibawah aku guna kan aperture f2.8(optimum aperture untuk lens aku Sony 50mm f1.4) 

(open at f2.8 percaya atau tidak terpulang pada korang tp aku tak process gambar ni, just resize ja dlm Photoshop)

(open at f2.0, checkout DOF dia)

(open at f2.8, best kan kalau semua shot dapat mcm ni?)

(Taken using iphone 3g, aperture f2.8 hik hik hik :P)

So, have fun exploring your 50mm