Jenn LeBlanc

More from column Z

Posted by Jenn on January 23, 2010 · 2 Comments 

Working on post is the bain of my existence most days. I love being a photojournalist because post-production consists of two things: exposure and white balance. Woo Hoo.

Studio work, however, requires a bit more work. Exposure and white balance should be spot-on (since you are standing stock still in a studio under controlled circumstances) but fixing things, that which cannot be done as a photojournalist, is of the greatest importance. Fixing blemishes, cropping, using filters, selective color toning, moving stray hairs and inconveniently rumpled clothes or errant shadows. Some studio work is more fun than others, and straight portraiture (for me) makes me insane to the point I don’t want to play any more. But the romance shoot for the novel project I am working on was not just fun at the time but the post work has also been quite enjoyable (and not because he was pretty, which he was- very pretty, and he knows it) but because of the creative leeway I get for creating a character out of this model.

Derek was nearly perfect for the shoot, though he has hazel eyes and the character vibrant green, he has dark brown hair and the character nearly black, Derek is also a bit younger than the character in the book, so a little aging, as well as toning will go a long way. I have also had fun playing with liquefy, making Dereks’ expressions just a bit more dynamic and adding that little something extra.

Here is another version of the image I posted previously, with extra steps in post. Of course this is an example, not the final image. As a stand-alone the work isn’t as noticeable, but in a side-by-side comparison it is. So, leave comments! What can you see that has been altered? A prize to the person who can name it all. (But there is alot)

I posted this version because it went wrong somewhere around the jaw line. It just isn’t an attractive portrayal anymore. oops.

©2010 Jenn LeBlanc