Tag Archive for 'color'

HDR Portrait & Wedding Photography Techniques (2nd Edition)

Published
by
Gavin Seim
on June 18, 2008
in Gavin Seim, HDR Photography and PPS Photography Tips
. 5 Comments
seim hdr portrait 2 HDR Portrait & Wedding Photography Techniques (2nd Edition)

Look To The Wind. HDR by Gavin Seim. Canon 30D

~ Check out Gavin’s HDR workshops. More details here.

Updated 07/2009: Revamped & improved article. Added a new segment dealing with movement and blur (towards bottom).

by Gavin Seim: In 2007 I wrote an article about using true HDR techniques with people. Yep, portraits, fashion and wedding images can be utterly amazing using High Dynamic Range. HDR is not just reserved for nature and still life. We’ve been using it at Seim Studios for some time now and it blows clients away. Heres some of my secret sauce to get you started with HDR portraits and a few of my own images.

Link Resources>>

What’s HDR All About?
First lets cover basics. If you’re already an HDR master you can skip this part. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. It’s better seen than described, so other than the images I’ve included in this article, you can see more on my website.

HDR is the combining of light and dark tones of multiple images taken at varied exposure levels and then blended using software like Photomatix, Photoshop, or another HDR program. Photomatix is the most popular among HDR fans and we have a deal worked out with them. You can save 15% with promo code PPS15. Basically this software blending allows the photographer to selectively choose how much light he wants in various parts of the image. You’ll have a light to dark range that’s much higher than that of a normal exposure, thus giving you much more control over the final image.

You can also check my two PPS episodes from 2007, talking about HDR and HDR portraits. HDR Podcast Part1 & HDR Podcast Part2. There’s also PPS #57, an HDR episode with Trey Ratcliff that’s full of insight.

Continue reading ‘HDR Portrait & Wedding Photography Techniques (2nd Edition)’

How To Make An HDR Portrait. Behind The Scenes:

Published
by
Gavin Seim
on November 15, 2007
in Gavin Seim, HDR Photography, Lighting, PPS Photography Tips and ProPhotoShow
. 9 Comments

seim hdr portrait 2 How To Make An HDR Portrait. Behind The Scenes:

~ Check out Gavin’s 3 day HDR workshop coming Fall 2009. More details here.

So you’ve probably heard about HDR photography, and you may be wondering what you can do with it and why it’s so cool.
By Gavin Seim: This is not a short article but it will explain a lot about HDR photography and why its so amazing. Today we’re going to talk about the editing techniques I used to create “Look To The Wind” the bride on the beach image that you probably have heard mentioned on Pro Photo Show, and maybe seen on the net. Also below are some additional links for things relevant to HDR.

Link Resources>>

HDR is a method of taking multiple images and combining them in a high dynamic range file. Lets say you take three images of the exact same scene, at various exposure levels. Standard images are only around 8 bits each, basically meaning that their ability to correctly expose dark scenes while keeping bright scenes from getting overexposed is limited.

So to make an HDR you might take one image that’s underexposed, one image over, and one with correct exposure. Then using software you can combine the shadow and highlight details from all the images into a single image is called an HDR, It’s the combined bits of these images, and is usually a 32 bit image when converted. What does 32bit mean to you? It means it can contain far more light. Even though the actual resolution of the image is not increased the details inside it are much higher. The HDR Photography technique is most often done with nature or still life images, but I have been doing extensive experimenting with this technique in portraits as well with good results, as we’ll see today.

hdr example

So lets look at an example. In this image I took three shots of the bride on the beach using continuous shooting mode with auto exposure bracketing. This along with a model holding as still as possible, and a fairly wide angle scene made “Look To The Wind” Possible possible (click for a larger version) You can read more about HDR portrait techniques in my HDR portrait article.

There a a few ways to take the three images and make an HDR from them. First take your images in unedited raw form. You could do it with jpegs, but raw will give you the best results. Don’t correct the raw files before converting to HDR. There is a very basic tool in Photoshop for converting the images called Merge To HDR (File/Automate/Merge To HDR) This allows you to select you images, and it will combine them into and 32 bit image. You then can use tools to adjust the levels, and curves of the image mix to try and get a good result.

Continue reading ‘How To Make An HDR Portrait. Behind The Scenes:’

Lightroom Presets. The Ultimate Free List:

Published
by
Gavin Seim
on November 9, 2007
in Gavin Seim, Lightroom, PPS Photography Tips, ProPhotoShow and Software
. 30 Comments
dream b4 Lightroom Presets. The Ultimate Free List:

Gavin's own LR Presets are available on SeimEffects.com

Free Lightroom Presets Directory: by Gavin Seim. (Updated Feb 11 2010)

One of Adobe Lightroom’s most powerful features is presets. Allowing you to instantly transform images with just a click. You’ve found the biggest, most updated list of free Adobe Lightroom presets anywhere. Taste as many as you like, then share your favorites in the comments. Note that presets don’t work RAW & JPEG files the same. Most sites don’t say which theirs are made for, so play around. For more about this see this article on RAW VS JPEG presets.

Also check out my own presets on Seim Effects. There’s an entire freebies category, as well as my complete collections with lots of variety (including the effect used above) I’m honored that they’ve become very popular. Use code PPS at checkout to save 15%. OK, on with the free list. Enjoy… Gav

My Favorite Free LR Presets – (How To Install LR Presets)

  • Seim Effects Free Lightroom Presets:
    Various well refined free presets. This is whole category of freebies. Some also have both JPEG & RAW versions.
  • Lightroom Killer Tips Presets:
    Aside from a great LR video cast, Matt Kloskowski from Photoshop TV posts presets on the site for free.
  • Lightroom Library Presets:
    Lots of presets in a really nice site with previews.
  • Lightroom Presets on the Adobe Exchange
    The Exchange has always been a great place to get ad on’s for Adobe products. Keep an eye on it.
  • LightrooomPresets.com:
    A good place to pick up some variety for you free LR preset collection and get some cool effects rolling.
  • Karin Knowland:
    Here’s a nice batch of over a dozen presets that will give you a nice variety of effects.
  • Sean McCormack’s IR Presets:
    Sean has an article here on the Lightroom News Blog talking about Infrared in LR, and he lets you download some of his IR results.
  • Jack Davis’s WOW Lightroom Preset Collection:
    This is a download from our friends over at OneOne Software, and yep it’s free. It’s a large preset collection that is organized in a tidy list. You can drag you mouse over the list and see the variation as they subtly change (low contrast to high contrast for example. Very well put together with lots of effects.
  • Preset Heaven:
    This is a blog where you’ll find a variety of presets. Nice place to get some sweet goodies.
  • Camera Dojo Presets:
    They have a nice free offering of presets covering a broad range of effects. Well worth a look.
  • Laconic Design Presets:
    Laconic has a bunch of presets, many of which fall into B&W/Vintage looks.
  • Focus Beauty Presets:
    Various vignettes and focus & color point presets allowing you to build effects. Also check out the HDR presets.
  • AM Presets Color Tones:
    A cool looking freebie pack of color tone effects. Not a lot in here, but nice tones.

Over 1500 Facebook Fans say it best.
 pw2 banner Lightroom Presets. The Ultimate Free List: Sponser: Use Promo Code PPS to save 15%

More Cool Free Presets: (Many just have a few)

Free Lightroom Brush Presets (LR2+) – How To Install Brush Presets

Free Lightroom Print Presets/Templates:

Presets for specific Camera’s & Lenses

Free Lightroom Presets. By Gavin Seim

Published
by
Gavin Seim
on September 9, 2007
in Gavin Seim, Lightroom, PPS Photography Tips and ProPhotoShow
. 7 Comments

I use using Lightroom Presets like crazy. I’ve decided to add to the mix of free Lightroom presets, with a few of my favorites that come from my Power Workflow2 Lightroom presets.

On to the free stuff. These have both RAW & JPEG versions just like you’ll find in my PW2 collection. You can also find more of my free presets right here.

These are a few of my favorite special effects from my Power Workflow. 400 is loosely based on the very popular “300″series by Mikelao. It’s a cool fantasy effect that adds some snappy drama to a scene.

Fantasy is a preset I use all the time, and have found it to be very useful since it gives a creative look. Fantasy Basic is a great lightweight general use effect that gives a nice gentle look. It works great on nearly any image. There’s more variations in the my complete set but this should get you rocking!

fantasy2 Free Lightroom Presets. By Gavin Seim

More than everyday Presets: POWER WORKFLOW Lightroom Presets by Gavin Seim. Define your style!!

banner3 Free Lightroom Presets. By Gavin Seim

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