Back from Nicaragua, spending lots of time finishing the images for the client; Opportunity International. I did take some time to out to hang out at the Grand Dell Jam, the first time in several weeks that I have attended. As I have written about before, I use two opposing flash units set at 1/4 power manual and use the camera f/stop to control the light. This week, I used rechargeable batteries that were charged before my Nicaragua trip for use in country. Well guess what my batteries were at best at 80%(my fault for not recharging) so the light was not consistent from the flash units. In fact one of the units kept taking forever to recharge and wasn't very useful later in the evening. So what did I do? I shot bright and corrected with curves. In photoshop, you open curves, and bring straight down the right hand point of the curve. This immediately darkens the image which then can be adjusted with a brush tool on black. White paints back in the darkness, black paints in the light. You need to adjust the opacity to something around 60% to start with. Sometimes, I adjust the opacity to 40% to begin with and build from there. Here's an example; keeping in mind, I'm painting light from two flash units.
You can use a light hand in painting as this example illustrates.
Or even a lighter touch with the light as this example illustrates. Here I'm really painting out the light, allowing the flash in the image to rim the dancers.
Sometimes I get heavy handed with the light for effect or just foolishness on my part. It's fun to create the light patterns you need or be creative with something new. Here is the heavy handed approach. I use the light to isolate the expression of individuals.
Another heavy handed approach; where I use the light(dark brush) and dark(white brush) to create a scene.
Curves in Photoshop is a powerful tool to help manage the light in your images. It allows you to use light as a paint, creating the drama you want.
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