June 23, 2009
YEEEEEEEEEEAH!!!!!!!
It felt SO good to get back into the swing of things. This was the perfect couple for my first session since the accident. Diana and Sebastian are just incredibly sweet and laid-back. They didn’t seem to mind waiting on me and my hobble.
It’s funny, I was telling Diana, some of the couples I get are really natural in front of the camera and totally pose and work it. And then there are people (myself included) who stiffen up because they have no clue what to do with themselves. Diana and Sebastian were actually neither of these things…they were in their own little world the whole time. Sometimes I wondered if they even remembered they had us following them around paparazzi style. It was really cute to see how absorbed into each other they would both get. They seem to have a very powerful quiet love.
And I am so looking forward to their wedding…in just a week, AH! They are getting married in a killer location (you’ll see it next week when I post photos, I don’t want to ruin the surprise) and after getting to know them both a little bit last weekend I can’t wait to spend the big day with them!
Unfortunately for our session it was FREEZING out. But, lucky for us it finally stopped raining and the sun even peaked through for a little bit of golden light once or twice.
With all the rain though, Cerro San Cristobal was insanely lush and beautiful. It really didn’t look like the middle of winter!
Diana has awesome green-blue eyes, they’re just gorgeous! And Sebastian has crazy pale blue eyes! They actually reminded me of my friend Aimee’s eyes, that ice blue color is nuts…
It was a cloudy day so we didn’t get a great view of the Andes but we could still see out on Santiago for quite a ways — smog-free, how nice!
One 580ex II directly behind them for those of you who like to know about lighting set ups.
Same thing just off to the left…flash directly into the camera. I am such a junky for flare that when there’s not any sun I’ll just make my own 
And then these last three are my very favorites! As Diana said, good thing she’s not the kind of girl who has to wear heels all the time…because I made them hike down into the leaves and the mud so we could get these shots. Sorry guys! But, worth it, right???
Adore.
Photographers, keep reading for post-processing info.
And I wanted to answer a couple questions that I’ve gotten about the way I process my photos. The most vital part about the look that the pictures have is the conversion into LAB mode like I talked about in a tutorial on my old blog. Then I own the Totally Rad Actions (TRA 1 and The Revenge), Jesh de Rox Enlighten Experimential Actions and Lara Jade’s actions.
One of the recipes I did for TRA is featured on their website, you can see it here. My general processing method is to run the LAB conversion before anything else. Then I have my own actions which use Selective Colors, Saturation and Levels in Photoshop to tone the blacks and neutrals to be a little purple-ish. I like to use those steps to give every photo a slightly warmer hue before I keep going. Sometimes I like the way an image looks as is after those first two steps (like the last three photos of this set) and other times I keep going and use “recipes” created using various actions from both TRA and Enlighten sets. I would say I use TRA The Revenge slightly more than the first TRA but they’re both well worth the investment, as is Enlighten. The Lara Jade actions are not good at all and I really wouldn’t recommend them. They were a big waste of money for me. And actually she may not even be selling them anymore because the link to her website isn’t working anymore.
So there you have it, those are some of my post-processing “secrets.” If you have a specific question, ask away and I will try to answer it. I am happy to tell you the steps that I took, or if I just used and action or what. But telling the look you are trying to achieve from a specific photo really helps, because people sometimes say, “I love your photos, what do you in post-processing?” And truth be told, I do a lot of different things depending on the picture. I spend a ton of time in Photoshop, it’s one of my favorite parts of the whole process.
Hope that helps!
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- @dregonzrob, hahaha, eating wall paper, that's a new one. Dog whisperer dato coming your way :)
- @lanapuckett, when we get back I'll have to introduce you to @gabrielrodriguez, @sebamilla and @sebastiankaulen!
- @dregonzrob, you need the dog whisperer!!!
- Brian McBride is announcing his retirement from the game today. He will go down in history for me as my favorite U.S. player ever. LOVE him.
- Caroline and Tommy should probably stop being this hot or somebody's going to catch on fire. http://tinyurl.com/2feozcy
- Writing w/ @imnotobsessed tomorrow early! Love catching people up on their daily dose of gossip and I <3 @inosherry, my online co-worker :)
Wow, I am just amazed by the love you are able to convey through these photos. What a beautiful couple.
Comment by Still Life in South America — June 23, 2009 @ 5:47 pm
The last three are my favorite too. The couple just looks so sweet and in love!
Comment by Rita Schoeppe Syfert — June 24, 2009 @ 3:58 am
Lovely, all of them, but the last one is totally awww-worthy. I'm sure they're thrilled with what they've seen already, and will have a great day as you as a photographer/friend at the wedding.
Comment by eileen — June 24, 2009 @ 9:29 am
That last photo is gorgeous!
Glad to see you back in the saddle.
Comment by Eliza Claire — June 26, 2009 @ 4:13 pm
Wow, what beautiful eyes they both have!!! That photo of them kissing behind the tree is breathtaking. I'm sure they'll treasure these photos forever.
Comment by Andi — July 2, 2009 @ 2:24 pm
Wow, what beautiful eyes they both have!!! That photo of them kissing behind the tree is breathtaking. I'm sure they'll treasure these photos forever.
Comment by Andi — July 2, 2009 @ 9:24 pm