Lesson Info
30. Post Processing Q&A
Summary (Generated from Transcript)
The lesson discusses how to keep the editing consistent across a portfolio of engagement photographs and addresses questions about post-processing using Lightroom. The instructor emphasizes the importance of planning and using props to create a cohesive look in the images. The instructor also explains why Lightroom is the primary choice for editing, with occasional use of Photoshop for more advanced editing and retouching. Additionally, the instructor discusses the value-added service of retouching for prints ordered through the studio.
Lessons
Class Introduction
12:56 2Posing Guidance for Him
08:14 3Posing Guidance for Her
09:02 4Foundational Posing
05:11 5Posing Touch Points
05:55 6Couples Body Language
09:52 7Posing Three Point Check
05:22 8Posing Tips with Demo
08:05Verbal Cues for Posing
06:27 10Mood Board Tips
06:59 11Posing Questions
06:54 12Camera Settings Quick Overview
18:32 13Location Scouting
02:24 14Seeing the Light
17:34 15Shoot: Natural Light in Studio
14:50 16Homemade Soft Box
12:43 17Shoot: Wrapping Natural Light Around Couple
10:56 18Shoot: Flat Natural Light
06:24 19Special Effects Intro
09:13 20Shoot: Backlighting
18:07 21Shoot: Using Sparklers
09:59 22Shoot: Sparklers and Spray Bottle
13:01 23Shoot: Backlight with ND Filter
12:38 24High Speed Sync vs ND
04:27 25Shoot: Fog and Spray Effects
15:28 26Simple Lightroom Workflow
25:10 27Processing Black and White Images
16:50 28Culling and Presets
09:34 29Editing Using Presets
13:04 30Post Processing Q&A
05:46 31Flash + Ambient Balance
13:25 32Photographers Need to Practice
09:00 33Outdoor Engagement Location Scouting
12:22 34Meeting the Clients
11:27 35Basic Engagement Shots
16:59 36Getting into the Creative Shots
17:43 37Using Photo Mechanic to Cull
12:41 38Culled Edits in Lightroom
17:25 39Editing After Using Tilt Shift Lens
22:05 40Photoshop Editing for Print
23:34 41Engagement University Shot
21:35 42Daylight + Flash
23:44 43Engagement Picnic Scene
19:42 44Composite Street Shot
10:47 45Day For Night Engagement Shot
06:27 46Natural Flash/Bounce
04:10 47How to Make GIFs
17:22 48Simple Composite - University
09:38 49Intermediate Composite - Downtown
18:40 50Simple Background with Reflector
17:05 51Final Thoughts
10:53Lesson Info
Post Processing Q&A
So a question had come out in regards to applying the processing to the scene, how do you do that and keep your editing consistent across the portfolio? So, when you are delivering an entire set of images, is there a consistent look? Okay, so within a, say that again. So like, do you mean like how as in like the actual how in Light Room or do you mean like? I think it's more the effect that you are creating for that set of images. Are you keeping them consistent as you're going through in Light Room? Got it. So that goes back to like the mood board planning and if we are- I have a recent shoot for example that we did out in this, it was just out in this field that was local. And we actually brought the fog machine and we pumped the fog machine like into the, the- By the way, you need a fog machine, if you wanna fill up a big space. I know atmosphere air is also awesome but it's great indoors. If you wanna put down a lot of stuff outdoors, if there's a little bit of wind, it just ...
disappears. So we have to use a fog machine outdoors. Now for that scene, those kind of props and stuff worked. It was a very high end shoot, a high end portrait session, and it works because every image is processed for that light and airy look. And we're only adding a little bit of fog so it, you saw what it does to the image, where a tiny bit of haze kind of looks like it just opens up a scene. It almost adds gray tones to it right? It just opens up the shadows in a scene. So, if we shoot that all throughout an entire, we don't even have to use it through an entire shoot. We actually use the fog for just one piece of it. But then, everything was processed for that kind of matted, airy look, then it looks very cohesive. It looks like fog rolled in for a little piece of it. We got some cool light kind of coming through the trees and then, you know, we shot our other shots and when they're processed they look like they fit well together. It doesn't fit when you go do that with fog under a tree and that kind of stuff and then you go downtown to the city for like a, you know, city type set up. So it kind of goes back to the planning phases of the shoot. Cool, well do you guys have any questions on the post side? Like kind of the basic Light Room processing. Is there any questions in the room? [Lady Tan Sweater] I have one other question. Yeah, totally. Do you exclusively use Light Room? Yeah, primarily we're using Light Room because capture one is a fantastic tool especially if you need to get down into the nitty gritty and really get the most of the raw files. It's great for commercial work. Aperture is no longer supported. Really, Light Room is our primary choice now for this. I think there's other solutions coming out. [Lady In Tan Sweater] Here or for the Photo Shop? Oh, that's why you're asking, sorry. Understand your expectations and I totally missed that one. (audience laughing) [Lady In Tan Sweater] Sorry. Yeah, so we're using Light Room for everything (laughing). I like to talk. (laughing) Okay, but yeah, the thing with- The reason why we don't use Photo Shop for, we're sticking to Light Room, I would say 99 out of 100 images are Light Room. Every now and then, like if we need to remove a stray fly away, if we need to do compositing, we'll do some basic compositing tomorrow, those kind of things we'll take it to Photo Shop. But, just the simple button of pressing Ctrl-E to take something to Photo Shop takes 10 seconds just for everything to transition over and for you to get over there and then just to make those adjustments you're taking minutes on it to something. So if we can get it done and remember the rule. Getting to 90, right, we need to get to our 90% for these images, case in point (laughing). Okay, so we need to get to that 90% and to do that we can do that in Light Room. Now what we'll do is Photo Shop is fantastic for any time somebody prints a canvas, and this is one of our greatest selling points, for getting people to print with the studio. We tell them that look, when you print with the studio if you're doing a- This is literally what I tell my clients. If you're doing a 4X6 and I tell 'em this at the end of the engagement shoot so that they know. So when they're walking away they know what to do with their printing. I'm gonna give you a disc of full resolution images. If you want to print these on your own, fantastic go for it. Go to Costco, you can get great 4X6's and 5X8 sevens and all that kind of stuff for very inexpensive. We call them proof prints, that's basically what Costco is giving you is like a proof print. I say anything beyond that or even if you're printing a 5X7 and you want it to be framed and you want it to look beautiful, you want something beyond just like a proof print, that's when you wanna come to us. And the benefit of that is when you're going an 8X12, a 12X18, a 20X30, when you blow up an image, you're gonna see things in the image that you wouldn't see as a 4X6. So fine, do your small printing and stuff at Costco, 4X6's 15 cents, fantastic. But when you wanna do a 20X30, we need to go in. We need to do some retouching, we need to get it ready, blown up and that's all included when you print through the studio. So we build in retouch automatically to any print that goes into the studio. So that way there's a reason for us, that we have a value added service there as opposed to just like, they look at your price and it's $50 bucks for a 8X12 and you're like, "Oh, I'm not gonna "spend that much." But hey, this is 20, 30 minutes of retouch that we're including with that and then we're gonna make sure that it goes to archival quality paper. It's gonna be an amazing print and now they can see value in what you're giving them. So they'll come to the studio for that kind of stuff. Cool? By the way, the to- (laughing) that was a really long tangent (audience laughing) to get back to, with everything that comes in as a print order, it goes straight to Photo Shop. So we just take that Light Room file, go straight to Photo Shop and then we do our retouching and everything like that inside Photo Shop and that's what's prepped for printing. So, and then we edit and retouch based on the size that it's gonna be printed to.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
CPR Photography
I think Pye Jirsa is one of the best, if not the best, instructor for photography on Creative Live. He is very personable, smart and approachable. He has a perfect blend of personality (comments, laughs, tangents..) to the amount of instruction. He asks the questions for you, because he knows you are thinking those questions right then. He's very good about identifying settings, gear, etc.. and not leaving us in the dark about how he "got the shot". He goes into great detail. His instructions flow, but are linear, which is helpful. He's very organized, and you can tell that he really put a lot of work into his presentations (slides, video, test shoots, live teaching, graphics, etc..) I have been listening to him for like 10 hours straight, and still haven't gotten tired of him. He keeps things moving, He's very funny too. Nice job, I've learned so much. :)
a Creativelive Student
This course was AMAZING. I'd say int he past year or two I've fallen into a slump. Uninspired by my surroundings and uninspired by my clients. As a result, it showed through my work. My posing suffered as well and more than a handful of times some of my shoots became more than awkward. Then I bought this course and watched most of it in the course of a day. I walked away inspired, blown away, and renewed. The next day I walked into an engagement session confident. I gave my couples a quick overview on posing and then we just had fun in front of the camera. Immediately afterwards they texted me about how amazing their shoot was and how relaxed I made them feel about posing. The photos turned out fantastic to say the least. I've since shot several more engagement sessions and each one of them has been amazing. If anything, this course should inspire photographers to think outside the box and provide you with the necessary skills to take incredible engagement photos. Thank you Pye and Creative Live! I cannot speak more highly of this course. I should also state I purchased Pye's Natural Light course on SLR Lounge: this course is a wonderful addition to that. If you already own the natural light course and are hesitant about purchasing this one, don't. Buy it and reap the benefits!
Laura K.
Hands down one of the very best, most informative classes I have watched on CreativeLive to date (and I've watched a lot of fantastic classes here!!! so many great ones to learn from!!). Pye's instruction on the six basic poses alone was worth the price of admission - but there is so much more than that included with this course. A lot of what I learned can be applied to wedding photography as well. Purchased the course and have found it to be worth every penny. Will be rewatching it again next week to help me internalize all the information. Pye's a great photographer, teacher, and mentor. Thanks for the awesome course!!!
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