Ensuring proper skin tones (Photoshop)

Most people don’t like seeing themselves having too red, or especially magenta, skin tones. However, this easily happens, and the typical technical causes are either improper white balance, some sensor hypersensitivity at IR wavelengths, or possibly post processing trying to increase the saturation (”Velvia look”). When is it not right? But when is the red or magenta too much? Turns out there are easy rules in the CMYK colour space....

April 13, 2007 · Per

RSP Profiles

Welcome to my RSP profiles page Click here to download profile Introduction This page contains profiles for use with a D70 in Raw Shooter Premium 2006 from http://www.pixmantec.com. The reason for this profile is to make untweaked pictures from RSP look more like the out-of-camera JPEGs (in mode Ia). It has been created by Per Baekgaard (baekgaard at-sign b4net the-dot dk, http://www.b4net.dk) using argyll (http://www.argyllcms.com) and various custom made software pieces and small tweaks, and dozens of test shots of IT8 targets (from Wolf Faust, http://www....

April 13, 2007 · Per

Making green really green (Photoshop)

One photoshop tip that I tend to forget from time to time is from Dan Margulis, and have appeared on the colortheory mailing list. Here it is, copied verbatim from Dan’s mail and also accesible via the mail list archive. BTW, do buy and read Dan’s books if you’re into colour theory. They are really excellent, and will keep you busy for days… Folks, Since finishing PP5E, I’ve been putting together some of my own photo albums so that my wife and I can remember some of the interesting places we’ve been over the years....

April 13, 2007 · Per

Portrait Lighting

Introduction I wrote the following at a time when I was struggling to find a good and coherent lighting overview. The information below is probably still valid… but there is a better and more coherent alternative, which I’m going to recommend you. Get this book: Light – Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting (3rd ed), by Fil Hunter, Steven Biver and Paul Fuqua. It is probably the only book you will ever need on lighting....

April 13, 2007 · Per

Spring is here…

After a rather short vinter, spring seems to be approaching — at least here in Denmark, where the temperatures approached 14C yesterday. A rather big differenced compared to the very windy -10C I experienced last week in Manhattan, but more in line with the temperatures here in Southern France, where I am right now. And with spring, flowers start appearing in the our lawn. One of them is depicted here. Even though macro photographs are probably best done with a macro optics, the one depicted here shows that very sharp results can be done with less dedicated equipment....

March 16, 2007 · Per

Shallow DOF

Using a shallow DOF can create an interesting effect, as it attracts attention to the parts in focus. I have often used this effect, shooting at f/2.8 or f/4 with my 85mm f/1.8, but I decided to try out an even more extreme version: shooting wide open on my 50mm f/1.4. The 50mm f/1.8 isn’t that interesting wide open as the drop in contrast is rather pronounced, and it needs to be stopped down a little to be sharp enough for most use....

February 3, 2007 · Per

Japanese culture

Having just arrived back to Europe from a business trip to Tokyo, Japan, it once again striked me how cultural differences has a big impact on our behaviour and perception. In general, I find Japanese people very friendly and I like travelling in Japan. Usually when going somewhere, I often grab a Latte at the nearest Starbucks (possibly a Venti with an extra shot, making it a quad-shot), and this time was no exception....

February 1, 2007 · Per

Billeder af musikskolens lærere

Portrætbillederne af musikskolens lærere er nu tilgængelige online, og kan findes ved at klikke her. De ligger både usorteret og i et sæt med ét billede af hver, som jeg synes er det bedste. Hvis nogle af jer ikke er enige, så send mig blot en mail (se nedenfor). Bemærk at man kan se billederne som et “slideshow” ved at klikke på knappen i øverste højre hjørne — men det er også muligt at bladre frem og tilbage selv med f....

January 12, 2007 · Per

Great Belt at Dusk

OK, so I decided that sometimes working a bit more on the actual presentation does indeed make a difference. New Years day was windy, and while visiting my wife’s sister, Bente, I went for a series of quick shots at the beach as the sun was setting, leaving the rest of the family to complete the lunch. With gusts approaching 20 m/s or more, it was indeed a bit difficult to hold on to the camera, not speaking of holding it firmly enough avoid shake....

January 3, 2007 · Per

New Photo Gallery

I’m in the process of moving the photo gallery to another structure, which should be easier for me to maintain. No more photos will be added to the old gallery; all new photos will be installed in the new gallery only. The new link is here: All photos or Best Of.

January 2, 2007 · Per