Wedding Pictures and Retouching

One of the things that can be confusing when you start searching for a wedding photographer here in Tampa Bay is the level of "retouching" that will be done to your images.

The problem is that "retouching" can mean different things to different people.  It's hard to know exactly what a person means when they say that they "retouch" your images.  It's a little like someone saying that they are going to paint a room.  Are they going to paint it all one color with a spray can?  Are they going to faux-paint with sponges and special applicators?  Will they being doing something in between those two extremes?

I can't speak for every photographer in town but I can tell you what I do and what I call it... so that you will at least understand what to expect from me.

But first, some technical mumbo-jumbo that will help you understand the process:

Professional photographers shoot in a format called RAW.  Your pocket sized, point-and-shoot camera shoots in a format called .JPG. So does your phone.

What's the difference?

Taking pictures of fireworks

In my classes, I always get a big reaction when I show a picture of fireworks.  To a new photographer, it seems like an incredible feat to take a picture that freezes the action like that but by the end of my class they know that it's really quite easy.  All you need is a tripod and a slow shutter speed.

This year I decided to take an updated version of my fireworks shot.  I didn't want to really "stage" it because I didn't want to distract my kids from enjoying the show.  I also didn't want to use much equipment because we were going to be at a friend's house and I didn't want to carry it (Nor did I want to set it all up in the middle of a party.)  So, the task became, "How do I get a cool shot with a minimal amount of equipment?"

Two people, one light

I recently had the privilege of photographing Michael and Danielle's engagement session in Safety Harbor.  They booked me in 2010 for their wedding in 2012... this is a couple who is prepared!

I always encourage my clients to be creative at their engagement photo session.  Bring a change of clothes, props, anything that you think might be fun.  I tend to adhere to the, "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks" philosophy.  My sessions are about 50% planned and about 50% on-the-spot inspiration.

Michael and Danielle did not disappoint.  They told me that one of the funny things about their relationship was that they had a bit of "role-reversal" compared to typical couples.  Michael does most of the cooking and cleaning, Danielle fixes things.

They came prepared to illustrate their respective roles with cookware and tools.  The question was: How do I photograph them in a creative way?

Superheroes.

HDR Wedding Photography

High Dynamic Range photography (HDR) is all the rage nowadays.  So much so that I was reading a blog recently where a photographer was ranting about how sick he is of hearing about it all the time.

Typically, when a photographer wants to take an HDR image they will use a tripod to insure there is no movement whatsoever.  (I sometime hand the camera to one of my children and ask them to clean their room, which also guarantees no movement whatsoever.)  Then the photographer takes somewhere between 3 and 20 exposures of the scene, each one at a different setting so that he ends up with a series of pictures ranging from very dark to very light.

Next, he combines these images using special software (Photoshop has this built in but I think third-party software does a better job.  I use Photomatix Pro).  The software reads the images and attempts to create one image in which every area contains the correct exposure.  (This is my understanding, I didn't right the software).

Portrait Session in Ybor City

Last week I headed down to Ybor City in Tampa to photograph Ashley. Ashley is a singer and musician so we decided to incorporate her guitar into some of the shots. From the very beginning I knew that it was going to be a great session because she is very easy-going, fun and inventive with her posing. I don't think I gave her detailed direction the entire time.... I just took pictures while she did whatever she wanted.

This picture was taken just as the sun was starting to set which gave me the great glow off the railroad tracks. I used off-camera lighting for the entire shoot so that I could have more control over the shadows. If I had to pick just one image from the day to keep it would probably be this one. Notice how the tracks curve down and lead to Ashley? This is a great trick to use when framing people for portraits.

Still at the railroad tracks. I cropped the tracks out of the shot because they were just too distracting to the final image.

I'm usually not a big fan of "selective color" in my photographs. I feel that it's been overused by photographers (especially wedding photographers.) Just because you can make something in the picture be in color while everything else is black and white doesn't mean you should. For this picture against a graffiti covered wall, I think it works. Usually, the thing that's in color stands out and becomes the focus of the picture. The difference is that in this picture, the color tends to make the black and white stand out because it is behind her.

My original intention was to have a sunset shoot but Ashley was running late and it got dark on us. So, I quickly started looking for ways we could turn the night to our advantage. In Tampa Bay there isn't a much better place for night photography than Ybor City with the lights and old Tampa feel (I love cobblestones). So, I put Ashley in the middle of the street, pulled out a second flash (lucky for me I tend to over-pack for photo shoots) and started taking pictures. As you can imagine, a picture like this takes a little more work than the others from the session. I have one flash to my left shooting through an umbrella and another on the ground under a car behind Ashley (see the bright flash on the right side?). Ideally I would have preferred to not have that back flash show so bright but I was hampered by space and the lack of a second tripod (wasn't planning for night shoot, remember?). Still, it works because it could just be light from a car. It makes a big difference in the picture because it puts a rim light on her legs.

Ashley changed outfits again (by the way, can I just say that the restrooms in the 15th street parking garage are cleaner than my house? Nice surprise...) and we moved to the curb. Careful observers might notice something missing from the guitar in this shot. It was distracting to me so I took it out with Photoshop.

It was getting late and we were ready to wrap but Ashley still had some stamina so we walked down to the main drag for a few more quick shots. I like this one because I was only using one flash but the car behind Ashley on the street acted like a rim light (see the nice halo of light around her head?).

Sweaty and tired, we called it a night. It was a fantastic shoot and a lot of fun! As always, you can see more wedding photography and portrait photography on my website.

Tampa Dance Photography at Karl DiMarco

I spent the last three days shooting dance pictures at Karl DiMarco Dance Studio and it was a great experience. The costumes for the upcoming recital were really fantastic. I was blown away by how great everyone looked. This was made even better by the fact that all my subjects were dancers... THEY KNOW HOW TO POSE! Everyone was attentive and eager to get good pictures.

The very last costumes that we shot were the hobo's. Unlike the other costumes, each of these was unique and made by the girls themselves.

It's very common to use Photoshop when shooting group pictures because it's impossible to carry a 20-ft wide backdrop with you to every photo shoot. So, you position your group in the middle and use Photoshop later to fill in where the backdrop is missing. However, in this particular case I actually like the picture in it's original form. By leaving the extra background clutter intact you change the feel of the picture. Now, the picture takes on a more casual observer feel.... it's not a "formal portrait" anymore, it's now a snapshot of a formal portrait session. (Does that make sense?) Magazine's will sometimes photograph celebrities this way to give the picture a sense of casualness while still getting the benefit of excellent lighting. This picture is the only one that I offered to the parents un-retouched. I'm curious to see if anyone chooses this one over the "perfect" one. I'm guessing that I'm the only one who like it better this way. :)

You can see more of my photography on my website.

Senior Portraits Tampa Bay

For more pictures of Tampa Bay Seniors, visit my website at www.boorayperry.com.

Kaitlin called me in a panic last week because she had somehow managed to miss both picture days at school. I was able to do a rush session for her that turned out great despite having very little time..

We rushed to the nearest railroad tracks and shot for 30 minutes. You can never go wrong with girls + railroad tracks. This is my favorite picture from the shoot. Kaitlin is 15 years old and looks older in this shot. It's like seeing the future.

This shot is a good example of why so many photographers don't have studio space anymore. With the right equipment and skill you can get great lighting and composition on location with the added benefit of using a real tree instead of a prop.




This is called the "Lomo" effect. The Lomo camera is an old Russion-made camera that became famous for the way it would saturate and vignette images. Now, photographers can duplicate that look in Photoshop.

This is a "senior card" that I custom designed for Kaitlin.

Tampa Wedding Photography

Brad and Cindy were married on Saturday and I had the privilege of being their photographer. More Tampa wedding photography pictures can be seen on my website but here are a few of my favorites from the day.

The reception was held in an office building which made for a tough time finding a good location to shoot some couple's pictures. I recently had a client tell me that a photographer had told her that she wouldn't get good pictures because of the time of day she had scheduled her wedding. That's ridiculous. A good photographer finds a way. Lucky for me there was a brick wall right by the entrance. All wedding photography can benefit from a good brick wall. :)



I loved this picture the minute I saw it but for some reason it just screamed "old." Maybe it's because I like those magazine ads that feature pictures from the 70's. This picture just looked to me like something you would see in the album of a couple married for 20 years. So, I aged it a little in Photoshop.



When Cindy told me how big her wedding party would be I decided to break out the big lights. The trend currently is to take casual formal pictures (and I do..) but there is still something to be said for the old-fashioned, full group shot. With a group this big you really need a couple of large studio lights to get a good, even light across the entire frame.

I was setting up to shoot Cindy in front of these doors when a bridesmaid said, "Let's put Brad on the other side!" Great idea!

Here's the shot I was setting up when I took the one above. The scenery outside the doors wasn't the best so I frosted the glass in Photoshop.

Another reminder that I need to keep a sewing kit in my camera bag. They had to send down to the front desk for a needle and thread when one of the loops broke on Cindy's dress.

Booray Perry is a wedding photographer in Tampa

Tampa engagement pictures

For more engagement pictures go to my website http://www.boorayperry.com/

“So,” I said, “How do you feel about standing in traffic?”

A few weeks ago I had this idea for a shot. I wanted to shoot a couple surrounded by blurred movement while they stood frozen in time… in their own world. The first obstacle to overcome was how to shoot a long exposure on a sunny day. A neutral density filter solved that problem ( I used a 6 but really needed a 9). Next I had to get the couple. Lucky for me I was getting ready to shoot an engagement session at the University of Tampa which sits on Kennedy Blvd, one of the busiest roads in town.

So, after about an hour and a half with my clients I finally asked them to stand in traffic. They were totally on board with the idea and stood there without moving for about 15 minutes while I stood on my own little traffic island with my tripod, shooting away.

Now that it’s done I’m pretty pleased with it for a first time effort. Of course, off the top of my head I can think of five things that are wrong with it but that’s the perfectionist in me and I’ll do better next time. (By the way, I really want to do this shot with people as the blur… like in the middle of a busy crosswalk.)

The entire shoot was great. Here are few more images, see the rest at http://www.boorayperry.com/

Booray Perry is a wedding photographer in Tampa FL.

If I can make myself look this good, imagine what I can do for you...

For more of my family and wedding photography here in Tampa Bay, visit my website.

Last night I was working in the studio on some ideas for my daughter's upcoming birthday party. Basically, I was trying to decide what to do with the background color since I will be taking pictures of a dozen 5-year-olds in princess dresses (it's gonna be a hoot).

After shooting a few self-portraits I got the idea to do a magazine re-touch on myself. Whenever I do a boudoir session, I do a magazine re-touch, which means I make you look like you should be on the cover of a magazine. The problem with this feature is that I don't really have many before/after examples I can show because I won't show a past clients boudoir pictures to anyone under any circumstances (naturally). So, I've decided to do a re-touch on the worst face I can find: mine!

Pretty scary, I know. As you can see in the re-touched version below, I cleaned up the blemishes, smoothed the wrinkles, removed a catch-light from the eyes and fixed the color a little. If you look closely, you can also see where I raised the bottom lid of my right eye just a tad. My right eye is wider than my left and so I corrected it a little but not so much that it would be obvious. Now I don't look so bad!

By the way, as you can see I was working with a blue background when shooting this portrait. However, the background isn't actually blue, it's being lit with a blue light. Wanna guess what color the background is when the light is off?

Sunset

For more examples of my work, got to http://www.boorayperry.com/.

Last night my daughter pointed out what a beautiful sunset we were getting so I stepped outside to get a shot. I think that most people don't realize that Photoshop plays a big role in professional photography today, even something that seems simple, like a quick picture of the sunset. The picture below is actually two different pictures. What I did was set up my tripod and shoot the same picture two times.

The first time I exposed for the sky and since I really wanted the red to show up, I underexposed the shot.:

The second time I wanted the water to show up so I overexposed the shot:

Finally, I put the two images into Photoshop and combined them... using the top from one and the bottom from the other. Then I touched it up a little with some shading, lightened up the golf course grass, sharpened etc. and ended up with the finished product:

Wedding Photographer Tampa: What to buy part 2

In the first installment of this series I talked about the proof book and why it's a great place to start when spending your wedding photography budget (For more Tampa wedding photography, please visit my Tampa wedding photography website.) This time let's talk about the hi-res CD.

Now, if you've read many posts on this blog you know that I have a love/hate relationship with the Hi-res CD when it comes to weddings. Basically, I love that you can buy digital copies of all your images to keep forever but I hate that so many people are getting inferior prints because they are not properly educated by their wedding photographer. Buy the CD (in many cases it is included) because you never know what the future may hold (someday you may be able to get a hologram made of your whole wedding, who knows?). But, if you want some prints to display, frame, enlarge, etc.... have your photographer print them.

There are three kinds of wedding photographers in Tampa Bay:

Shoot and Burn: These are the ones that photograph your wedding and hand you a CD of the images. Most will do some simple color correction and exposure correction to the files but some don't. Either way the retouching is minimal because there are 400 pictures on the disk and no one has time to retouch that many pictures. A basic retouch takes 5 minutes per image. That's 33 hours! Sorry, they run a couple of batch programs, burn the disk and move on to the next client, leaving you with sub-par pictures being printed by the kid at Wal-Mart.

Shoot, Burn and Upload: These photographers burn a disc for you and also upload your images to a service like "Pictage" so that you can order online. This is a little better than the first group because at least a pro lab is printing your pictures. Still, the same time rule applies: How much time do you think your wedding photographer spends individually retouching 300-400 pictures?

Shoot, Burn, Upload, Retouch and Print: Now we're talking! This is me (and many other Tampa wedding photographers). This is the group that burns a CD for you and uploads your images to a private gallery so that you can purchase them online but, and this is all the difference in the world, they hand-retouch every image that is ordered. These photographers are not happy to just hand off a CD. These wedding photographers take such pride in their work that they do not want a single print to be made that hasn't been personally touched and perfected by them. These are the photographers you want photographing your Tampa Bay Wedding.

So, by all means buy the CD and lock it away for safe-keeping. Take it down to the drugstore and get 300 4x6 prints made or 50 wallets to send to your friends and family. But, if you want a print to sit on your nightstand for the next 20 years or a canvas gallery wrap to hang in the living room, have your wedding photographer retouch and print it.

(Note: I searched through all my wedding pictures for an example I could post here. I wanted to show a picture as it would appear on a CD and then show the same picture as it would appear if I were to retouch and print it. Every picture I've ever printed from every wedding I've ever photographed in Tampa has been retouched by me personally so it's easy to find examples but I can't post them here. I just can't do it. I can't post a picture of one of my clients looking anything less than the very best she can, even to make a point. I'll gladly show before/after examples during a consultation but not here for the world to see. Sorry.)

Working the portrait steps

Please visit my Tampa wedding photography and Tampa portrait photography site at http://www.boorayperry.com/.

How many steps does it take to make a great portrait? In this case, about 13.

First you take a simple portrait of three brothers.

Then, make the creative decision to convert it to black and white.

Correct the levels.

Correct the exposure

Overlay a burn.

Clean up bad spots.

Fix the light glare on the glasses.

Adjust contrast.

Adjust tint.

Adjust shadows.

Dodge and Burn

Blur background.

Sharpen.

Crop.

Now you have something worth hanging on the wall...

Land O' Lakes photographer gets the big head

I had something pretty cool happen today. If you're a photographer, you're always a little insecure because all art is subjective. Most of us are in the business because we want to create something with emotion or beauty or both... and so we frequently are trolling for a compliment... just a little validation from someone so that we know we aren't producing terrible work. It's especially nice when it comes from someone unexpected.

I had to call my lab today because I was having some trouble uploading an order (Surprise! My fault!). I mentioned that I was in Tampa and she asked me what my studio was called. I told her my name and she said, "Oh my God! I love you! Your work is awesome!"

Now, there is no way that the girl who answers the phones at my lab could possibly know who I am so I called her on it. "You're just blowin' smoke," I said, "You don't know who I am."

"Yes I do," she said, "I audit the print runs all the time and I love your designs."

"They tell you to say that to every photographer who calls, right?"

"No, I really do love your designs. You just recently had a coupon done with a little girl holding a present..."

It's funny, I get compliments all the time (well, maybe not all the time) about my work but it really made my day to hear that a girl who looks at prints all day long remembers mine. So, I'm writing this post about it and the next time I get a little down, I'll just come read this. :)

Booray Perry is a photographer in Tampa Bay.

Bar Mitzvah Photographer Tampa

Why is this post called, "Bar Mitzvah Photographer Tampa" when it doesn't have a Bar Mitzvah picture? Well, because I just did a portrait session for a Bar Mitzvah boy but I can't post it online because it's a surprise. So, instead I'm going to post a picture of my family that I have converted to a pencil drawing. I'm thinking of having it canvas mounted for my office.



Booray Perry is a Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah photographer in Tampa...

Beach photography gets grainy

We really have terrible beaches in Tampa Bay. Compared to people in Utah we have great beaches... AWESOME beaches... but compared to a lot of other beaches in the world, not so much. That's why beach photographers in St. Peterburg and Clearwater have to work a little harder.

The problem is the sand. We tend to have this gritty, parking lot, uncomfortable to walk on... stuff at our beaches. Still, we're lucky to have a beach at all so I guess I should shut-up about it.

The thing is, it's not all bad because it lends itself to great black and white photography. It's all about texture and grain... the more you have, the better things look in black and white. With a perfect, smooth beach you just get a huge washed out blob but with the asphalt that we have here, well... it's heaven.

Of course there are other problems too, like the buildings and the people who simply refuse to stay away from the beach on the days that I am shooting there (doh!). That's okay, a little Photoshop magic and everything looks good. Notice that little black square sitting on the sand in the upper left of the shot? That almost looks like a camera bag....... but it's not....... because only an idiot photographer would leave his bag where it could spoil the shot. :)

Booray Perry is a photographer in Tampa and Clearwater.

What does a Tampa portrait photographer offer?

Every once in a while I meet that rare individual who simply cannot understand why anyone would pay a portrait photographer's price when they can go down to the mall and get 200 prints for a dollar (at least that's the way it seems). I've given up on trying to rationalize with these people because they tend to think of photography as simply a recording of someones image. These are the same people who couldn't understand what all the fuss was about with those new-fangled DVD thingys...

Besides the obvious advantage of superior talent, quality, attention and all around charm and good-looks (well, some of those are true) that I offer over the retail operations, you also get significant choices after the session. With the digital age upon us, it's no longer enough to be able to just take a good picture. You need to be able to manipulate it after-the-fact.

Yesterday, I had a portrait session with the lovely and charming Marissa. She was just wonderful the whole time and a natural in front of the camera. Here are a few shots from her session with different effects:

I call this the Colorblast Effect. It's deeply saturated with color and very vibrant.

Good old fashioned black and white. Some people think that converting a picture to black and white means simply clicking a button in Photoshop (or any other photo program). While that will get you a black and white image, it won't get you very good one. This particular shot has four different adjustments on it to make it stand out.

This effect is very popular with scrapbookers (my wife is a big scrapbooker). It's actually based on an old Japanese camera that never quite got the color saturation right. It also has some vignetting, which is the darkness you see around the edges.

Finally, there's good old fashioned standard (with a little vignette).

A good portrait photographer will be able to look at your images and recommend which direction to go when choosing custom effects.

Booray perry is a portrait photographer in Tampa Bay

Fun with Photoshop

Yesterday we went to the park with the girls and I took a few shots. Most photographers will tell you that taking pictures of your own kids is much harder than working with a client because your own kids won't listen to you. They've made a life out of ignoring daddy, why change now?

I did manage to get a few good pictures and then I decided to have a little fun with Photoshop. Bobbi (my wife) is big into scrapbooking so I'm constantly being asked to do special effects for her designs. You'd be surprised how often you can take a photograph that doesn't seem out of the ordinary and turn it into something good.

By the way, if you think I post a lot of pictures of my kids on this blog your right. I do it for two reasons:

First, I used to have a blog where I wrote whatever I wanted and posted pics of the kids and my family would read it to stay up-to-date. Since starting this blog I don't have time for the other so I post a lot of pics of the kids here instead.

Second, I don't have to get my kids to sign a model release. :)

Booray Perry is a photographer and dad in Tampa Bay.

Children's photography made easy

I love this picture so much I may have to put it on my business cards...

Booray Perry is a children's photographer in Tampa Bay

Wedding Photographer Tampa

I was writing an email to a potential client today and as I always do, I encouraged her to call me so that we can better figure out what kind of photography she wants for her Tampa wedding. I really pride myself on taking time to understand what a person wants from their wedding (or photo session). many times they don't really know what they want and talking to me helps put it all together.

So, with that in mind I thought I would write a little bit about a very popular wedding photography product lately: The Picture CD (sometimes called a hi-res DVD).

Some wedding photographers don't even offer prints. They just offer to shoot the wedding and sell you a CD with the original digital files ( I call these "fire-and-forget" photographers). This sounds like a great idea on the surface because you get all the original pictures from your wedding and you can print them whenever you like. There's no doubt that an 8x10 printed at Wal-Mart is quite a bit cheaper than an 8x10 printed by a pro photographer. However, hiring someone to shoot your wedding and then printing pictures yourself from the original files is a little like hiring someone to build you a Mercedes and then painting it yourself with a can of Rustoleum. If your photographer is also a Professional Photoshop Artist than shooting the picture is only half the work. Here's an example:

This is the original picture as I took it of my lovely wedding couple strolling down the beach after getting hitched. It was getting dark and I was trying desperately to get as much of the background in the shot as possible. If you took this file to Wal-Mart and printed it, this is what it would look like. Maybe. You see, not every photo printer is set up the same way so you never really know what you will get until it arrives. That's why professionals use pro labs and have their monitors color-matched so that they get exactly what they expect to get.

Here's what the same picture looks like after a little adjusting in Photoshop. However, your image won't look like this because you don't have photoshop or the extensive training it takes to use it properly. Your image will look like the first one.

Now we start to see the advantages of having your picture printed by a pro. This couple liked it in black and white so I converted it for them and then removed all the people from the beach. Suddenly, our couple has Clearwater Beach all to themselves..

Finally, the brides hair had blown across her right cheek and nose in the original so I cleaned that up too. Now, scroll up the the first picture and compare it to this one. Which one would you rather have sitting on your nightstand?

As much as it seems like a great idea to spend all your money on owning every picture, it's usually a better idea to spend that money on some high-quality, beautiful prints that you can hang in your home and look at for years to come. Buy some good prints or a wedding book, then buy the full lot on CD if your budget allows it. There's a very good reason why my prints cost more than the ones from Wal-Mart: They're worth it. The funny thing is that it takes a lot more time for me to hand re-touch and print photo's for my clients than it does to just burn a CD. Why do I create more work for myself? Because I want every picture I take to look as good as it possibly can. Call it ego or pride or whatever but If someone sees a picture I took in your home I want them to say, "Wow, that's a great picture!" They won't say that if it was printed at a drugstore.

There are exceptions, of course. The most notable is the rare wedding where I'm the only photographer (like an elopement). Sometimes you just want a good record of the event and buying the digital negatives is the way to go. Other times a client knows exactly what they want and they want the CD. I'm happy to do whatever makes you happy as long as you understand that your prints will never look as good printed by the kid in the photo kiosk at Target as they will re-touched and printed by the person who has to put his signature on them. (that's me)

The bottom line is that you need to understand what you are getting when you sign on with a "fire-and-forget" photographer. The fact is that you will probably get better pictures than you could have possibly gotten without a pro... but you won't get exceptional pictures. That requires re-touching in Photoshop. Just be careful when you look at a wedding photographer's website because I've never seen one that didn't have re-touching on every picture. If you buy the CD expecting your pictures to look like what was on the website you will be disappointed.

Booray Perry is a wedding photographer in Tampa bay