A great portrait captures a special moment. It could be a fleeting expression, a captivating glance, expressive eyes, or other factor that makes the image rise above snapshots of the same person where a photographer simply documents the looks.  Yet sometimes the satisfaction of catching that special moment is not enough.  Often there’s a need to take it to the next level and create variations of the special capture. Examples can be as simple as adding a digital filter to create warmth or as complex as cutting the subject out of the background and placing him or her in a different location. Following are three ways I either improve the look of a portrait or vary its final outcome. Ideally the client will like what I’ve done and purchase additional prints.

Variation #1: Improve the Image by Leading the Viewer’s Eye to the Subject 

OPTIMIZED IMAGE BUT WITHOUT ANY VARIATION:

Step 1: Open the optimized image in Photoshop. Navigate to Filter>Lens Correction and the following dialog box will appear.

The section you want to make active is in the Custom Tab.  Click on it to do this.  To create a darkening effect on the edges, go to the Vignette box. If you move the Amount slider to the left, the edges will become progressively darker. If you move it to the right, they will become progressively lighter. The lightening effect works great for bridal portraits. The Midpoint slider adjusts how deep into the image the effect goes. Move it all the way to the left to bring the vignette to its maximum.

To create the darkening effect I set the Amount to a value of -39 and the Midpoint to a value of +8.

Step 2:  To remove any spillage or contamination of the vignette from important areas of the subject, add a layer mask and use the brush tool to paint away the areas you want to restore to the original optimized photo.  Note that I painted away the effect on the arms.

Variation #2: Convert To Black and White

Step 1: Go to the Layers panel and click on the icon to access the Layers Adjustments. Drag the cursor to Black and White:

OR if you have the Adjustments Panel open, simply click on the B&W icon.

Step 2: Adjust each of the color sliders to darken or lighten the respective colors of the original to shades of gray. For instance, move the Reds slider to the right and all of the reds in the original color image will become lighter shades of gray. Conversely, move it to the left to create darker shades of gray.  Perform the same for the rest of the colors until the effect you desire is achieved.

A new layer will be added to the Layers Panel. In that it’s an Adjustments Layer, you can go back and tweak the effect at anytime.

Black and White Effect added to the optimized Image.

Step 3: For an additional play, to create a very spotlit effect, I went into the Lighting Effects filter (Filter>Render>Lighting Effects) and applied the following settings:

The end result is an old fashioned Hollywood glamour effect or one that could be achieved using a honeycomb over a flash:

Variation #3: Use NIK Color Efex Pro 3 Classical Soft Focus Filter.

Step 1:  Open the image in NIK Color Efex Pro and navigate to the Classical Soft Focus filter.  The settings as they appear below are the defaults. 

Step 2: Move the sliders to obtain the effect you desire. Experiment with each to see how they impact the images. In that this filter tends to brighten up the highlights, note that I moved the Highlights slider all the way to the right to protect these tones from overexposure.

A new layer will be added to the Layers Panel. As with all Nik Filters, the name of the filter is added as a describer.

The result of adding the Classical Soft Focus filter:

The above three variations are just the tip of the iceberg. I’m sure many of you have your own favorites that you love to apply to a portrait. Take what I’ve shared and let them be a point from which to start making some of your own variations.  Hopefully they open the door to your creativity and additional print sales from your clients.

Check TakeGreatPictures.com at the beginning of every month for a new Photoshop Tip Of The Month. Visit www.russburdenphotography.com for information about his Nature Photo Tours across the US.