Go Monochrome on Black Friday
Today’s Post by Joe Farace
One of the things I like to do to get myself out of a rut is to shoot a few portraits in monochrome mode. It doesn’t have to be all the images that you make during a session; maybe just a few to see what happens.
If you think that’s a bad idea because you worry about what happens if you change your mind and want that original to be in color? Most cameras have a RAW+JPEG option that lets you capture a monochrome (JPEG) and color (RAW) file at the same time. Dual-slot SLRs let you simultaneously save each file type to a different card and the new twin slot
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II
dual memory card slots allow simultaneous use of two SD cards, including a “Dual Independent” mode that records to both cards according to the image quality setting assigned to each—RAW+JPEG.
If you prefer to capture in color and convert to monochrome the digital darkroom that’s not a bad idea either. The biggest differences is that most retouching tools, including my favorite—Imagenomic’s’ Portraiture—work better with color files. Tip: To avoid plasticky skin tones, apply the retouching to a separate layer then uses Photoshop’s Opacity menu to lower the overall effect until you see actual skin tone. That’s why more often than not I shoot portraits in color and convert to monochrome later using Silver Efex Pro.
The portrait subject at left is my former muse Tia Stoneman
photographed outdoors in the doorway of an old building that has since been remodeled into something nicer but with decidedly less character. I asked Tia to stand in the doorway and raise her hand into the frame, then the pose was refined—
shooting through the pose—before arriving at this shot after eight different variations.
If you know of any models, aspiring models or women who would like to become my new muse, please have them Contact me through the above tab or directly via email at joefarace at gmail dot com..
Tia is featured on the back cover of my book Posing for Portrait & Glamour Photography, which is available at your friendly neighborhood camera store or Amazon.com.
