Nikon D700
70-200mm f/2.8 lens @ 130mm
Shutter Speed: 1/250
ISO 800
f/2.8
Shooting mode: aperture priority with +1/3 exposure compensation
Metering mode: evaluative
Focus points: single
Focus mode: one-shot
This photo was taken on August 31st at 7:02pm. The sun had just set and I was quickly losing light. It seems like it takes forever for the sun to fall to the perfect position in the sky and then seconds later… BAM! It’s gone! The light looses a bit of dimension at that point, but I like to shoot wide open with my 70-200mm lens and it performs miracles.
I selected f/2.8 because they weren’t looking at the camera (I wasn’t worried about eyes being sharp) and, using a single focus point, I focused on the line between her hair and her face just next to her eye. As always, I prefer to focus recompose, rather than move my focus point.
Below is the original and edited versions. Most adjustments were accomplished in Lightroom, with slight skin softening in Photoshop.
I teach an online Photoshop workshop for portrait retouching, which includes my skin softening action: click here for more info.
The key to this edit was using the Targeted Adjustment Tool (TAT) in Lightroom to remove the blue cast. Blue tuxes and blue hair are my nemesis!
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Hi Heather! Thanks for sharing the detail! I am going to be looking forward to, “Tech Tuesday.” I did have a few additional questions I was hoping you could answer:
1- Did you use flash in the shot? If so, was it on or off camera?
2- Did you hand hold the shot or use a tripod?
3- Are you angling the camera when you take the shot or do you do that in post production?
Thanks for the help!
Hi Mary!
To answer your questions:
1. No flash (I avoid it when possible).
2. Handheld. No time for tripod when moving so quickly to get shots in allotted amount of time.
3. I had a bit of an angle to the camera when shooting.
I love that you are doing these.