I’m Stan P. Cox II, Photographic Portrait Artist. In this short article I’m going to explain why POST PRODUCTION is Vital to the creation of PORTRAITS
In the previous articles in this series I’ve given definitions of PHOTOGRAPHY and PORTRAITS, talked about ARTISTIC INTENT, PLANNING a Portrait, LIGHTING and CAMERA ANGLES and COMPOSITION. Those are https://www.nahls.co.jp/ all parts of the PRODUCTION part of creating a Portrait. Now I’m going to talk about the POST PRODUCTION part of Portrait Creation.
Prior to the Digital Revolution Retouching and Art work was done ON the film negative and ON the actual Print of the Portrait! A tedious and costly procedure! Thank God for Digital photography and Photoshop!
There are three primary phases of POST PRODUCTION involved in creating Portraits. First there are the Color Balancing, Saturation, and Contrast adjustments. Then comes the Art Work and Enhancements. And finally the Printing and Finishing of the Portrait.
What used to be done in the Darkroom with color filters, dodging and burning, is now done on a Computer utilizing sophisticated software programs like Photoshop. In Portraiture it is vitally important that the skin tones are correct and pleasing.
Actually I would say it’s more important that they be Pleasing than Correct! The Color Temperature of the Light is a major player in this particular area.
Now in Photoshop it is a simple matter to change the color temperature of the light. Likewise it is a simple matter to adjust the Saturation of the colors, and adjust the Contrast in the image. These adjustments are judgment calls on the part of the Portrait Artist, so it’s a matter of aesthetics, and personal preference.