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Model Photography
Post Processing & Workflow
Steve Brokaw
Photo Venture Camera Club
www.stevenbrokawphotography.com
sebrokaw@yahoo.com
STEVEN BROKAW photography
Post Processing & Workflow
Tools being used
 Camera to computer
 Adobe Lightroom 5 workflow
 Adobe Photoshop CS6 workflow
 Finishing up
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STEVEN BROKAW photography
STEVEN BROKAW photography
STEVEN BROKAW photography
STEVEN BROKAW photography
STEVEN BROKAW photography
Tools Used
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Most higher end photo processing software can be
used
◦ GiMP, Aperture, Camera Raw, ACDsee, Corel Paintshop,
Photoshop Elements.
◦ Basic concepts are similar

Adobe Lightroom & Adobe Photoshop
◦ My weapons of choice & focus of this presentation
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What isn’t discussed – jpg photos for snapshots
You should have a basic understanding of Adobe
product and concepts
◦ Non-destructive processing
◦ Sliders
◦ Layers

Photoshop is NOT intuitive or easy if you’ve never
used it
STEVEN BROKAW photography
Camera to Computer
All photo files kept on an external HD (Western
Digital 2 TB My Passport)
 Create a folder on external HD

◦ Folder in drive > “Photos”
 Subfolder in “Photos” > Year
 Naming convention – shoot date > “month-day-year: shoot name”
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Open LR5 > open Library module
Insert / load SD card > Import Files
◦ Direct files to correct folder
◦ Add unique name, add keywords, create generic metadata
present in import dialogue box
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Go into film strip > set display to Loupe View
Flag (P) photos quickly – don’t spend lots of time
Go back through & rate / color tag best images (1-9)
Start processing – select an image in LR
STEVEN BROKAW photography
Adobe Lightroom 5 Workflow
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Create Virtual Copy (command”)
Switch to Develop Mode (D)
Basic crop (R)
◦ 4x3 – general look I’m aiming for

Color temperature - ~4900 kelvin (Temp slider)
◦ I don’t use custom WB preset
◦ Shoot with a grey card with flash preset – synch across common
lighting

Adjust exposure (Exposure slider)
◦ I normally shoot ½ stop underexposed

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Increase contrast +10-20 (Contrast slider)
Brighten shadows to taste (Shadows slider)
◦ Increase exposure in shadows

Tweak Whites & Blacks (Whites & Blacks slider)
◦ Normally adjust levels or curves in PS
STEVEN BROKAW photography
Adobe Lightroom 5 Workflow

Increase Clarity & Vibrance (Clarity & Vibrance slider)
◦ Careful adding vibrance to female portraits

Hue/Saturation/Luminance (HSL-Color-B&W function box)
◦ Click on Saturation
◦ Pull Orange/Yellow & Red out of face (drag sliders to left)
 My camera tends to generate too much red
◦ Add Saturation to background (click on

Adjust lens correction (Lens Correction function box)
◦ Basic panel
◦ Enable profile correction

Adjustment brush tool (K)
◦ Dodge / Lighten (click on Customer and select)
◦ Soften skin
 Darkens slightly
◦ Highlight hair

Edit in Photoshop CS6
◦ Right click on photo in lightbox, select Edit In > Photoshop CS6
STEVEN BROKAW photography
Adobe Photoshop CS6 Workflow

Subtle Liquify if needed
◦ On duplicate background Layer
◦ Command “J” > Filter > Liquify

Adjust color from skin as needed
◦ Create Color Balance layer
 Cyan-red -5 & Yellow-blue +5
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Clean up & adjust face – remove blemishes & adjust subtle
shadows / skin imperfections
◦ Add layer mask
 Paint brush – opacity 15%, flow 15%, 0% hardness
 Sample colors around area being covered
◦ Increase saturation on lips and makeup
 Hue/saturation level, +25
 Fill layer mask with black, paint with white over makeup
 Drop opacity for look
STEVEN BROKAW photography
Adobe Photoshop CS6 Workflow
◦ Add Burn / Dodge layer
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Create new layer
Edit > fill with 50% grey > blend mode to Overlay
Dodge tool at 15-20% exposure & brush at 0% hardness
Do the same thing on Burn layer
◦ Overall color lighting adjustment if needed
 Select top full background copy
 Select > Color Range
 Select color to adjust > OK
 Select curves adjustment layer
 Drag up/down on area to adjust
 Change opacity as needed
◦ Brightness / Contrast layer
 Add small amount of contrast to taste
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File > Save
◦ Round tripping back to Adobe LR5
STEVEN BROKAW photography
Final Adobe Lightroom 5 Workflow
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Lightroom general presets
◦ Check if “Punch” helps
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Sharpen with masking
◦ Drag sharpen slider to right about 25
◦ Hold down Option key drag Mask slider to right until only
outline shows
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Add post crop vignette to taste
◦ Slide Amount slider to left
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Export file into an Edit folder
◦ File > Export
◦ Save as jpg & dng or tif
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Create Virtual Copy & apply fashion crop
◦ Export file
STEVEN BROKAW photography
Tips

Shoot with a grey card at the beginning of
each lighting setup
◦ Adjust white balance & synch across similar
lighting
Remember in LR changes are non
destructive
 Have an idea of the look you are going for
before you start
 If possible don’t over-process
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◦ Get it right in camera
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Experiment with your processing tools
STEVEN BROKAW photography