Tips for Setting Up and Photographing Mini-Sessions for Extra Income

By: Jackie Lamas

Photographing mini-sessions is a perfect way to generate extra income from both new and returning clients. They can also create buzz and word of mouth during the slow season for many photographers. Knowing how to set them up and photograph them ensures you are successful and offer your clients the best mini-session experience.
#Photography#Photographybusiness#Mini-sessions

What is a mini-session?

Mini-sessions are sessions that offer your clients a session at a reduced price and usually photographed in less time than a regular full session.
Typically, the sessions run between 30 and 45-minute time slots for each client. It is up to you if you want to offer your mini-sessions to families, individuals, or children. Perhaps you are willing to do all types of photography, which can also create more buzz in different niches.

Mini-sessions are a reduced price, but it is up to you to factor in costs so that you are still earning enough to generate income for your photography business. These mini-sessions are all about booking volume, and so don’t price it not too low, or you may burn out quickly. Set your price, so you are making enough money, however, not too high where it’s not cost-effective for your clients who perhaps don’t have money to spend on a full session.

How do you set up a mini-session?

It’s important to make sure that you have all of your mini-session details set up and prepped before sending the information out to social media or your client list.

Before you begin, figure out how much you to charge and what you intend to include in the mini-sessions. For instance, if you are charging $250 per session, perhaps you can include an 11×14 wall print. If you are only including digital prints, make sure to state how many your clients receive. Including a product can be an excellent incentive for clients to book rather than just getting a digital product.

For example, if you’re doing holiday minis, you may include a set of greeting cards. If you are doing beach mini-summer-sessions, perhaps a beautiful wall portrait is the best option. Either way, work out your costs and be sure that you price your sessions accordingly to avoid losing money or just breaking even.

This is an example of all the different poses you can do in the same location to make the most
of the time limit of your mini sessions.

Once you have figured out the basic details of the session, it’s time to determine what season of the year you are planning on having the sessions. Weekend dates are advisable because many people tend to have the weekends off from work and are free from other obligations.
If you plan on doing fall minis, schedule them far in advance so that you have time to edit and deliver all of the materials to your clients before the holidays. For example, scheduling holiday minis from mid to the end of October is perfect because you still have plenty of time before the major holidays to deliver your photos.

Be sure to schedule enough time slots during the day so that enough clients can have their photos taken without overlap or running into each other. For example, start at 10 a.m. and photograph every hour and a half until 5 p.m., or an hour before the sun sets.
Depending on the season you’ve chosen to do the mini-sessions, you can photograph them all in one particular location or two very different locations to offer variety. For example, you can offer mini-sessions at a park on Saturday and Sunday photograph downtown. Offering two different locations for different days means clients can choose which look they would prefer.
You can also set up just one day, say a Sunday, and photograph in only one location like a park or field.

Prep before booking a single client

It is essential you be prepared for running mini-sessions. Otherwise, you can get lost in all of the small details. Here is a sample worksheet that you can use so that you can keep track of your mini-sessions.
Keep track of clients, payments, contracts, timeslots, and locations for each session. It can help you not get confused and also keep track of who has paid and who hasn’t.

Also, prep an exclusive print package for your mini-sessions that include several products. Doing this to send out to booked clients can prepare them just in case they want to buy more photos from you. Giving them an exclusive print package can boost your income and make up the difference for the reduced price of the mini-session.
Having your business ready for the mini-sessions ensures that the campaign runs smoothly and without fuss. Plus, having all of your materials ready, like contracts and product guides, makes you look more professional to both returning and new clients.

It also less stressful keeping track of all the mini-session details after the shoot and it’s time to edit and deliver.
Remember, photography is an art, but portrait photography is also a business. You must run your business efficiently to avoid burn-out or losing track of information or details.

Create a mini-session campaign

Now that you have all the details, the locations, and the dates set for the mini-sessions, it’s time to get the information out.

Create a buzz. Send out an email or social media post informing people that you are prepping for a run of mini-sessions and details are coming soon. Doing so gets your clients excited and gives them time to book because you have already informed them.
First, send the information to your existing client list. Give them the chance to book first. Not only does it make it more exclusive but also keeps your current clients happy. Returning clients are much more willing to book than new clients. Send them all of the information about a week before you send it out to new clients. While it gives them exclusivity, it also adds urgency for them to book because someone else may get their slot.

Returning clients have a higher rate of booking than new clients.

Afterward, send out your mini-session campaign through the best form that brings in clients. Try an email list, social media, or your website. Wherever you get the most traffic and exposure, publish your campaign there.
Continue announcing the campaign. Make sure that you remind people daily through email and social media. Once a time slot gets filled, make sure to update the information. You don’t have to do this every single time, but it can save people from trying to book the same time slot and be turned down.

Remember, the client who signs the contract and pays the retainer fee is the one who gets booked. People who message but don’t do those two things don’t get booked. Unless you know your client is reliable, don’t reserve the mini-session timeslot. Otherwise, you could miss out on a paying client.
Don’t be afraid of getting to the point! Mini-sessions have a reduced price, which makes them in-demand. Especially among your existing clients! If you get a request for a mini-session, direct them to where they can pay the retainer, and send them the contract as soon as possible.

You can write them something like this: Thank you so much for wanting a mini-session! I do have that time and date available, however, it’s first-come-first-served. To book your preferred time and date, please go to this link and pay the session retainer. As soon as I receive confirmation, I can send you the contract. I’m excited and look forward to photographing your beautiful family!
It’s short, simple, but to the point. Letting your clients know the steps they have to take to book the mini-session ensures that you filter out the people who are just shopping around. This way you’re not wasting your time.

How to photograph mini sessions

Mini sessions are wonderful because they usually mean that you have back to back sessions all in the same location. However, it also means that you are out there all day photographing in all types of light.
Prep your gear so that you are ready for any type of lighting situation that can occur during the sessions. For example, bring extra batteries for your flash in case you will be competing with the sun. Bring a reflector to bounce some light. Take a tripod.

Sessions typically run from 30 to 45 minutes spaced at every hour and a half. This timing gives you at least 30 minutes between sessions to rest, eat a snack and drink some water. It also helps to adjust to new lighting conditions for the next session.
Mini-sessions can enable you to look for new ways to photograph multiple families in the same location. Use their energy to determine which angles and specific locations work best for them. It’s a great time to push your creativity and perhaps experiment new ideas you’ve wanted to try.

Here you can see all the variations in posing with different family combinations in the same location.

Make sure to set a timer so that you know when it’s time to stop photographing. Put your alarm about 5 minutes before the time is up to ensure you are aware you have a few extra minutes to get any last photos.
Time goes quickly, and your clients may feel like they didn’t have lots of variety or even that you took enough photographs. One thing that I do is I tell them how many photos I’ve taken, which is usually anywhere between 200 and 400 photos. Clients know that they won’t get all of the 200 photos, but they feel more confident that you’ve taken enough for them to choose.

If you offered your clients a set number of photographs, make sure that you photograph enough to cover that amount. For example, if you’ve offered 50 digital images, make sure you photograph more than double to have enough variety for them.

Making the most out of little time

Mini-sessions go by quickly, and if you have chosen to photograph for 30 minutes, it is important to make the most out of the time.

Make the most out of your time by having set poses for different combinations during the mini-session.

Prep yourself with 5 – 7 poses that work for all family types and sizes. Try to use poses that don’t require you to move your clients too much and waste time.
The most common set of poses include:

• the whole family together
• siblings only
• parents only
• each child
• mothers and daughters
• fathers and sons
• mothers and sons
• fathers and daughters

If grandparents are participating, you can also do the same above combinations with them included. Don’t forget to photograph the grandparents both individually and with only their grandchildren.

Once you have all of the main portraits taken, allow the children to have a bit of fun. Have them walk with their parents or play so you can capture them in a natural state of joy and happiness.

After the session

Immediately after taking the last photo at the mini-session, give your clients a printed pricing sheet that includes other products you offer. Also, include any exclusive packages you’ve created for the promotion. That way they can keep it in mind before they view a single photo.

After you’ve completed your mini-sessions, get one or two photos onto social media as sneak previews. Doing so can help drive more interest to your mini-sessions from potential clients.
Also, take the time to send a thank you message to your clients and email the price list again for the mini-sessions. If you have created something exclusively for the promotion, make sure to highlight the top three products. Do this before you show your clients the images so that they can plan how much they want to purchase and which products they like best.

Use this photo as inspiration for different posing during your next mini-session.

To keep the excitement of the mini-session going, edit and deliver the images to your clients quickly.
If your mini-sessions included a set number of images, allow downloads or choosing for that amount, but include all of the photos that you believe are great. For example, if your package includes 50 edited photographs for your client with only 10 downloadable images, include all 50 in the gallery or sales appointment slideshow.

Including more photos makes it likely that your clients purchase more than the ones included in the mini-session promotion.

Online versus in person

You have two options for your mini-session image delivery. You can send your clients an online gallery or make in-person sales. It’s up to you which you prefer to do depending on your business style.

If you do online, be sure you’ve outlined all the parameters regarding the gallery. Have your watermarks in place, limit the downloads to the number you’ve specified and use an expiration date. Also, add email logins to keep track of emails for future marketing.
Also, have your products displayed front and center so that your clients can find them quickly. If your clients have to jump through lots of hoops to get their images, they most likely won’t buy much. Make sure the gallery is user-friendly and easy to access.

If you have opted for in-person sales, schedule the appointment after you’ve finished photographing the family. Doing so helps settle any delays in delivering photos. Have a physical calendar or use your phone calendar to note the time and date of your in-person sales.
In-person sales can happen at your studio or the client’s home. Take your top products, pricing sheet, and samples along. Include a preview of the images in a premade slideshow that highlights the top 15 photos.

Work with your clients to choose their favorites from the promotion and any additional products they may want to purchase.
Take an order form and have a secure way to process payments. For example, use a PayPal credit card reader or Square software. Doing so allows clients to pay then and there, avoiding payment excuses. You also look more professional.

Pricing Sheet and Products

I want to highlight pricing sheets and products. I’ve repeated it throughout the entire article. Make it a point to put your pricing sheet and products in front of your client’s eyes at all times.

Mini-sessions often bring in quick income because you are working in volume. In the long run, what brings you greater income and returning clients is selling prints and products.
Reminding your clients of pricing and products allows them to think about what they would like to purchase. If you only say it once, it doesn’t stick. You’ll need them to see the information at least three times for them to think about buying something other than digital images.

Send out the pricing sheet and all other selling materials in an email when your client books the session. Send it along with their signed contract or payment receipt. Hand them a printed pricing/product sheet at the end of the session. Be sure to include your logo and any other necessary information such as credit card payment details. When you send the gallery invitation or see them at the in-person sales appointment, give them the pricing/product sheet again.

It’s important to keep the pricing/product sheet available to them and as a constant reminder to purchase printed products from their session. Having your work displayed in their home also serves as a good referral among friends and family who see their portraits.

Mini-sessions are a great way to drive volume business and get more experience in portrait photography. Price your mini-sessions according to your target market and business model so that you don’t lose money by doing the promotion.

Remember to get your pricing sheet and product pricing to your clients at least three times to ensure extra income after the sessions have been completed.
Have you photographed mini-sessions before? What was your experience?

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Image Editing Software Review: PortraitPro 15

By: Rick Berk

When it comes to portrait photography, there seem to be two predominant schools of thought. The first says that retouching is bad, that people should be presented as they are and retouching is a no-no. The second school of thought says that when people have their portrait taken, it should be an idealistic representation of the person, flattering the subject and minimizing any flaws.
The truth, however, probably lies somewhere in the middle. When people have their portrait taken, they want the photographer to make them look as good as possible. Most portraiture requires some level of retouching, and truth be told, retouching was in vogue long before the digital age. Digital photography, however, has brought with it some new tools. One of those tools is PortraitPro 15, from Anthropics Technology.

#Portrait#Portraitpro#Controls

An example of a portrait retouched using PortraitPro 15.

Overview of PortraitPro 15

PortraitPro 15 is available as a standalone application, or as a plugin for Photoshop, Lightroom, or Aperture. There are three different versions available; Standard, Studio, and Studio Max. PortraitPro Standard is the standalone version, which also has a few other limitations. PortraitPro Studio and Studio Max can both be used as plugins, and they also offer a variety of other options including RAW file support, color profile support, the ability to read and write TIFF and PNG files in 16-bit mode, and a batch dialog. The Studio Max version also offers a Full Batch Mode to greatly speed up your workflow. Compare all editions of PortraitPro 15 here.

Before and after using Portrait Professional 15

Getting started with PortraitPro 15

Getting started in PortraitPro 15 is simple. If you’re using the standalone application, simply open the file you wish to work on. From Photoshop (if you’re using the Studio or Studio Max version), go to the Filters menu and Select Anthropics > Portrait Professional.
Once your image is open, PortraitPro 15 will detect the facial outline of the subject. It will sometimes detect gender and age, or it may ask if the subject is male or female or a young girl or boy under 12. You will then be shown a side-by-side comparison, with the image on the left showing the outlines of the face that the software will use for its retouching. These outlines can be adjusted to provide better accuracy, but the software does a pretty good job of selecting facial features on its own. On the right is a preview of what the subject will look like after the retouching is applied.
On the far right, you will see a navigator window that allows you to move around the image easily. Beneath that is a list of presets so you can easily apply a particular look to your subject. Beneath the presets is a group of “Portrait Improving Sliders”. These sliders include;

• Face Sculpt Controls
• Skin Smoothing Controls
• Skin Lighting Controls
• Makeup Controls
• Eye Controls
• Mouth and Nose Controls
• Hair Controls
• Skin Coloring Controls
• Picture Controls

Each of these groups of sliders affects different aspects of the image and provide an incredible amount of control over the retouching process.

Before and after using PortraitPro 15.

Some of these sliders, particularly Face Sculpting may seem a bit controversial. Like most digital photo editing tools, you can certainly go too far with its use. But, there are times when it has come in handy and improved the subject, such as when one eye may not be fully open. As with all things, moderation is the key to using these sliders.

The Basic Retouch

When you open an image using PortraitPro 15, the application will ask you to confirm the gender and age of your subject.

Whether you choose to use the plugin version or the standalone version, the workflow is the same. From Photoshop you’ll select Portrait Professional from the Filters menu, and from Lightroom, you’ll select “Edit In”, which will open the current image in PortraitPro 15. If using the standalone version, simply go to File > Open.

Facial features selection

PortraitPro 15 will try to automatically detect the age and gender of your subject and try to select their eyes, nose, and mouth. If it is unable to detect the gender and age, or any facial features, you will be prompted to do this. Selection, if needed, is easy. You’ll click the outer corner of the left eye, hit next, then click the outer corner of the right eye. Hit next again, and you’ll be prompted to click the tip of the nose. You’ll continue until the eyes, nose, and mouth are selected. PortraitPro will then find the top of the head and the jawline.

The main screen of PortraitPro 15

First editing steps

Once the selection is made, PortraitPro will automatically adjust your image using the Standard settings. From here, you are free to choose a different preset or start moving the sliders to better retouch your portrait.
The first slider I adjust is the Face Sculpt Controls. I will say that I’m not a huge fan of this adjustment so normally I just turn it off. There are times it can get too aggressive and will really alter the look of the subject’s face. You can minimize the amount of adjustment using the Master Fade slider to amend the overall look, or the individual sliders to only affect certain features. For instance, I will often set all the sliders to zero but then use the Eye Widening slider if the subject happens to have a sleepy eye. I do try and keep the digital plastic surgery to a minimum.

Skin Smoothing

The next slider group is the Skin Smoothing Control. This set of sliders does a nice job of minimizing wrinkles and removing blemishes. You do need to be careful when you have a subject with freckles or beauty marks that you want to retain. Again, adjusting the individual sliders will help you find the right amount of smoothing without making things look too plastic, and the Touch Up Brush will allow you to remove strong blemishes without affecting the overall skin texture.

If you need to adjust the area affected by skin smoothing and lighting, you can manually paint in your selection.

PortraitPro offers some quick tips when you select the various sliders. In addition, you may notice that the application hasn’t quite selected all of the skin you want to be retouched, due to changes in tone. Or, conversely, that it has selected areas which you don’t want to be affected, such as clothing with colors close to the skin tone, or hair. You can adjust the skin selection by clicking View/Edit Skin Area and adding or subtracting from the skin selection using a brush, similar to applying a selection by using a layer mask in Photoshop.

Before skin smoothing

Medium skin smoothing applied.

Heavy skin smoothing applied.

Skin Lighting

The Skin Lighting slider controls can actually adjust the lighting on your subject. This is another set of sliders that are best used with care, but a judicious adjustment can help improve your image. Going too far with it, on the other hand, will result in images that have a definitive fake look to them. You have the ability to adjust shadows to the left or right, a kick light to the left or right, and even adjust the angle of your main light.

Before skin lighting effects applied.

Skin lighting medium applied.

Skin lighting heavy applied.

Makeup

The Makeup Controls sliders allow you to add digital makeup to your subject. Everything including lipstick, mascara, eye shadow and eyeliner can be added or enhanced here. As with the Face Sculpting and Lighting Controls, you will want to be careful not to overdo things here. But again, I’ve had occasions where a little eyeliner or a change in lipstick color has helped the image.
By the same token, if you are taking a portrait as a starting point, you can create some incredibly different looks by changing the subject’s makeup. This makes it an excellent tool if you are creating a digital illustration from a photo.

The skin smoothing controls inside PortraitPro 15

Before make-up applied using PortraitPro 15.

Make-up added.

Make-up added heavily, this is over done.

Facial feature control sliders

The Eye Control sliders do a nice job of enhancing the subject’s eyes and bringing them out. Brightening the irises, sharpening the eyes, and whitening them are all done here. You can even change the eye color and add catch lights. The biggest mistake I’ve made (and seen others make) is going too far with the whitening, giving the eyes an unnatural glow. Eyes can be adjusted individually, so you have a lot of control over their look.

Before eye controls applied.

Eye controls medium applied.

Eye color change applied.

Mouth & Nose Controls are sliders to enhance the mouth and nose. Here you can adjust the saturation of the lips, their brightness, and contrast. You have the ability to make the same adjustments to the nose.

Hair and skin sliders

Hair Controls is a set of sliders that I like a lot. You have the ability to re-color hair, adjust the shine, reddening, and vibrance. In addition, as with the skin selection, you can adjust the hair selection. Especially cool is the Hair Tidying Mode, which allows you to smooth and soften the hair. It can give the hair an almost painted look, which is one I tend to like, but again, it is possible to go too far.

Skin Coloring Controls allow you to adjust skin color, add a glow, or a bit of a tan. In addition, you can add cheek coloring here and adjust the exposure on the face.

Before skin coloring

Tan skin coloring applied.

On the right side of the application window, you’ll find a navigator, a list of presets, and the Portrait Enhancement Sliders.

Picture Controls

Finally, the Picture Controls slider allows overall adjustment of the color temperature, tint, exposure, contrast, and vibrancy. You can also crop here. If you’re using Photoshop or Lightroom, these adjustments are better handled there, after retouching. But if you’re using the standalone version, this is an excellent way to finish off your image.
Once you’ve finished with the face you’re working on, you click the Next button at top right, and either click “Return from Plugin”, or “Enhance Another Face”, if you have more than one subject in your photo.

Pros of PortraitPro 15

PortraitPro 15 is an excellent application for quick and easy retouching of portraits. Blemish retouching, eye enhancing, and cleanup of hair is simple and can PortraitPro 15 can provide a nice finished look to a portrait. In addition, the ability to adjust lighting can give added pop and make a flatly lit portrait much more interesting. The same goes for the ability to add or enhance makeup. It’s easy to see the effects of the changes you make usingPortraitPro and compare them to the unretouched photo, so you can judge the edits as you work.

Before and After

Cons of PortraitPro 15

My biggest issue with PortraitPro 15 is that it’s easy to go too far with an adjustment and suddenly your image looks fake or digitized, almost like a 3D animation. Like most photo-enhancing filters, a little goes a long way and moderation is required. In the right hands, PortraitPro can be an awesome editing tool. In the wrong hands, it can return some ugly results. Additionally, PortraitPro appears to have some issues when one eye is covered by hair or a hat, or when the face is at a 3/4 angle to the camera. So in those situations, you’ll need to pay extra attention to your selections, and in the case where one eye is hidden, set all sliders for that eye to zero.
My other issue with PortraitPro is that it does seem to be a resource hog. As soon as I enter the plugin from Photoshop, the fan on my 2014 iMac (with the max amount of RAM) starts up and keeps going until I’m done. Some of the adjustments are slow, and on my machine, adjusting the outlines takes a moment as my computer catches up.

Before & After

Bottom Line

Overall, I love PortraitPro 15 and the ability it has to retouch portraits quickly and easily. While I prefer not to use all of the features all of the time, such as face sculpting or skin lighting, things such as skin smoothing and eye retouching really help give my portraits a finished look. The learning curve is not terribly high and it is fairly easy to tell when you’ve gone too far. It’s become an essential part of my portrait workflow.
See the three editions available on Amazon. The Studio version is a great value.

Before & After PortraitPro

Before & After PortraitPro

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Five Common Portrait Retouching Mistakes to Avoid

By: Andrew S. Gibson

When it comes to retouching portraits there are a number of mistakes that I see photographers make over and over. Part of the problem is that there are too many poorly made skin smoothing plugins. Another is that Photoshop gives you too many options for portrait retouching. There is a simple solution for this which I’ll mention at the end of the article.
In the meantime, let’s look at the most common portrait retouching mistakes photographers make so you can avoid them. Don’t feel too bad if you are making any of these errors. Consider it part of the learning process. You’ll learn to avoid these mistakes as your retouching skills improve.

1. Applying too much skin smoothing

This is a problem you see in commercial photography as well as in the work of hobbyist photographers. If you look closely at a typical cinema photo or a perfume advertisement you’ll see that the models and actors are often retouched to the point they are nearly unrecognizable. They certainly don’t look real or authentic. When this happens in the commercial world it’s little wonder that other photographers imitate what they see and make the same mistakes.
My advice is to consider whether skin smoothing is required in the first place and if it is to apply it with the lightest possible touch. Most photos of men don’t require skin smoothing. It’s conventional to apply some skin smoothing with most portraits of women, but it’s also important to retain skin texture to avoid the plastic skin look.

Two versions of the same portrait. The one on the left has had too much skin smoothing applied. The 

one on the right has less skin smoothing. You can still see skin texture and the result looks more natural.

The best way to apply skin smoothing that I know of is to use the Adjustment Brush in Lightroom with the Soften Skin preset (this preset comes with Lightroom and affects the Clarity and Sharpness sliders).

When you first apply the preset you’ll see that it’s very strong and as a result the effect is overdone. But you can get around that easily by clicking the black triangle above the Adjustment Brush sliders (below).

When you do so the sliders disappear and are replaced by a single Amount slider. You can set it anywhere from 100 (full effect) to zero (no effect). This lets you apply the skin smoothing effect with a light touch that retains skin texture.

2. Making the model’s eyes bigger

Amongst some photographers, it has become trendy to use Photoshop’s Liquify tool to make the model’s eyes bigger. The idea behind it is simple – large eyes are considered appealing, and enlarging a model’s eyes makes her more attractive.
Where this theory falls down is that most people are smart enough to recognize when this has been done, especially if they know the model personally. It results in an unnatural looking portrait that has lost any authenticity.

3. Making the model’s eyes too bright or too sharp

One of biggest advantages that software like Lightroom and Photoshop has given photographers is the ability to make highly accurate local adjustments. But it’s so easy to make the model’s eyes whiter, brighter or sharper that many photographers do so without thinking about whether or not it looks natural.
A better approach is to apply the effect subtly and zoom into 100% to check that it looks realistic. Go too far and you end up with a portrait where the model’s eyes attract attention for the wrong reason – they are over-processed rather than being the windows into the person’s soul.

4. Applying too much Clarity

Even professional photographers make this mistake. Recently I saw a friend’s wedding photos and my first thought was that the photographer had applied way too much Clarity, making her look older than she really is. Of course, I didn’t say anything as I didn’t want to spoil her enjoyment of her big day or the wedding photos. But if the photographer had photographed my wedding I would have been very disappointed with the results.
Adding Clarity emphasizes skin texture, blemishes, and wrinkles. For this reason, it’s usually a bad idea to apply it to portraits of women. Normally you do the opposite and apply skin smoothing (which is a negative Clarity adjustment in Lightroom).

With men it’s different. You may want to apply Clarity in order to emphasize skin texture and make the model’s face appear more rugged. You have to judge it on a case by case basis as every portrait is different.
The key, once again, is to apply it subtly rather than with a heavy hand. Your processing technique shouldn’t draw attention to itself.

5. Over-sharpening

This is another big mistake that I see photographers make. Over sharpening can come from several sources. For example, if you use the JPEG format rather than Raw then remember that your camera sharpens the photo for you. Any sharpening you apply in post-processing is applied on top of an already sharpened photo.
If you use Raw there is very little need to set Sharpening to anything other than the default settings in your Raw converter. It’s rare that any additional sharpening is required on top of that. Remember that the effect of Sharpening is heightened if used in conjunction with applying Clarity.
The best approach to Sharpening is to use your software’s default settings and to never apply any additional Sharpening on top of that. If you do apply extra Sharpening, you need to zoom into your portrait to check the effect on the eyes and eyelashes, as this is where artifacts caused by over-sharpening are most likely to appear.
Note: Remember to use the mask feature of the sharpening tools in LR and ACR. That will help keep the sharpening to only edges and not smooth areas like skin or sky. 

Another aspect we haven’t discussed yet is to think about exactly what you want to achieve with your portrait processing. For example, you have probably guessed by now that I favor a natural, authentic approach to portraiture. That means using natural light, prime lenses, wide apertures and minimal processing. These techniques help me achieve the look I’m after.
Other photographers may be more commercially minded. If this is you, then a slightly more heavy-handed approach may be required. Even so, it’s wise to apply skin smoothing and other portrait retouching techniques subtly, rather than over-process your portraits.
At the beginning of the article, I mentioned a simple solution to the problem of over-processing portraits. The solution is this – use Lightroom. Don’t use Photoshop and don’t use a portrait retouching plugin.
There is no Liquify tool in Lightroom so you won’t be tempted to change the shape of a model’s eyes or face. There’s only one skin smoothing preset, so you should be able to avoid the temptation to over smooth the model’s skin. There is no high pass filter or other fancy sharpening techniques, so this should prevent you from over sharpening your portraits (be careful with the Clarity slider though!).
What are the most common portrait retouching mistakes you’ve seen or made yourself? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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How to Capture a Photo of a Bubble Bursting

By: Richard Beech

Set yourself a high-speed challenge: Capture a bursting bubble

#highspeed#Photograph##momentoftime

I have always loved the idea of photography as being a way of taking an instant out of time, and preserving that moment forever. By freezing time in this way, a photograph can show something that may not normally be seen in day-to-day life, and can make an ordinary subject extraordinary.
So, when going through a bit of a creative lull a couple of years ago, I felt that I needed to set myself a challenge to restore my motivation. I decided that I was going to capture the exact moment of a bubble being burst. After some internet research, I came to the conclusion pretty quickly that I did not have the necessary budget for a super slow-motion camera to achieve this. I did, however, become determined to capture a bubble in mid-burst using only equipment I already owned – my DSLR, various lenses and a flashgun (speedlight).
The challenge was lengthy and often frustrating, but when I did successfully take a photograph of a bursting bubble, it was incredibly satisfying. By freezing a moment, the photograph showed something that could not normally be seen by the human eye – a soap bubble with one half completely intact and the other half made up of separate swirls of liquid. The bubble was collapsing in on itself in mid-air. Friends and family who saw the photograph showed surprise and commented that they, like me, had assumed that a bubble just disappeared when popped. A photograph had changed their view of the world simply by freezing a single moment of time and I was reminded just how powerful photography can be.

With my motivation fully restored, I progressed further and attempted to capture a sequence of shots to show the entire process of a bubble collapsing. One of the shots has even been included in an international exhibition for scientific images. I have included some of these shots here but there are many more on my website at the link shown below in my bio.
I would definitely recommend this challenge to anyone, particularly if you may be in need of a creative boost or maybe need to rediscover your passion for photography. If you do decide to take up this high-speed challenge, here are some things that I learned along the way. I hope that they will be of help to you when capturing a bursting bubble.

1. Use large bubbles

Larger soap bubbles will be easier for you to focus on than small bubbles, and they will also be easier to burst. Additionally, the composition of your shot can really benefit from using larger bubbles – you should be able to get a frame-filling shot of a bubble bursting without the need to crop.
I have previously used a kids’ bubble toy set (purchased for around £1) that came with a bubble wand of around 5cm (2 inches) in diameter. I found this to be ideal for blowing one or two medium-to-large size bubbles, that stayed in the air long enough to capture them being burst. Smaller wands tended to produce streams of little bubbles which were (a) difficult to burst and (b) cluttered up the final shot.

2. Get a friend to help you

You are probably going to need somebody else to help you with this project unless you have superhuman reaction times! Blowing the bubble, bursting the bubble, and setting up the shot was just too much for me to complete on my own. Having someone to blow and burst the bubble for you, allows you to compose and focus your shot without distraction.

3. Shoot indoors

If possible, shoot indoors so that you can limit the movement of the bubble. I have taken a number of shots outdoors, but any slight breeze will cause the bubbles to fly away pretty quickly, making it much harder to set up your shot.
I have found it very useful to shoot in front of a floor-to-ceiling window facing onto a garden. This provides lots of natural light and some pleasing, natural colours for the backdrop, which was the look I was after. Just remember to leave some space between the bubbles and the window to reduce any reflections or glare that you may get from the glass.

4. Use a zoom lens

Even when shooting indoors, the movement of the bubbles will still be somewhat unpredictable. For this reason, I have found it useful to use a zoom lens when shooting bubbles, so that I can adjust the focal length as necessary to focus and compose the shot while the bubble is in mid-air. I have usually taken the bursting bubble images with a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 lens set to between 100-150mm. A further advantage of using this lens is that it helps to create some pleasing bokeh (blurry out-of-focus highlights) in the background while keeping the bubble details sharp when the focal length is increased.

5. Shoot in full manual mode

Shooting in full manual mode will give you the control over the settings that you will need to get good results. Firstly, you will need to set as fast a shutter speed as you can get away with, depending on the available light. The action of a bubble bursting is extremely fast and so you will need to set your camera to a shutter speed of 1/1000 second or faster to freeze the action – the faster the better.
With such fast shutter speeds, you will need to use a wider aperture (lower f-number) or a higher ISO setting. However, given the unpredictability of the bubble’s movements, you do not want to have such a wide aperture (and, therefore, shallow depth of field) that you end up with most of the bubble out-of-focus. For this reason, I prefer to increase the ISO setting before dialling in a wider aperture as some additional noise to the image is easier to manage (and can be corrected to a certain extent during post-processing) than an image where the bubble is largely out-of-focus.
If the available natural light is not sufficient to allow fast shutter speeds, a flash can be used to help to freeze the action. However, I would recommend using a diffuser or reflector with any flash, particularly if shooting indoors in front of a window.

6. Focus manually

I have tried to capture bursting bubbles with and without the use of autofocus. My preference is definitely without. My best results have been when I focused manually on the bubble floating in mid-air and pressed the shutter release button as soon as the bubble was to be burst. On several occasions, the autofocus was too slow and I missed the shot as the camera struggled to find focus. If nothing else, this project will give you a lot of practice in manual focusing!

7. Keep calm and carry on

The speed at which the bubble bursts means that you will probably have to try this many times to get the timing exactly right. Patience is key. Don’t give up on the challenge. Accept that it is going to be slightly frustrating but know that, when you get the timing spot-on, your final image will be much more satisfying.

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