Post-production and self-portraits

// a little break from my travel posts; Cairns coming soon //

I've wanted to do something like this for a while.

To show you guys how post-production works, and the amount of change that can happen before and after a photo is taken till when it's at its finished product.

[Edit: A slight purpose of this post is to draw attention to the fact that we all present a version of ourselves. Whether that's a good thing or not is not my area of expertise (or anyone's, really). What I'm trying to point out is that we have to be aware of the image we give off, and sometimes this requires us to step back and self-reflect a bit. Remember that everyone presents themselves in one way or another, whether that be through clothes, photos, make-up, angles, or our behaviour. It takes more than a simple photo or first impression to really get to know someone for who they are.]

It took a long while for myself to prepare to do something like this. It was sort of an idea that had been sitting at the back of my mind for a while; I just never had the courage to do it. I suppose it's because I used to treat photography as a skill -- as something I was learning and something that could be rated and ranked and judged. And to an extent, that's still true -- I still do want to improve my photography and images over time, and I'm always happy to receive feedback and comments on my photos; it's still a learning curve.

The difference is that photography has become a part of me now. I suppose from proclaiming it as a hobby, describing myself as a photographer, adventures with selective, and gluing myself to my DSLR or GoPro for an entire year, it's slowly grown to be something that's a part of me, rather than the other way around.

And with that slow transition, I don't feel like there's any fear of being judged anymore? I'm not sure how to put it. In the past I used to be afraid of what people would think when they saw my originals; "Wow they look so bad; nothing like the final product. Terrible." which to an extent is true. But that's how it is. That's the purpose of photography; at least, mine is. The reasons why I love photography is because I see it as a way of depiction, of expression. It's a process of using images to show something more than just a press of a shutter. 

I like to think that over the years, as it's grown to be something that now plays a part in defining who I am, that I've developed a better understanding of what it encompasses, and I'm no longer afraid of people seeing my originals.

(this is not an original)

Maybe I've come to understand that nothing is as perfect as it seems. Everything we do has to start somewhere, and often it's from the bottom, and that's okay. To paraphrase my photography friend LQ, #IMPERFECTIONS are everywhere and that's okay.

Photography (at least for me) is no longer as simple as taking a photo. And I want to share that.

Also, these photos were taken a while back, trying to preserve my hair colour (or what remained of it) before it all washed out.

Over the years I've slowly increased the amount of post-editing I do; or maybe I've gotten better at it, and just developed better skills at photoshop and lightroom. Actually, scrap that. I think I edit just about the same as I did as I was younger.

Put it this way, I like to think I edit a lot better now. I edit more efficiently, and I actually have a goal when I edit. I know what I'm doing, why I do it, and how to do it.

I think post-editing is just as important as any other element of photography. I know not everyone believes this, and I truly do admire the photographers who are able to post photos unedited or unrefined -- it's truly remarkable. For me, maybe it's kind of like an addiction -- almost every photo I take must go through some form of post-production editing, whether it be simply on my iPhone, or sometimes several times through lightroom and photoshop to get the 'perfect' picture balance. I find it hard to post a picture that hasn't gone through editing because I know that I can make it better with a little tweaking.

But either way, post-production editing can completely transform a picture. It can make a bland picture that you took on a cloudy day in 5 minutes really start to pop. It can add emotion, feeling, and atmosphere to an image.

For instance, the bright colours and high-key lighting in the photo above accentuates the tempo of positivity that I tried to create in the above self-portrait.

I take photos in NEF raw, which then have to be converted to DNG, then imported to lightroom, which I use primarily for my photo-editing. Often I just fix the warmth-balance, white balance, up the contrast, and change brightness a bit (adjust exposure, etc.). Basically fix up the photo a bit. Often after this, I then export the photo and it's done. For general purpose photos, this is the extent of editing that I'll ever go to. (Though, sometimes I fit the lens distortion, chromatic aberration, and vignetting). This is usually the max amount of effort I'll go to for normal photos taken on my DSLR, because it takes some time to do that. A couple of minutes each picture, including import and export.

But for photoshoots and other more 'artsy' photos I do, such as projects, I tend to go through a much more extensive process of editing, which I think it's time for me to share.

The reason I'm sharing this is because I feel like... I feel like sharing what it's like behind the camera and computer will help you understand the process. I feel like just putting my photos up there isn't going to cut it anymore -- I want to show you more, and how I change my photos from something that looks quite bland, to something that evokes a message.

Original

Shock horror!

This one is the original photo. I took it quite late in the afternoon, so the sun had started to set, and it was slightly cloudy. Though this meant more even lighting, it did mean it was quite dark, and my hair colour didn't stand out as much as it should have (neither did any of the colours, to be honest). It was lacking a lot of warmth as well, considering I was going for the 'summer and happiness' atmosphere.

In hindsight, I definitely underexposed the picture. Although I do find that underexposing is easier to correct than over-exposure, if I had made it a bit brighter then I suppose it would have meant I'd have to adjust it less during post-production. I also probably could have chosen a better day, instead of racing against the setting sun. And an alleyway-like setting isn't lighting's best friend.

But you work with whatcha got!

So, I went through the initial stage of Lightroom editing (fixing warmth, brightness, contrast, and filling a bit of light here and there. Also sharpening and making the lines more defined. Removing random spots, including a crumb that I somehow had on the corner of my mouth HAHA.) 

This was the result.

Lightroom I

Often I end it here, but for this photoshoot/self-portrait, I did a bit more.

Next, I pushed it through Photoshop. I then made my hair more vivid (The reason for this was because I realised I didn't have a proper photo of my purple hair, and it was already starting to fade). I also sharpened my eyes a bit and increased their contrast to try and reverse the effects of the reflection of my glasses (darn it). I also tried to make my lip colour match my hair colour (which is a shortcut for lipstick).

The most editing at this stage was to try and undo the uneven tanning on my forearms (from my Cairns and Port Stephens trip...) and basically try to lift bits of myself that were in the shadows (alas, I do not have a reflector just yet, and I was taking photos in a small alleyway with light only streaming in from a top angle). Though I didn't manage to remove all the tan from my forearms, I got most of it, such that it didn't look like I was an unevenly grilled sausage.

I also got rid of some remaining bruises on my arm which I forgot about until I saw the photos.

Lightroom I, Photoshop I

Next, I shoved it back into Lightroom to do a final touch-up.

This included straightening the photo, cropping it a bit to make the portrait fit better, and slightly adjusting brightness (I accidentally made it too bright in the Photoshop stage). Small tweaks of warmness and contrast were also made, but they didn't make much of a difference.

I also thought it was a bit too bright and... Artificial for something as simple as a self-portrait. Perhaps for a magazine feature or fashion shoot I'd go for something as bright as the one above, but for these purposes (and to avoid the full blown-out look), I dampened it a bit.

And voila! The final photo.

Done

There's not much purpose to this photoshoot, except to

1. Document my purple hair before all the colour fades out

2. Refresh my photography skills (it's been a while since I've done a self-portrait/photoshoot, and I've been yearning)

3. Finally do a 'before' and 'after' post.

and maybe throw in a 

4. New display picture

I suppose I feel like showing you guys this makes my photography a lot more genuine. You don't just see the final product; now you've seen the process and I feel like the process is just as important as the final product. Just like how a timelapse showing a drawing come to life is as beautiful as the finished work, and how concept art of an animated movie is as captivating as the movie itself.

Hope you enjoyed, and hope you learned something about my process. 

Whether or not it means anything is up to your interpretation, but I feel a lot better finally having the courage to do something like this and get it out there. I always enjoyed looking at 'before' and 'after' shots, so I hope you did too.

Have a good day.

All photos taken on the Nikon D7100 with the 50mm E series Nikon lens f/1.8, with the aid of remote access from my phone.

Photos edited in Lightroom and Photoshop CS5.