Bannack Portraits

1. Alone in the Rubble: 2-22-2011; 12:36 p.m.; Bannack, MT; f 8.0; 1/3 sec; Canon PowerShot SX130 IS
In Camera Raw, recovery, fill light, blacks, brightness, contrast, clarity, vibrance, and saturation were increased.


2. Photographer at Rest: 2-22-2011; 1:02 p.m.; Bannack, MT; f 5.6; 1/30 sec; Canon PowerShot SX130 IS 
Recovery, fill light, blacks, brightness, contrast, and clarity were increased. Also, sharpness was added.

3. Hearing the Music: 2-22-2011; 1:03 p.m.; Bannack, MT; f 5.6; 1/20 sec; Canon PowerShot SX130 IS
Vibrance, clarity, fill light, recovery, brightness, and contrast were raised.

4. An Autumn Glow: 2-22-2011; 2:16 p.m.; Bannack, MT; f 5.0; 1/60 sec; Canon PowerShot SX130 IS
Recovery, sharpness, blacks, contrast, fill light, brightness, clarity, and luminance increased.


5. At the Saloon: 2-22-2011; 3:29 p.m.; Bannack, MT; f 8.0; 1/25 sec; Canon PowerShot SX130 IS
Contrast, sharpness, luminance, clarity, vibrance, saturation, brightness, blacks, and fill light were increased.


While taking these pictures, I experimented with several different aperture settings in an attempt to capture the appropriate amount of light. Often I tried to find south facing windows to place my subjects near. However, due to my lack of a proper sense of direction, I'm not sure how many south facing windows I actually found. I really wanted a natural feel to my pictures, so often I asked my subjects to look away from the camera. I felt this would create wonderful profile shots. Nevertheless, some of my favorites ended up being a the shots in which my subject was looking at me, such as photos 4 & 5. Once I began editing the photos, I made the general edits mentioned above and I also used the patch tool and the brush tool (B) on the color dodge blending mode to reduce blemishes and even out the light on my subjects face. Naturally I used a very feathered brush on a low opacity (30%). Also, I used color burn to darken my subject's lips in photo 4.