What do you do when you didn’t get official yearbook photos taken? Have Greg take them for you! Utilizing a DSLR Camera (graciously loaned by Colby), the school’s photography study, and Photoshop, it turns out you can create pictures that rival what the professionals make!
While the source photos we took came out pretty well, the biggest two problems with this shoot were incorrect setup of the flashes (it had been a while since I was in the studio and I used the effects light as a second fill light - oops) and the lack of a nice background. The studio is designed for black and white photography, so the pale grey backdrop is not suited for color photos.
In Photoshop, a bit of healing brush and clone brush took care of the extra shadows and spots, and basic leveling was used to make the colors in the photos pop a bit more. Then I used the selection tools to get each subject onto their own layer (flat hair is so much nicer to work with) and played with the backgrounds. A combination of a gradient, texturizing, and lighting effects produced the most natural-looking background. The key was in the lighting effects, which basically emulated what an effects light with some gels would have done.
The final photos came out very well - better than my own yearbook photos, in fact. The final photos were about 3.2 megapixels, which should be high enough for the yearbook’s 2" by 1.5" potraits. The best part? Additional prints aren’t $75 each.
Before and After [One || Two] Final Crops [One || Two]
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