Project 50 - Week 3 - Leeloo, Fremen Baby

Project 50 - Week 3
Subject: Leeloo, Fremen Baby


It was a close call, but I finished this weeks project!  A bit of a early-week cold and an upcoming move certainly occupied a lot of my time, but in the end I completed the project!  For my week 3 project, I wanted to use some portrait photographs that I recently took of our friend's baby's first birthday party.  I tried to use a few different techniques in these photos, both during the shoot and post-production to give them an interesting look. 


All-in-all, for my first attempt at any sort of portrait shooting, I'm very pleased with the outcome.  Two of the post-production techniques I used for some of the photos include: duo-toning (with a "Warm Gray" filter effect) and tri-toning (as a sepia effect).  Two of the photos I left unaltered, because of how well they show off the blue of her eyes. 


In regards to her amazing blue eyes, the name of this project "Leeloo, Fremen Baby" is a tweak on a "geek joke"; Fremen are the group of characters from the Dune book series (by Frank Herbert) who live on the planet Arrakis and due to their constant consumption of "Spice", all of their eye's have turned "blue-in-blue".  Leeloo clearly has a lot of Spice with her Cheerios.

Enjoy!

Note: a larger version of these photos will be viewable on the www.anttree.org website within the next few days. 

Project 50 - Week 3 - Concept

Project 50 - Week 3
Concept

For this weeks project, I've decided to work on some of my portraiture skills.  I am going to try and make a portfolio of 8-12 shots of some baby pictures I recently took.  The trick in this project is two-fold, the first part (which is already complete) was trying to take a more "portrait"-level photograph (compared to just a "snap-shot") and the second part is managing the post-production aspects.

While taking the pictures I was more concerned with the person and trying to isolate them from the background and add a nice bokeh (the soft blurring of the background/foreground in a photo to isolate your subject).  I also used an off-camera flash to try and generate a more natural look and feel.  While taking the shots I constantly had to remind myself; "aim for the eyes!" because no matter how good you think a portrait may look, if the eyes are blurry its going to be rejected. 

For the post-production components, I'm looking a few items: retouching, softening skin tones, color balancing, creating both artistic-looking mono- and duo-toned shots, and formatting the final shots into a complete portfolio (all images standard size, title bar, signature line and layout).

Hope you enjoy the ride!

Photo 365 - Day 265 (Leeloo's First Legion)

Day 265 (March 25th, 2011)
Title: Leeloo's First Legion

I have officially taken pictures of people (err... person really), on purpose, with the sole intention of actually taking a good picture of them!  True, it's a picture of a recently-turned 1-year-old, but its a darn cute picture!  To date, Ms. Leeloo has been my most photographed "person-based" subject!  I would like to thank her parents for making such a cute baby, and hope they continue this level of cuteness in any future endeavors.

As you can see, Ms. Leeloo is enjoying both her first trip to the Legion of Honor museum and her newly discovered ability to walk.

Enjoy!