Pre/Post Processing
27th October 2008, in Photo Projects (8 Comments)
The other day, someone asked me if I could show the original photos that go into my final compositions, just so they could see how large a role post-processing played in the final images.
All images are different, so they all get very different treatments. Here’s three examples:
1 – Simple color tweaking for Nick (above). This only involved playing around with the color and exposure values for this photo. So, saturation, photo filters, curves, exposure…
2 – Simple Compositing for P-Unit (above). Since the three guys were all shot on red, it was simply a matter of cutting them out and matching the color intensities of the three images.
3 – Compositing + Color tweaking (above). This was a bit trickier, since I had to cut out the model from a very shoddy red background (one must make do) and place him in a totally different space. So, cutouts (thin braids like his are always a nightmare to cut out – aaargh!), compositing (especially removing all traces of red from the cutouts), then tweaking the color and exposures.
Three very different treatments for very different pictures. The only thing that’s more or less constant in all my work is I tend to crush my blacks and blow out my highlights. That’s because I find dramatic jumps between light and shadow are more interesting.
And perhaps blemish-removal, or what people are calling “airbrushing”. I’ve really toned down on that these days. It was a phase… 
8 Comments
October 28, 2008 10:22 am
31337
takes me back to when i was in graphic design, worked for a hair and beauty magazine, lots of funs, machines were so slow then too, the stress forced me to retire to less…. involving fields…
i like the harsh contrasts…make images gritty harsh…high impact.
November 28, 2008 5:43 pm
Andrew K
nice work. What s/ware do u use, Lightroom or something?
November 28, 2008 5:51 pm
Andrew Kaggia
Keep up tha gud wrk. Looking forward 2 seeing u on 6th Dec
December 2, 2008 3:05 pm
Jimmy Hendrix
your work totally rocks,with that level of creativity,you can make one hell of a director of photography and bring some hollywood into some the local movies
and tv shows.kudos
January 18, 2009 1:20 pm
rags
Niaje, a friend of mine showed me your site and i must say i was in awe. She ambiad me about how you are light years ahead of many kenyan photographers, and i agree. Your images look like stills from music videos & I love how you use light.
As a photographer i envy the fact that you are in Kenya coz you are able to take pics of far more interesting faces. I have found that most of the faces here in the US look far less interesting than those back home. Well done man!
February 4, 2009 5:19 pm
katosh
man oh man this is turf staff keep the fire blazin now ave real icon.so r u on photoshop ama how do u get the green halo over ur pics.
kudos
July 20, 2009 10:38 am
Everyday girl
Mi I’ve pendad your work, and will follow your blog from now on. I just stumbled onto this site…. and whoa… what a stumble! Learning alot from you.
July 31, 2009 12:10 pm
RoyKing™
Sweet Sweet Sweet.Nice one.
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