Photo of the Week - Week 36

It's time of year again - Grandma makes beautiful costumes for the girls for Halloween! My challenge is to try and photograph them well enough to do the incredible work justice. While a took several photos, I'm just going to discuss one this time around.

I had a few goals in mind and some things that I wanted to try, both in-camera and in post-processing.

EXIF Info

Shutter Speed: 1/125s

ISO:200

Aperture: F/8.0

Focal Length: 50mm

Lens: EF50mm f/1.8 II

First was the lens choice. I really like my 'nifty-fifty' - 50mm prime lens - and have been trying to take more portraiture with that lens. I find that when I use my zoom lens, I usually end up at 50mm, or very close to that, particularly when I take singleton portraits.

I also wanted to try a few post-processing things, most of all a reflection.

The first step in doing this was to create a layer mask that had just the subject. Using this, I placed her on a solid white background, using the Refine Edge function to make sure everything looked good. Her hair in the back looks a little odd because she has a ponytail, which you can't see here.

Next, I made a copy of her on the white background and then flipped it upside down - this will become her reflection. I moved things around until it was positioned how I wanted it.

I then made a new layer, a graduated filter, between Natalie and her reflection. I adjusted the opacity of this layer until we got a bit of the shadow underneath and a dark 'floor.'