Monica (and Livy)

A few weeks before I photographed Monica and Livy, I photographed Monica (and Livy). Here's a shot I liked from the maternity session:



I was trying to create a somewhat "luminous" feel of the new life inside her, but keep a soft feel to the picture. I was also trying to express the notion of being surrounded by love and support.

This was made just a few days before Livy's birth. It was photographed with a 1Ds Mark II and a 24-70 lens, set to 35 mm, with an exposure of f/2.8, 1/125th of a second, at ISO 640. I used ambient light (window light).

I must note that this is probably the most heavily post-processed picture I've ever done. I just learned how to use actions in Photoshop, and I was playing around with them, experimenting with various black and white conversions, contrast tweaks, vignetting, and so on.

One of the main things I was trying to do was darken the henna pattern on her belly, making it more pronounced. I did this, but at the cost of making the skin tones in the lower right of her belly a little brighter than I'd originally wanted – not quite blown out, but close. I played with toning them down, again, but I found that this way seemed more natural looking.

Thank you for taking a look.

So Mike,

Who's hands where they? I must admit that on first glance I thought there were four hands around one breast. I does have a Zen quality to it. I cant see why you couldn't bring out the Henna much more strongly if you wished. Did you get it exactly how you want it?

I'd still like to see the original optimized for color and then for simple B&W conversion to see where the richness of the imaging sensor delivered in feeling that might be different from what you have shown, which is in itself commendable.

Asher

Hi, Asher,

Asher Kelman said:

So Mike,

Who's hands where they? I must admit that on first glance I thought there were four hands around one breast.

Click to expand...

I can't help but be reminded of that old opera joke:

"Madame Schwartzkopf collapsed to the stage last night at the end of Brunnhilde's final aria. She was carried to her dressing room by four stagehands, two abreast."

Best regards,

Doug

These hands were Monica's and Jennifer's. The plan had originally been for Monica's husband, Bill, to be part of the shoot (in which case, this picture would've included Bill's hands, instead of Jennifer's). However, Bill is in the Navy, and he was offshore, in a submarine, when we did the shoot. So, we used the hands of my friend Jen, who was assisting.

The only reason I was having trouble bringing out the henna design more strongly was lack of Photoshop knowledge.

In the version you see, here, I got the henna looking as I want it.

Normally, I am not so fond of showing an unfinished work (I envisioned this to be black and white, when I made the picture), but I'll be happy to temporarily post the original, color version. Give me a few minutes....

Here it is:



Feel welcome to grab it, tinker with it, critique it, and suggest modifications. (Please include my copyright, anywhere you host it.)

P.S. Doug: LOL!

Mike,

This is, for now, just beautiful with a sense of community and nurturing that we need, especially in these times of the teeming metropolis where people can get disconnected.

This is an exceptional idea, well executed and delivered.

Asher

Perhaps the saturation might be nuanced and the shading ramped up a tad.

Thank you.

I agree that this could use further adjustment. The version you're seeing is tweaked just a little during the RAW conversion; almost straight out of camera.

I'd be interested in seeing your interpretation of the best saturation and shading for this shot.