Author: Rich Leighton
•7:15 PM
This past weekend I shot an engagement session with a good friend of mine and his lovely fiancée at Mashes Sands on the Gulf Coast of North Florida. John and Jackie are getting married in early October 2009 in North Carolina (I'll be shooting that as well) and I just wanted to share with you some of the images from that day - and include a bit of advice on outdoor portrait photography.
In Florida, we are blessed (or cursed) with a lot of very bright sunlight, which makes good professional outdoor portraits seem sometimes impossible. As a photographer who prefers outdoor portraits to all other kinds of portraiture, all the elements that I hope and wish for came together for this session. An early evening with clouds - particularly when threatening rain - often gives us a beautifully diffused light... especially when still in that "golden hour" that all of us photographers adore.
With this in mind - I was able to shoot with the simplest of all set-ups. Nothing more than a very slight fill-in flash to clean up any shadows. No reflectors, off-shoe flash, or special filters. Clean and simple - just the way I like it!
In closing this brief blog - I'd like to share a quick outdoor beach portrait photography lesson. First ask yourself - what makes these images so clean and simple. The secluded beach? Pretty landscape and clouds as a backdrop? Sure - in part. Everyone loves a good landscape, but it's only a minor part in this series.
It is in the clothes and relaxed easiness of this couple's poses. Organic colors and textures (I mean that as in "earthy" tones without strong patterns) that compliment the background instead of competing for attention. This can make or break an outdoor portrait. These colors are easy on the eyes, the clean and clear beach add a feeling of informality and repose, and an attractive young couple completes the composition. Keep it simple, pay attention to details, and most of all - have fun with it!
Rich Leighton
September 21, 2009
All images are property of Leighton Photography & Imaging and cannot be used or copied
without express permission by either Richard or Galina Leighton.
All rights reserved. Leighton Photography & Imaging ©2006-2009
If you liked this blog on outdoor portrait photography, please share by clicking the "share" link below!
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Author: Rich Leighton
•9:46 AM
Yesterday (8/2/2009) I went off to explore rural North Florida in search of interesting subjects to photograph. When you are out in the country, you never quite know what you will find. Within an hour, I watched fanboats patrolling on the Wacissa River, witnessed a baptism in a natural spring, watched a baby alligator snapping turtle hunt minnows, and nearly ran over the prettiest rooster I'd ever seen.
But what really caught my attention was two old and abandoned semi-trailer trucks partially hidden by overgrowth in Lamont, Florida. They had everything needed for a good photographic subject - bright colors with faded/peeling paint and they tell a story of what happens when a transport vehicle gets too old and is no longer needed. Abandoned vehicles are often interesting and spark curiosity, and one had a windshield that had been shot repeatedly with a BB gun.
For this blog, I'm going to show how you can take an interesting - but common - subject and make it truly unique. With some help from the digital darkroom and some photographic techniques at the location of the shoot, I was able to take these photographs to a whole new level.
***Note - For those "photography purists" who detest digital photography and Photoshop, and especially the HDR Haters, you'll have to get over it. Once upon a time, "real photography" was making your own glass slides, and not using rolls of film. Embrace technology - evolve with it!
All of these photographs were shot in HDR, or High Dynamic Range, using bracketed exposures of -2, 0, and +2. They were then edited for curves, levels, and noise reduction (annoying by-product of HDR) in Photoshop. All colors were punched up for my own artistic choice, with variations when I liked different versions too much to decide on one. I particularly liked the "cartoon" effect for these, although usually I don't like it. The photo on the right was re-edited using a split-toned effect with silver highlights and gold shadows. A bit of vignetting was added to give it a vintage feel. Same photograph - two very different outcomes.
Here is the other truck with the same settings as the first photo.. Remember - I'm not trying to create a realistic scene here... I'm trying to make an artistic impression, and show what can be done digitally with a little time and practice!
Same view, but desaturated in all hues except for the green tones, which are halfway desaturated to create a "pseudo" hand-tinted black & white look.
Every photographer has his/her own style, this just happens to be mine. When shooting for HDR images, make sure you use a very steady tripod, and shoot fast using aperture priority. The images have to be just about exactly the same, and a little camera shake can cause a blurry image that is not repairable. Wind can ruin a shot. This close-up is to show the detail and clarity preserved when all three photographs match exactly. Check out those BB gun pock-marks!
And another view just because I couldn't decide on just five photos! :-)All images were shot using a Nikon D2X with Bogen tripod and head, and polarizing filter.
Rich Leighton
August 3, 2009
All images are property of Leighton Photography & Imaging and cannot be used or copied
without express permission by either Richard or Galina Leighton.
All rights reserved. Leighton Photography & Imaging ©2006-2009
If you liked this blog on HDR photography, please share by clicking the "share" link below!
Author: Rich Leighton
•11:53 PM
Hello again! I'm here with another post with flowers (it's Spring, what can I say?) This will be part of a loose series of blogs on how I get my photographs to look vintage, and some of the different ways I go about achieving this look.
For this blog - I'm going to show you what I've been up to in the way of textured and stylized photographic art, and then put you on the right track if you are interested in doing these yourself! This is not a step-by-step tutorial, but a general blueprint to make your own :-)
(click on any of these images to see in detail)
First off, you'll need to get a clear photo any flower with high contrast, or force a high contrast in Photoshop. Get lots of contrast and adjust your colors.
Now comes the fun part! You will need a highly textured photo or old paper, rust, wood, sand, concrete, dirt, or anything else that you find interesting. Maybe a combination - that works best for me a lot of the time. You can either take the photo yourself, or download one from one of these great sources:
The next step is extremely simple - copy this new textured imaged into a layer on top of your original image (flowers in this case) then play around with the blend modes for this texture layer until you find one you like. Multiply or Overlay work best for me. If the color is off, then you can use adjustments such as hue, saturation, etc. to make the layer look more natural.
If there is too much "stuff" or texture over important parts of your subject (ex - the flower itself), create a layer mask and gently clear away parts of the textured image with a low opacity brush so the subject comes through. I like to leave a bit of texture showing to make the image seem more natural. A vignette is a nice touch with this style to really give you that vintage look!
All of the textured jpegs used to create these images were downloaded from one or more of the above websites. These three are my favorites, and they are worth subscribing to for future projects! Have fun with your creativity, and let it take you where it will - you'll probably be amazed where you end up!Rich Leighton - May 21, 2009
All images are property of Leighton Photography & Imaging and cannot be used or copied
without express permission by either Richard or Galina Leighton.
All rights reserved. Leighton Photography & Imaging ©2006-2009
If you liked this blog, please share by clicking the "share" link below!
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Author: Rich Leighton
•11:38 PM
I thought I would share this little photography session with you....
I waited 6 years for this very fragrant night-blooming orchid cactus to show this huge 7-inch flower. It blooms for one night and is gone. It bloomed the night before Mother's Day, which was nice because my wife and mother-in-law got to see it.
I was up for much of the night figuring out how to photograph it best - eventually using an off-shoe flash reflected off my hand to get the right amount of dispersed light to make it really stand out without losing detail. Most of these photos were taken around 4am when it was completely silent and still on my front porch, and even the armadillo that lives under my AC unit was quiet.
By mid-morning, the flower was starting to close, and by late afternoon, it had gone completely limp and then wilted. Sometimes, the simple and beautiful things are worth the wait! 
Just as a side note - I picked this piece of cactus from a potted plant about six years ago from a plant nursery I was working part-time, and it survived being outside in SW Florida through Hurricane Charley (had to go find it a block away from where I left it before the storm) and through Hurricane Wilma (I found it in the backyard when I left it in the front yard). I eventually took it and another like it to Tallahassee last summer where it has been abused by cold and wind all winter. If someone knows a tougher plant than this cactus - please let me know!
Rich Leighton ~ May 12, 2009All images are property of Leighton Photography & Imaging and cannot be used or copied
without express permission by either Richard or Galina Leighton.
All rights reserved. Leighton Photography & Imaging ©2006-2009
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Author: Rich Leighton
•9:14 PM
LEIGHTON'S PORTRAITPRO - OUTDOOR ENHANCER
- Free Lightroom Preset -
Leighton's PortraitPro "Outdoor Enhancer" is our first Adobe Lightroom preset that is available free to photographers - from novice to working professional. I created and developed it for my own workflow and use it very often for my outdoor portraits that have a lot of shade, shadows, and when colors appear a little flat or dark. This amazing preset not only fixes skin tones, but adds a color pop to all "cool" colors, and darkens the edges while lightening the center of the frame. This preset will make the photograph both more balanced and bring out more detail - without adding digital noise.
CLICK HERE TO GET THIS FREE PRESET!
How to install:
With the presets panel expanded you’ll see the current folders of presets. Right click anywhere in that area and you’ll see some options including “Import…” Click “Import” and you’ll get a browser window from which you can select any preset file on your computer. Click import and Lightroom will bring them in. You can also make new new folders via the presets panel, into which you can drag presets into once imported.
Please let me know what you think of this preset and how it works for you! :-)
Comments are always appreciated!!!
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In Florida, we are blessed (or cursed) with a lot of very bright sunlight, which makes good professional outdoor portraits seem sometimes impossible. As a photographer who prefers outdoor portraits to all other kinds of portraiture, all the elements that I hope and wish for came together for this session. An early evening with clouds - particularly when threatening rain - often gives us a beautifully diffused light... especially when still in that "golden hour" that all of us photographers adore.
With this in mind - I was able to shoot with the simplest of all set-ups. Nothing more than a very slight fill-in flash to clean up any shadows. No reflectors, off-shoe flash, or special filters. Clean and simple - just the way I like it!
In closing this brief blog - I'd like to share a quick outdoor beach portrait photography lesson. First ask yourself - what makes these images so clean and simple. The secluded beach? Pretty landscape and clouds as a backdrop? Sure - in part. Everyone loves a good landscape, but it's only a minor part in this series.
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