Jessica Just

I'd love to make this post one where I dedicate all my time and energy talking about this shot but I know I can't and I know I won't.

Jessica's shoot took place exactly 1 week ago and yet this is the first picture that I processed. Actually that's not entirely true. This is the 3rd picture of Jessica's that I've processed but I have yet to upload the other two.

The reason for this is because I've suddenly realized that neither of my monitors are color accurate and it bugs the shit out of me. Until I calibrate these monitors I am highly reluctant to process/upload any new pictures. Yes, I have uploaded new pictures since last Monday but I kind of had to upload those so I could show a potential client.

Anyway I suppose I'll talk a little about this shot now before I forget all the little details that occurred for this shoot. Actually I'll work backwards and tell you about the processing.

When I was flipping through the shots in Lightroom, my view was zoomed in. When I came across this shot, I was struck by the way it filled the entire frame/view. So before I started processing it, I already knew how I was going to crop it. Ultimately I chose a 5:4 view because it filled out the frame better keeping the emptiness of the background down to a minimum

As an aside, I've processed several pictures recently in the 5:4 format. In retrospect they have all been crops of headshots and/or closeups of the face, which makes sense because the head/face is about a 5 to 4 ratio

The difference however between this shot and the other two above is that this is cropped horizontally at 5:4 and the other two were vertically 5:4. However this is not indicative of anything other than the fact that this image was better composed with such a crop.

Processing was in color but later adjusted into B&W for contrast and dramatic effect. It was further processed in Lightroom with a tint of highlight/shadow split-tone coloring. I think it adds to the dramatic look of the shot.

Incidentally this picture didn't take long to process which is rare because I usually spend so much time in the face. That's probably because there was less skin to process since she's looking down.

I'm going to save information about Jessica for another post. There's lots to be said and I can't do it justice by talking about it here.

Strobist info: Please see picture for setup. Simple setup. AB800 in 42" Apollo Westcott softbox from upper camera left as main light. 2 AB800's camera upper front (high) as hair/kicker lights.

Camera info: D3, 24-70mm f/2.8G, 1/200th, f/8.0, ISO200, 70mm.

Post-processing: Adobe PS CS3 and Lr2

Model/Wardrobe: Jessica Just

Makeup: Alyssa Fong