SAFFRON - SESHU'S DOCUMENTARY WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY & PORTRAITS BLOG

Before & After: Randy Kepple's Fundamentals Actions

04.12.09

Photoshop Actions For The Working Photographer

Ask me what distinguishes my work and my answer will always be that I like to create simple, immersive, story-telling images. In the long run they will remain real and powerful for my clients.

KEEP THE IMAGES SIMPLE = KEEP THE MOMENT REAL

What exactly does that mean? I eschew trendy imaging techniques, like spot coloring. You know you have seen the image of beet-red roses while the bride and groom, in the background, are some funky combination of either black & white or sepia.

Sorry, not here folks. It's not that I can't do it. I just won't do it. I can tell you that technique was popular some time ago, but if I see it in an album, I can date the wedding. All kidding aside, I cannot offer my clients a service or product that will quickly shed its value. To me those kinds of manipulations are distracting. An image from a wedding, in its essence, should be about the relationship and the emotions people celebrating the marriage are expressing. It should be less about the photographer's ability to navigate Photoshop.

My goal is to create a wedding album that is ultimately a work of art. I come from the school of thought that it should remain timeless and be precious. By keeping the post-processing simple, I don't alter the nuance of the moments that my client's images project.

PHOTOSHOP POST PROCESSING 101

I talked about my digital workflow sometime back. In the comments section, Sanjay Borra asked me:

"I am suprised, you haven't mentioned Photoshop. Don't you process any of your photographs with Photoshop?"

I intentionally left that part of my post-production out as I had hoped to follow it up with a second blog post. So, this is that second blog post!

After the images are color-corrected and enhanced using presets in Adobe Lightroom, I begin the process of selecting images for my client's albums. This is perhaps the longest part of the process. With so many choices I have to put my photo editor's hat on to really sift through the frames deciding, comparing and ultimately selecting the best option for that one page or a two-page spread. I don't like to rush this process at all. When the images have been finalized, I bring them into Photoshop one by one, further enhancing them using Photoshop actions.

WHICH PHOTOSHOP ACTIONS?

This is where things can get wonky. There is a dizzying array of actions that can cajole a print from being just ok to being something very special. These very same actions can, unrestricted, cause one to over-manipulate images.

Remember, even when it comes to enhancing an image, I want to keep things simple. It's much too easy at this juncture to go over the top and lose an image's veracity. So subtlety is preferred. If the action produces a layer with the opacity set to 100%, I often pull that slider back down to 15% or 25%, subduing the initial effect by a great margin.

RANDY KEPPLE'S FUNDAMENTALS ACTIONS

About a week ago, my friend Andrew Funderburg introduced me to Randy Kepple's Fundamentals Actions. True to its name, Randy's actions deliver the most essential image enhancements that every photographer deals with on a day-to-day basis. From creating a pop in the contrast or saturation levels to sharpening your images for print, Fundamentals has them all. The actions are grouped as Black & White, Tools, Specialty Actions and Specialty Tones. If you sense some order in the way that's organized, it's because Randy Kepple is an Oregon-based wedding photographer. These are his personal actions that he uses all the time.

In the first image below, which is SOOC, or Straight Out Of Camera, you will notice that the image is ... blech. The couple is fairly well lit. They probably could have used a little bounced light off of a reflector below them to fill some shadows, but generally it's an ok image. Certainly nothing to gush over. Not yet, at least. Also, the nondescript, white space around the couple bothers me a bit. In color, one's eyes tend to drift from the couple to whatever is around them. If the object is to make arresting, attractive images, this is still far from being "finished," or retouched.

Version two below, using one of Randy's black & white actions, shows us how one can maintain the honesty of the moment by directing the viewer's attention to just the couple. Yes, converting a color image into black & white does tend to do that, but I am talking more about the emphasis you see here on the couple itself. The contrast boost and subtle vignette added to the image lets you forget for a moment that this was shot right off of a cow pasture. The image is more about their expressions and whatever feelings they may be experiencing.

Full disclosure: This is obviously a departure from my usual "found" moment. I asked Mita and Piyush to close their eyes and think back to that first moment they both knew they were meant for each other. Yes, that's really the extent to which I direct my couples. Remember, to keep it simple.

And, for me making the choice to use Randy's Fundamentals Actions was as simple as it gets. At $79 the actions set is a great value. Click the following link to buy it from Fundy's website: Fundmentals. And, nope, I don't make a dime off of it.

Post your comments below. I would love to hear from you. I'll be sure to alert Randy if you any specific questions for him, or he may just chime in here to respond to you directly.