Check out the first part of our in-depth interview & image contribution from Mike Fulton of TriCoast Photography at Don't Box Us In

In this second example, the first image is the default settings in Bridge, the second is after I tweaked in Bridge (minor adjustments to exposure, temperature, blacks, etc in Adobe Bridge) and the third is after Photoshop.

I knew I wanted the shot fairly saturated and high key so I do this "thing" (for lack of another word) where I duplicate the layer, add a high pass filter at 250px & then I open up my curves palette & click around on the image with the white point tool. Depending on where you click it'll give you a different tone, as well as bleaching out the skin. This may sound fairly primitive & haphazard but it works for me! I'll also add a fairly severe s-curve and after clicking ok, I'll often go to "edit" and "fade curves" just to bring it back a little.

Here's a screen shot in case anyone doesn't have a clue what I'm going on about!

As I'd originally made a duplicate layer, I can now add a layer mask to bring back some detail and sometimes I'll use different blending modes for the layer such as overlay to give a more contrasty/punchier effect. I hope this is making sense! Other than that I obviously retouched her skin, there's a slight vignette on this image, I worked on the eyes & used the dodge tool on her hair to emphasize the lighter strands and just did some final levels, contrast, curves & sharpening and that's about all I can remember!

Someone in the DWF forum asked me what post-processing work I'd done to my recent images from the fashion shoot yesterday so I thought I'd repost here if anyone's interested... Firstly, with the images in question, I tried to keep the Photoshop work to a minimum but they look like there was more done to them than actually was! It was more about fine-tuning than anything else.

Here's the first one (I'll post the second before & after tomorrow):

In the set above, the first image literally is out of the camera, without any tweaking in Bridge. I retouched her skin, tweaked levels, curves, added a little extra flare to what was already there behind her hair, worked on her eyes (other than making the whites of the eyes slightly whiter, I like to use the burn tool on the eyelashes & eyeliner to accentuate them), I sharpened and that's pretty much it. I shot it with on-camera flash - YES, ON CAMERA(!) and I think it's the flash that makes a huge difference in comparison to if it had been shot without. The bit I did cheat on was the fact that I made her face a little narrower as shooting from below isn't always flattering!

We're off to Liverpool tomorrow, well Southport to be more precise, for a fashion shoot & to meet with a few other photographers from the area.

You have no idea how much I've always wanted to go to Liverpool (of all places!) so I'm all excited about it! And the reason why? I love the Liverpudlian accent!

Tomorrow, I'm so going to be paying for staying up till this kind of ridiculous time yet again... It's late, or should I say early, and I can't decide on this image - color or black & white? Or perhaps you don't like either? What d'you reckon?

C'mon, it's time to pipe up & give me your opinions please!

I'll be posting the rest of Demi's shots later... sweet dreams & g'night!

...TRASH THE DRESS EUROPE!

A couple of weeks ago Mark Eric, the founder of the Trash the Dress website, surprised me by asking me if I'd like to get the TTD Europe website up & running. Needless to say, I was thrilled he asked me & I accepted! Yesterday, www.trashthedress.eu went live! WOOHOO!!

It's early days so there are only a handful of photographers on the list at the moment so if any of you know of photographers in Europe with a high standard of professional work that would be interested in submitting some work please let them know and they can contact me at sofie@amorphiaphotography.com.

... the recent featured photographers on Don't Box Us In.

A brilliant photographer & wonderfully friendly guy, Jason Domingues.

Jesh de Rox is an inspirational artist who I feel has redefined fine art photography in portraiture.

And coming up next week, one of my personal favorite photographers, Jeff Newsom.

There seems to be something in the air with the letter "J"!

Paul & I drove to Kent yesterday to meet up with Liz who had very kindly been referred to me by Julie. Liz was an absolute star through-out the day as we climbed over gates, trundled through stinging nettles, walked for at least a couple of miles in the park & at the lakes & then she finally waded through water to put the finishing touch to her dress trashing session!

I've been a little neglectful of my blog recently and I thought it was time I set that straight. No photos, just words! I know most of you just come for photos so I apologize!

So what reasons (some of you will read that as excuses!) can I come up with for my lack of posts here? Hhmmm....

1. My Mac was in rehab for 3 days at the beginning of the week. Sadly, they didn't manage to detox it so it's going back in again this week. I used my very slow PC for emails & internet but it was a huge struggle doing without Photoshop!

2. Tyson, our adorable boxer of ten years, had two tumors in one of his crown jewels so the poor mutt got them chopped off on Thursday. It's Saturday now & he's finally acting more like normal & eating properly although he's feeling a little sorry for himself & very sore, I'm sure. If you don't have pets I guess it's hard to appreciate just how attached you get to them & how much a part of the family they are. I totally love this dog to bits!

3. On Wednesday I had a fun photo-shoot with a couple of kids called Sasha & Michael and I've almost decided kid's photography is soooooo much less stressful than shooting weddings!

4. We updated Don't Box Us In at the beginning of the week with a new featured photographer, Anne Ruthman, & I've just finished writing a short article giving clients some advice on how to assist their photographers on Don't Box Us In.

5. Unfortunately I have a lot of back problems & my job plus the computer doesn't help it much at all. At the moment it's kicking in again bigtime and it effects my neck, shoulders & makes my fingers in my right hand very numb & painful. I should be staying away from the computer as much as possible to give it a chance to rest and I have tried to but my Mac this magnetic force that keeps drawing me back!

6. I've been sending out an insane amount of emails this week for submissions & interviews ... but for what you ask? All shall be revealed soon...