Photograph info: I took this photo a month ago but forgot to post it. John works at one of the local inns. He's studying mortuary science but I think he's got a future in acting. (He was laughing in the next frame.)

Camera settings and post-processing: Shot with the Canon EOS 5D and the Canon 85mm f/1.2L lens at f/1.4, 1/60s, ISO 1600. Curves adjustments.

Thank you for visiting Durham Township!

--Kathleen

Listen to Phil Keaggy's version of John the Revelator, and our subject here can take it as his own, with a minor change in the lyrics. LOL

Really good portrait but the title made me think about Depeche Mode ;-)

When life has John stressed, grave stituations pushing him the brink,
Does he go to the Inn and order a stiff drink??
Why is it that he has such a somber look?
Did you ask..."Are you dying to have your picture took?"

Careful portrait - I can't find another, better adjective, but this one both seems to meet the shooting style as well as John's expression.

Wow Katleen! He looks like an interesting person lol. Great expression!

The light accentuates his sharp features well giving this quite a dramatic impact. He does look like quite a character.

Very noise-free for ISO 1600. Did you use some noise processing (e.g. Noise Ninja or NeatImage)?

Also, it would be great if you could/would detail more specifically the curves (and other) adjustments you make for a few of your amazing images.

Yours is the only photoblog I regularly check. Maybe the simplicity of the 1-image-every-few-days-format?

Steve S: No noise reduction. I've barely used noise reduction software since I bought the Canon 5D over three years ago. I just bought the successor (5D Mark II) and it's even more amazing in that regard - there's minimal noise at even higher ISOs like 6400.

Not sure how to explain the curves adjustments in detail - I guess I could make charts showing the point changes but it seems like pretty dull stuff! :)

Learning to use the curves tool is a good investment. The more you experiment initially, the less time it takes to achieve great results. It's enormously powerful and very slight adjustments can make big changes to contrast and saturation levels.

It usually takes less than two minutes to post-process my images these days - and that has everything to do with learning the curves tool.

Thank you for your regular visits. :)

John, you might want to consider those National Funeral Directors Association conventions in Vegas, they do love a good "industry" joke or two, just to liven up the place! As for Kathleen's handiwork, this portrait works excellently for a mortician or an actor and shows off your attention to background as well as foreground compositional details. (Maybe it's just habit by now!)

I know nothing about cameras or how they work but this picture and what he is studying sure scares me. Hope I can sleep tonight.
JPH you can come up with a rhyme about anything!

Well...here are some questions I might ask:

-Do you do curve adjustments to individual color channels or the RGB composite?

-Standard 3-point s-curves or something else? Do you ever use reverse s-curves?

-Do you use localized s-curves? How do you select the region?

-If you do in in a couple of minutes, it seems you must have something of a routine or a standard thought process. Can you explain? Maybe for an example or two?

-Maybe a case-study or two, with a screen-shot (or photo!) of the final curve? Curves allow such a variety of adjustments that it would help to have a few examples to use as starting points.

Enough. I understand if you are too busy to explain. I just love the look of your images and wonder about the role of postprocessing.

Steve S.:

1) No.

2) Yes, and yes.

3) Sometimes I do one or two separate curves adjustments to the entire image, but no "localized."

4) I've been practicing with the curves tool for a few years to learn how to process minimally and quickly - so yes, it's a routine, but it would be rather hard to explain because it varies by image.

5) There are plenty of great tutorials out there on using the curves tool - I don't think I could explain it any better than this one that I just found doing a Google search:
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/photoshop-curves.htm

Mortuary science - now theres a study topic! Nice portrait.

Adobe Lightroom's curves tool is an improvement over Photoshop's, IMO, though both are very useful. Martin Evening has a nice article on the differences:
http://lightroom-news.com/2007/10/04/lightroom-versus-photoshop-curves/

By squinting a little, you'll see a vapory ghost-like profile created by the cool highlights on the right side of John's head. If you are unable to manually squint, you can use Photoshop/filters/dustandscratches/median (4-11)or Photoshop/filters/surface blur(12,10), or in Picasa you can........O.K., nevermind the tech-path, just try to squint, or ask a friend to put their head next to yours in front of the monitor and have them squint for you.......(got to admit, the shape created by the warm/cool division of John's face is quite remarkable, but then Kathleen, you have a tendency toward the remarkable {as a rule.})

He looks a little apprehensive! stop bothering him with your camera ;-)