Text and photographs by Hernan Rodriguez

Use lighting, Lightroom, and Photoshop to create amazing portraits

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The Social Network Generation

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The following lenses are instrumental for all my senior work:

Tamron SP AF90mm f/2.8 Di macroTamron SP AF17–50mm f/2.8 XR Di II VC

I wonder who photographed President Obama’s senior portrait? For that matter, who photographed Elvis Presley, Jennifer Lopez,

or Mark Zuckerberg? At one point in time, they were all high school seniors. You never know what the future holds for the teenag-

ers in front of your lens, and you’ve been given the amazing opportunity to capture them at this pivotal time in their lives.

Speaking of Mr. Facebook, I usually see my images of any given senior appear on Facebook within hours of the shoot. Yes,

we have a brand-new generation of seniors and it’s fantastic! Coming up with new ways to capture the core and spirit of today’s

social network generation keeps me on my toes, and applications such as Lightroom are instrumental in keeping our studio

current with the quick gallery automation this software has to o� er, as well as the ability to embed our logo into a watermark to

protect our images.

Photographing people is my passion. As a commercial photographer, I’ve been commissioned to photograph wine bottles,

energy drinks, gourmet salads, swimsuits, beautiful interiors, etc., and feel very blessed to have done so. However, capturing the

essence of a person and then experiencing the joy that my image-making brings is like hitting the daily double.

“Essence” is a word that’s quite often used loosely, and it’s probably the most important element in any portrait I take. Psychol-

ogy goes hand-in-hand with creating this essence. Before you can have a successful gallery, you need to identify with the senior

and capture a glimpse of his personality. You have to get into the senior’s mind and see where his comfort level is. You must gain his

trust, study his behavior, and see where that natural expression

lies. Some seniors completely open up once you make them

laugh and they don’t need any posing, only refi nements. I try

to let their natural body language take over and I just make

small adjustments to their hands, feet, or tilt of their head. This

results in a less-contrived look to the images.

Study and learn these elementary classic poses in por-

traiture and have them at your disposal. Once you establish

that trust, their confi dence levels go up. I can literally see it

when it happens when reviewing the images in Lightroom.

Why do you think a senior’s perception of a great image of

himself is the one a friend might have taken on a cell phone

camera, regardless of quality or exposure? It’s because

of who was behind the camera—a close friend making

him feel comfortable. Once you can shoot within that

framework and create the expressions, everything else is

just a formality.

The Social Network Generation

The Lenses

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Senior portraiture isn’t something that I knew much about when I started my photography career. I was working as an art direc-

tor and graphic designer for an apparel company in Los Angeles designing all their national ads and catalogs. My studies in

college were in art and advertising. My father, Hernan Rodriguez, Sr., was a photographer. I began taking classes in photogra-

phy at Tri-Community in West Covina, which really helped me refi ne skills I had learned from years past. When my confi dence

rose, I started shooting my own ads for the company.

Next, I took a job with a large portrait studio in L.A. During a sta� meeting on the fi rst day, the president of the company,

Mike Trerotola, was talking about taking portraits of seniors. Mike said, “I hold more respect for a photographer that can get

a great image of a senior than any other type of photographer.”

On our fi rst break, I mentioned to another photographer, “I see his point. I guess taking great shots of old folks is challenging.

I mean, the wrinkles and hard lines, how do you minimize them?” That photographer, Nathan York (now close friend and

colleague), gave me a really strange look. It never occurred to me Mike was talking about high school seniors—until we pulled

up to a high school. What a surprise. I’ve loved senior portraiture from that moment on. My senior work has greatly impacted

my commercial work, as well. I thought working with actors was challenging, but these guys are trained. They know about

expressions and emotions, or they should know. For seniors, it’s their fi rst professional photo shoot ever, and sometimes their

last. That has taught me some things you can’t learn in school. My number-one rule for any portrait session: win them over.

∑Path To Portraiture∑

∑The Studio∑

My studio is based in the San Fernando Val-

ley close to Hollywood, and that infl uence

naturally carries over into our senior portrai-

ture division. Our motto is to treat everyone

that walks through the door like a celebrity.

Of course, we’re never surprised to fi nd out

that someone is the o� spring of a celebrity.

For instance, the beautiful ballerina pictured in

pink is Michelle, the daughter of Mark Wallen-

gren of KOST 103.5 FM, who’s one of the few

DJs to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk

of Fame. She and her best friend, Paige, have

studied dance together since they were three,

so we came up with a Black Swan theme for

them to showcase their passion for dance.

Jonette Swider from JS Dance Center in

Sherman Oaks, California, came in to help

pose the girls. We’re a collaborative team

that allows everyone to put in that little extra

in the image-making process.

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My number-one rule for any portrait session: win them over.

There are so many fundamentals to implement in the process of creating the best collection of images for any particular senior

before even thinking about Lightroom or Photoshop. It all starts with identifying the subject and the anatomy of his or her face.

This pretty much dictates every aspect of the photo session.

From here, determine exactly where to place lights. Make a facial analysis and try to minimize any fl aws. For deep-set eyes, for

example, place the lights a little lower to cast less shadows in the sockets. For a crooked nose, place lights on the side of the hump

to place the shadow on the straighter side of the nose, thus making the portrait more pleasing to the subject. Employ simple applica-

tions, such as having a subject with protruding ears turn three quarters to the point that the back ear disappears, to minimize

the overall appearance of the ears. For round faces, shoot from a higher-than-normal angle and have you subject stretch his neck a bit

to elongate the appearance of the face. When you have a subject with one eye that’s much smaller than the other, position him

so the smaller eye is closer to the camera because in the laws of perspective, the back eye recedes and visually will seem

smaller, thus giving both eyes a better balance overall in the fi nal image.

Most people have two characters (the left and right) that make up facial lines, which are totally di� erent. You must learn to identify

them and choose the best angle, then you can start building on your posing and lighting. Seniors would rather see one image of their

best angle rather than 100 of their not-so-good angle.

One exercise you can practice is to take a photograph of a subject looking

straight into the camera. Print three identical images of the same fi le, then fl ip

the image (Image>Image Rotation>Flip Canvas Horizontal) and print it

again. Cut the fl ipped image right down the center. Place the left half on

the left side of one of the normal prints and the right half on the right side

of one of the other normal prints. You’ll end up with three completely dis-

tinct images and personalities. There will be one that will stand out as the

most fl attering of the three. This is the side you want to photograph. This

side will be the more elongated side, which also happens to be the thin-

ner side, usually displaying a more prominent cheekbone. After much

practice, you’ll be able to determine this by glancing at your subjects.

You can visually mark a point from the center of your subject’s chin

to the left lower ear, as well as the same for the right side. One of

these sides will be the longest side which is also the more favorable

side. [For another technique to identify facial symmetry using Photo-

shop, see Photoshop User, April/May 2011, p. 84.—Ed.]

∑The Importance Of Anatomy∑

I learned most of these applications in art school, which I highly rec-

ommend to any serious aspiring portraitist. The more you know

about the human anatomy, the more working knowledge you

can apply to create better images. The laws of foreshortening

are highly applicable, as well. Foreshortening is a technique where

perspective is applied to the subject on a picture plane to highlight

a di� erence in scale. Too many seasoned photographers shoot

from the oddest angles that don’t fl atter their subjects. They

might shoot from an extreme top angle where it seems like the

subject’s feet are growing out from her knees. It foreshortens

the whole angle of the plane, dwarfi ng the subject. In this example, the subject had muscular

arms that we wanted to show, but at the same time we wanted the waistline to appear smaller. You can apply

this forshorting method by choosing a higher camera angle along with a pose that tucks the lower body behind, creating the

illusion of a smaller waistline.

∑Foreshortening∑

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The production and postprocessing of all the images is just as important. In

the business of senior photography, fi le management is at the top of the list for

running an e� cient studio. This is where Lightroom excels. Not having a proper

workfl ow can be the demise of any photography studio.

We don’t do huge numbers, as we’re more of the boutique senior portrait

studio. We never want to lose this to chasing the volume; nonetheless, we still

have many fi les to deal with. We shoot approximately 250 senior portrait sessions

between July and the fi rst week of October, at an average of around 120 images

per senior. That’s around 30,000 fi les we must deal with. Multiply that by a fi ve-year

period, and it gives us 150,000 fi les for which we’re accountable.

Before Lightroom, we dropped all of the senior sessions on a drive, viewed

them in a browser such as Canon Digital Photo Professional to select the

best images, saved our selections into another folder, and then opened them in

Photoshop for the postprocessing. Now we’re able to do the one-stop shopping

in Lightroom, which also allows us to bring the images into Photoshop for further

enhancements. Sweet! That’s one of the highlights I like best—I can make my adjust-

ments and then open the fi le in Photoshop.

Another great feature we use for organizing fi les is using collection sets. We some-

times get, say, 40 seniors from one particular school in one particular year. We can call

this collection St. James HS, and in that collection we can put the individual seniors

by name for that particular year. It’s really helpful when trying to locate seniors.

During the ordering process, we usually review images with the mothers and assign

fi ve-star ratings (simply press 5) to the best images, which becomes the final collection that we bring into Photo shop

for retouching. As far as viewing goes, there are two approaches we implement. We have a savvy group of kids who are

very Web-oriented, and then we have the traditionalists—like some parents and mainly the grandparents—who need something

tangible, such as proof sheets. We can accommodate both in Lightroom.

We normally set up a four- to fi ve-page spread of thumbnails which are easily assembled in Lightroom, and run a copyright

across the images for security. In the Print module, set up 3 Rows and 4 Columns to run 12 images per sheet in the Page Grid

section of the Layout panel. This is a good size for viewing. The other option is to use a Web gallery. This is great because it saves

money on those crazy ink prices. If you add your Mail Link in the Site Info panel, viewers can place orders immediately after viewing

the galleries.

Lightroom is nondestructive, which means your originals are left intact. In the Develop module, you can adjust the highlights, mid-

tones, shadows, and color balance individually. Narrow down the best dynamic range for the skintone values and get the optimal

histogram for print. You can also convert your images into black and white, which we often do, and really fi ne-tune everything

from shadows to highlights. All these options are excellent for senior photography. Sometimes I’ll shoot a whole collection of

images outdoors and warm up the color temperature on all these images. Simply make the necessary adjustments to one of the

images, select the rest in the Filmstrip, and click the Sync button.

Another excellent feature is the ability to make local adjustments. Most postprocessing engines deal with making

global adjustments to an image, so when you want to enhance a particular color, it will a� ect the entire image with that color

adjustment. In Lightroom, you can choose the Adjustment Brush (K) and designate what you want to work on. For example, if a

particular part in an image is “hot,” simply make Exposure or Brightness adjustments to that isolated area. Lightroom allows you to

present the best image possible as far as calculations go, and Photoshop knocks it out of the park.

∑Local Adjustments∑

. Lightroom allows you to present the best image possible as far as calculations go, and Photoshop knocks it out of the park.

∑Process Efficiently∑

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What do I save for Photoshop? I do the RGB calculations of skintones and the fi nal retouching. For skintones, I use a basic for-

mula I learned in my years of print production and advertising.

] STEP ONE ^Bring up the Info panel (Window>Info) so you can see both the RGB and CMYK values in your image. Your image is in RGB, but

you’ll base your corrections on the CMYK values.

] STEP TWO ^Switch to the Eyedropper tool (I), hold the Shift key, and click on an average medium value on the face area to add a Color Sam-

pler point. Be sure to avoid the specular highlights.

] STEP THREE ^All of these corrections are done on a Curves adjustment layer (Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Curves), adjusting each channel

individually. We’ll base our example on an average skintone which is Cyan: 19–23%, Magenta: 36%, Yellow: 46%, and Black:

0%. Darker skintones are about 10 points higher in both the Magenta and Yellow values. The goal is to get the Magenta value

about 10 points less than the Yellow, which translates to the Green and Blue channels in RGB.

] STEP FOUR ^In the Adjustments panel, select Green in the channel drop-down menu, and click on the Target Adjustment tool (hand next to a

double-headed arrow). The cursor will change to an eyedropper and you’ll see both the RGB and CMYK values in the Info panel.

] STEP FIVE ^Click-and-drag starting at the center of the Color Sampler point until the Magenta value is close to 10% less than the Yel-

low in the CMYK values. (This will also add a point on the curve in the Adjustments panel.) Repeat for the Blue channel

in the Adjusments panel.

] STEP SIX ^The fi nal correction is to the Red channel. Click-and-drag until the Cyan value in the Info panel is about 19–23%, which

usually warms up the skintones quite nicely.

∑Skintone By The Numbers∑

Because we’re always pushing the envelope and constantly testing new approaches

to our senior work, our studio teamed up with Joel Svendsen, manager of sales for

Rosco Laboratories (www.rosco.com). Joel started us with a pack of CalColor fi lters and

a booklet of fi lter facts, which explains the use of color and dealing with color shifts, Kelvin,

and balancing a scene, to name a few. CalColor fi lters are pure primary and complemen-

tary colors for your lights, similar to working with the RGB channels in Photoshop. Most

photographers think of fi lters under the confi nes of cinematography or stage lighting, but

using these applications for portraiture is amazing. It’s more than adding a splash of color

here or there. What I learned from Joel was that using a particular fi lter color on all my

lights, and then using Photoshop to correct for skin color, created remarkable results.

Have you ever seen the Dolce & Gabana ads or maybe the cover of

Vanity Fair and wondered how these images were shot? Here’s the secret: For the

image of the ballerina, I gelled the keylight, a 7' Scrim Jim from Westcott, with

Roscolux #02 Bastard Amber. It’s a medium-light amber with hints of pink.

I then gelled all the accents and fill lights with Roscolux #302 Pale

Bastard Amber. The results were spectacular. In Photoshop, I used Curves to

adjust the Green channel, which a¥ ects the opposite color—magenta.

∑ColorGels∑

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Hernan Rodriguez is an international award-winning professional photographer specializing in commercial photography and portraiture. He has earned 25

awards in photography, including the much coveted Black and White Spider Award for photographic excellence in fashion photography. His outgoing

personality and fresh approach to imagery has allowed him to work with such clients as GUESS, Playboy, Corona, EMI, and Sony Music Entertainment.Bio

Another example is the dancer in blue. We were after a moody moonlight

e� ect. For this shot, we gelled all the lights with a Roscolux #4315 CalColor 15 Cyan. The

background used was a very pale blue. In Photoshop, I added a Curves adjustment layer

to correct for skintones, which allowed me to pull back the opacity and maintain a bit more

of a blue bias from the fi lters. Of course, the image had a very high cyan cast, which is on

the Red channel in RGB. By bringing up the red, it brought down the cyan. By bringing

down the blue in the RGB channels, you can also see how it raises the yellow. Pretty

cool stu� . From my experience, you need that color there on capture to get that extra

dimension.

∑Final Touches∑Photoshop also adds an extra dimension to our senior work. In the example of the girl with

butterfl ies, the fi nishing touches to an amazing portrait were simply pasting an extra butterfl y

in the scene and adding a blurred forest to the existing yellow background. The most realistic

composites are created by keeping the natural settings from the capture and building on top, as

opposed to completely extracting. It makes the image more organic. Although the scenerio might

be unrealistic it still seems real. The viewer shouldn’t feel the hand of the artist in the image.

In the end, what do we learn from this savvy, progressive, social network generation of seniors? For starters, traditional just

isn’t enough. It pushes us to discover more and expand our boundaries. It has helped me to evolve my photography in fashion,

music, and posing, and taught me new approaches to imagery. But what matters most is I’ve learned patience and understand-

ing, making me a better person. ■

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