Portrait Professional Studio 11.2 Full
Josephine Heathershaw
Portrait Professional or PortraitPro is a portrait photography retouching software developed by Anthropics Technology and initially released in 2006. It automates the photo editing process with algorithms that manipulate facial features, remove skin imperfections, alter colors and tone, replace the background, and so on.[1] It is available as a standalone application, as well as Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, Photoshop Elements, and Aperture plug-ins on Windows and OS X systems.[2]
PortraitPro was released in 2006 by Anthropics Technology, a company founded in 1997 as the research branch of the UK National Film and Television School. The algorithms that allowed the software to identify facial features, assess the "attractiveness", and adjust the photo were developed in conjunction with researchers from Cambridge University, Oxford University, and Manchester University. The program initially required an active internet connection to calculate point data for face shaping, but moved to a standalone edition with version 6.[3]
PortraitPro 9 (2009) introduced the novel ClearSkin automated skin enhancer, which corrects skin defects, such as acne, blotchiness, roughness, wrinkles, age spots, and so on.[4] Version 10 (2012) added a specialized Child mode that applies enhancements suitable for the portraits of children.[5][6] In PortraitPro 12 (2014) the developers presented lighting and relighting effects based on a 3D model of the face built based on a 2D photo, and full optimization 64-bit systems, which provided a notable performance leap.[7]
In 2016, Anthropics Technology released PortraitPro Body, which employed the technology for body shape manipulation. It automatically identifies and mark-ups the body curves and position of the bones and allows the user to make adjustments to build, shape, and posture and use standard retouching tools to smooth the skin and remove blemishes. It was provided in standard standalone edition and studio edition, which adds plug-ins for Photoshop, Elements, and Lightroom.[8][9]
PortraitPro 17 introduced a background removal and replacement feature,[10] while version 18 added a brush that locally removes adjustments and edits for more complex and accurate work[11] In the following years, the developers added sky replacement tool and a library of sky styles, and made numerous enhancements for the existing automated and manual retouching tools.[12]
PortraitPro is available in Standard, Studio, and Studio Max editions. A basic standalone edition supports JPG and 24-bit TIFF files. Studio adds support for RAW and 48-bit coloc, conversion between color spaces and JPEG/TIFF embedded color profile support. It also enables batch editing. Studio Max is marketed as a professional tool with enhanced batch mode.[13] Studio and Studio Max editions also work as plug-ins[14] for Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, Photoshop Elements, and Aperture.[15]
With ProSlideshow: Portrait from Pixel Film Studios creating a stylistic portrait slideshow has never been so fun and easy to do. Users can select from up to two layers of subject matter along with fully customizable backdrop animation, key-frameless animation, and more all with a click of a mouse all within Final Cut Pro X.
With ProSlideshow: Portrait each users are given the tools and effects to create an stylized portrait animation of their choosing with a click of mouse. Users are given up to two layers of subjects matter with full control over backdrop animation. With ProSlideshow: Portrait users can customize transition speed, transition time, edge blur, colorization, and more all within Final Cut Pro X.
ProSlideshow: Portrait offers fully customizable stylization and animation all with a click of mouse saving customers time and money towards their next project. Each user has complete control over various speed methods, blur, gradient colorization, position, edge blur, blur radius, transition, time, and more all within Final Cut Pro X.
ProSlideshow: Portrait was professionally designed to work seamlessly inside of Final Cut Pro X. As a title effect, each ProSlideshow: Portrait preset can be dragged and dropped onto media and previewed in real time. With the published parameters found in the FCPX inspector, users have the ability to make further adjustments with just a few clicks of a mouse.
Studio 3 Images specializes in portrait photography, wedding photography, senior pictures, and more. Schedule an appointment with us to preserve your memories at our photo studio or at a location of your choice.
Growing up I had always associated portrait photography with school yearbook photos, stuffy Sears portraits, or just plain uninspiring cliches. It wasn't until nearing the end of my time in photography school that I first became aware of what studio portrait photography could actually be. This was the first time that I was exposed to the work of Norman Jean Roy and Annie Leibovitz. Month after month, their work graced the pages of highly regarded magazines such as Vanity Fair, Allure, Details, and a handful of other Conde Nast publications. I would watch every behind the scenes video from any shoot that I could get my hands on, playing the clips in slow motion and trying to reverse engineer what it was that made their portraits so magical.
It took a couple of years of consistently paying close attention to their work to finally grasp a hint of their techniques, but eventually it started to come together in my mind and lighting for effective studio portraits become substantially easier. It mainly comes down to the choice of lighting modifier, its distance / height in relation to the subject being photographed, and a very specific balance between the key light (main light) and a secondary fill light. If it sounds simple, well that's because it actually is. So let's dive into specifically what's needed, and how to achieve repeatable professional studio portrait lighting.
Aside from a camera and a lens, there are several key pieces of equipment that are needed to produce a similar output to the images that are included in this article. I've listed what's needed below along with what I personally use in case you're looking for a recommendation.
You'll notice I mentioned the 60 inch Photek Softlighter ii as both an octabank and a silver reflective umbrella. That's because it can easily be converted from one to the other on the fly, and that's what makes the best value in lighting modifiers today. It's worth mentioning that studio lighting equipment can be astronomically expensive, but it doesn't need to be. Photography studio lighting is now more affordable than ever, and we can mainly thank the lighting brand Godox for that.
A professional and reliable light meter is crucial to determine the lighting ratios that we'll get into in a moment. Essentially, the light meter will allow you to accurately measure difference between the highlight side of your subject and the shadow side in f-stops (for example, f11 vs f5.6). You often can't trust what you see on the back of the LCD screen on the camera, so a light meter is absolutely necessary when using multiple flashes. I can't count how many times I've trusted the LCD on my camera, and then was bitterly disappointed when I viewed the images on the computer because the lighting effect that I thought I had achieved wasn't dialed in.
I'd also recommend to try to keep your studio lighting equipment as brand agnostic as possible. Don't buy proprietary gear for any system if possible so that you can mix, match, and upgrade as needed. That's why I choose Pocket Wizard for radio transceivers, and Photek as my primary lighting modifiers. They just work with everything.
Next is the 2 stop lighting ratio. This is the perfect setup for beauty and fashion portraits, which is why Norman Jean Roy used it so much for his cover work with Allure and Glamour magazines. That being said, I know from experience that it isn't ideal for people with rough, blemished, or heavily wrinkled skin as it will make texture more pronounced.
The silver reflective umbrella is almost always overlooked by photographers, and when it is used it's usually only to light up a background. Most believe the beauty dish is superior but I respectfully disagree. No, the silver reflective umbrella when used appropriately is the ultimate beauty light. The greatest aspect of it is that it's still very soft, but with some bite and a strong directional shape to the quality of light it produces. The silver reflective umbrella provides a slightly sharper edge to the shadows than an octabank, while the 2 stop lighting ratio mentioned above allows the shadows to retain full detail. This is the secret to the beauty look found in established magazines that many photographers aspire to.
The great thing about this headshot lighting is that it is super easy to set up, and it's guaranteed to look good on absolutely everyone. Not only that, but you won't need to make any major adjustments to the light since it's front facing. For that reason, I like to use this lighting setup first in order to freely chat with the person I'm photographing and get them comfortable without having to direct them too much.
In the end, perhaps the most important feature of PP10 is its ability to save time. Many pro photographers I know are spending time retouching when they should be shooting or marketing. A workflow that incorporates PP10 as the main program for retouching and Photoshop to be used when needed would make a significant dent in retouching time. There is even a Batch command where you can line up all your files to retouch and just go right through them. I highly recommend this software for professionals and advanced amateurs who photograph people.
Steve Bedell has been a portrait photographer for over 25 years. To subscribe to EPhoto, a free e-mail newsletter with tips for photographers, contact Bedell via e-mail at: s...@stevebedell.com. Also ask about his lighting DVDs.
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