Shumilova Style pictures

Mani Gill

Mani Gill

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Mani
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Hello all,

I know this has been on the forum previously and there was a little debate around whether there was a lot of PP or not and whether that took away from the quality of the original pictures.

I've been following her work on 500px and I must admit I am always drawn into the pictures.

So much so that I've attempted and failed at getting a similar style of picture, probably because I'm useless at photoshop. I've decided to get on an adult college course to up my skills in Photoshop.

I've put in a link to her YouTube video

View: https://youtu.be/2xiQkU8eUC4


Can this style be done in Elements or does it need to be the full blown CC version?

Not sure if the pictures will be to everyone's taste.
 
tbh, I think it's mainly about the light, but also because they are children. Separation of the subject from the BG, taken from a lower POV & any mist can also help.

This is one I took a few years ago while out walking. It was just a quick grab shot, but has a similar feel.

Not a care in the world by Carl B, on Flickr
 
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I'll be happy to be corrected if I'm wrong, but I agree with Carl. To me it doesn't appear the 'look' of these shot has much to do with the pp.

Dave
 
Very nice work :thumbs:

I think the key to it is her - a photographer with a good eye and strong skills, putting in the time and effort. Some PP for sure, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Technically, the main ingredient is light - specifically shooting into it with the subject back-lit. Then a longer lens at lowish f/numbers for bokeh effect. Beautiful locations and photogenic kids also helps :)
 
As above.
Those images owe 40% of their appeal to the use of the low sun and the other 55% to her talent for capturing moments and composition. The last 5% is some sympathetic PP.
So to answer your question - a course in Photoshop will be no use whatsoever.

Quite bizarrely, the secret is planning and talent, unlike every other genre of photography.

Sorry, I meant, just like every other genre of photography. ;)
 
Phil V said:
As above.
Those images owe 40% of their appeal to the use of the low sun and the other 55% to her talent for capturing moments and composition. The last 5% is some sympathetic PP.
So to answer your question - a course in Photoshop will be no use whatsoever.

Quite bizarrely, the secret is planning and talent, unlike every other genre of photography.

Sorry, I meant, just like every other genre of photography. ;)
Click to expand...

Cheers Phil,

All this planning lark is too much [emoji39]

I will be carting my kids around with me to local parks at sunset and with the right clothing, light, composition, hopefully I can capture some good moments.

I'm quite happy that there isn't much PP, only because I would be a complete failure at it at present.
 
Mani Gill said:
Cheers Phil,

All this planning lark is too much [emoji39]

I will be carting my kids around with me to local parks at sunset and with the right clothing, light, composition, hopefully I can capture some good moments.

I'm quite happy that there isn't much PP, only because I would be a complete failure at it at present.
Click to expand...

It helps to have some lovely scenery to use as well as children that don't mind performing when you've got them out of bed at 5am for the sunrise. ;)
 
I was about to post that its mostly about the light (golden hour or just moments prior to) and use of shallow DOF and most likely prime lenses to achieve that etc etc but I see that's well covered. She also has access to some truly stunning locations which helps immensely.

On a side note, I do find it alarming how people very often seem to go straight to thinking about PP rather than how to shoot it (not having a dig at the OP, its something I seem to see a lot these days "how do I do this in PP"?). Of course, she uses PP but these are the finishing touches, not the structure :)
 
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odd jim said:
I was about to post that its mostly about the light (golden hour or just moments prior to) and use of shallow DOF and most likely prime lenses to achieve that etc etc but I see that's well covered.

On a side note, I do find it alarming how people these seem to go straight to thinking about PP rather than how to shoot it (not having a dig at the OP, its something I seem to see a lot these days "how do I do this in PP"?).
Click to expand...
It's after you've spent an hour or two vainly torturing an unpromising image that you realise how much easier it would have been if you'd spent five minutes carefully thinking about the shot before pressing the shutter. Been there, done that, got a few T- shirts :-)
 
chris malcolm said:
It's after you've spent an hour or two vainly torturing an unpromising image that you realise how much easier it would have been if you'd spent five minutes carefully thinking about the shot before pressing the shutter. Been there, done that, got a few T- shirts :-)
Click to expand...

Hey Jim,

Totally agree, better to spend the time in taking a great image, rather than PP.

I was not sure whether the style shown here was SOOC or PP.

I guess it's a bit of both.

I think the other debate is, does it matter if the end result is the same whether the desired result was achieved right out of camera or through PP.
 
I suspect it's not possible to match her images SOOC without some heavy manipulation prior to shooting (i.e. posing, using filters and altering in-camera settings) but that's no reason not to create the best possible image to process into this style first.
 
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