Technique
Behind the
Claire Gillo
print A I wanted the image to be square so I cropped it to a 1:1 ratio
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The background needs cleaning up and darkening down
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I want to bring out the exposure in the feathers here to match the other side
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The image needs to be gently toned and enhanced
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lthough I enjoy shooting in many different genres there is something particularly enticing about fine art photography. There are endless possibilities when it comes to subject matter and I love creating images that not only have a visual connection but also a conceptual one. This image is the first shot from an emerging series called Layla’s gifts. My cat Layla is a beast when it comes to hunting and I find the ‘gifts’ she leaves behind to be often both a mixture of disgusting and upsetting. This bird was already dead by the time I got to it and there was something beautiful and sad about it at the same time. That is what I wanted to capture in the image but also explore the fragile line between life and death. I already had a black blanket set up in the corner of my office and I lit the bird using a flashgun and diffuser panel. Had I had a little more time I would have spent longer on my lighting set-up, however it goes to show you can still achieve great results in a couple of minutes and a little editing knowledge. For all my editing I use a combination of Lightroom and Photoshop. For this particular image I only used Photoshop, and it worked well.
ALL IMAGES © CLAIRE GILLO
Fine art photographer Claire Gillo reveals the steps she took to get a raw file ready for print
Claire is a very experienced photography journalist and a former technique editor on AP. She now works as a freelancer from her base in Devon and enjoys taking and editing a wide range of images. For more information on Claire and her work, see her website at www.clairegillo.com
PREPARING THE RAW FILE FOR PRINTING
1 Basic raw adjustments
I opened the image in Adobe Camera Raw and cropped to a square format with a 1:1 ratio. I also slightly boosted the contrast and tweaked the shadows and highlights to bring out detail in the bird. I also added a touch of Texture to bring out the texture in the feathers. 42
2 Isolated exposure
As the wing on the right was slightly darker than the other I wanted to make them match in exposure values. To do this I went to the Adjustment brush in ACR and made an isolated exposure adjustment. I then opened my image into Photoshop.
3 Time for healing
In the main editor I started by duplicating the background layer. That way I always have a copy of the original image. To remove the marks from the background on the new layer I used the Spot Healing brush. You could also use the Clone tool to do this job.
22 February 2020 I www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113
