Seeing the Portrait and Processing It * Updated

I was recently in the northeastern region of India, close to the Chinese/Burmese border. During a Naga festival and I had the opportunity to make a portrait of a young Naga prince (related to the royal family in the region). I loved the juxtaposition of the wall of the royal homestead and royal adornments with the contemporary fashion and pose. I am not looking to mythologize the world. So when I find a confluence of the modern world with tribal tradition, especially in a positive way, I am quick to record the moment.

Here are the RAW adjustments in Adobe Lightroom

Then I created a “Virtual Copy” so I could try a different set of RAW conversions:

Then I exported it as a .psd to Adobe Photoshop CS4 for a few extra adjustments in order to bring out more color in the necklace, using the colors in the original RAW conversion.

NOTE: THIS PHOTOSHOP WORKSHOP WAS UPDATED SEPTEMBER 13, 2009

and VOILA!

© nevada wier 2008  Nagaland, India

(I did not crop or change any content in this image.)

George Jardine’s Podcasts

Updated July 2008: George has recently retired from Adobe Systems. (I wish you well George! And, look forward to your next creative adventure!). So, he will not be posting new podcasts. However, if you haven’t already, it is worth listening to the ones he did post in the last couple of years. nv

George Jardine has a dream job as a Pro Photography Evangelist (what a title!). He creates podcasts, videos, and other very cool projects for Adobe Lightroom — including very interesting interviews with prominent photographers and key people in the high paced digital photography field. I suggest you check out his Podcasts which are available on iTunes or through the Internet.

http://lightroom-news.com/category/lightroom/lightroom-podcasts/

or on his blog

http://www.mulita.com/blog/

Disclaimer: Yes, I am biased. George co-instructed the 2008 On the Road in Bangkok, Thailand workshop with me. And, he recorded a podcast with me in 2006. You can listen to it at:

http://www.mulita.com/blog/?p=17

or on iTunes: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom podcasts

Nevada is featured in a new Adobe interactive web promo

http://www.adobe.com/brilliant/

Scroll to Nevada Wier (Episode 02) for a very different web experience featuring Nevada