Kelly Rae
Active member
Created with Canon 5D 35mm 1.4/50mm 1.2
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Various color portraits created in San Francisco-studio/Balboa Theater
- Thread starter Kelly Rae
- Start date
Created with Canon 5D 35mm 1.4/50mm 1.2
DuckShots
Leading Member
Help me with how you did the toning. Every one of your images rock. And your models/sitters deserve a shout out, too.
Kelly Rae
Active member
Hello, and thank you for your kind words. I enjoyed looking through your gallery as well — you have many beautiful photographs.
I’m happy to share a bit about how I work, though it’s hard to give a strict step-by-step since I treat each image individually. I never batch-edit.
When shooting, I always keep Henry Wessel’s mantra in mind: “Expose for darks — process for light.” Since moving to digital, I’ve noticed each camera handles exposure a little differently, so I pay attention to how far I can push a particular sensor.
In post, I almost always desaturate a little, and I’ve relied on the NIK Collection for years to fine-tune color work. I’m not much of a Photoshop user — most of my workflow happens in Lightroom and NIK, with adjustments tailored to the mood of each frame.
Kelly Rae
Active member
All my models are awesome. Some I had worked with for almost ten years, and I scouted each one off the street or from Model Mayem!
Richard D Jacobs
Veteran Member
Very nice collection of photographs. I especially like the first one.
Richard
Richard
Aidan Williams
Forum Enthusiast
- Messages
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- Reaction score
- 350
Each one is indeed individual. Maybe down the line, with a few hundred, specific commonality between groups will begin to emerge or possibly they will all fit under one super-umbrella! Good luck!
Kelly Rae
Active member
Thank you for your time, Richard! Have a great week-
Kelly Rae
Active member
Thank you. I currently have a 20+ year archive of over 60k photographs. What you’re seeing here are selections from different shoots—many belonging to distinct series. I began with a decade of analogue street photography, then ran a studio in Nob Hill, San Francisco, working extensively with models. At one point I had the opportunity to show my work in galleries and museums, but I turned it down because the strings attached would have compromised my practice. I’ve stayed committed to independence ever since. Have a great week!
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Kelly Rae
Active member
Thank you, Klaus. I’ve worked very hard over the years to be able to create photographs like this — it certainly didn’t just fall into my lap. For every strong image, there are plenty that don’t make the cut, which is how I’ve built a library of over 60,000 photographs.Thank you for sharing.
We rarely see work of this level around here. You obviously know what you're doing — and if not, you have more luck than anybody could reasonably ask for
Aidan Williams
Forum Enthusiast
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- 310
- Reaction score
- 350
That sounds like quite some archive! You too, have a great week.
Kelly Rae
Active member
Thanks, Aidan. Wishing you good light and strong frames ahead!
Richard D Jacobs
Veteran Member
I just reviewed your gallery Kelly Rae.
it isabsolutely beautiful, the photographs of the costume, very impressive.
Richard
it isabsolutely beautiful, the photographs of the costume, very impressive.
Richard
Kelly Rae
Active member
Thank you, Richard — I truly appreciate your time and your words. I haven’t shared much of my work publicly, so it means a lot to be in dialogue with fellow photographers here. That’s why I’m grateful for the DPReview community — a space to share the results of years of hard work and to be inspired by others. It hasn’t always been easy navigating the field as a woman photographer, and that has often felt like a roadblock, so I take your comment with genuine gratitude. Wishing you a wonderful week ahead!
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