"Reality leaves a lot to the imagination." - John Lennon

This past weekend I had the honor of co-leading a lighting workshop in Atlanta with my good friend and fellow Canon Explorer of Light Parish Kohanim.

We both set up some situations for the students, and then let them "take it away."

Click here to see the first shot I set up for the students.

Parish set up a shot in his studio's make up room, suggesting that the students work with the mirror. Parish also gave a demo on the Diffuse Glow filter in Photoshop.

Re the Diffuse Glow filter: It removes some of the reality from a scene. When you remove some of the reality from a picture, your picture can look more artistic and creative.

Above is my take on the idea. Thanks Parish for the great suggestions. And thank you Mary Margaret Bishop for being such a wonderful model.

Try this technique at home: Focus on the subject in the mirror while putting the subject in the foreground out of focus.

Info: Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105mm IS lens.

Above is my original shot. Before applying the Diffused Glow filter, I used the Tonal Contrast filter in Nik Color Efex Pro to add some contrast to the image. Tonal Contrast is one of my favorite effects in Nik Color Efex Pro. You can get a discount on all Nik plug-ins here.

Next, I cloned out some of the distracting gold folds in the fabric behind Mary Margaret. I also soften the background using the Gaussian Blur filter. Finally, I whitened Mary Margaret's eyes to draw more attention to them.