Rf Cookbook by Bob Rose
The Fuzzyfilter

Fuzzy and Shirley Duenkel operate Duenkel Portrait Art, a “mom and pop” studio in West Bend, WI. They began their business in the 1980s with weddings, and have evolved into a low-volume studio creating custom portraits, almost exclusively on-location.

While most photographers will work on-location, Fuzzy practically insists on it with each session. He feels his specialty is his total comfort with creating portraits in clients’ homes, especially if he has never been there before. His goal is to make a variety of images that don’t necessarily look like they were done in the clients’ bedrooms, garages or hallways.

Fuzzy says, “Rather than study other portrait photographers’ work for ideas, I’ve always tried to gain inspiration from TV and magazine ads. With large budgets, art directors, and the constant push to create a look that sells, it’s only logical that commercial shooters have usually been more on the cutting edge of creativity than portrait photographers. Therefore, it’s wise to keep a close eye on what’s new in fashion magazines and other media, especially when a significant part of your business is high school senior portraits.

“ One photographic technique I’ve enjoyed in ads on TV and in magazines is the use of high (luminosity) contrast, but relatively moderate color saturation. So I developed a simple, low saturation, high contrast technique that looks great (and sells like hotcakes). It works for an amazing variety of image types, whether soft, pretty, tough, gritty, saucy or dramatic—and my clients love it! I call it the Fuzzyfilter.”

Recipe for a Fuzzyfilter (Fuzzy suggests you make this a Photoshop action for quicker and easier access in the future):
1. With an image opened in Photoshop, duplicate the layer.
2. Desaturate the top layer completely.
3. Open the Curves window.
4. Click on the center, and pull the line about one fourth of the way to the left.
5. Click on the curve about one eighth of the way down the curve. Pull it down until just before the curve flattens against the bottom.
6. Click on the curve near the top, and pull it down until the curve isn’t flattened against the top. (At this point the top layer will be a very light, high-contrast, black-and-white image.)
7. Reduce the opacity of the top layer to about 45 percent.
8. If you wish, click on the History brush and stroke color back into the cheeks, lips and eyes at about 10 percent.
9. Flatten the image and save as a different name.

“ This photograph was taken in the morning during fading fog. The sun was peaking over the horizon, providing enough of a low mainlight to create a lighting direction. The surrounding fog added fill lighting.”

Fuzzy is a Master Photographer and Photographic Craftsman. You can check out more of Fuzzy and Shirley’s work at www.duenkel.com or call (262) 338-2779.

INGREDIENTS
• Camera: Canon 1Ds
• Lens: 70–200mm f/2.8 IS (at 135mm)
• Settings: ISO 100, f/4 at 1/125 second