Nino Batista is a model photographer in the United States. His work is regularly seen in lifestyle and men's publications the world over, including many international editions of Playboy, FHM, and more.
Here Nino walks you through various shooting scenarios he uses to create his work and how those environments need a different focus when retouching skin.
Each shoot has a story. Nino opens why we decided to make this image come to life. A huge part of Nin’s process is in intent - here he shares those ideas with you.
Nino talks about why he prefers sessions over catalogs in Capture One. Every photographer has a file management system, Nino is no exception. He talks you through why he makes the choices he does and how this system keeps him focused and able to recall the images he needs.
Culling and shot selection is often an afterthought but Nino talks about why it should be a priority. Having a system will help you find your best images to edit is key to making sure your best work finds its way out into the world. Nino uses a retouching plan on each of his images to show you wh...
Nino divides his RAW processing into two stages. In the first stage, he concentrates on white balance, exposure, highlight and shadow recovery, and skin tone uniformity. He doesn’t just focus on a single image but on a collection of images all at once.
A lot of what Nino does is seeing where he is going with an image vs look at where it is. That mental plan starts to take shape in the creative phase of his RAW preparation. In this you will see how he intentionally uses the skin tone tool, color saturation, and luminosity of reds/yellows, contra...
There are many choices to consider when you are exporting your images from Capture One to Photoshop. A lot of us do things differently but understanding why someone makes the choices they do helps you make informed decisions about which process is best for you.
When you are focusing on skin work, you have to start with the best skin possible. So where does that begin? Nino talks about his go-to tools in cleaning up skin imperfections, small creases, and minor fly away hairs.
Dodge and burn take a lot of time but that effort is rewarded with flawless skin that will set your images apart. Nino walks you through his process while demonstrating to you, in real-time, what he is looking for in this image of Marbella. No fast-forwarding here, you will see each pixel perfect...
Frequency separation has been a major conversation topic since it came to light. There is no way to avoid having this talk whenever they talk of skin works comes about. Nino shares his views on frequency separation while also sharing the techniques he uses when he reaches for this tool. Nino also...
Liquify is another tool that brings out controversy but it is just a tool. The user decides how to use it. Nino uses liquify for corrections and stylistic choices, and done with anatomy/physique kept in mind.
Retouching eyes is a delicate thing - go too far and you can destroy your whole image. Learn Nino’s “less is more” approach to retouching eyes.
Learning to use Nino’s included actions to add textures and noise to your images. A wash of noise can really help tie an image together.
What is a secondary correction? Nino will often pause in his workflow after he has done the majority of the heavy skin work to take a second look at all the colors in the frame. Getting certain areas under control will allow the image to take the color grading even better.
By bringing his image back into the camera raw filter, not to be confused with editing the raw image, Nino corrects some tones for final color grading. After the image has some more color, Nino jumps into some contrast controls. Learn to control contrast in a smart, protected method.
Based on gradient map overlays and then various adjustment layers to achieve the muted warm aesthetic that Nino goes for. The difference between selective color and color balance adjustment layers and why it can matter in your grading. How to layer order makes a difference and why you need to ca...
Learn to look at the overall image and see where you can add in those extra kicks that bring your imagination to life! Short of compositing, this is just adding extra bumps of lighting in a way that compliments your image.
Enhancing existing light effects, especially flare and haze, as desire...
Like icing on a cake, Nino works on compensating for how your color grading affects overall exposure, highlights, shadows, as needed. Vibrance and/or saturation adjustments to get that “pop”.
Publications look for sets of images that match each other in color grading, overall feel, and mood. Since Nino works primarily for publication this phase is a critical element of his process. Join Nino in learning how to make various images from a shoot match each other.
See Nino’s go to settings for exporting for the web, social media, and publication.
Introduction to the shoot with Shelby in her kitchen.
Nino takes his hero shot selection seriously. Following his methodology of comparing similar images to each other Nino talks you through why some images make the cut while others fall to the cutting room floor.
Nino divides his RAW processing into stages. In the first stage, he concentrates on white balance, exposure, highlight and shadow recovery, and skin tone uniformity. In this case, focusing on the gradient of the color temperature falls off. He doesn’t just focus on a single image but a collection...
When you are focusing on skin work, you have to start with the best skin possible. So where does that begin? Nino talks about his go-to tools in cleaning up skin imperfections, small creases, and minor fly away hairs.
Again dodge and burn takes a prominent place in Nino’s workflow. Nino will tell you time and time again that dodge and burn is a time-intensive process, but like anything else, the more you do it, the faster it starts to go. Every image is different, and every image’s dodge and burn needs to be a...
