Last night I presented a body of work to the Bay Area Photo Club. It was photographs that I have taken at festivals. As I explained in my body of work write-up, this body of work grew-out of my thinking that you could produce near studio quality portraits with a minimum amount of equipment, i.e., on SB800 in a softbox. I have previously presented different photographs from these outings, but the ones I want to present now have not been show on my blog.
As this young lady approached us, there was no doubt in my mind that she would be a very striking subject for a portrait. My second thought was: don’t screw this up!
After we stopped her and asked her if we could take her photograph, I notice a large, shady tree covered with ivy not too far from us. I thought that the ivy would complement her crown very well, so we moved her in front of the tree.
I thought that the photograph to show her classical facial features. I wanted the left side to be properly exposed with a definite fall-off in the exposure on the right side. I positioned VAL Steve to my left and above her and directed the light so it would fall softly on her face. The placement of the light and the camera perspectives help ensure that the photograph is all about her.
Enjoy.
Camera settings: Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 at 120mm, shot at ISO 200, f/4.8 and 1/125th with flash set at rear sync.
Flash: Nikon SB-800 mounted on monopod with softbox attached, triggered by AlienBee CyberSync radio triggers, in manual mode at 1/16th power positioned at left at about two feet away from her and above her.
Post Processing:
Lightroom—Set white and black points, added mid-tone contrast, added vibrance, adjusted saturation and hue of green and added slight vignette to photo before printing.
Photoshop—cloned-out small, distracting elements and minor skin blemishes and hairs, used nik Color Efex Pro tonal contrast filter to add shadow, mid-tone and highlight contrast to her eyes and hair.
An absolutely stunning photo. Hard to believe that this was taken of a stranger and at a festival. It looks more like a studio shot where you spent hours adjusting your lighting. Excellent work.
ReplyDeleteAwesome. Do more like these.
ReplyDeleteCharles M
Fine portrait. The lighting is excellent and her expression is about perfect.
ReplyDeleteAnne
I would never believe that this photo was taken outside and is essentially a street photo. Your lighting is perfect. I cannot think of one thing about this photo that I would change.
ReplyDeleteDave