November 20, 2009

Fireman—Contemporary and Edgy?

I was recently asked by a few of our local firemen whether was going to do portraits of them again this year for Christmas. Most of our local firemen are volunteers, so how could I say no?

Last night I started looking over a few of the photos that I took last year and ran across this photo. For some reason, I wondered if I could take what I considered a nice portrait of a really cool young man and turn it into some edgy. So, here it is.

I used Topaz Adjust vibrance filter to start and then I think I moved every lever back and forth at least ten times before settling on the final image.

Enjoy.

Camera settings: Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 at 120mm with shot at ISO 200, f/4.8 and 1/250th of a second with three Nikon SB-800 shot through a translucent umbrella and triggered by AlienBee radio triggers.

Post Processing:

Lightroom—Set white and black points, added mid-tone contrast.

Photoshop—used Topaz Adjust to give photo a slightly edgy look and then added a dodging and burning layer to lighten and darken various areas of the photograph.

21 comments:

  1. Striking photo. After seeing this one, I am thinking about moving to Friendswood, buying a house and then setting it on fire. He is a hunk, and your photo isn't bad either.
    Debbie

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  2. I think it's a contemporary but edgy portrait. Trademark Larry P. with this shot. Color, exposure and framing are exceptional.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great environmental portrait Patrick! Composition, lighting and pose are all terrific.

    I think the low to high POV gives the photo an "edge" as much as any of the post-processing you did.

    Well done!
    Barry

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nicely done Larry. Great portrait with lots of attitude.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Excellent example of an environmental portrait with a edgy look. Normally, trying to control the bright strips would be a major problem because they would draw too much attention, but in this photo, the stripes are right in the viewers face, adding to the overall edgy look. Fine work.
    The Professor

    ReplyDelete
  6. This portrait has so many things going for it: good color combination, great environment, good composition and great expression. You did good with this portrait.
    Anne

    ReplyDelete
  7. Excellent environmental portrait! I wonder though how is edgy is going be defined in terms of photography. Does sharpening, Topaz, Lucis equal edgy or is it based more on content?

    Taken from the urbandictionary.com:

    1 - pushing the envelope
    2- to be way out there
    to be on the cutting edge or to be edgy

    Just throwing that out there. I think content is probably more what they're looking for. All that said, your firefighter portraits are some of the best I've ever seen.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is a great environmental portrait, edgy or not. The edgy post processing, which seems sort of trendy these days, works well with his facial expression, the sooty look of the fire jacket, and the basic nature of the fireman's work.

    I also like the way you've subdued the brightness on much of the complex background on this one, establishing context, but leaving more of our attention for the main subject.

    Excellent work.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Scott Kelby gives a "formula" for creating this edgy look in either Lightroom or CS4 Camera Raw:

    -Recovery Slider 100%
    -Fill Light Slider 100%
    -Contrast slider 100%
    -Clarity Slider 100%

    Then adjust black point slider and lower the Vibrance (and maybe Saturation) Slider, until you get the look you want.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Fine portrait that has all the elements I think are important: good composition, expression and lighting. As to edgy, who cares? It's just a good portrait. Live with it.
    Mel

    ReplyDelete
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