BAPC Field Trip—Portraits #1

Last Saturday, our field trip was to an abandoned warehouse where we set-up to take portraits.  We had some great models and some good backgrounds to set them off against.

My first portrait from the session is of Christen.  She wanted a photo to make her look glamorous—hard job, but someone had to do it!  I wanted to establish some movement within the frame so I asked Christen to lean slightly backwards.  Her lean did not get me where I wanted so I titled my camera to increase her lean.  Some people may be bothered by the angle of the lines on the background, but it does not bother me.  I tried several different poses of her eyes, but I liked this one best because her eyes seemed to follow the line of her arm which to adds to the overall look that I was trying to achieve.

A large softbox to camera right was the primary source of light for the portrait.  It provided some nice soft, even light on her face and upper body.

Enjoy.

Camera settings:  Nikon D3X, Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8 shot at 40mm, ISO 200, f/8 and 1/45th of a second with large Elinchrom softbox to camera left and feathered slightly.

Post Processing:  

Lightroom—Set black and white points, adjusted saturation of various colors, added mid-tone contrast and vignetting.

Photoshop—used nik Color Efex Pro Glamour Glow filter.

Playing with Colors and Shapes

I was out walking around JD’s garden the other day checking-out possible photographic opportunities when I spotted this “whatever.”  It was late in the day and the golden light did some pretty amazing thing to the colors of the various plants.

I wanted to use a shallow depth of field in order to convert the background into merely colors and shapes.

Enjoy.

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, Nikon 105mm f/2.8 shot at ISO 200, f/4 and 1/90^th of a second.

Post Processing:  

Lightroom—Set black and white points, added clarity and mid-tone contrast and added saturation to various colors.

New Zealand Sunset

Last Honor’s Night at Bay Area Photo Club, Bob Dempsey presented a photo from his trip to New Zealand.  The photo was a panorama of a fantastic sunrise.  It was a truly stunning photo.  My hats off to Bob for such a fine photo.

My sunset photo from New Zealand is nothing compared to Bob’s but I still like it.

Enjoy.

Camera settings:  Nikon D200, Nikon 17-35mm f/2.8 shot at ISO 200, f/11 and 1/60^th of a second with graduated neutral density filter attached to darken sky.

Post Processing:  

Lightroom—Set black and white points and saturated colors in sky.

Old Movie Seats

I was out and about the other day when I ran across a small shop that had some old movie seats and rain barrel outside.  I was attracted to the colors and the textures. 

After seeing the image on my monitor, I thought about finishing the photo with a painterly quality but then decided to bring out what attracted me to the image—color and texture.

Enjoy.

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8 shot at 28mm, ISO 200, f/8 and various 1/90^th of a second.

Post Processing:  

Lightroom—Set black and white points, cropped photos, and changed and added saturation of certain colors.

Photoshop—used Topaz Adjust to add tonal contrast to enhance detail.

Friendswood 4th of July Parade for 2010

As usual JD and I made our way to Firendswood's 4th of July Parade.  The parade is a throwback to what I consider "happier times."   The parade includes lots of kids, old cars, a few politicians, tractors and even some horses.  Mostly, the parade is about the people.  It's about good ole middle American.  That's why I go every year.

This year I tried to capture the joy of the people.

Enjoy,

Retake on My Flower Image

Several people commented on not liking the dark green area within the image.  I must admit, they were absolutely right.  I did a quick, down and dirty patch job on the area to make it more consistent with the background in other parts of the photo.

I do like the change and I thank everyone for reminding me that often very small details really take a photo to the next level.

Enjoy.

Soft and Muted

JD had me doing a few things in “her” yard when I spotted this ginger plant.  I have tried many times to take a photo that I liked of ginger plants, but had never taken one that I really liked. 

For this one, I tried a little different approach—high key with a soft focus look. 

Enjoy.

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, Nikon 105mm f/2.8 at ISO 200, f/5.6 and 1/30^th of a second on a tripod.

Post Processing:  

Lightroom—adjusted hue and saturation of various colors and reduced some mid-tone contrast.