Dickens on the Strand #6

Merry Christmas to all!

I did not get this young man’s name but he was Mad Hatter’s running mate.  I was very lucky when I took this photo that my subject tilted his head just before I took the shot.  This slight tilt added so much to the image.  

In this photo, I wanted to bring out the bright colors and his unusual eye and mouth wear so in post processing I tried to really emphasize the contrast between his attire and the softness of the background to make sure that I had good separation between the two.  

I tried without any success to change the color of the background from a warm color to a cooler one.  Nothing that I tried seemed to look good to me, so the background is as shot.  When I try something like this, I am not sure whether I did not do a good job with my Photoshop magic or that I know that it has been changed and thus no matter what I do or how good I do it, the change just does not look right.  Welcome anyone’s comments on this one.

Again, Merry Christmas to all!

Enjoy.

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 shot at 70mm, ISO 200, f/2.8 and 1/350^th of a second.

Post Processing:  

Lightroom 3—Adjusted white balance, added mid tone contrast.

Photoshop CS5—used nik Color Efex Pro tonal contrast to add contrast to his clothing and facial mask.

Dickens on the Strand #5

Today’s posting is a composite of three of the photos that I have previously posted and a photo of a poster that I took.

I do not know why I started this composite.  After looking at all my shots of Steampunk, I do know that I thought that they would make an interesting movie-type poster. 

There was not much technique to the combination.  I masked-off all of the people and sized them on the background.  I used soft light blending mode on all the people so that some of the background showed through their image.  I adjusted the opacity of each layer until I got the look that I wanted.

After I got all the people looking the way that I wanted, I decided that the poster needed something else.  I believe most people are like me and therefore, they would not know much about Steampunk. So, I decided that I should include a title.  I selected a typeface that I thought worked well with the overall poster.  Finally, I then put a black boarder around the outside of the composite.  I think  that the boarder gives the image that final touch that it needed.

Enjoy.

Dickens on the Strand #4

I must admit, I have never photographed anyone like the Mad Hatter.  He was completely “in character” every second that he was in front of my camera.  I was completely convinced:  he was truly mad and I think he trying to infect me.

The problems with photographing him were: keeping him further than the minimum focusing distance of my lens; trying to keep him in focus as he moved here, there and everywhere; and, just trying to keep from laughing as he said the most ridiculous stuff. 

This is one of the few photos that I took of the Mad Hatter that I think he was in one position for more than two seconds.

Enjoy.

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 shot at 200mm, ISO 200, f/2.8 and 1/500^th of a second.

Post Processing:  

Lightroom 3—Adjusted white balance, added mid tone contrast.

Photoshop—used spot healing to clean-up various spots and used nik Color Efex Pro tonal contrast to add contrast to his clothing.

Dickens on the Strand #3

In today’s photo, I wanted to capture the intensity of the subject.  I watched this young man for a while and noticed that no matter what he was doing, he had the same intensity.  It was just part of him.  It is probably the most important aspect of him—just a guess.

Enjoy.

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 shot at 200mm, ISO 200, f/2.8 and 1/500^th of a second.

Post Processing:  

Lightroom 3—Adjusted white balance, added mid tone contrast.

Photoshop CS5—used spot healing to clean-up various spots and then did some dodging and burning.

Dickens on the Strand #2

Today’s photo is a little different look at the same young lady that I presented earlier this week.  I noticed how beautiful the light was falling on her.  I wanted the photo to be simple, so I framed it with an uncluttered background.  I took several shots but this one with her eyes closed was the one that seemed to go best with her pose and the soft light.

Enjoy.

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 shot at 200mm,  ISO 200, f/2.8 and 1/500^th of a second.

Post Processing:  

Lightroom 3—Adjusted white balance, added mid tone contrast and saturation of various colors.

Photoshop—used spot healing to clean-up various spots and then did some dodging and burning.

Dickens on the Strand #1

Steve Schuenke and I have photographed Dickens on the Strand for the past three years and I think both of us seemed to be a little tired of the regular Victorian-era photos that we had made in the past.  Before going, we talked about doing something different, but neither one of us could come-up with that “something different.”  I had so much fun photographing Sarah a few weeks ago using natural light and shallow depth-of-field that I decided that was going to try something similar at Dickens.  

Steve and I walked around for a long time without taking many photos.  Finally, we arrived at a booth that sold various wears for a subculture known as “steampunk.”  I knew nothing about them however I immediately began firing away at everything that was wearing goggles and was moving.  Over 90% of my shots for the day were taken with an aperture of f/2.8 or f/3.3 and were done without directing the person being photographed--more like street photography, 

This young lady was very striking and I knew that her photo would be likewise.  Still I wanted to do that “something different” that Steve and I discussed.  I felt that photographing only half of her face might put the twist that I wanted. I was pleased with the results. 

Enjoy

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 shot at 200mm, ISO 200, f/2.8 and 1/350^th of a second. 

Post Processing:   

Lightroom 3—Set black and white points, added clarity and increased contrast.

Photoshop CS5—used spot healing to clean-up various ugly spots and used nik Silver Efex Pro to make a black & white layer which I then overlaid it at 35% opacity to reduce the saturation of the colors.

Fall Colors

This photo is about the bright colors of the main subject and the subtle colors of the background.  I just liked the contrast and wanted to present like I saw it.

Enjoy.

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 shot at 70mm,  ISO 200, f/8 and 1/125^th.

Post Processing:  

Lightroom 3—Adjusted white balance, mid tone contrast and saturation of various colors.