Expressive Little Girl - My Vision

Last Saturday I went to a neighborhood picnic where some of the teenage girls were offering free face painting to the younger children -- can you say, "Photo Op?!". (See my "photostream" to view eight other images in this series.)

After having her face painted, this little girl made a funny face to her friend who was standing nearby.

Almost missed it... I nearly lost this shot because I didn't have my camera set to my standard default settings -- which is to keep my camera on Aperture Priority, and my lens set for the widest aperture.

Establishing a default setting: I also keep my ISO at 640 and my white balance on "Average" (my image file is always set for Camera RAW, with a Large JPEG for rapid reviews). With this setting, I'm ready for most action situations that I come upon. By using Aperture Priority, with the the camera/lens set to widest possible aperture, the camera will automatically give me the fastest shutter speed for that aperture and ISO. (I realize that "640" is a pretty high default ISO, but its one that gives me "controllable" noise with this camera, and enough speed to handle most surprise and unplanned situations.)

With people shots, you rarely need a lot of depth of field. In fact, shallow focus is most often preferred. But what you do want is a fast shutter speed to stop action and camera shake (even if you have image stabilization). Except with landscapes, architecture, and other "tripod" type shots, having a lot of depth of field is not as important as having SOMETHING tack sharp by using the fastest shutter speed possible. (Remember, you can have great DOF, but if the shutter speed is not fast enough to stop the action or freeze your camera movement, you will still have a soft and blurry image.)

I had done a landscape shot the day before where I did need a lot of depth of field. Instead of changing all my camera settings to my standard defaults before putting my camera away, I had left the F-stop at f13. If my next shot had been a still life or another landscape, this would not have been a problem. That's because these type of shots are often quite relaxed, where I have time to THINK about what I'm doing. However, when I see a candid portrait opportunity developing, I sometimes jump into it and start clicking away before the expressions flee -- like I did last Saturday with this little girl.

Luckily, even at f13, I still had a shutter speed of 1/100 of a second, and I caught her fleeting expression without any head movement. The extra depth of field in this shot created post-production problems, though. It took over 30 minutes to blur the background in Photoshop (having to create a mask around her hair), so that it was no longer distracting and competing for attention.

Another great example of using Aperture Priority and the widest aperture possible is this helicopter shot of the Chicago skyline by Trey Ratcliff. This photo was taken at the lens' widest aperture (f2.8), giving the camera an 1/8,000 second shutter speed with an ISO of 800. Here's the full resolution file on Flickr if you want to view the incredible detail of this image (yes, it's a little noisy in the shadow areas, but he GOT the image).

You are invited to see my "Most Interesting" images on Flickr (based on popularity stats).

Portrait of a Little Red Headed Girl - My Vision

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Amelia has many different moods. Three other images from this portrait session show some of those interesting sides of her.

Props & backgrounds: One of my favorite props for doing portraits is an old Bentwood chair (often used in bars and restaurants between 1860 and 1930). If you'll turn the chair around backwards, and let people relax or naturally place their arms on the back of the chair -- you'll often get some interesting body positions and expressions.

The background is a hand-painted autumn forest scene that goes well with her reddish complexion and hair, don't you agree?

You can also view my Flickr Photostream to see more of "My Vision."

Gypsy Fortune Teller - My Vision

Linda and I had a lot of fun creating this photo of the Gypsy fortune-teller with crystal ball and reading cards. Linda is my wife and the stylist for this shot. She choose all the fabrics and gathered all the props for this image, to help create the illusion of coming into a fortune-teller's shop and receiving a psychic reading.

(Click on any image for a larger view.)

The slightly blue halo emanating from the crystal ball is produced by a Nikon #1 Soft (flare) filter. This image was scanned from film, and there is virtually no Photoshop work done to this photo.

Here is the studio lighting (all strobe) set-up for the Gypsy fortune teller photo (that's Linda, sitting just to the left of where the model had been sitting):

1. Main light - a 48" x 48" soft-box (slightly below the model and pointing up to simulate the lighting coming underneath from the crystal ball.
2. Fill light - 36" x 36" soft box.
3. A projection spotlight to illuminate the eyes of the Gypsy model.
4. The crystal ball had a light coming up through a hole in the table.
5. Camera position through that narrow slit (made by two scrims that keep light from spilling onto the foreground -- the table and cards). There are three other scrims in this set-up, and they are covered with black velvet cloth.
6. Not shown, are lights behind the draped fabric backdrops, positioned to shine through the fabric.

Sidebar: Some time ago, a talent agency asked me to photograph some of their clients. They mainly wanted "head shots" for their talent books. Although the money they were offering to pay me wasn't that good, I saw it as an opportunity to experiment with people who were willing to try new things, and built portfolio images for both of us. Since some of these people had backgrounds in theater, they also had access to some interesting wardrobe pieces, which can really help liven a portrait. "Trading" talent has been a tool I've used over the years to increase my experience and build my photographic reputation. This image is part of a series that has resulted from these talent trades.

You can also view my "Most Interesting" images on Flickr to see more of "My Vision".

Portrait of a Young Dancer - My Vision

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Some time ago, I offered to do a portrait setting for some friends of their 13-year old daughter, "Mindy". Mindy was studying ballet, so I suggested that we do the session in her dance clothes.

Mindy was a delight to work with. She's a smart young lady, with a bubbly personality. Although the studio offered me beautiful, controlled lighting and a hand-painted background, I'd love to do an environmental-portrait session with her on location, in a dance studio.

You can also view my Flickr Photostream to see more of "My Vision."