Portrait

Grandmother's Kiss in Sepia

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I would never have made this shot if not for attending a photography meeting

You never know where you will find photographic inspiration, but then sometimes, you do.  I attended a TAPPA (Tampa Area Professional Photographers) meeting late last year and the guest speaker for that night almost exclusively made square-shaped, burnt sepia portraits, on 3 foot x 3 foot canvas . . . for $3,000.  Though my skill level is not great enough to charge that much for a portrait session, I did learn a lot from that photographer that I can and have applied to my own photography business.  I am not ashamed to say that I have fallen in love with the burnt sepia look for portraits, and I do also crop in a more square-ish style now for some shots as well.  

Photographers inspire other photographers.

To make the portrait above it took my entire current skill set from shooting to processing.  Everything I have learned through intense self-study, through attending lectures by other photographers and even a free lighting workshop, I applied to this shot.  In light of all this, do I think it is perfect?  Not even close.  However, I am pleased from a personal level to know that I could not have made this shot this time last year.  As a photographer I first aim to please myself because I know know one has higher standards for my work than I do myself.  So if I am pleased with an image, I am pretty darn sure the client will be too. 

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    • Sepia Senior Portrait in St. Petersburg

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    High School Senior Maria posing with a jacaranda flower in downtown St. PetersburgA large jacaranda tree resides in downtown St. Petersburg next to the Museum of Fine Arts.  Its bright red blossoms fall to the ground still in full possession of their dignity, making for prize souvenirs for passersby, or the random senior portrait shot.  As you can see the tree has been defiled with carvings.  Someone declared their love in a large heart upon the poor trees vast trunk.  Perhaps now in hindsight I did a dishonor to the tree for using the carving in my portrait.  I will make it up to the jacaranda tree the next time I see it.  

    How I made this shot:

    • Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8
    • f/11 ISO 200 1/30th
    • strobist:  Nikon SB-600 Speedlight on light stand to the above left of frame
    • processing: Aperture 3, Color Efex Pro 3, Photoshop CS4, sepia in Silver Efex Pro 3

    Spicified Candid Brothers Portrait at Honeymoon Island State Park

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    Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/320th Nikon SB-600 Speedlight on light stand above & to the left

    Photographing a portrait session on a beach, even at sunset, can lead to quite a few similar looking shots.  How can you add a little spice to some of the shots?  Topaz Adjust 3 makes it quite easy actually, as it has a "spicify" filter right in it.  I used that filter among others to process the above candid portrait of two brothers who added their own kind of spice to every shot I took of them with their great energy and playfulness.  

    Steps for making the above shot: 

    • import RAW file into Aperture 3
    • applying sharpening, exposure & shadow adjustments using the simple sliders
    • use the polarizing filter in Nik Color Efex Pro 3
    • send that image to Photoshop CS4 as a 16-bit TIFF
    • apply unsharp mask at 68%
    • apply the spicify filter in Topaz Adjust 3
    • dodge the boys to make them stand out a little (save file)
    • adjust hue and red channel in Aperture 3, export jpg 

    Below is the non-spicified version:

    only basic adjustments were made to the RAW file in Aperture 3 for this shot taken at Honeymoon Island State Park

    So what do you think of the spicify filter in Topaz Adjust 3?  Did it help or hurt the portrait?  Or did it simply offer an alternative version of a shot?  Please let me know what you think and why in the comments below.  

    Jason's new headshot with Nikon D300

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    Finally, a kind of photographer's stereotype headshot for me.

    I have few photographs of myself, at least not many "headshot" or "portfolio" type shots of myself.  I have shots of me jumping across a canyon, hanging out in the French Quarter, hanging out with some kids in Cambodia, jumping off boulder in New Mexico, hanging out in Chinatown in San Francisco, crossing half-tree bridges, jumping off more boulders in Korea, hanging out with hipsters in Korea, and even me skimboarding in Japan.  The above is my first stereotypical photographer's headshot, i.e. some dude holding a camera.  

    This was just a quick attempt made on my back patio with some help from f8 Consortium colleague and friend Marc, who took the shot.

    Which era Jason do you like best?  Let me know in the comments below.

    Street Portrait Series 02 - University of Tampa 2

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    Tanya volunteered for a street portrait on the University of Tampa campus - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens @ f/11 ISO 200 1/320th Nikon SB-600 handheld to frame left

    This is more a part 2 to the first entry in the Street Portrait Series, as these shots were made on the same day.  This series is about asking people you just see on the street if you can make their portrait.  Tanya, pictured above, was just hanging out on the University of Tampa campus.  I asked her (and Stephanie) if she would not mind letting me take a few photos of her.  She said sure.  So the hard part in street portraits is just getting the nerve up to ask someone.  In my experience so far it seems many people are willing to let you photograph them.  They just want to know what you will do with the photos, so I tell them it is part of a street portrait series I am doing and that I will use them on my website.  That is usually good enough explanation for them and they agree to let me photograph them.

    Downtown Tampa provides the backdrop for this shot - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/11 ISO 200 1/250th Nikon SB-600 handheld off camera

    Both of these shots were done with my "quick and dirty" method of off camera flash, which just holding the strobe outstretched in my left hand while holding my Nikon D300 in just my right hand.  

    How I processed these photographs: 

    • RAW files first processed in Aperture 3 (Nikon D300 default setting)
    • exposure & color correction in Nik Color Efex Pro 3 (polarization, pro contrast, tonal contrast filters)
    • Unsharp Mask applied in Photoshop CS4 (exported from Aperture as a 16-bit TIFF)  
    • some cloning out of the edge of a building in CS4
    • lens distortion filter used on the top image to straighten the building

    Honeymoon Island Candid Family Beach Portraits

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    Candid Family Vacation Portrait at sunset on Honeymoon Island State Park in Dunedin FloridaAnother great Florida sunset set the backdrop for a very fun candid family Florida Vacation Portrait session at Honeymoon Island State Park.  Robert and Bonnie, and their two boys Alex and Aiden were visiting Florida from Kentucky, and picked a great time for a vacation here as the colder than normal winter weather just finished, and the full on heat and humidity has not yet arrived.  

    The boys had a great time setting each other up with rabbit ears during our candid portrait session

    The boys were real characters making my job easy as they loved to play around and were not shy at all.  We found this small hole in the beach and turned it into a prop for this natural light (Nikon D300, Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D @ f/4 1/1600th) candid portrait.  They were both good sports about everything.

    It was peace out for this candid family beach portrait

    I really enjoyed all the personality the whole family had and it is a lot of fun to be able to make candid family portraits like the one above.  I just set up my strobe on a light stand to frame left, dialed in the settings on my D300, and shot away as they had fun with the portrait session.  I gave no directions at all.  I did not need to, which is fine by me.  This let's me focus on composition and timing and making the best shots I can.

    Trying to touch the sky in this candid father and son beach portraitThe above was another natural light portrait.  Just 30 minutes before sunset on a day like this makes for great light, and the Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D lens at f/4 produces great results.  The 80-200mm remains a good budget alternative to the Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G VR lens, especially for outdoor portrait work.

    Thank you to Robert, Bonnie and the boys for a great candid portrait session.