CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

After too many funerals of veterans in which the photo on the program was a lousy snapshot, I figured these guys and their families needed some better images. I belong to two military pilot organizations - one is the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association and the other is the Daedalians. The former is self-explanatory, the second is comprised of aviators from WWII up through active Air Force. Army, and Navy pilots. The WWII guys are up in their 90s,so I have to hurry!

I am doing these at no charge for the session and include a free 11x14. If they want more and/or larger, I offer a HUGE discount from my regular pricing.

Here are two from today - a VietNam vet - Army officer, helicopter pilot and Army Ranger. I have more of him and I am really happy how these turned out.

I have also induced a pull-back so you can see what it takes to get the look. The second image of him waist-up was a different background from the one in the first image - the one shown in the pull-back.

Nikon D810, 70-200 f/2.8 at f/10 and 1/200
Strobes are all the Paul Buff Einsteins with the Einstein triggers.

tsilva Loc: Arizona

Nice images Cliff, and good on you for doing this valuable service!

OriginalCyn Loc: Connecticut

What a wonderfully thoughtful idea! Love the results too. One question. Why are there two strobes camera left?

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

Good question. I learned this from a class I took at the PPA convention from Tim Kelly. The 4x6 acts as a light on the background AND and maybe as a rim light on the subject, depending on how it is aimed. The 3x4 is the main light and will be place on either side, depending on how I want to light that individual. The hair light and gridded spot for the background are fixed.

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

Goodness how times have changed... You have that fabulous studio camera stand with a great gearhead mounted on it, holding a laptop. And the camera is on a relatively flimsy tripod. Isn't that backwards?

Also, ditch that orange cord that sooner or later somebody will trip on and bring down either the camera, the laptop, or both. WIFI has its uses!

I've never been much interested in doing studio photography, but the older studio camera stands with round columns always fascinated me, even though totally useless for what I do. The old Majestic gearheads, however, are still very useful.

Whatever, that is a great setup and really interesting to see. Thanks for posting it!

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

Keeping the cord - MUCH faster transfer than wireless but I do agree one has to be careful. Big camera stand is too cumbersome and I love my tripod, but thanks for the concern. :-)

OriginalCyn Loc: Connecticut

Do you mostly use Capture One 10 for your editing?

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

No. I am just learning it. It is FAR superior to Lightroom for tethering however.

OriginalCyn Loc: Connecticut

That's what I was wondering. Is it a quicker response? Do you subscribe monthly or did you pay the flat out fee?

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

I just bought it outright. Some of my friends that use it swear it gives better skin tones that LR/PS. I have yet to prove that to myself. The controls are way different than Adobe, so we have to forget lots of keystrokes and design philosophy and learn a new system. A bit of a shallow (long) learning curve for sure.

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

While it is true that the cable is faster, I agree with you about the safety issues. However, while wireless does have its place as you correctly point out, there is interference in this studio that makes my Camranger unreliable to useless. So at least in this location the cable is needed. I do use the wireless in other locations and it is fine, but the longer delay is annoying even though I shoot raw and jpg so the Camranger can load the jpg faster.

When it comes to client work, I am definitely a belt and suspenders guy. I have system B and quite often system C. I can fire those strobes with the Paul Buff triggers, Pocket Wizards Einstein receivers, regular old dumb Pocket Wizard PlusIII units, a PC cable, and last but not least, put the strobes in optical slave mode and fire with an on-camera flash. I guess that is System E!

kubota king Loc: NW , Pa.

All the work I do with the camera or with my talent with photos and photoshop for the Military or Fire Department , I do for free . They all earned it . Nice to see there are others that do the same . Nice job on the photos , Tommy

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

Really nice images, and a great service for the vets. I suspect that many of our seniors have not had any decent photographs taken in a long time.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

That's a good project, Cliff.

magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

Very nice portraits Cliff and in a great cause. Where does the 'Daedalians' handle come from, Daedalus? I ask as I joined a photo shoot at the old Daedalus air base, here in the U.K., commemorating the D-Day landings. We had quite a few guys over from The States, and other countries, re-enacting the Airborne Divisions jumps over France. Unfortunately the weather delayed things in France and the jump was put off by 24 hours! Got some nice shots of the preparations here though.