TTKBJR Loc: Kansas

I love black and whites and I love shadows so I have been trying out different looks. I love these shots of my son (who is so handsome by the way :) ). I like the dramatic shadows and the way the light falls on his face. Very intense.

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

Excellent. Now this is a really picky point, but it makes a difference: a darker shirt would improve the image by keeping the viewer eye on the face and ball.

I love the cropping in the first frame. A bit more light on his head (the top) might be better to separate him, but maybe that is not the look you were going for.

TTKBJR Loc: Kansas

Thanks, this was the look I was going for so I didn't want more light on his head. Couldn't really do much about his shirt since this is his team's jersey. But, he does have a darker jersey so I may try with that one to see...that is if I can get him to sit again. Always a tricky thing with teenagers! :)

scootersurfs Loc: Buckeye, Az

:thumbup: :thumbup:

scootersurfs Loc: Buckeye, Az

I agree with CaptainC, but that said, they are excellent striking shots. I like them alot!!

TTKBJR Loc: Kansas

Thank you

jimberton Loc: Michigan's Upper Peninsula

very nice shots

TTKBJR Loc: Kansas

Thank you

TTKBJR Loc: Kansas

Hey Captain Cliff, I have a few questions for you. I visited your website...loved loved your photos by the way. Here are my questions with regards to your sports pictures on your gallery.
1. What lens were you using for those shots of the swimmers?
2. The baseball player had a grunge look to the photos, did you use layers of texture for that or a plug in of some sort, if so which plug in?
3. final question is regarding your portraits, what kind of light set up do you use and do you do any skin smoothing with programs like portraiture or aperture? My cheapy light set I bought just to play with uses umbrellas but I after this session with my son, I was not totally convinced that it was enough light due to some of the other shots I had which I did not show.

Probably should have PM these questions to you but, I figured other people might benefit too from your wisdom.

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

Hate to hijack a thread, but since YOU did:

Lens for action swimming was always the 70-200. For the starting block shots it was either the 17-55 or 24-70, depending on D2X, D3, or D7000.

Ball player was the lighting, NIK Tonal Contrast, Topaz Spicify, NIK Pro Contrast. But much of the effect was in the lighting.

I looked at the portrait page and there are 26 images and I would guess 22 different lighting arrangements. A few were ONE light, one or two had 4 lights, and the positioning was all over the place. I use umbrellas a lot on location as they pack and set up so quickly. Studio stuff is almost always softboxes. Square, rectangular, and octagonal.

Some location work is done with just Nikon SB-800 flashes.

With very few exceptions, even my outdoor stuff will have at least one flash.

I do use a retouching plug-in for the business headshots as those need to be done fast and they are reproduced small. I use Portraiture by Imagenomic. For real portrait customers, I have some techniques I have picked up over the years that are more labor intensive, but give a much more honest look. Even with Portraiture, I use it on a layer mask so I can remove the effect that will sometimes hit the eyes, teeth and hair.

TTKBJR Loc: Kansas

Just for the record, I did not hijack this thread since I started it. I appreciate your answers, thank you. I thought I could get away with just using umbrellas but I am thinking I need some soft boxes too. Thanks for the info....love your work.

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

Oh yeah - can't hijack your own thread!

Actually, you CAN use just umbrellas. The big difference is that the softbox does allow for a bit more control - using the edges allows for more feathering control and the umbrella tends to spray light more. Both are useful. On my website the vast majority of the business headshots are done with an umbrella as the main light. I agree, though, that for hair and accent lights, the gridded strip banks are superior to control that light to specific areas and preclude lens flare.

TTKBJR Loc: Kansas

The problem I had with my umbrella lights is that they did not seem to be bright enough. I felt like I needed more light. I had three lights perhaps I need 4?

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

If the light in the 3 is not bright enough, then adding one more will give you 4 that are not bright enough.

What we need to know is what lights are in these umbrellas. I use speedlights and they are NEVER at full power - usually around quarter power - plenty of light with umbrellas.

Now if you are using continuous lights, adding one more will be one more insufficient light. Needless to say, I think speedlights are a far better choice than continuous lights (tungsten). Now the new bright LED stuff is a different story.

TTKBJR Loc: Kansas

Yeah, they are continuous bulbs and not LED's. Perhaps I should try some.