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ZackAustin

Winter 2

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XTi

settings

Aperture 28/10 ISO 100 Shutter 1/250 Focal Length 50/1

upload_date

Jul, 2016

Views

2014

Likes

+362

Awards

Action Award

Zenith Award

Top Shot Award 22

Legendary Award

Lucky 3 Award

Contest Finalist in It Is Cold Outside Photo Contest

Featured

Contest Finalist in Photogenic Photo Contest

Peer Award

+172

Superb Composition

+33

Absolute Masterpiece

+31

Top Choice

+28

Outstanding Creativity

+10

Magnificent Capture

All Star

Superior Skill

Emotions

Impressed

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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken in Erie, Pennsylvania - We were Christmas shopping at a rustic, blizzard beaten and secluded spa, and decided to stop for an impromptu photoshoot.

Time

We had woke up early to get our Christmas shopping done... the only problem was that a blizzard had just blown through the night before. The streets were still covered with fresh powder and traffic was crawling. A drive that should have taken us 30-45 minutes took well over an hour, and we didn't arrive until nearly lunchtime.

Lighting

The gray skies provided just enough light to bounce off the fresh layer of snow; creating a beautiful soft bounce light that I was able to position my wife (The Model) into. To the camera left was a small hill also covered in snow... So I basically had 180degrees of soft white bounce. There were some bushes to camera right which acted as negative fill and created that little bit of contrast you can see on the left cheek of my wife's face.

Equipment

I shot this with my very first digital camera: Canon Rebel XTi and a 50mm prime. I have since upgraded, but this was the camera I used to transition from film to digital. On this day, the powdery snow was providing a great deal of bounce light so I was able to maintain a higher shutter speed, lower ISO and did not need a tripod or additional lighting.

Inspiration

I decided to bring my camera along on this day because I've always been particularly enamored with the beauty of fresh snowfall. My wife has always been very photogenic ... and fortunately for me she has no problem being my model on these impromptu occasions. Unfortunately we live in a different/warmer climate now, so I rarely get to see snowfall or my wife bundled up in winter clothes to try to keep her "Floridian-self" warm... so a gorgeous woman in a beautiful setting was inspiration enough to start shooting.

Editing

I did very little to this picture. To pull out the blues and to help define the wintery feel, I adjusted the RAW white balance from 5600k to somewhere in the 3000k range. In addition, a testament to the film days, I added some "film grain" or I guess it would be "digital grain" to enhance the overall texture of the image. Some of my favorite images (either mine or someone else's) were shot on film. The physical grain structure that is evident all the way through to the final print is one of my favorite aspects of shooting, and one that I've struggled to incorporate in my digital images. The newer versions of Photoshop do a pretty good job of it now.

In my camera bag

My bag is really a Pelican 1510 Carry On case with foam dividers. I love this case. I was able to retrofit the lid of the case to conveniently and safely hold my 15" Macbook laptop so that I can download and edit on the move. The main part of the case holds all the really fun stuff. My primary camera: Canon EOS 6D full frame camera body - And an assortment of zoom lenses: Canon EF 16-35 f/2.8, Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8, and Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8. I've never been particularly ecstatic about the sharpness of these zooms, but having the large range of focal length options outweighs the little bit of "softness" or aberration issues of noticed from these lenses. If I can manage to fit it in the case, I will also pack my Hasselblad 501c and a couple rolls of film... But more often than not this has to be packed into a secondary bag.

Feedback

My advice is really something that I struggle with myself... Take your camera with you -- Wherever you go, rain or shine, day or night... Take your camera with you. Just to have the ability to photograph something you weren't expecting - in my opinion the unexpected and candid shots are some of my favorites. As I said, I personally struggle with this because it always seems like I'm so busy and have so much to accomplish that I can't be bothered with the thought of taking pictures. The reality of the situation is that it only takes about 60seconds for me to turn my camera on, check my settings, frame up and release the shutter. DSLR bodies are already fairly small and easy to travel with... But with the advances in even smaller mirrorless cameras - the less bulky and cumbersome size should ensure that everyone can take the cameras with them.

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ZackAustin

ZackAustin

Winter 2

Behind The Lens

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