PRO

MKYoung

Big Smile

NIKON D300

settings

Aperture f/2.0 ISO 200 Shutter 1/1000

upload_date

Mar, 2014

Views

1446

Likes

+87

Awards

Winner in All about the EYE(S) Photo Challenge

Top Choice

+11

Superb Composition

Absolute Masterpiece

All Star

Magnificent Capture

Jaw Dropping

Superior Skill

Exceptional Contrast

Top Ranks

Top 30 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 20 rank week 1

Top 20 rank

Top 20 rank week 1

Top 30 rank week 2

Top 20 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 20 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Behind The Lens

Location

This shot was taken outside my front door. With children I tend to let them set up the composition and I 'try' to capture it the best I can. My daughter was being silly and sat on the front door ledge and could not stop giggling for some reason. I took a few shots and was lucky enough to capture this one. The original background was different as explained in the post processing section.

Time

Mid day.

Lighting

It was a cloudy day, which I feel is the best light for natural light portraiture. There were lighter and darker sections in the clouds allowing enough brightness through to make you squint if you looked up.

Equipment

Nikon D300; Nikon 35mm f1.8. Natural light. I used aperture f2 in order to blur as much of the background as possible and still have the face in focus.

Inspiration

My daughter...no other reason needed.

Editing

With portraiture I do quite a bit of what I call 'air brush' work. I start with skin tones, in this case I create a tone that compliments what skin truly looks like and then brighten it significantly but not to blow out the highlights if I can help it. Then I brighten the eyes to match what I have done to the skin tones, then brighten just a little more so they pop. Then I brightened the lips slightly and teeth. The background is a brick red door. There were door pattern insert lines across the frame that obviously indicated it was a door. It was distracting so I used the patch tool in CS4 and began cutting out the pattern. It created some abnormal artifacts so I used the dodge and burn tools and started to 'air brush' in a burst pattern until I liked the outcome.

In my camera bag

Nikon D300; Nikon 50mm f1.4 AIS;Nikon 50mm f1.8G; Nikon 85mm f1.8D; Nikon 35mm f1.8G DX; Tokina 12-24mm; Sigma 150mm f2.8; Manfrotto Tripod; LEE Big Stopper and assorted LEE adapter rings; Nikon SB 600 flash.

Feedback

With portraiture I have found sunlight is your enemy. Especially if it casts shadows around the eyes (raccoon eyes). Mid day sun overhead is especially troublesome. Also end and beginning day sun casts long shadows and weird skin tones, which can be problematic when taking head shots. The best light to capture a face is overcast. It flattens all shadows yet keeps detail. It lessons wrinkles and tends to make faces look smoother, more youthful. It also keeps your highlights from blowing out in post processing. In order to create this shot it took a lot of post processing 'air brushing' to blend the door design into the created burst pattern. It also takes some experimentation to achieve the right balance between brightness of eyes, face, and teeth. It is important not to over do it with the eyes or they look very fake, same with the teeth. Also try to understand differences in skin tones. There is no one skin tone 'type' for any given skin color. All races of people have endless levels of skin tone and it is important to treat every person as a new tone (unique) and not get caught up in routine post processing. Try to find the balance between reality and the dream. Too much is not a good thing in post processing most of the time. Be subtle and allow the personality of your subject to guide you to the end result.

See more amazing photos, follow MKYoung

MKYoung

MKYoung

Big Smile

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow MKYoung

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