Photo
Aug, 2013Views
150
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at a playground area around Grenada Lake. There was a big patch of clover and we had taken several angles trying to get the greenery in the photo.Time
It was taken in the late afternoon in May 2013. The area had a lot of sun but we found the shady area close to some trees.Lighting
We had been taking senior portraits for at least a couple hours. Bailey is a great model and has good sense of humor. In this photo i was trying to capture her hair somewhat flowing in the wind. I knelt down beside her and focused on her eyes. I had her look the other way and the plan was for her to quickly turn her head back facing me in hopes that her hair would flow in the wind. We had taken several shots of which none seem to be working. So i asked for us to try again one last time. She turned, i prepared for the shot, i said GO, she turned her head quickly toward me with this big eyed silly face, i snapped a couple shots and burst out laughing. Of the 3-4 photo attempts this actually turned out to be the keeper. It was a funny shot but not a surprise as she had been a great client to work with that day.Equipment
I was shooting a Nikon D300 with a Nikkor 18-105mm lens at about 75mm. ISO 200, fstop 6.3 @ 1/80. I used a Nikon SB800 flash to fill and lighten her eyes.Inspiration
I was taking senior portraits for Bailey on this day. It was May and somewhat hot and we decided to find a shade and sit in the grass. My idea of getting a photo with her hair somewhat flowing in the wind wasn't turning out so well after several attempts, so Bailey decided to surprise me and be silly when she turned to look at me for the photo.Editing
I normally do some sort of post-processing with all my photos. I shot this photo as jpeg, but i mostly shoot RAW now especially for portraits. With portraits, i always try to edit the eyes to bring out the colors and edit the face just to soften the skin a little on females and remove any distractions such as stray hairs or acne. I predominately use OnOne Software to do all my editing. With this photo i increased the saturation just enough to make the colors "pop". Honestly looking at it now, id probably lighten it up a stop or two. I also used Picasa3 to add the text and watermark to the photo.In my camera bag
I have a backpack camera bag and its cram packed with stuff. I generally have it packed with a Nikon D3oo, Nikon D7000, Nikon nikkor 18-105mm f5.6, Tamron 28-70mm f2.8, Tamron 70-200mm f2.8, 2 flashes, several reflectors, homemade snoop, flash slave, lens filters, battery grips, extra batteries for the flashes and cameras, chargers, and a tripod etc. I nearly carry everything that i could possibly need as i hate to get on a location and something i need is in another bag back at home.Feedback
Considering that this was a spontaneous, playful photo that only happened because the model was being silly, the one thing needed to capture a similar photo is to be prepared for the unexpected. Having a great model with a good sense of humor and a willingness to be playful is a great plus. As i tell clients, photography is about having fun. In my opinion, the objective to taking photos of a person such as senior requires trying to capture the clients personality. That's why we use their personal props such as letter-man jackets etc. A Bailey was laughing and being silly, but she could also be very serious and strike a great pose. I felt that i had captured her personality perfectly in this, as well as other photos.
