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Oct, 2013Views
854
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Awards
Chatter Award
Zenith Award
Creative Winter Award
Curator's Selection
Top Shot Award 21
Contest Finalist in Contrast in Black and White Photo Contest
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Outstanding Creativity
All Star
Jaw Dropping
Exceptional Contrast
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Platinum
birdlover54
November 18, 2013
Awesome photo! It makes a wonderful statement. my vote is on this one! Congrats!
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in the basement of our home about a month after our son was born.Time
This photo was taken at 11:00 am on 02/24/12 about a month after our son was born. This was the 2nd or 3rd time I had a photo shoot with my son at home shortly after he was born. I am a firefighter and I wanted a nice canvas of my son and I to hang in our home.Lighting
The lighting was pretty basic. It was a Elinchrom D Lite 400 watt head in an Elinchrom 24x24 softbox camera left. Two pieces of foam core were used camera right to try and lift some of the shadows. This was a collaborative effort with my wife. I set up the lights and had her stand in to check the lighting. I then donned my gear, wrapped my son in the flag, and took her position. My wife then took the photos from a tripod.Equipment
Shot with a Canon 30D using a Canon EF 24-105mm f4L IS USM lens at f5.6. Focal length was 47mm with a shutter speed of 1/125. ISO 100. A tripod was used. One Elinchrom D Lite 400 watt head in a 24x24 Elinchrom softbox was triggered with a skyport trigger. Cheap foam core was used camera right to try and lift some shadows. A black table cloth was used for the background. The image was cropped in post.Inspiration
Quite honestly I just wanted a nice canvas portrait of my son and I to hang in our home and that would stand the test of time. I wanted it to reflect some history. I am a professional full-time firefighter and I am a US Navy Veteran of 5 years. I consider myself a very patriotic american. Thinking back to the shoot now I think the events of 9/11 had more inspiration to this image than I had originally thought. I still remember that day vividly. I wanted an image that showed a fireman or the fire service rescuing a child and having nothing but a US Flag to wrap or warm the child after the rescue. It was my intent to use the US Flag to portray protection for our future generations.Editing
This photo has been processed numerous times. It's an image I go back to often and play with. It was originally a color image. The RAW file was processed in Lightroom. Burning was used in Photoshop to clean up the background. If memory serves me well the majority of this image was processed with ON1 Photo Effects. Initially, I was going to process it with a grunge or dirty feel (to more reflect a rescue scenario), but later decided it needed to be soft to more accurately reflect compassion and love. In the end it was converted to black & white for a ViewBug competition I decided to enter it into. In the end it did not win, but it did land me the only Contest Finalist Award I have ever won. It now hangs as a 16X20 canvas in our staircase and I see it everyday.In my camera bag
My bag has changed drastically since 2012. I'm not going to lie I carry more than I should daily, but I love having my cameras with me and some options for lenses. I have a Domke F2 bag as my everyday bag. I am able to stuff quite a bit into that bag. Right now it has 2 bodies (5D Mark II with grip and the 1D Mark IV), 4 Canon lenses (24-70 f2.8 II, 70-200 f2.8 IS II, 85 f1.8, 50 f1.8), a Canon 2x teleconverter, a ST-E3-RT transmitter with two 600ex-rt flashes, and 2 Rogue flashbender medium soft boxes. I have recently purchased the 135mm f2 and a 100mm f2.8 macro and have been playing with them more often.Feedback
If there is one thing that I am learning with photography it is to have a vision in mind before you even take a photo. Anyone can use a camera, but If you want an image that will speak to people put some thought into it. If you shoot something you are passionate about to begin with it will show!
