Relaxing
Dec, 2013Views
8958
Likes
Awards
Top Shot Award
Contest Finalist in Fall 2016 Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Rural Portraits Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Outdoor Portraits Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Glamour Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in The Need Light Speedlite Tour Photo Contest
Featured
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Peer Award
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Superior Skill
All Star
Magnificent Capture
Exceptional Contrast
Jaw Dropping
One Of A Kind
Emotions
Impressed
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 2Top 10 rank week 1
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 2
PRO+
Platinum
RedShutterPhotography
December 28, 2013
Thank you so much for all your great comments, it is really appreciated.
BowmanLifeStudios
December 28, 2013
Excellent portrait, Great lighting and DOF. Superb composition and detail... Very Well Done!
PRO+
Platinum
dumbomsa
December 31, 2013
Beautiful presentation of a lovely young lady. Great skintones, color and contrast...and those blue eyes.....
Platinum
PRO
pat-rice440
January 19, 2015
Amazing lighting on the model and beautiful "ambience"/scenery. Congratulations on a gorgeous portrait..enjoyed reading the "Behind the Lens" very much
DavesAdventures
February 27, 2015
No way this shouldn't have been the winner of this contest. This is the best of group of finalist by far in my opinion.
PRO+
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in Kings Park in Perth Western AustraliaTime
Early morning around 10amLighting
The background is lit with natural light, sunlight filtering through the leaves of the trees in the back cave a very nice detail. The model was lit with one speed light in a 40 x 30 inch softbox about 2 feet above ground level to camera right pointing slightly downEquipment
This was shot with a Nikon D800 using a Nikon 85mm F1.8, a SB910 speed light, 40 x 30 inch softbox. A tripod was not used because I was laying on the ground to get eye level with the model so the camera was resting on a sheet on the ground. I used a 2 Pocket Wizard Plus III to trigger the flash.Inspiration
This was a paid portrait assignment, after the portrait session was completed I asked the model if we could do a few additional shots. I noticed the location when we arrived in the park and had this shot in mind instantly. the final result was exactly what I was looking for.Editing
Although this model had really good skin I had to do a slight skin touch-up, she was laying on a blanket to Keep her dress clean and there was a small section under her left arm that I could not hide for the shot so this was removed later. I also added slight vignetting to draw attention to the subject.In my camera bag
In my everyday bag... 2 X Nikon D800 bodies Nikon 24-70mm F2.8 Nikon 70-200mm F2.8 Radio Triggers Basic Cleaning Kit Nikon SB700 Speedlight Nikon SB910 Speedlight Memory Cards Spare batteries Business Cards Tripod (always in my car) This is the main things, there are also other things like filters, pen and notebook etc etc etc.Feedback
Key points here is that you want the flash to look more natural, like sunlight penetrating the leaves. To get this look in daylight, use your shutter speed to darken the background and your aperture and flash power to expose the subject. The softbox was positioned slightly above the subject (approx 45 degrees) to simulate the natural sun angle and to camera right. Focus point is the eye closest to my lens and I made sure my aperture was set correctly to keep her full face, hair, shoulders and arms in focus but I wanted it to drop off right behind her shoulders. I also wanted most of the foreground blurred. so I think my aperture was around F2.8 The camera was resting on a sheet on the ground and the front of the lens was approximately 6-10 feet from the subject, the exact distance is not that important as long as you frame your subject correctly. I always try to get my framing correct in camera to avoid cropping in post production. I prefer to shoot portraits with long lenses (150-200mm) however in this case I did not have enough space so this was shot at 85mm, however I do like the result. Get down and dirty, if I did not get down to the level of the subject this shot will not have the same impact, even a few inches off the ground had a different look. The ISO for this shot was 100, I always shoot at 100 whenever I can, the shutter speed was 1/250th because that is my flash sync speed, and looking at the DOF I am sure the aperture would have been around F2.8. Most importantly, enjoy yourself.
