Maud A B&W
Mar, 2016Views
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Awards
Contest Finalist in Long Hair Portraits Photo Contest
Member Selection Award
Peer Award
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Superior Skill
Virtuoso
Genius
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo in Deventer ,The Netherlands.Time
This was taken somewhere around 5 PM and 5:30 PM with the sun low behind a building and some trees.Lighting
The sun was low and I took Maud to a spot where the sun was blocked by a building and trees,it was like shooting with a large softbox and that natural light gave this stunning photo if I may say so myself.Equipment
This photo was shot with a Nikon D3 with a Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II attached. The shutter speed was 1/400 ISO was 800 Aperture was 5.0 Focal Length 140/1 And alls shot with natural light,hand held and no flash was used as a fill in.Inspiration
I suppose Maud was it herself who inspired me at that moment just because the way she stood,looked in the camera and how Maud was lit by the ambient light. This all together made this terrific photo of Maud.Editing
I did some post-processing at home later that evening,I always send the good shots I take of a model to the model and the only post-processing I do then are just little corrections as exposure,contrast, highlights, shadows, cropping and adding a little sharpness. This to give the models the photos just as they are pure and natural. I used Capture NX 2 but the software is discontinued so I start my post-processing in ACR to get my base right and after that I open the photos in PS CC 2015.5 these days. After that is done I make a selection of my favorite shots and start my post-processing. For this photo I did some post-processing with Photoshop CS 6,( now PS CC 2015.5) I started off with her skin (Blemishes and other annoying things) I used the (spot) healing brush and the clone stamp tool to get rid of the blemishes and so. No frequent separation was used here. After that I did some dodge & burning with the technique shown by Michael Woloszynowicz in his The Ultimate Guide to the Dodge & Burn technique tutorial. Now I do always use it as shown in the tutorial, really a great way shown is the curves method,I love using it. After the retouching her skin I begIn retouching her eyes. I always use the Retouching Academy Beauty Retouch Panel because using "Magic Eyes" saves time and gives a very pleasing result. Look at the brightness of the eyes in this shot. After all the big stuff is all done I tweak some things a little and when satisfied I save my work and walk away from it for a while and open the retouched photo again to see if I'm still satisfied with the result. If so I look and see if black & white looks better or not. In this case I already knew that this would be converted to a black & white photo because I do think it has more power in black & white. The black & white conversion is done in Nik Software,now also discontinued unfortunately! As long as it works I'll use Nik Software and I also own the whole Topaz Labs collection.In my camera bag
Depending on what kind of photos are going to be made that day.........but as I'm writing about a portrait now I'll write as if I'm going to a portrait shoot. If going for a portrait shoot I take along my Nikon D4 and D810 with my Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II ,my new Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art, Nikon Wireless Speedlight Commander SU-800 and 3 Nikon SB 910 in case needed. Also with me are two light stands with two umbrellas, a 5-in-1 Collapsible Circular Reflector Disc,a X-Rite ColorChecker and a Sekonic L-758 DR but hardly ever use the light meter any more.Feedback
Find the ladies and men who want to be photographed and practice as much as you can and learn more and more with every shoot you do. Try different things every time you shoot and see what style suites you best and try and create your own style. For the rest a little luck also helps to get a shot like this,I'm very proud of this portrait from start to finish and is one of my favorite portraits made by me along with the one photo of Sophie.
