Putting your skills to good use

I should clarify the title of this article. I'm not in any way suggesting that photographers and graphic designers don't put their talents to good use every day in the workplace. I simply want to discuss using your talents to help others and doing so on a volunteer basis.

Many photographers are familiar with Help Portrait and similar efforts, but you can use your talents in other ways as well. I often volunteer to shoot and design for local non-profit organizations. I recently designed a few banners for a local Cub Scout pack for their holiday parade float and shoot images for my local church regularly.

Recently, a student-athlete at the university were I work asked me to help with a poster design for an upcoming mission trip. She needs to raise more than $15,000 to sponsor 11 months of work in 11 countries on her World Race. She really just wanted a decent photo and some text next to it so she'd have something to get peoples' attention. Being a person that's either full speed or stop, I couldn't let it just be a boring image. My opinion was simple: even if people don't like the concept, they won't be able to say that no effort was put into it. And away I ran with the idea.

The concept was to mimic the film Book of Eli. I won't spoil the film if you haven't seen it, but the premiss is that a man has been called by God to travel across the American wasteland (post nuclear war) to fulfill a specific mission. Nesya, the student taking the trip, will do much of the same. She will spend nearly a year visiting impoverished countries and communities and working with a variety of people groups on countless aid projects and in teaching ministries. She'll be living out of a backpack the entire time. Again, if you've seen the film, this was a perfect fit for a theme.

Step one was to conceptualize the final piece and how it would be used. We decided that it would be good to have some business cards with her information to send out in letters and to hand out to people she may happen on by chance. We also wanted to make 11x17 posters to present some of the basic information and encourage viewers to find out more about the work.

The concept was an open desert - were much of the Book of Eli film takes place. I didn't have any good images of the desert, despite living in Arizona for several years so, I resorted to stock images which I purchased, retouched and composited. Here are the two images that we decided on:

The above images was chosen as the major background piece. Even the sky would work perfectly for the look we were after, especially after a few tweaks in Photoshop.

The image above would be used for the road only. I had to alter the perspective to work with the horizon line in the top photo and it required lengthening and tapering to gain a vanishing point.

Here is what the background looked like after some composite work in Photoshop.

The film is shot in desaturated tones to convey the drab and desolate world that remains. So, I punched up the drama in the sky, desaturated the setting and boosted the contrast.

Next we had to shoot Nesya. In the film, Mila Kunis' character is dressed in clothing that remains. She has a plaid long sleeve shirt, vest, hip pouch and aviators. At the end of the film, she carries a backpack and inserts a pair of Dr. Dre Beats headphones as she begins her journey. So, we echoed this the best we could with what we had.

I photographed her in the parking lot outside my office so that I could use the sun as a hair light and so I'd have plenty of ambient. I ended up shooting at ISO 400 at 1/200th at f/11 or so, though I did make some changes depending on the pose. I photographed her looking in various directions. We'd check them on the background later and decide which image we felt worked best.

Here is the selected image right out of the camera.

I did a poor job of keeping her in front of the original background which was a light colored building in the distance. We had no clear view of the sky from an angle that would work for the point of view, so we just, well, winged it.

I lit her with a single Alien Bees 800 strobe shot through a 51" translucent PLM umbrella with the Spill Kill fabric installed on the back so, it was basically a brolly box. This threw a broad, but diffused light and the Kill fabric allowed maximum efficiency by forcing all light through the front of the umbrella face. I set it to just under 1/4 power to fill the unlit portion of her face. You can see the reflection in her sunglasses. The PLM was approximately 5 feet off the ground and 5 feet away and powered with a Paul C. Buff Vagabond pack.

The final lighting setup is shown below and is a classic cross-light setup using the sun as the hair light.

After we had the shot, I removed her form the background, removed the light reflection from the sunglasses, did very minor retouching to the skin and then added some contrast and desaturation work to echo the background environment.

Once she was added to the frame it was simply a matter of adding a shadow to the ground behind her, bringing in some gradients to allow the text to stand out and placing the text in the appropriate areas. Here is the final composite.

I hope you found this breakdown helpful, but more importantly, I hope you take away the principle of helping others with your craft. There's no harm in charging for your services, but donating your time is hugely rewarding to those you help, and perhaps more so, for you individually.

Until next time, be safe and happy shooting.

BTS: Faulkner Women's Soccer Brochure Cover Shoot 2011

Here's another BTS video I shot several weeks ago, but am just now getting to post. This is a look at the setup and shoot for the cover of this year's women's soccer brochure for Faulkner University.

This is perhaps the most minimalistic setup I've ever used for a promotional product piece. It's about as easy as you can get; a Nikon SB-800 with a CTO gel fired remotely on a stand about 45 degrees to camera left.

I used the CTO gel to balance for the setting sun that was already turning orange/gold. I obviously used the sun as the main light and simply added fill from the left with the flash. The flash is set to remote mode and I believe it was set to 50mm zoom with about 1/8th output. I pushed the shutter up to 1/400th and had the ISO at 400 and the aperture parked at f/5.6. I used continuous focus tracking and simply tried to time the shot where I wanted it.

The video doesn't show the cutout process of each player like the football video, but you still get the idea. Feel free to post any comments or questions.

Enjoy!

BTS: Faulkner Football Brochure Cover Shoot 2011

Here is a behind the scenes look at the 2011 Faulkner University football cover shoot. This year the coaches decided to feature a representative from each class. The shooting order in the video is as follows: Matt Enyart, senior defensive end; Isaac Franklin, freshman safety; Josh Hollingsworth, sophomore quarterback; and Matt Nolan, junior offensive lineman.

This video is posted to show the lighting setup used for each of the shots and then the progression in post for each of the selected images. Here is a basic look at the setup used, though the lights were moved around obviously, depending on the subject orientation.

Unfortunately, none of the power settings used were recorded. I typically meter visually and the actual metered output isn't recorded. This will at least give you an idea of where the lights were placed and the effect that each was designed to create.

This was a fun project, as usual, and the guys were great to work with. Hope you enjoy the video and for the photographers out there, I hope you find the setups somewhat helpful. I hope to have the women's soccer shoot up soon.

BTS Look at the 2010 Faulkner Football Poster Shoot

Here is a behind the scenes look at the development of the 2010 Faulkner University football poster. The end result is shown below and the video beneath that shows the photographic process and the compiling of the final product. I hope to have a video showing my work for the 2010 football media guide cover soon, so stay tuned.

Here is the youtube video showing the behind the scenes work...



Enjoy

- R

Nikon introduces a new flash and a host of lenses

Nikon has had two lens releases since my last gear review post and that's both a good and bad thing. It's bad because that means I'm behind on my posts. But it's good considering that usually such releases are only twice a year at best. So, without further delay, here is a quick look at the new flash and lens releases from Nikon.



Nikon SB-700: Think of this puppy as the SB-900's mini-me. It brings in the focusing power, the improved LED display, better build, better head rotation, over-heating tracking, FX/DX auto tracking, filter identification and more are all incorporated in this new body. The unit is not as powerful, of course, as it's big brother, but that's to be expected. The BIG thing that I feel Nikon really overlooked or just deliberately left out is the PC-sync terminal. For $325-350 it really should feature the PC-sync input. This allows for the addition of wireless receivers to trigger the flashes remotely. You can add such receivers via hot shoe adapters, but that is an extra piece of equipment to have to keep up with. Pocketwizard has released new Mini and Flex units that can be placed on the camera and flash to bring that communication in, but at $200-220 each, that's a step you have to really consider taking.

One new feature that the SB-700 inherits from the SB-900 that the SB-600 does not have is the SU-4 mode. This setting allows the flash to use an optical slave to trigger when it sees another flash fire. This is very handy considering the lake of the sync slot, but it might not be suitable for all shooting circumstances and environments.

Bottom line, if you are in need of a flash unit and can get by without the PC-sync terminal, then this is the most well-rounded unit currently in the Nikon lineup. The SB-600 is not quite as feature laden, but it comes in at more than $100 less. The big brother, the SB-900, has more power and features, but will run you $100 more. Flashes have never been, nor will they ever be, inexpensive and at $330 online, it's a good compromise overall.



Updated AF-S 200mm f/2 VR II N: This a beautiful lens that every wedding, event and sports photographer wants in his/her bag. This is one of the best optics on the planet. It provides superb bokeh, rapid AF, excellent VR control and razor sharp results. This is an update to the previous version. This rendition gets the nano crystal coating (N) and the new VR II system (versus VR). At $6,000 though, you might want to rethink things. The current, and equally excellent copy, retails online for $4,800 for the USA copy and $4,000 for the gray market version. The newer one likely has somewhat noticeably better results, but depending you your line of work, they might not be a few thousands dollars better.



NEW Nikon AF-S 85mm f/1.4  N: Finally after years of waiting Nikon decided to bring AF-S to one of the best lenses in its lineup. The current AF 85mm f/1.4 is superb, but it focuses slow even on the best bodies and does so with a bit of a grunt. The new nano crystal coating should help with overall image quality and the AF-S feature will allow it to be used in even more environments - like sports. The current AF version runs about $1,250 online and the new N coating and AF-S will bump the price $450 to $1,700. If you don't have this optic and you shoot portraits, weddings, etc. you should definitely consider it. It is my favorite Nikon lens of all time. For me, the ability to use it in the athletic world as well as the portrait world does at the moment justify the extra funds. But this is my take on things. I'm considering selling my AF for the AF-S, but we'll see.



New Nikon AF-S 35mm f/1.4 N: Another huge finally.Why? Because there are a handful of 35mm options from Nikon, but none that quite hit the sweet spot. The current 35mm f/1.4 was non-af, making it virtually useless by today's standards. The AF 35mm f/2 was slow and load and despite a lot of great reviews was one of the worst lenses I ever used. I wound up sending mine back to B&H. The newer 35mm is the AF-S f/1.8, but it came in the DX flavor, rendering it pointless for FX sensors. For the money the 1.8 is an excellent optic and should be on every DX Nikon out there, but full frame shooters were stuck with no AF or slow AF with crapy results. Now we have something to consider. But consider it we must. At $1,800 it's the same as the 14-24mm f/2.8 N, a hefty amount more than the 50mm f/1.4 N (of course it's noticeably wider) which rings it at around $475 and is more expensive than the 24-70mm f/2.8 N. These optics are not all in the same category, but depending on what you need, you can see the overall cost. The Canon equivalent is only $1350, but it's a bit older. I'd love to have this lens, but only the 24mm f/1.4 at $2,200 scares me more for versatility for the price.



NEW Nikon AF-S 24-120mm f/4 N VR: Another lens that finally brings competition to the Canon equivalent. This lens offers a relatively wide to moderate telephoto option with a respectable constant aperture of f/4. The VR feature will help control vibration and the fact that it can be used on an FX camera is a big plus and the N coating will improve image results. However, if you can handle an f/3.5-5.6 variation the current version is a lot less expensive at $570 online. The new one rings in at $1,300, but should provide far better results. The reviews that I read on the current version were not so hot, but for $1,300, the older one at sub $600 might be a better option. This one might be more of a shelf-sitter than other new releases.



NEW Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR: This, to me, is a far more exciting introduction than the 24-120. Why? It's faster on the wide end - and is practically as wide - 100mm longer on the long end - and only a stop slower - has VR, is FX ready and is nearly $300 less than the 24-120! This is considered the 18-200mm lens for FX users. Nikon's popular 18-200mm has been an awesome "do all" lens for DX users, but FX bodies have had no such friend...until now. The 28-300 is a very good general "do all" focal range and the variable aperture is more than sufficient for most situations. It has a zoom lock switch so it does not creep open when held downward and is an all round nice little package. At $1,050 it's not for everyone, but considering that it could quite possibly be the only lens necessary for travel and adventure photographers, it's a steal in my book.

If I were going to be doing an international trip, entering a variety of shooting situations, packing an FX body and a few flashes, I would have to strongly consider weather I needed all the extra gear I would normally haul along. My current widest lens is 24mm and my longest without telephoto converter is 200mm. This trumps that and it's ONE lens. If I decided that I really would not need, or could, without penalty, forego apertures of 2.8 or faster, I would take ONLY this lens. If I had to pack something else, it would be my ultra light, inexpensive and fast 50 f/1.8. And I would ONLY use it for depth of field work and extreme low light shooting. My perfect - low weight, low cost travel/mission work/adventure/gone for the day/do it all setup for FX would be: D700 body, SB-800/900, 50 1.8, 28-300, a small transmitter and receiver - DONE. I love my MB-D10 grip and battery, but if I pretty much know I'm not going to be shooting a ton of action, I'd leave it (for pack space and weight) at home. If I had extra room, I'd toss in a clamp and another flash. When you own heavy, fast, expensive glass, you get used to the versatility and results, but many times, that much gear is simply not practical. When I went to Ukraine a few years ago to work with orphans, I decided that my point and shoot option from my previous visit was far too limiting considering that photography is my job and hobby. So, I took my backup body - then a D40 - a 55-200 VR lens, three Nikon flashes, two small light stands, a few collapsible umbrellas and a transmitter and my receivers. I was able to shoot a variety of things and only had the one lens! I set up some small "portrait" shoots outside with the lighting gear and the results were pretty good considering all of my limitations.

Today, I might consider the new Coolpix P7000 for it's quality, size and weight, but for double that price, I could get this excellent lens to pair with my D700.

I'm considering adding this to my kit for future travel use. I think it's a great solution.



NEW Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR DX: This will apply to cropped DX sensors only and is a new "kit type" alternative to the popular 55-200mm VR. When most people pick up a kit purchase it usually features the 18-55mm and if it has a second lens, it's the 55-200mm VR. They are both great lenses for general shooting and the new 55-300mm offering simply sweetens the deal further. The new 55-300 offers the same aperture values as the 55-200, but with 100mm more focal length potential. The lens is also a nice alternative to the excellent 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR. At $80 less than the 70-300 it's wider on the back end and definitely worth a look. At $170ish more than the 55-200 it's a bit of a leap, but it offers more focal length in a very similar package size. The 70-300 still has the advantage of working on FX bodies. Overall I think it's a great new choice for the D300s model and down.

Again, all of these points are my own personal ones and in no way reflect what each unique shooter/buyer will think, want or get. I simply post my ideas to help in your decision to expand or replace your gear.

- R

Nikon releases the D7000

It's been a while since my last post on gear even though Nikon has coughed up a ton of new stuff, predominantly new lens, which is a good thing. They have introduced new entry level items as well as glass that the avid pro has been pining for for some time. If you don't believe me, look at my previous posts and you'll see that a lot of things I, and pros across the board, have been wanting and, in fact, genuinely needing for years. This post will focus on the new D7000 and I will follow up with a look at the new flash and lenses. Again, any recommendations, likes or dislikes are simply that - my opinions given my understanding of the equipment, cost and usability. So, here we go.



Enter the D7000:

So, what is it? Well, it's been dubbed the successor to the D90, which in all fairness, it sort of is. Expect the D90 to dwindle out by the first of the year or a little after.  It might hang around longer, but when you compare the list pros and cons and create your bang-for-buck scenario, I think the vast majority of shooters that are looking at this price point will side with the D7000. Now, the D90 might get a new life if the price continues to drop, but I'm not sure Nikon will continue to output that model once this one is readily available.

Now for the real kicker that many are probably NOT considering. Is the D7000 a D300s killer? We'll take a look at the features and see. Now, I'm obviously not going to talk about all of them, but there are certainly some things to hit on. After each topic I will keep a running "point" total as I see it.

1. Build: It's got a new magnesium alloy frame. This puts it on par with the D300s and a big step up from the D90. This improves body integrity and can contribute to better weather sealing. D7000: 1     D90: 0     D300s 1

2. Sensor: The D7000 gets a bump up to 16MP from 12MP. This is not, of course, the end all, be all of image quality, but it does help. The user should see sharper images with more detail overall with everything being equal between the bodies. This could effect low light shooting results, but only tests will confirm this. I highly doubt that this sensor will suffer more than the current generations when it comes to low light work. Nikon is leading the industry in this area as far as I'm concerned. You still get the cropped DX sensor, but what did you expect? D7000: 2     D90: 0     D300s 1

3. ISO: Another point for the D7000. The D90 and D300s are base 200-3200 with expansion up to 6400. The D7000 knocks that out of the park with a base of  100-6400 with expansion to a ridiculous 25,600. Not as high as the D3s, but more than enough for even non-practical purposes. D7000: 3     D90: 0     D300s 1

4. Movie Mode: This might not even appeal to a lot of shooters, but it's definitely something that would-be indie film makers will love and, honestly, it does expand the creative arena for the photographer. So many photographers are moving into film because of the lower cost of gear - because they already own it! The D90 revolutionized the DSLR world when it became the first body that produced HD video. Then everyone followed. Now the D7000 breaks into a new realm - autofocus in video mode. This is a HUGE step forward because it allows you to use follow focus if you want, but does not make it necessary. It also shoots full resolution 1080 HD at 24 fps. So, even though the D90 does have video, the D7000 blows it away and the point will only go to the new body. D7000: 4     D90: 0     D300s 1

5. AF Sensor: Luckily all three of these cameras will focus even non-AFS lenses. It remains to be seen if the D7000 will be a significant leap in AF speed, but the sensor is a bump from the D90 where it gets 39 points with 9 cross type areas versus the 11 and 1 of the D90. It still isn't on par with the fabulous 51 area/15 cross type of the D300s (and D3 bodies), but it's excellent at this level of camera. But, because we are doing a side by side look, the D300s will get the point. D7000: 4     D90: 0     D300s 2

6. Metering Sensor: The D7000 will win here too as it features a new 2016 pixel sensor versus the 1005 of the D300s and the 403 from the D90. What does this mean? Theoretically it makes the camera more efficient at ganging light levels for proper exposure, white balance, focus tracking and iTTL output. D7000: 5    D90: 0     D300s 2

7. Viewfinder: The D7000, like the D300s gives you 100% coverage at .94x magnification. The D90 gave you 96%. It's a tie with the D300s. D7000: 6    D90: 0     D300s 3

8. Shooting Speed: This might be where the pack gets separated in a major feature for some. The D90 could only output 4.5 fps on a good day. This is not bad for family shooting, but when you compare the D7000 to the D300s and higher, this number will become a factor. The D7000 outputs a maximum 6 fps which is very respectable, but no match for the excellent 8 fps max that the D300s is capable of - although it does require the MB-D10 grip and more battery power. So, if you're a sports shooter looking for either a new rig or a backup, you should consider the lack of frame rate in your purchase. Again, for non-sports shooters, this might not be an issue. D7000: 5    D90: 0     D300s 3

9. Storage: The D7000 keeps the SD slot for its storage type, but does provide a second slot to either provide roll over storage or separated storage or say RAW and JPEG when shot simultaneously. I prefer the Compact Flash option on the D300s, but I think for this class of camera, the SD is a more common storage format and since it accommodates the SDXC cards and there is double the internal capacity, the D7000 gets the point. D7000: 6    D90: 0     D300s 3

10. $: This is tougher to do side by side, because you have to take value into consideration here. For a hands down winner, the D90 finally gets a point coming in at $780 for the body only (as of this post). I expect that price to drop even more as it exits the stage, so if you are a new shooter in the DSLR field or just want a superb backup, grab the D90 or wait for it to drop a little. I see it absolutely bottoming out at $699 new, but I'm not a marketing expert. The D300s has been around for quite a while and is in need of an update, but not more so than the excellent D700. The D300s will cost you about $1,480 new body only. It's at the top of the list and considering that it's only real advantages over the new D7000 are AF points, 2 more fps and a possible preference for the CF card, it seems unlikely that most shoppers will throw out the extra $300. The D7000 also offers some newer metering sensors, the new processing engine and the excellent movie mode. I think the deal breaker here would really just be the shooting speed. The D7000 comes it at a respectable $1,200 and in my opinion is the bang for buck champ of the group. The point for dollar amount goes to the D9o, but the value point goes to the D7000. D7000: 6    D90: 1     D300s 3

11. Value: See point 10. for info. D7000: 7    D90: 1     D300s 3

At the end of the day, camera dimensions and weight are totally subjective, so are not included in the review. I actually prefer a meatier camera so I like the D3s/x bodies, but I shoot with a heavier (when fully loaded) D700. There are also other features that can be talked about, but I think they impact the shooter/buyer less than those points listed above.

If you're a full-frame shooter, just keep waiting for the D700 update or other major D3 advancement. If you're an entry level shooter consider the D3100 or D5000. If you are looking at the middle of the pack consider the D90 for it's excellent price if the features of the D7000 are not necessary for you. If you need speed, still go with the D300s if the D3s is out of your price point. If you want the most for the best value, I'd strongly consider the D7000. Wait for some image and performance reviews from other great sites, but at the end of the day it offers a TON of features that are sure to justify the $1,200 price tag.

- R

Volleyball Poster Shoot '09

Here is another shoot from last year. This is a behind the scenes look at the shoot I did for the volleyball poster last year. More to come...

Volleyball Media Guide Cover Shoot '09

This is going back in time a bit, but I came across some semi behind the scenes footage and thought I'd post it. I will be adding some other videos soon...

Hands-on reviews and product tours coming soon

If you're at all like me you try to find out as much about new products as possible before dropping a lump of cash down. However, many of these new products, especially the less mechanical releases, have few, if any, reviews or real-life tours. Don't get me wrong, most manufacturers do a solid job of posting photos and, on occasion, video tours. But most companies have such a broad spectrum of products that it's nearly impossible to do an extensive job in all areas.

So, in order to better help our fellow photographers out there, I've decided to try and put together some short videos that give you either a first look at a product from a true perspective or a personal review of its easy of use and practicality. I don't plan on doing a lot of camera and lens evaluations because there are much more qualified professionals out there that run tests that, honestly, I don't even always understand. Besides, we all know that sooner or later a host of these sites will likely have a review of almost everything that hits the street from the major manufactures.

Look for our videos to focus more on the equipment that is so often seemingly left out of the loop. Items such as light stands, brackets, reflectors, carrying cases, light modifiers and accessories. Remember, these wont necessarily be exclusive looks at these products, but rather and opportunity for you to see them outside of the manufacture's propaganda, which is really only aimed at the pros of the item, as well as some of our likes and dislikes and potentially alternate uses. The following is a list of items I hope to take a look at soon. Note, the hyperlink will take you to the product page on the B&H website:

*The Kata MC-61 DSLR/ProHD camera bag (it's tough to even find photos of this bag outside of the Kata site and video tours/reviews are practically nonexistent. Even  B&H has only 3 reviews of the item. I usually try to add my two cents there too.)

*Manfrotto 1051BAC mini stackable light stand (this will focus on the design and functionality of this new stand and compare it with the previous version, the 305B mini stacker)

*Manfrotto 1005BAC Alu Ranker Light Stand (this will focus on the design and functionality as well, with a comparison between it and the 307B Stacker)

*Lastolite TriGrip Bracket (let's face it, Lastolite is one of the manufacturers that does an outstanding job of producing product demos for potential clients. This video will focus more on the construction and limitations of the device as well as it's ease of use and practicality for photographers)

*Lastolite TriGrip Diffuser 48" and TriGrip Sunlite/Soft Silver 30" (these will likely be reviewed both independently and with the above mentioned TriGrip bracket)

*Photoflex LiteDome Q39 XL Softbox (this video will give you a real world look at the size and functionality of Photoflex's largest rectangular softbox for strobes)

*Photoflex LiteDome Q39 Large and Medium Softboxes (this video will also give you a real world look at the two most common softbox sizes. Because they are exactly the same only different sizes, they will be combined into a single video. We will also take a look at the softbox grid as well)

*Photoflex LiteDome Q39 XS along with the Basic Speed Ring Adapter and Adjustable Shoe Mount Connector (the XS LiteDome can be used with both a studio strobe and a shoe-mount speedlight with the help of the mentioned adaptors. We will take a look at the softbox and how it works with both of theses lighting systems)

Hopefully some of these reviews will help both budding and professional photographers get a look at some new, and or different, equipment before they spend loads of money on stuff that may or may not work for them. In all of this, it really my hope that at least one person finds the information useful.

I'm slammed right now at work preparing all of the athletic graphics for the first four fall sports at the university and I'm trying to wrap up some wedding work, but I assure you, I will try to begin work on some of these videos soon.

Take care and happy shooting.

-R

DIY Studio Diffusers for Grids and Barn Doors

I was thinking about the lighting setup I discussed on March 2 and was contemplating the hard directional light put out by studio strobes when coupled with honeycomb grids or barn doors. We want the tight, directional light to chisel, highlight, rim light and otherwise focus on specific elements within the photograph. The problem, is that light is still a hard source.

Think about it, it's a bare bulb flash in a highly reflective dish projected directly outward. Even though it has a controlled spread, it is still not a diffused source. How can we improve on this? Now, maybe I'm behind in the game, which is entirely possible, but I experimented with some solutions that actually worked pretty well.

To diffuse the light, we need it to pass through some sort of opaque material. This will soften the light, creating softer shadows. This will really come in handy when working with models and skin tones and textures in general. The object then is to figure out how to get a diffusion material in front of these modifiers.

Now, some lighting companies may have already solved this problem, but as of today, Alien Bees, the brand I currently use, doesn't offer anything in this arena. Paul C. Buff does offer a diffusion sock for the 22" Beauty Dish and they recently added a 40 degree grid, but there is nothing for the standard reflectors and grids and barn doors, etc. So, how do we create this softening?

Well the first thing we could do is go with the idea that is offered by Alien Bees with the Beauty Dish and that is to add a diffusion material, or sock, over the front end. This will work, but I'm not sure how much spread will be gained - and this is what we don't want when using a grid - by having it on the outside of the grid.  This would basically create a small softbox, but even though softboxes are far more directional than, say ,an umbrella - which is sort of like comparing an open reflector with a gridded one - they still produce light spill and wrap. The solution even for softboxes is to put the grid in front of the diffusion screen. That way the already softened light is passing through the focusing grid. So, for me, the sock idea was sort of out since it somewhat defeats the purpose of what I was going for.

The second, and perhaps most logical and effective method, is to place a diffusion material behind the grid and barn doors, etc., much like we do on a gridded softbox. To do this, I went to my local Home Depot to look for some diffusion material and what better place to look than the actual light diffusers. Large fluorescent light fixtures that you often find, say, in a kitchen or a garage come with plastic diffusion screens to diffuse and spread the light. Perfect.

These come in a variety of finishes and sizes. The most common seems to be the prism texture. It features a series of little pyramids that help diffuse the light. This might work fine, but I was looking for something thinner as the space in the lip of the reflector dish is very shallow and the grid still has to fit. I couldn't find what I was looking for so I asked and the gentleman directed me to the back of the store in building supplies. There I found the same prism material, but also the cross hatched elevator light coverings - which might make a good grid for a DIY light source! - and a different diffuser for lights that looked like fine stained glass or small stone (see image below). This pattern was slightly thinner than the other so I picked up a 2'x4' sheet of the acrylic material for about $9. This is way more than you'd need, but its also very brittle - in fact mine broke from slightly folding it by accident when trying to put it in the car. Big deal, I'm going to cut it anyway.

Before I could get back to work to try out the idea, I had to stop by Wal-Mart to pick up a few things and while there I traveled through the kitchen appliance isle and came across cutting boards. Now, I had noticed them before, but it hadn't occurred to me until then that the thin, white  cutting mats would make great little diffusers. So, I picked up a pack of three (about 14"x18" or so) for $3 just to compare the two.

Acrylic material cut to size

Cutting mat cut to size

Once home, I took out one of the 7" honeycomb grids and used a Sharpie to trace the edge onto both materials. I then used scissors to cut the mat - very easy -  and heavy duty hand shears to cut the acrylic. Note: you can do it with scissors, but it's very brittle and cracks easily. Try the shears if you choose to work with this material.

I did not have a human subject so I used an orange. It's got a dippled surface and is moderately reflective so I figured it would give me some feedback. Below are the results.

Alien Bees 800 w/ reflector dish - no diffusion

Alien Bees 800 w/ reflector dish - acrylic diffusion

Alien Bees 800 w/ reflector dish - cutting mat diffusion

The first picture is of the orange shot with an Alien Bees 800 strobe with the standard reflector only. The second picture is with the acrylic diffuser in place and the third is with the cutting mat diffuser in place. As you can see the diffusers pull the highlight intensity down and soften the shadows. I did various tests with barn doors and grids - and yes they both fit well behind the grid - with similar results. I chose to use the non-focused images so as not to create any misguided shadows, etc. from the accessories.

I then took a meter reading to compare the differences. The settings on the 800 were not recorded as they are not essential for this test since I was just looking for the output difference between the non-diffused light and the two diffused sources. No settings were changed between the three meter tests.

The bare flash with reflector clocked in at f/11. Both the acrylic diffuser and mat diffuser produced very comparable results right around f/8. It would be a safe estimate that the diffusers reduce the light output by one stop which is pretty respectable. The results were not surprising since the images of the two are so similar.

For me, I'd go with the cutting mat. Why? It produced nearly identical results both in quality and light loss and is much easier to cut and store. The acrylic that I used was good, but simply too brittle for long term use, especially when travel might be involved.

CAUTION!!!: I have no idea how long term or high intensity use will effect the integrity of these materials! The cutting mat material is not designed for use with lighting and the acrylic, though used with lighting diffusion by nature, is NOT designed for strobes or high temperature modeling lamps. Florescent lights give off almost no heat so are very tame when it comes to material eroding. I use 100 watt light bulbs as modeling lamps and when you couple them with the grids the diffusers come very close to touching the bulb and might actually make contact in some cases. If you've every pulled a metal grid off of a strobe after even 5 minutes of use near a modeling lamp, you know that the temperatures are quite hot. For safety reasons, I'd recommend turning off the modeling lamp completely or removing it all together. The strobe will generate heat, but in short controlled bursts. You are still best served by checking the integrity of the diffuser from time to time. Alien Bees does not recommend such diffusion materials and will therefore not cover any problems that might be caused by this lighting setup. Use at your own risk. I would be remiss if I failed to mention the possibility of fire as a result of strobe misuse. Always follow the instructions provided by your equipment manufacturer. As with any DIY project, homemade solutions can present risk of equipment malfunction or failure and personal injury. Though I feel this solution is safe under the listed circumstance, I am not an electrical or mechanical expert and am not responsible for any problems that may arise from improper use.

More beauty lighting with a pair of strobes

Eden Harris

It's been a bit since my last post, needless to say, I've been crazy busy. This will be a relatively short post and will take the topic of the last post on two source beauty lighting in a different direction.

Last time, I talked about "clam shell" lighting. Basically, it consists of a diffused light source at 45 degrees above and below the subject in the portrait environment. Here, I've moved the sources into a cross-lighting setup. The interesting thing about this particular setup is that it incorporates no diffusion. The main light is positioned to camera left at about 45 degrees. The light is an Alien Bees 800 series strobe with a standard reflector and a 30 degree honeycomb grid attached. This concentrates the light, allowing for both limited spill and less power. One could use a beauty dish in this setting as well, though, without a grid, it will produce a larger light cast.

Erin Pierce

The second light is also and Alien Bee's 800 fixed with a standard reflector and a set of barn doors. The vertical doors are closed down allowing only about a two inch beam of light. The top and bottom flaps (the horizontal doors) are wide open. I find this allows more directional light over a longer plane than, say, a snoot or honeycomb grid. I wanted the light to travel from the head down the back and arm to provide a more complete rim light.

The lighting setup was the same for both models, but arranged in opposite directions for each subject. Eden (top picture in the post and last) was shot using the setup shown below. Erin (above) was photographed with the main light to the right and the rim light to the left. Note how much coverage the barn doors allow down the back of the subject. It is especially evident in the pictures of Eden as I have her positioned at a harder angle to the camera. Both models have easy-going and bright personalities which makes working with them easy and fun. The poses were done from a run of the mill  school chair. The glare that the legs and back of the seat produced in some of the images was removed in post.

Cross-lighting setup

I failed to record the power output settings on the strobes, but it was significantly less power than required with diffusion. The images were shot with a Nikon D700 in RAW mode with a 70-200mm lens at f/8 at 1/250th. They were rotated and a few minor tweaks were performed in Aperture before dumping them off to Photoshop CS4.

The great thing about this setup is that it introduces virtually no light spill onto the backdrop. That is further controlled by the fast shutter speed. I have to admit, this was an improvised scenario. We began the shoot with the clam shell configuration - but this time in the vertical orientation (i.e. the lights were 45 to the left and right than from above and below). That setup produced some wonderful images, but I really wanted to go a different route, so for the last 30 minutes I decided to try this setup and loved it.

Eden Harris

When you have photogenic subjects, more than half the work is done for you, and when you throw in a talented makeup artist like Wendy Riley (whom I also had the pleasure of working with on the previous shoot on beauty lighting) things get even easier.  But even the world's top models have their images retouched (heavily) for print and advertising work. These images needed some attention, but nothing super serious. Mostly I just removed a few distracting flyaway hairs and then evened out the skin tones. This was done using Photoshop CS4 with the healing brush, the clone stamp tool and layer blending with the blur filter, etc. I'm not a Photoshop expert, I just try to learn the techniques that best serve my style of photography and work with them. Photoshop geniuses like Scott Kelby and others are the defacto source for learning better Photoshop skills. Give them a Google to learn more tips and tricks.

This is a super simple lighting setup that is capable of producing some magnificent results. You have to be more careful with you r light placement and subject position when dealing with non-diffused lighting as it drastically increases shadows as well light hardness. The end results are worth the extra attention to detail as it produces a classic Hollywood sort of elegance, perfect for less traditional beauty lighting.

Until next time, be safe and happy shooting.

- R

Two Light Beauty Lighting

Shirley DeArmas

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of working with two models on an independent photo shoot. With nearly every click of the shutter going toward university work or wedding events lately, I have had little time to work on shooting for my portfolio - and perhaps more importantly, just for fun.

Shirley DeArmas and Nikki Jagt were kind enough to trade half of their Saturday in exchange for some free images. I in turn gained two models and a collection of beautiful images. We opened the studio doors around 9 a.m. and we wrapped about 2 p.m. I hauled lighting gear and worked on the setup and calibration while the girls were in makeup, courtesy of the very talented Wendy Riley. The actual shoot went about 2-2.5 hours and the shot selection produced was incredible.

Nikki Jagt

For more than half of the shoot, I used a classic beauty lighting setup that provided smooth, elegant lighting. All of these shots were focused on the waist up. For the final third of the shoot I adjusted the lighting to a four light setup to cover more full body shots. The four light scenario may be discussed in a future post, but for now I'd like to focus on beauty lighting.

Beauty lighting is a general title assigned to shooting scenarios where the main purpose is to provide even illumination from top to bottom, and at times, from left to right. It can be used for a variety of subjects, but is typically used on females in 2/3 portrait or tighter. You'll see it in advertisements for makeup and skin cleansers as well in model portfolios.  This can be achieved in numerous ways and different photographers favor different approaches. Some setups include a beauty dish over head with a fill card below the face, a ring light with diffuser and what is referred to as clam shell lighting - which is the setup discussed here.

Shirley DeArmas

Clam shell lighting consists of a pair of diffused light sources positioned above and below the model and tilted about 45 degrees toward the subject. The setup looks like an open clam shell, hence the name. The lights will obviously be in front of the model, and the tilt of the lights will cast overlapping light on the subject, providing a nice, smooth, even illumination. To further enhance the setup I added a pair of white reflectors, one on either side of the model, to kick some light back into the sides of the face and body.

Nikki Jagt

The diagram below shows the setup from the side. As you can see, the softboxes are positioned about 45 degrees above and below the model with the two reflectors on either side. Note that the closest reflector has a reduced opacity to allow for a more three dimensional look at the scenario. The setup works best if the upper light is placed on a boom because the images are actually shot throw the opening between the softboxes and the obstruction of a light stand will prove extremely frustrating. It is worth noting that this same setup can be achieved with off-camera strobe like your Nikon, Canon or other portable flashes. Keep in mind, it will be harder to parallel the power of the studio strobes, but you can certainly compensate for this by adjusting your exposure settings. These images were shot using a pair Alien Bees 800 lights in the foldable medium and large softboxes. The reflectors can be anything from poster board to foam core to collapsible reflectors. I used a pair of Photoflex light panels with the diffusion surfaces to bounce the light. The images were shot at ISO 50 at 1/250th at f/8. The lights were set to approximately one quarter output, but were adjusted using the Alien Bees LG4X wired remote control for the variation in skin tones and wardrobe color and materials.

A little retouching was done in Photoshop. The basics apply here. I removed the blemishes not concealed by the makeup, improved contrast a bit around the eyes and softened the skin. Ta-da! It's really the same thing you would do for any portrait retouching, with the exception (maybe) of the skin softening. It's really just a  duplicated layer with 2-2.5 pixel Gaussian blur added. Then the layer opacity is reduced to 30-40 percent and then the important features - i.e. everything but the skin - are erased, revealing the original layer, and then the layers are flattened. Presto. You may use other methods for this, but I'm not a Photoshp expert. I just use what seems to work for me.

As you can see, the lighting is breathtaking, but having beautiful models certainly doesn't hurt. This is a relatively simple lighting setup and it can produce spectacular results. Combine this method with elegant subjects and a laid back, fun atmosphere and the results will certainly not disappoint.

Until next time, happy shooting.

- R

Shooting Concerts

Charlie Hall at the 2009 Gulf Coast Getaway

This will be a relatively short post and for many viewers, probably something you already know. I have been doing more and more concerts as of late, in fact, three in the last five months or so. This is not as many as I used to shoot when covering bands in Phoenix, Arizona, but considering the type of work I've been doing and the amount of free time I've had, it's quite a bit.

Aaron Keys

Since this blog was designed to help everyone from the beginner to the experienced artist, I figured this post would be beneficial to many, especially those whom have asked about the kind of gear and settings to use when shooting such events.

Rush of Fools

The biggest mistake most photographers make when attempting to shoot a concert is to use flash. AVOID IT! Flash, especially when not properly calibrated, will blow out the beautiful light given off by the production crew. Stage lights change and a punch to the images that can't be duplicated otherwise. My advice, when shooting a concert, leave the strobes at home.

The basic gear should include a digital SLR and, preferably, some fast prime lenses. Some favorites of those in the field include the 35mm f/1.4 to f/2, a fast 50mm like an f/1.8 or f/1.4, an 85mm f/1.8 or f/1.4, the 135mm f/2 and for the accomplished and/or well-paid shooter a 200mm f/1.4 or f/2 with VR or IS (vibration reduction - Nikon or image stabilizer - Canon). Good f/2.8 lenses (especially zooms) can come in handy, but you'll likely have to boost your ISO by at least a stop or sacrifice some shutter speed.

You of course don't need all of these focal lengths, but these are some of the fastest and sharpest lenses available. I love shooting with a 50mm f/1.8 and 85mm f/1.4 depending on the venue and my access to the stage. The Nikon versions are both incredibly sharp and produce very good results wide open. Depending on the lighting setup, the actual camera settings will fluctuate, but typically in a semi-professional to professional concert, I can shoot at about 1/125th-1/400th at f/1.4-f/4 at about ISO 800.

For example: the top image of artist Charlie Hall was at the most recent concert I shot and it was captured at ISO 800 at 1/2ooth at f/1.4 on my D700 with my 85mm attached. Other images were captured as high as 1/400th at f/2-4 depending on the light intensity and the desired contrast in the final image.

The toughest camera setting is usually the white balance. Although 'Auto' can produce acceptable results, programing the Kelvin when possible greatly increases the color accuracy. When the stage lights have a tendency to hold a certain color, for example, rolling through the Kelvin settings and then checking the LCD will provide you with more desirable results. This is not always possible due to erratic lighting patterns, etc., but attempting to do this will greatly help your final product.

You don't need expensive gear to shoot good concert pics. A basic DSLR that is capable of producing desirable results at ISO 800 coupled with an inexpensive 50mm f/1.8 will usually provide you a great starting point. Keep in mind that entry level cameras like the Nikon D40, for example, will not auto focus non-AFS lenses. The new AF-S 50mm f/1.4 will work, but the lens runs about $480 compared to the $110 price tag on the f/1.8.

Arguably the most important element of a concert shoot is familiarity with your gear. I probably adjust my camera settings 100 or more times during a 1-2 hour concert. Aperture, ISO, shutter speed, white balance and focusing point adjustments are made often and rapidly, in addition to switching between manual and auto focusing. Knowing your gear and being able to manipulate it quickly are key to any successful shoot, but become paramount when shooting in low, rapidly changing light.

Until next time, be safe and happy shooting.

- R

"He's On Fire" - Shoot For The Basketball Poster

The above image is from last year's basketball poster at Faulkner University. There were five seniors last year, all of whom were to be featured on the poster. I really wanted to try something new, so I talked with the guys about doing a fire theme. Faulkner's colors are royal blue, black, gray and white and I thought it would be cool if we went with, well, a "cool" blue theme. This was the most challenging undertaking I had last year, but it was worth the effort. Here is a bit about how I went about it.

The first thing I needed to do was shoot the athletes. The above image is of then-senior guard Richarde McCray out of Marietta, Georgia. I shot each guy doing a different move - I had Rich doing a layup.

The lighting setup is shown below and is VERY simple. I bounced an SB-800 into a silver Westcott umbrella to give harder light and moved it back a bit in order to 1.) cover him completely, 2.) to ensure that it would cover him in the zone of approach. I didn't pose them in action situations, I actually made them do the full motion so it would look natural - or as natural as possible with a guy holding a flaming ball. I gave Rich a jump marker and then tacked him with the continuous servo mode on my D200. I shot about 10-15 frames and liked this one the best.

The image below is the unprocessed RAW right out of camera. The main light was a diffused SB-28 shot through a translucent Westcott umbrella. This light illuminates Rich with a soft glow that gives just enough light, while the stronger rear light provides good contrast as a rim light. I shot this from a low angle to add to the drama of the image. The diffused light is shot from about my height (kneeling) and aimed upward.

I shot it at f/4 and 1/200th of a second at ISO 200. The lighting was enough to overpower the majority of the gym lights as is evident in the fixtures behind Rich.

I imported the RAW image into Aperture adding a bunch of alignment adjustments and then exported the JPEG into Photoshop. The first thing to do was remove the background completely, then to ad various effects for the final image. All of the steps were not recorded (again, then I was not planning on doing a blog), but the general ideas are as follows.

A new layer for the ball was added and I changed it to a soft blue. I then added the 'Wind' filter and manipulated the flames with the blur tool. After achieving a hot rod effect I used the transform tool to give the flame a path that paralleled the action. I then placed a duplicate ball layer over the flame layer and added some glow to it.

I added blue filters to Rich and adjusted the saturation as needed. I dodged and burned as well to try and simulate the reflections in relation to the light source, in this case the ball. There are certainly places that catch some blue light that likely would not have, but the poster was already black and I needed as much of the athletes visible as possible.

There was a lot of trial and error on the flames and a lot of starting over. I am by no means a Photoshop wizard, but I thought it came out pretty good. I will likely try to build on this idea again in the future, but for now, I'm experimenting elsewhere. Sorry there were not more details in this post, but I hope you found it interesting and that maybe it sparked your imagination.

Until next time, be safe and happy shooting.

Shooting The Coke Ads For The Media Guides

As a followup to the football cover I discussed last time, I decided to introduce a few other lighting setups that are very similar in nature. Every year we run a Coca-Cola ad in the back inside cover of every yearbook. I asked Coca-Cola - the athletic department's biggest corporate sponsor - if we could use their Powerade logo for these ads. The logo is featured throughout our signage around campus and is a Coke trademark. I thought it would definitely match the theme better and the Coke logo is already featured on our inner cover as well. They declined. So the soda beverage is still used here in conjunction with these images of athletes in action- oh, well.

In years past, the designers simply used an action shot from the season for this page, but as usual, I wanted to take it a step further. Last year I started selecting a single player that would be used for the advertisement. This year, I wanted to do a mock action shot with the same gritty look that I had used on the football cover. I decided to use this look on the covers and on the Coke ads to give it a bit of an edge and to keep the books somewhat unified in design.

I've included two different shots here just for fun. The image above is for the men's soccer book and features senior goalkeeper Jeffery Preston. As with the football cover and the women's ad to follow, the subject and background were shot separately. Jeff was shot in the corner of the gym on campus. Because it was exam week and I had other deadlines that I was trying to meet, we needed the shoot to be fast and simple.

I set up a folding mat on the floor for cushioning just in case he lost his balance. For this shot I really wanted the subject to be foreshortened with the action coming toward the viewer. To accomplish this, I had him part his feet and then, on his tip-toes, lean out toward the camera. Think of a wide receiver trying to keep his feet in bounds while leaning out over the sidelines to make the catch. The shot's wide angle helps accentuate the effect. By shooting at 24mm on a full frame camera, but moving in close, the effect is a bit more pronounced. Of course shooting with a fish-eye lens would have made it even more pronounced, but I didn't really want to take it that far. An aperture of f/8 still left some depth to the image as well. I am shooting with a D700 at 1/2ooth of a second and I am doing so on a short ladder to give myself some elevation.

As you can see from the diagram below, the setup is really simple and portable. I lit Jeff with three strobes, all portable Nikon speedlights (forgive the illustrations - I did not have time to redesign the flash heads today). The front light was actually more of a fill light. As with the football shoot, the strongest light is coming from behind and to the sides of the subject to give a harder look, creating more contrast. The fill light is an SB-800 shot through a Westcott translucent umbrella. The light that is doing most of the work here is actually behind Jeff. I set an SB-25 in a silver Westcott umbrella and let it illuminate him along the entire back side and spilling to the front. The final light is working to fill the back of the subject. This is another silver Westcott umbrella with an SB-28 aimed inside. The power levels were not recorded. I will try to log this information in the future.

The image below is the RAW image as shot in camera. Because these shots were literally setup, clicked and taken down in under 10 minutes, I did not fiddle with setting up a backdrop, though the brick wall did help out a bit. I backed the ladder up a tad for this image which was, I believe, the second or third to last taken. The foreshortening effect was working against me as the subject was just in the limits of the minimum focusing distance on the 24-70mm f/2.8 and we were having a hard time getting the whole body in frame as needed - his face and hands kept blocking out his legs and feet.

The final image is a composite just like the football cover (see previous post). The field was shot on an overcast day at an elevated height as well to match the scene. The images were treated with sharpening, contrast and saturation adjustments and more to taste.

The women's ad below was designed in the exact same way. The only difference was this was shot in the studio upstairs and I used two strobes in softboxes instead of umbrellas.

As you can see there is nothing fancy about the setup. I used a large softbox with the internal baffle only, and positioned it horizontally to fill the entire front of senior Leslie Hudgens. I feathered the light downward a bit as well. The back light is in a small softbox and is feathering her along the back. Both were Alien Bees 800s. This was shot with a D300 set at f/8 and 1/250th of a second.

The ball was photographed separately and the speed lines were added in Photoshop. Here's something you might have noticed - the same ball and blur is used in both images. Why reinvent the wheel?

Below is the RAW image as shot in camera. As you can see, I didn't even take the time to set up a seamless. Again, these were setup, shot and packed up very quickly. If I had more time and fewer projects, I would definitely love to try out some other ideas, but for now, this will work.

I hope you found this helpful. I have posted an image for tomorrow's (hopefully) post for you to look at. That one is more about Photoshop and careful planning. The shooting was the easy part really. As we progress I promise to explore different images and genres. Right now, these are the ones that people have asked about, so I'm starting there.

Until next time, be safe and happy shooting.

- R

Shooting The 2008 Football Cover

In my two years with the university, perhaps no other project has gained as much notoriety or sparked more questions than the cover of this year's Football Yearbook. Formerly referred to as media guides, the yearbooks created for each sport offer vital information about the program to potential recruits, media outlets, fans, corporate sponsors and various organizations. The books contain team and player statistics, program history, upcoming schedules and events, action shots and much more. Because we are a small school, the athletic department has always tried to ensure that the covers of these books deliver an impact. When your school's book is tossed among hundreds of others, what makes it stand out? Will it draw someone's attention?

This year I decided on more of a three dimensional concept. Typically, cover art can be flat with only a few drop shadows or various-sized text offering all sorts of layering or perspective. I was guilty of this last year. Though the book was received with much praise, it was our inaugural season and anything remotely interesting would fly. This year we'd be entering conference play for the first time and would likely be drawing more fans and media attention, and I wanted something that "popped".

I knew I wanted to focus on an odd number of players to give some symmetry to the overall image. I also knew I wanted to incorporate a stadium and I wanted it to be somewhat dark and moody, yet have highlights and contrast. The first step was narrowing down the more than 120 athletes to just three. I collaborated with the head coach on who we should feature as the cover boys for the program. There were several candidates, but we decided on sophomore quarterback Philip Moore (center), junior middle linebacker Sean Thom (left) and junior defensive end Jason Evans (right). Because we had so many other standout players on the team, we decided to feature them on other pages in the book, including the Coke advertisement that we run on the back inside cover of every book. More on this project in an upcoming post.

As you undoubtedly already know the final image is a composite of countless images and Photoshop layers. Each player was shot individually and then added to the frame and the background was a composite from a few stadium images and some Photoshop work. I will begin by discussing the lighting setup used for the player images.

The diagram below shows the basic lighting setup for Moore, the center athlete. The overall lighting concept was very similar for all three athletes, with most of the differences coming in the form of rim lighting. When I was photographing the players, I knew what I wanted the final image to look like, but I had yet to gain access to the stadium so I was not sure how the background would look exactly or what would actually be visible given the limited scope - we wanted the players to be the dominant subject. I lit the athletes the way I hoped would work and crossed my fingers on the background at least somewhat matching my idea. [Please forgive the misspelling of "subject" in the diagrams]

As you can see the lighting setup is nothing revolutionary, but it was extremely effective here. Moore is lit using three lights. The fill light, which is actually in front do to the dominant contrast light to the side, is an Alien Bees 800 in a large foldable softbox with a grid attached to the front to help control focus and spill. It's positioned about 45 degrees or so to camera left. The harder side light, really the main light here, is coming from another AB800 reflected into a silver Westcott umbrella directly on his left side (90 degrees camera right). Because I knew that he'd be flanked by two players which would actually end up behind him, I took caution not to give him too much rim light from any dominant side. So, I went with another AB800 with a 30 degree honeycomb grid about 8 feet back and focused it like a hair light with weight going slightly to his left (camera right). I used flags to control spill from the rim and side lights. I shot this project on a Nikon D300 with a 17-55mm f/2.8 lens. The power settings from the strobes were not recorded (I will make better attempts to do this in the future), but camera settings were 1/200th at f/8 in RAW mode. White balance was set with an Expo Disc, but would fall in the 5000-5600 range for these strobes.

I photographed the subjects from a lower angle to create a somewhat more menacing and dominating perspective. Posing was rather simple. I had Moore hold a ball out in front and at a lower positions and just slightly to the left (camera right) to keep the pose from becoming too symmetrical. The defensive players offered slightly more aggressive facial expressions and the folded arms further heightened the impact of the portrait. The subjects were sprayed with a water bottle to mimic sweat and lightly padded down with a towel to keep it from looking like they just came out of the shower.

For the other players, the same lighting setup was used for both, but flipped 180 degrees to highlight the different sides of the composition. The diagram below is the layout used for Thom (cover left). I wanted a stronger rim light on both him and Evans, so I moved the AB800 with silver umbrella back approximately 45 degrees to his right (camera left) to create a harder, fuller rim light. I then moved it around a bit more because I had him facing further to my left and then attached a small foldable softbox to the other AB800 with only an inner baffle attached, giving me a slightly more contrast-y light to his left (camera right) to help highlight his shoulder pads. This light was turned down to keep it from being too overwhelming and I raised it so it to about seven feet and aimed it downward.

The rim light really makes for great separation here and it provides even more contrast to the final product. The small softbox, with inner baffle only, provides nice highlights in the triceps and forearms which helps define the muscle tone and provides more contrast.

The guys were then cut out from the black background in Photoshop and were enhanced for a gritty look. Through layers and adjustment masks I increased contrast and sharpening, removed undesirable color casts, changed color saturation and applied a bit of dodging and burning where needed. I also removed any water beads that seemed out of place or too excessive. They were then transferred to the cover template where I added a slight shadow behind Moore to give a bit of separation and then used a gradient mask to blend the legs into the dark turf.

The background was shot at about 3 p.m. in full sun. I removed undesirable artifacts from the stadium like trash cans, a player's helmet, a bench and a radio tower. Because I was dealing with an 8.5x11 inch cover, I had to cut two pieces of the stadium and merge them so that two sets of lights would have room on the cover. Blending the bleachers in Photoshop was a pain and luckily the players cover most of the overlap. The lights were obviously not lit when I photographed them, so I used various brushes in Photoshop to create the almost movieposter-like lighting effects. I generally used star effect brushes and even some comets to create the corner light flares. The background was also heavily treated with contrast adjustments and was then given contrast, sharpening and saturation treatments like the players. The sky was a gradient mask that I created in Photoshop as well. The final touches were back gradient mask at the bottom of the page and then text was added to complete the cover.

It took a lot of time, luck and trial and error to get the final product, but it was well worth the effort.

Thanks,

- R