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Portrait photography

A

s a “people photographer,” I absolutely love it when I am asked to capture portraits for my coworkers to use when they are featured in magazines or when they make public appearances or presentations. This happens quite often, so I get to do this quite a lot.

But at the firm I work for, photographs must fit certain criteria in order to be brand-compliant. The look is supposed to be relaxed and natural, set in an office setting, and should not be lit by flash (at least the viewer should not be able to tell that flash was used).

I have found a very good location just a few yards from my desk. The glass wall looks out onto the Entrance to Rosslyn Park and the high-rise buildings that surround it. Yesterday we were experiencing a very active snowstorm while I took these pictures, so the background is a bit brighter than normal and in some of the photos you can see the flakes falling in the background. It makes the pictures unique because it doesn’t snow a whole lot in Washington, DC—well, at least it didn’t until this year.

The pictures in this post are from yesterday’s photography sessions. The first person had been asked for a brand-compliant portrait to use in an upcoming presentation. The second person is one of the editors in my group.

For these portraits, I used a dual flash set up with the primary flash (a few feet to my right) bouncing off of a round white cloth reflector—about 36 inches in diameter. I used the flash on my camera as a fill flash, set to a 1:3 power ratio with the primary light source.

Canon EOS 7D camera, 24-70, f/2.8 lens
65mm focal length
Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT flash 1:3 internal flash
ISO 100, 1/60th @ f/4.0

Canon EOS 7D camera, 24-70, f/2.8 lens
46mm focal length
Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT flash 1:3 internal flash
ISO 100, 1/60th @ f/4.0

Canon EOS 7D camera, 24-70, f/2.8 lens
34mm focal length
Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT flash 1:3 internal flash
ISO 100, 1/60th @ f/4.0

And a few of our local editor:

Canon EOS 7D camera, 24-70, f/2.8 lens
28mm focal length
Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT flash 1:3 internal flash
ISO 100, 1/60th @ f/4.0

Canon EOS 7D camera, 24-70, f/2.8 lens
35mm focal length
Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT flash 1:3 internal flash
ISO 100, 1/60th @ f/4.0

I really love doing portraits!

Kids, kids, and more kids

O

ne of my favorite photographic subjects is children. Kids have not yet learned to hide their excitement and joy... or their boredom and fear. Everything is visible on their faces (if you can see their faces).

Warren County Fair - Front Royal, VA
Canon EOS 50D camera
115mm focal length
ISO 100, 1/640th @ f/5.6

Unfortunately, people tend to get a little skittish when you point your camera at their kids—at least in the city. But in smaller towns and out in the country people smile with pride as their kids ham it up for the camera. I guess out in the country people realize that a photographer with a real camera is probably just capturing the beauty he sees in the world around him. The stalkers and pedophiles are much more likely to use cell phone cameras or other non-obvious photography devices. In other words, the parents in the country and in the small towns are simply quite a bit smarter than people who live in the cities.

Front Royal community pool - Front Royal, VA
July 5, 2010
Canon EOS 50D camera, 24-70mm f/2.8 lens
70mm focal length
ISO 100, 1/1250th @ f/5.6

Attending the many outdoor community events here in Front Royal, Virginia, I get the opportunity to photograph children a lot. And because we are such a small community, even those events quite often allow for photos of just a few people without the distraction of a crowd pressing in on every side. This next picture of a mother and son is from the annual Front Royal Air Show. The blacktop in the background is the landing strip. The netting is the fence showing where the people should sit or stand so they’re not in any danger. Obviously, people in the country are smart enough to understand that they shouldn’t go past the line. They don’t need a line of armed guards scowling at anyone who stupidly tries to get over the steel barriers that have been set up to keep the low-intellect city dwellers from walking out onto the tarmac to get that shot of the jet just before it plasters them.

Front Royal Air Show - Front Royal, VA
September 11, 2010
Canon EOS 50D camera
115mm focal length
ISO 100, 1/640th @ f/5.6

I took these next three pictures at the Delaplane Strawberry Festival in Delaplane, Virginia. This festival seems to be targeted primarily for the children. There are loads of fun events including tug o' war contests, face painting, hayrides, a petting zoo, and all kinds of strawberry ice cream desserts and shortcake. For the adults, they have a blue grass band, a car show, an arts & crafts area, and an amazing scenic property that stretches way off into the distance.

Strawberry Festival - Delaplane, VA
May 29, 2010
Canon EOS 50D camera, 24-70mm f/2.8 lens
50mm focal length
ISO 400, 1/40th @ f/22

Strawberry Festival - Delaplane, VA
May 29, 2010
Canon EOS 50D camera, 24-70mm f/2.8 lens
70mm focal length
ISO 400, 1/125th @ f/13

Strawberry Festival - Delaplane, VA
May 29, 2010
Canon EOS 50D camera, 70-200mm f/2.8 lens
130mm focal length
ISO 400, 1/125th @ f/20

My favorite Front Royal event is the Annual Front Royal Wine & Craft Festival. This one actually is crowded. Our little town doubles in population for this one day each year. The streets of the town are blocked off and the two central roads are set up with wine tasting stands and craft stands. At the center of the town, the gazebo serves as a band stand for a variety of bands. After the people of the town have perused the wines and crafts and made their purchases, they take their purchases back to their cars and then make one last walk through the wine stands. They purchase a chilled bottle of wine and head to the gazebo where the Festival turns into a block party lasting the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. As the bands play, the people dance. It begins with a few people dancing on the stone pathways around the gazebo, then it spreads the lawn and into the parking area in front of the nearby visitor’s center. By about 2:00 in the afternoon people are dancing in the streets and on every available piece of ground covering the entire central area of the town. It is a complete blast and everyone has tremendous fun.

These next two pictures show kids dancing at the Front Royal Wine & Craft Festival:

Front Royal Wine & Craft Festival, VA
May 15, 2010
Canon EOS 30D camera, 28-135mm f/3.5-5/6 lens
117mm focal length
ISO 400, 1/400th @ f/10

Front Royal Wine & Craft Festival, VA
May 15, 2010
Canon EOS 30D camera, 28-135mm f/3.5-5/6 lens
135mm focal length
ISO 400, 1/500th @ f/10

And a few more from Williamsburg...

Spring has sprung – time for flowers

T

his past Friday was the first day of spring. Yesterday was beautiful—warm, with alight breeze blowing... the sun shining brightly. It felt like spring.

Of course, they are forecasting snow for the day after tomorrow. But for now... I’m going to revel in the warmth and the feel of spring trying to make an entrance.

I love Photoshop

A

lmost 20 years ago I was working as a magazine editor for a bi-monthly magazine. Although my trade was words, I was fascinated by the design side of the magazine and often watched the graphic designer as he worked. Because I am a photographer, I was particularly interested in the things he did in Photoshop and soon I began to dabble a little in Photoshop myself.

Adobe Photoshop (and its siblings, Illustrator, InDesign, and Dreamweaver) is a phenomenal application. I don’t think anyone could ever learn all it has to offer, and if someone actually did their knowledge would be superseded by the next version. Adobe continually makes changes and improvements in Photoshop and the rest of their Creative Suite.

Over the years I have come to rely heavily on this outstanding software.

I wanted to quickly show what can be done with this amazing photo manipulation tool, so I pulled a photo from our vacation this past summer and made three very quick changes to show how powerful Photoshop is. This is a picture from Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort—our favorite place to stay when we visit Disneyworld. This hot tub is behind the central pool of the resort. It&Rsquo;s a relatively quiet area where I go to read if I’m looking for a little solitude. There are usually no running and screaming children in this area. In fact, there are usually no people back there at all other than me. But while I was reading on this particular day, this woman walked up and got into the hot tub. She smiled when I picked up my camera and I took her picture. I have no idea who this is, but the picture kind of captures the peacefulness of this area of the resort.

The first of these pictures is that original picture I took that day. The second one is a simple color replacement. The next is a black & white using a green filter to soften her skin tones. And the last one is an imitation of a hand sketch that involves just a few adjustments in Photoshop. All three of these manipulations took no more than about five minutes to accomplish. If I had the time and knew how to use the software better, there’s no telling what could be done.

Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort - September 17, 2013
Canon EOS 30D camera, EF85mm f/1.8 USM lens
fixed focal length - 85mm
ISO 160, 1/2000th @ f/4.0

Why I love Front Royal

M

any years ago I began a series of Facebook photo albums about why I love Front Royal. Those eventually ended, but my love for this wonderful town and the surrounding areas did not. I still love living in Front Royal, Virginia.

In this post I will address the primary reason I love Front Royal—its people.

Front Royal Celtic Festival - June 19, 2010
Canon 50D camera, EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens
52mm focal length
ISO 100, 1/160th @ f/4.5

The people of Front Royal, Virginia, are wonderful! They seem to fit my hopes for the world. They are responsible. They are fun-loving. They are beautiful.

Front Royal Wine & Craft Festival - May 15, 2010
Canon 50D camera, EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens
35mm focal length
ISO 100, 1/200th @ f/6.3

The people in this post are my Front Royal neighbors—pretty much all of them. It’s a tiny town, but everyone here just seems to be the kind of people I love. They are free spirited, gentle, kind-hearted. And because they hold to a libertarian view of the world, they do not demand that others act in a way that suits them. I guess you’d say it’s a live-and-let-live place. And I love that!

Front Royal Wine & Craft Festival - May 15, 2010
Canon 50D camera, EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens
46mm focal length
ISO 100, 1/80th @ f/7.1

I took all of the pictures in this blogpost at various events in Front Royal and Delaplane—one of our nearby towns. The Celtic Festival... the Wine Festival... the Strawberry Festival... the Festival of Leaves. All of these events are part of the culture and character of this town that I love so much.

Front Royal Wine & Craft Festival - May 15, 2010
Canon 50D camera, EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens
64mm focal length
ISO 100, 1/200th @ f/3.2

When we first began attending these various events in our wonderful town, we sensed a spirit of community that has been lost in most towns across the United States. The people in this town genuinely enjoy one another. And it shows when they come together for a celebration. And this town has many celebrations. In fact—they never seem to end during the spring, summer, and fall. This town just loves throwing a block party. A whole-town block party!

Front Royal Wine & Craft Festival - May 15, 2010
Canon 50D camera, EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens
135mm focal length
ISO 100, 1/250th @ f/8.0

I guess it’s also a wonderful place for a photographer. When you get this many beautiful, wonderful, accepting people into one location... the situation is ripe for photography.

Front Royal Wine & Craft Festival - May 15, 2010
Canon 50D camera, EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens
24mm focal length
ISO 100, 1/200th @ f/10

Thank you, people of Front Royal, for making this such a wonderful town! I love you!

Delaplane Strawberry Festival - May 29, 2010
Canon 50D camera, EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens
200mm focal length
ISO 400, 1/125th @ f/18