PORTRAITS OF PEOPLE WITH THEIR PETS

Our pets are only with us for so long. That’s why when we get portrait inquires and they ask if we will photograph their pets, in addition to them and their family, we always say Yes!  They also ask if we charge extra for pets or extended family; to that we always say No! We do not put-up roadblocks to potential clients. 

This portrait session was a fun, simple session of just this lady and her dog done outside in a dog’s natural environment.   You can see these two had a strong connection..

f6.5 @ 1/320 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 200mm

I really like it when we can get images of people and their pets interacting with each other. It’s not that easy to capture because often the pet is distracted by all of the people, kids, and other animals passing through the park especially on a weekend. That’s why we suggest to our clients that portrait sessions are best done during the week.   

Here’s the more formal portrait…

f6.2 @ 1/400 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 150mm

I love the old fence here at Merrill Park, Eagle, Idaho. At this point, since they aren’t interacting, it’s obvious her dog is now on guard duty!

So, back to some storytelling….

f6.3 @ 1/250 sec., Iso 800; Lens @ 200mm

Sitting them on the grass, where I also had a better fall colors background, helped to reestablish that connection.  Dogs outside, in the park, are just like kids. They’re easily distracted and often reach their limit when a portrait session goes longer than 45 minutes.

 f6.3 @ 1/320 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 170mm

Her dog, at this point, would no longer look towards me and my camera. She’s saying, “I think he’s done!”  That means we then move on to this lady’s individual portraits without her dog. She loved the images we got of the two of them and scheduled another portrait session in our studio for just her.

That’s it for this week….As always don’t hesitate to ask any questions…

Author: Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training site: http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com

PROFILE LIGHTING IN THE STUDIO

Because we have total control of lighting in the studio it is the best environment to create dramatic lighting. It’s all about direction of light and creating shadows. The fastest way to kill dramatic lighting is the use of a fill light.   That’s why I quit using any fill light in my studio over ten years ago. The most I use to soften shadows is a reflector—and even then I usually use a soft white; rarely do I use silver. 

One of the most dramatic lighting pattens used in the studio is Profile Lighting. In Profile Lighting even the reflector is not needed…

f13.0 @ 1/200 sec., ISO 200; Lens @ 105mm

Profile Lighting is a simple 3-Light setup:

• The Main Light is at 90° relative to camera with the subject looking towards the light.
• One grided background light (set @ f8.0)
• One Hair light (set @ f11.0)

It’s simple in the number of lights used, but as usual, the placement and intensity of each light is critical in a successful outcome.

Here’s the original color studio image…

Original Color Image

Nowhere near as dramatic as my final Black and White image this was just my raw material to start with. In our film days this would have been our stopping point!

Processing the file:

• I first opened it in NIK’s Silver Efex Pro 2, single image, Tone Mapping; Used Deep 2.
• B&W conversion in NIK’s Silver Efex Pro 2 using their Fine Art preset-modified to my taste.
• Noise reduction in NIK’s Define 2.

It’s remarkable how far we can take a digital file today to create our vision of a final image. However, it’s still important that we start with a good basic image; with highlights controlled and Light and Shadows where we want them.

As always, don’t hesitate to ask questions…’Til next week…

Author: Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training site: http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com

MULTI-FAMILY GROUP PORTRAITS OUTSIDE

One of our specialties is doing family portraits, multi-family groups and the occasional family reunion; the more the merrier!  Because of our wedding background, we have considerable experience in putting groups together both indoors and outdoors. But our favorite is doing so outside, by natural light, in nice park-like environments—especially in the fall. We start with the most difficult portrait first, when at all possible, the formal large group—especially when there are small kids in the image.  Then we do the family sub-groups, the grand or great grand kids with grandma and grandpa and finally a fun one of the whole group…

f6.3 @ 1/250 sec., ISO 1000; Lens @ 70mm

At this point we didn’t care if the kids got dirty, so we had everybody throw the fall leaves in the air!  You can tell they were now free to enjoy themselves; the parents as well!   This image was done just 45 minutes before sunset, so the light is really nice with the sun setting behind them. 

We usually start our outdoor sessions about two hours before sunset and since not everybody had arrived at the park yet we started with some individual family groups….

f7.1 @ 1/80 sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 90mm

For this session we didn’t need to use our posing rocks—the park’s rocks worked just fine. Again, I placed this group with the setting sun behind them to get that nice back-lit glow in the leaves.

When everyone finally arrived we did our first group portrait…

f7.1 @ 1/80 sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 75mm

I like this setting with the back-lit fall colors behind them and the unusual contrast with the rock bench and column as places to put our subjects. Artistically the only thing that hurts this portrait are the clothing colors.  I always suggest that everyone settle on a maximum of two-colors that work together; like navy with burgundy or different shades of one-color (light to medium or medium to dark). That makes the group look more unified and then you can focus on the faces of the people in the portrait and not be distracted by the clothing.

Now this group of families did better…

f8.0 @ 1/60 sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 57 mm

The different shades of blue and the tans and browns worked better together. For this group we used our posing rocks, so the we could have some people sitting giving us a nice variety of head heights.  We like to create triangles and/or diagonals with peoples’ faces in our group compositions. At the same time we keep each family sub-group together and place them around grandma and grandpa. How many triangles do you count?  

We’re looking forward to this year’s fall sessions in our great Boise and Meridian (Idaho) parks!

Don’t hesitate to ask questions….’Til next week…

Author:  Jerry W Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training site: http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com

STORYTELLING PHOTOGRAPHY AT EQUINE EVENTS

I’ve done a variety of equine photography over the years, but until I started doing photography at the Western Idaho State Fair I had never heard of draft horse log pulling competitions.  Upon seeing it listed in the fair event brochure with a start time of 7pm I knew it would at least have the benefit of some magic hour light, and that was enough for me to check it out!

When I got to the arena I was happy to see beautiful large horses and competitors with a lot of character and enthusiasm for their sport.  One of the good things about this sport is that it has action, but it’s slow…

f6.3 @ 1/400 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 70mm

You can see what I like about this light; It’s an hour before sunset making the direct sunlight striking my subjects controllable.

Really nice friendly people here, too…

f5.6 @ 1/640 sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 88mm

A big part of my storytelling at these events is doing images of individual competitors for a glimpse of behind the scenes character.

An image to illustrate the competition…

The Competition

This shows the basic idea of the event; to guide the horses through the course and through the yellow course markers without knocking them down with the logs. It looks easy in the stills, but not so much in real life.

More of the character…

f5.6 @ 1/320 sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 200mm

Did I say they were friendly? And each had his own style—this guy had kind of a Hawaiian cowboy thing going on!

f6.3 @ 1/200 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 120mm

She was obviously very serious about the draft course competitions, but she wasn’t there to just mind the horses….

f6.3 @ 1/400 sec., Iso 800; Lens @ 150mm

She was in the competition using the same two-horse, two-log, rig as the men.  This image is nice because it illustrates how those logs, as they turn through the yellow course markers, can twist and roll creating a serious foot hazard to the competitors!  They had to be quick and nimble avoiding the errant logs while still guiding the horses through the next turn.

That’s why staying ON the logs was best…

f6.3 @ 1/400 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 90mm

This image sums up the classic Americana—with old glory flying in the background—of the State Fair here in Idaho.

I feel privileged to be here to document such things while they are still practiced.

’Til next week…

Author:  Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training site: http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com