Showing posts with label Grid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grid. Show all posts

Monday, July 5, 2010

Band Promo Shoot With Adalee | WESLEY CHAPEL SENIOR PICTURES

As I mentioned in a previous post on shooting band promos, my studio isn’t quite large enough to accommodate several people at once.  So when a local Christian rock band called Adalee (which consists of 5 members- all of whom go to my church) approached me about shooting their promo, I immediately began thinking along the lines of digital compositing.  If you’re not a regular reader of my blog and aren’t quite familiar with that term, it basically means taking individual shots of each member and then later combining them together in Photoshop.

This is my favorite method of producing band/group shots, because it allows me the freedom to select the best individual poses for each member.  When they're all blended together into a seamless composite, it appears as if the stars just aligned perfectly and everyone gave you the ideal expression and pose simultaneously, and in the same frame.  I gotta tell ya, it sure beats shooting for hours and hoping for this sort of thing to happen organically (believe me-- I've been there!).

Anyway, here are the 5 original unedited shots:

ZH3A8310 ZH3A8329 ZH3A8335 ZH3A8332 ZH3A8297

In order to make the composite look believable and not scream “PHOTOSHOPPED”, I had to completely replace the background, because as you can see from the above photos, there are some major differences in the lightness levels from one shot to the next.  So I basically created a nice, smooth gray background from scratch in Photoshop using the radial gradient tool. To put the finishing touches on the image, I darkened the bottom half to draw the viewer’s eye more toward their faces, where the focus really oughtta be.  Here’s the final result:

For further examples of my work, including high school senior pictures, baby & family portraits, and fashion & glamour, please visit my website at http://RussRobinsonPhotography.com

Questions?  Comments?  Please leave me a comment below, and click “Like” along the way!










Sunday, June 27, 2010

Pic-A-Week, Episode 3 | NEW TAMPA MATERNITY PHOTOGRAPHER

Maternity photography can be a rather difficult thing to do well, because the focus generally needs to be on the baby bump, and there are really only so many ways that you can shoot it without being clichè. Of course you can choose to change the scenery by leaving the studio behind and heading outdoors, but it will probably make things rather difficult if your client wants more of an intimate portrait.

So fortunately for me, as I now begin my maternity portfolio in earnest, the "client" happens to be my beautiful wife. We are expecting our precious Ainsley Claire in August, so the time is perfect for me to jump into this new genre feet first. I have been looking at lots of other photographers' work over the past couple of months trying to get a little bit of inspiration, and this particular image was inspired by a shot from the great Sandy Puc'.

To achieve the lighting effect, I placed a beauty dish with a 10° gridspot behind and slightly to the right of my wife, who was laying on the floor. I had my camera mounted on a tripod, and the tripod had to have the center pole inverted in order for me to get the camera low enough to the ground to get the angle I wanted. I then focused on her belly, put the 10-second timer on, and ran over to quickly drop into position behind her. Fortunately it only took a few shots to get it right, as I was getting out of breath from all the running around!

The shot was later processed in Nik Silver Efex Pro, and then some additional dodging and burning was performed in Photoshop to [de]emphasize certain areas and really put on the finishing touches. I hope you enjoy looking at it as much as I enjoyed putting it together! If so, hook me up with a "Like" and a comment. Thanks ya'll! =)










About Me

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Tampa, FL, United States
I'm a commercial photographer in Tampa, FL specializing in band & musician promos, CD covers, press kits, posters, and the like. Please feel free to check out my website/blog using the link below, and give me a shout if I can be of service to you!

http://TampaBandPhotos.com

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