Beautiful portrait of Joey! Thanks for sharing that, yes curious , passionate , and imaginative for sure! I think he has a lot of the 'inventor ' in him.
Excellent portrait of you as well, you have intense eyes ..very artistic!
Thank you for posting these!

These are just simply amazing in every way. Good Job.

John

The swim shot #1 - strobes in the rafters?

Thanks!

"The swim shot #1 - strobes in the rafters?"

• He swam in the far left lane. One set of two Canon 560 strobes velcroed together on a stand at the pool's edge, facing back as a kicker. An identical set of two strobes on a stand right in the water in lane 2, set at the same height and distance as the other, creating a double kicker. (see pullback shot above).

The main light was a single 580 strobe shooting through a 12x16 LiteDome Q39 softbox on a stand. An assistant held the light out in the middle of the lane in front of the swimmer, facing at a 45º down toward him. As he swam, the assistant walked forward. So the main light was always positioned correctly whenever I took a shot.

All flashes on ETTL, camera set to high speed sync. I used AI focus, put the camera right at the water's level (using a 90º finder to see). I could get off four or five shots with each pass in the 'kicker zone.'

jh

Wow, these are really awesome shots. Are you using the high pass filter to created the increased definition or another technique?

Ben

"Wow, these are really awesome shots. Are you using the high pass filter to created the increased definition or another technique?"

The look is done using Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0. The Tonal Contrast and Bleach Bypass filters were employed for these. Nik Silver Efex Pro created the B&W.

Very nice, love the light and the post-processing technique

Loco

jhartman:

I think the other thread of yours that pandacat pulled up with the lighting setup gave me a real good idea of what's going on. I really like this technique. Thanks for sharing.

A friend of mine on here, redman, recommended the topaz detail filter have you tried that one yet? It seems like it would work well with shots like these.

jhartman wrote:
"I bet she is not pleased and this is probably not her favorite photo."

• Not sure, but they bought a 20" portrait of this pose. Beauty is in the eye of the checkbook holder.


Can't argue with that statement. Probably the best quote I have heard in months.

Now please share some of that post processing you did. Were they all processed in Nik?

Or were the edgy, dark, contrasty images done in something else?

John

Is there a typical size sports portrait that parents purchase? Also, do they typically buy a print, digital matted print, canvas wrap? Or, is there no "typical" purchase?

Sorry for so many questions, but thanks, again.

"please share some of that post processing you did. Were they all processed in Nik?"

•Each of these was done using Nik CEP 3.0. I like particularly like the Bleach Bypass and Tonal Contrast filters, which were used here, but the entire suite has some very useful tools.

Of course, you could do any of this work in Photoshop, but I'm like electricity in that I generally follow the path of least resistance. The presets you can make and save with each filter greatly simplify the process, or at least make a good starting point.



"Or, is there no "typical" purchase?"

• There is no typical purchase. We've sold wallets to 40" of these. They also buy them matted, or digitally enhanced using QuickMats, or in a press-bound book, or as a canvas wrap or poster. Doesn't matter to me - the money all spends the same.

;-)

susi wrote:
I just read up where you mentioned Joey Lawrence and I was thinking of him while viewing these. Joeys was my first interview for Rangefinder and talk about 'sick' incredible talent and an incredibly focused young man! So glad he is now getting the attention and success he deserves and while he is still a teen! Amazing, kudos to you for mentioning him,


Love that mag.....love it!

Loving these shots...only nit has been mentioned...would have loved to see a helmet in the baseball slide shot....

Man I have been trying to get a good life action slide into 3rd all year...no go so far.

And you are right....JoeyL is a great talent. I love reading about his work.

Wow...these really are awesome, thanks for sharing!

I personally call this look the Topaz or Lucas effect. I like them all, but don't get hung up with one style. Branch out with some new Looks and Ideas.

jhartman,
Thanks for sharing your info. I did have one other question, Have you ever had to have one of your seniors get feild/uniform access when a particular sport is out of season to do one of your sessions? If so, how is getting say the uniform accomplished when needed as some sports are just going to be plain out of season when senior photos are done?
If this is somwhat OT I appologize and you can PM me if you would like.

Thanks

These photos are awesome. I wish I had the ability/know how to do something like this, especially if our paper ever did any type of postseason awards. I'm extremely jealous!

"Have you ever had to have one of your seniors get feild/uniform access when a particular sport is out of season to do one of your sessions?"

• The students are responsible for getting the uniforms and gear, as well as making arrangements to get into the empty stadium/court/pool/diamond/track, etc. So far the coaches have been cooperative, most likely because the students have been exceptionally responsible.

jhartman wrote:
"I bet she is not pleased and this is probably not her favorite photo."

• Not sure, but they bought a 20" portrait of this pose. Beauty is in the eye of the checkbook holder.

Excellent stuff.

I always thought it was interesting how we can be tough critics of our photos, but in the end it matters what the buyer thinks. I too sold many photos to parents that were dogged by folks in the People Forum.

+1 for sick. (in a good way)

Outstanding. For kids today to get this level of expertise on a senior portrait is amazing to me. I hope you're able to charge enough to make the effort worth your time and energy.