Congratulations to Michael_Kormos for winning Feature Thread of the Week with 2 votes - View Previous Winners
So our little 3 year-old bugger gets SUPER excited whenever a guest comes to our house, because it gives him a chance to show off my motorcycle. He's such a boy. He'll talk to random strangers on the street about it too (something to the tune of "My daddy has a loud motorcycle"). So my wife and I figured, let's take some photos of him looking like a bad a$$.
I was able to pre-scout this sweet little spot in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn using Google Maps Street View (thanks Google for driving on all those off-the-beaten-path roads too!). It's one of very few spots where you can drive your vehicle right-up to to the shore, with a stunning view of the Empire State.
I didn't want to shoot this during the golden hour (wait, did I really just say that?!). I wanted this to carry on a theme of a Nightster (and, technically speaking, that's the name of this motorcycle). Slick black leather jacket, denim, and early-evening bokeh lights with some purple skies. We arrived there just as the sun was going down, giving me chance to respectfully ask a few photographers (already present) and a couple that was parked in the perfect spot to.... kindly.... move. Yes, even those obscure little spots in NYC that offer even a HINT of a view of the skyline are generally littered with people. These cool folks were happy to oblige when I told them it's our 3 year-old's first motorcycle shoot (and knowing him, it wouldn't last more than 10 minutes).
I brought along two SB-900 speedlights, one reflected off a medium white umbrella (key light), the other (gelled blue) to provide some cool-lookin' late-night kicker light from the left (pullback image below). Shot with a Nikon D4 and 135mm f/2DC lens. I underexposed the ambient light by about 2 stops, giving the background the appearance of a night.
We were only able to get about 10 minutes with him before he started running off, so there was little room for adjusting lights or finding framing. Thanks to my wife Sophie for styling the little guy, managing his hair in the wind, and for having plenty of bribes handy. Hope you like these, and as always, I'd love to hear your C&C!
This is a kick-@$$ picture that definitely is going to draw some love when it's shown during his wedding reception.
As for the blue gel, to me that's to create a look within an environment. In this case, it just added blue to the highlights of the motorcycle (on the side of the light) and to the boy's side of head. Just doesn't work for me in this shot, but it doesn't take away from the shot either. You should print this big!
Thats awesome. From the pullback shot, I could never have guessed you could get a result like #1 (with 2 stops underexposed). I think when he gets his own at 18 or so, you should show him this pic, he will be thrilled !
One of my favorite series I've seen on here. Simple set up, awesome theme, great finish! I can't wait till my little guy is old enough to do this kind of shoot... mind you he's still in the womb at the moment so I've got some time!
Extremely well done. Just balancing the building lights with the sky at just the right time is hard enough, then adding the perfect balance with lighting your son and bike is a whole additional challenge. Add in great expressions, timing and location and you have a real winner.
Just awesome! My son got his nephew a shirt that has what looks like a black sleeveless vest, long sleeves that have what looks like tattoos on his arms and the shirt has what looks like a tuft of cheats hair sticking out at the top. My grandson at the time was about 2.5
My daughter told him to look like a bad boy, but he replied mommy I am not a bad boy I am a good boy.....
Sorry to jump in with these photos, but thought I could show you how one of his pictures should have looked like....bad boy!
Here is how he usually looks....excuse the photos but daughter took them with her iPhone.
How he normally looks......
How he looks when he is bad!
Our Christmas card this past year in honor of his bad photo.....
These are awesome! Your lighting is superb, and the little guy looks perfect. Wow! I voted for this without question.I know what it's like trying to photograph a 3 year old. You're really lucky, or more likely you worked just as hard keeping his attention as you did trying to get everything else right. My boy gives me about 30 seconds before I get the back of his head. Great job!
film_4ever wrote:
Where's the scruffy beard, the tats, the pony tail, and the chains ??
Haha! Ok, he's still my son, and not a runaway (even though he acts like it sometimes!)
friscoron wrote:
This is a kick-@$$ picture that definitely is going to draw some love when it's shown during his wedding reception.
Yes, and probably holographically projected in 3D!
sridhar_125 wrote:
From the pullback shot, I could never have guessed you could get a result like #1 (with 2 stops underexposed).
OCF lets you do all kinds of creative things. Read some of Joe Mcnally's books. He's a big speedlight junkie, and illustrates easy techniques for balancing ambient light with strobes to achieve a more dramatic mood.
neighbourboy wrote:
Extremely well done. Just balancing the building lights with the sky at just the right time is hard enough, then adding the perfect balance with lighting your son and bike is a whole additional challenge. Add in great expressions, timing and location and you have a real winner.
Thanks for appreciating the challenge of it all David! Working with adult models is so easy - they follow direction, turn and tilt their head so that the hair light and rim light hit it at just the right angle. Adult models also don't need bribery. But then again, easy isn't fun!
Herb wrote:
Just awesome! My son got his nephew a shirt that has what looks like a black sleeveless vest, long sleeves that have what looks like tattoos on his arms and the shirt has what looks like a tuft of cheats hair sticking out at the top. My grandson at the time was about 2.5
Ok, now you've inspired me. Next time we're taking this to the next level! Love the vest and tats, and his expression - spot on!
Thanks everyone for your comments, I really appreciate them! I'm getting this printed as a 12x18 on glossy aluminum for his room. He's gonna love it :-)
