A Couple of Portraits

I have two portraits that I shot this week. The first is State Representative Tony Sellier. The second is Perry High Valedictorian Amy Davidson.

The Tony Sellier assignment was for 3:00 in the afternoon. A time for really bad shadows in you shoot outdoors. I wanted to photograph Tony with his cows in the background, but the shadows on his face were really harsh. Too bright to make it right with fill flash. I moved him under a tree, lost the harsh light on his face and balanced my flash so he and the background were equally exposed. I used my off camera cord so the flash was angled from the side to provide's a more dramatic effect on his face. Beging in the shade is also easier on your subject. cuts out the squinting caused by the harsh sunlight.

The tree made a nice frame for the top of the image.



The second portrait was at Perry High. I wanted to shoot in the school's lobby. Really a cool looking place. Here again I wanted to balance the exposure for both the subject and the background, but keep some of the interior design.

I fired my flash through a white umbrella onto Amy for my main light source. The umbrella softened the light a bit. I didn't like the straight on shot, a bit boring. So I tilted the camera a bit and got the bottom image. It is less static and makes better use of the architecture.