Category: Portrait Photography

We Could All Use a Little Light

Here’s a dispatch from the Don’t Try This at Home Department: I’m a sucker for people in wild costumes doing crazy things. Hence, this photo. This is Michelle Yeager, and awesome fire breather – performing at a Krampuslauf event in North Philadelphia, a few years back. It is one of my favorites because of the work it took getting the right balance and detail of the fire without it being too bright and therefore blowing out the details. It started as big white blob of fire, but with the magic of lightroom and RAW file, rather than a JPG, I was able to coax detail out of flames that look, to me, like an angry universe, or maybe the interior of a sunspot. Yes, I like to shoot film, but there are certain things that are best done with digital, and shooting fire breathers is one of them. And also – use a long lens. No sense singing your eyebrows, even if it is for a good photo.

Uneasy Lies the Head That Wears the Crown

During the Pandemic, I enlisted (threatened, bribed, cajoled) my daughter into posing for me for an online photography class I was taking with Rick Wright, a brilliant photography instructor who teaches at the Fleisher Art Memorial and the Halide Project, both located in Philadelphia.  The plan for the shoot was to photograph my daughter in her devil’s costume backed up by her minions – her many stuffed animals.  She was doing a great job for me, mugging for the camera, and throwing wicked, crazy looks that could give Wednesday Addams a run for her money, and we got a several excellent shots, so we relaxed for a bit and took a break.

While we were relaxing, I was standing by the camera and she threw this look, a bit exhausted, a little hot from the costume, and I had to press the shutter.  And there she was, the ruler of Hades, deep, dark and brooding.  Brava, to my great actress!!

About the Photo:  Digital. Single, overhead spotlight.  Some filters and added clarity.  Jaundice slider +3. It’s not normally my style to spend a lot of time in post, but this shot was just too much fun to make utterly creepy.

Photographer at Work – Banksy Style

While I’m not a fan of Banksy’s pretense, I am a fan of his work. One image that I love is the girl losing her balloon in the wind. This image of a photographer making an image in the wind hopefully catches some of that essence. It was shot with a Nikon Z7ii, using a Nikkor Z 24-70 f/2.8 lens.

Sometimes indirect photos can suggest a good story.

Boost Drama with Rim Lighting

Rim Lighting creates drama in a photo – more so than with most lighting techniques – and in the right situation it can be just the creativity you need. This shot turned a photo a session from typical and blah into something that really pops.

To do rim lighting you really need off-camera lighting.

Exotic Portraiture: Split Light, Clarity and Vibrance

Sitar John Protopapas is primarily a World Music instructor at York College in York, PA. A study in diversity, John has a Greek background but grew up in South Africa and studied music in India.

Essential Skill: Swimming.

As an older parent, raising a young child, I want my daughter to choose the extra-curricular activities that help her express the woman that she is becoming, and I do not want to spend valuable emotional currency attempting to force her into courses and activities that do not sync with her sense of self.

That said, the one area where I will not compromise is swim lessons.