Golden Gardens Stretch

For composites, lighting has to match your background. As a photographer it's funny how differently you see the world in terms of light, quantity of light and quality of it. When you start creating composites in which you need to capture backgrounds it ads a whole new element in which to view your surrounding through. Thanks Angela for being patient and bending over backward, literally, to make a cool image. Strobist info: Photographed in my West Seattle Studio Einstein through 60" Softlighter boomed above, b800's through gridded striplights for rim lights on either side. www.nakean.com http://flic.kr/p/nU22LK

Put Me in Coach!

I've been wanting to create an image like this for some time now. I had a cancellation and decided to make lemonade out of lemons. Finally got my lens back after being away for repair for almost a month and half! I've been shooting everything with either my 85mm or my 17-40. I was screwed if I needed anything in between but made it work and zoomed with my feet. This was lit with a couple of gridded strip boxes on either side turned almost all the way up (ab800's). I had an Einstein 640 through a gridded beauty dish for the key and I filled the shadows with a 64" softbox behind me . http://flic.kr/p/jCU589

Green Giggles

Having some fun with some editing techniques for that cartoon like affect. I started with Joel Grimes and his blur effect but never could quite get the look I wanted. I think it helps that most of his images are quite a bit darker. This technique of noise reduction and high pass filter to bring back a little detail is exactly what I'm looking for. I love trying on others Photoshop techniques to see if they fit my workflow. I like some bits and pieces and make them my own for my unique look in images. It's always evolving and changing. Adding a bit of salt here and bit of pepper there. This shot is all natural light. http://flic.kr/p/iRp8wR

Starburst

Quite possibly my next composite background! We'll just have to wait and see if it makes sense for the subject. This shot would have been impossible were it not for HDR (High Dynamic Range). Over the years I have learned to tone down post process of these images in favor of more realistic landscapes. This was created with three seperate imagas several stops apart. Here's a link to my process of HDR using Lightroom and Photomatix. www.nakeanworkshops.com/blog/new-love-for-hdr/ http://flic.kr/p/iNXsLB

Family Holiday Photo

-I love taking family photos, but I love it even more when i get to be in them! You can try these with a tripod and a timer but I would recommend getting yourself a wireless remote before attempting with children, or with this many people for that matter! We took countless photos and just like at work, there's almost always one or more people not looking straight ahead. Too often I don't offer to take my families photo, thinking it's a hassle and a bother for them all. More often than not it's exactly what they all hoped for! Thanks for wonderful Holiday breakfast, fun opening presents, and a wonderful outing at the park! I hope we can do it again soon! Lit with a single Large Octabox with Einstein 640 directly over the camera. I think I'm in love with 50mm 1.2 L !!! It goes back to Glazer's rentals tomorrow.... :( http://flic.kr/p/iBrCZR

True Arrow

This is one serious Bow with an equally serious arrow. The tip of this particular arrow is essentially 4 razor blades that are serrated on the back end! You do not want to be on the business end of one of these bad boys! I still don't think I can comprehend the amount sheer force behind an arrow on a bow of this kind. This particular composite took me quite sometime before it felt right. There are countless adjustment layers dealing with color, light and sharpness to name a few. If I had tried to create this 3 months ago, I would have posted it on day one even though it didn't quite feel complete. I couldn't bear to do that to this particular image. I slept on it at least a couple nights and made incremental changes as ideas came to me. Sometimes it's hard for me to give a project, I'm so excited about, some breathing room and time. It's like putting together an intricate puzzle. No one completes those in one sitting, and when your run into a brick wall the best thing you can do is walk away and come back later! Matt brought his bow into the studio here in West Seattle so as not to scare the bajesus out of passers by in public. The background was taken at Lincoln Park near the bluff overlooking Puget Sound. I posted a similar image on my facebook page with the fence located on the opposite side of the frame. Matt was lit with a large octa right behind me and the rims were b800's through medium sized stripboxes. http://flic.kr/p/ikskvM

Julie

An all natural light shot at Lincoln Park with the Trusty 85mm 1.2. I sht at f2 to get a little more DOF here and used a reflector just below and to the right to bring a little more of that gorgeous light in. We worked hard for this one with the last direction being a little dip in that front shoulder. Photography is a game of inches folks! http://flic.kr/p/fw3q3k

Julie

A photo I took with Irish Folk singer at Lincoln Park in search for an album cover. One of my favorites by far! Lit with large PLM camera right. http://flic.kr/p/frafD1