February 19, 2012 – A year of portraits – Damien Rose

02.19.12 Damien Rose

Today’s portrait is the first one I’ve taken of my new great, great nephew Damien Rose, because he hasn’t been born yet. He’s the son of my great niece Ashley and still likes about 5 months or so before he makes his entrance into the world. He will be my second great, great, which is great!

I used Photoshop CS5 to make some minor adjustments to the photo in levels and applied the Topaz Adjust filter “light pop” to round it off. I also cropped it in a little bit and did a little dodging on the midtones of the sonogram.

Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8
Exposure: Matrix Metering, 1/60, f/3.2 with an ISO of 800
File Type: Nikon RAW

February 18, 2012 – A year of portraits – Abraham Browning

02.18.12 Abraham Browning

I was on the way to the zoo in Evansville, Indiana today and I came to a screeching halt almost when I saw Abraham Browning on the side of the road and I knew I had to capture him for my portrait for the day. Sometimes you just stumble across pictures… just gotta keep an eye out for them. He was advertising a tax preparation business called ‘Liberty.”

Today’s photo was processed using Photoshop CS5 with some slight adjustments in levels, cropped the image slightly and applied the Topaz Adjust Clarity Filter to finish it off.

Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Nikon 50mm f/1.4
Exposure: Matrix Metering, 1/320, f/9 with an ISO of 500
File Type: Nikon RAW

February 17, 2012 – A year of portraits – Mike Griffith

02.17.12 Mike Griffith

I captured this portrait of Mike Griffith as he was waiting to enter the gym at Hopkins County Central High School in Mortons Gap, Ky for senior night. His son, Landon, is a senior on the Storm’s basketball team. Mike is retired from the Hopkins County Health Department and was a basketball referee for 35 plus years.

Photo was processed using Photoshop CS5. Color balance was corrected, levels were adjusted slightly and the wall in the background was toned down some using the burn tool. Also, some fill light was applied using the RAW plugin. The Topaz Adjust “Detail Light” filter was applied to sharpen the final image.

Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Nikon 50mm F.1.4
Exposure: Matrix Metering, 1/400, f2.8 with an ISO of 4,000
File Type: Nikon RAW

February 16, 2012 – A year of portraits – Lee Carter

02.16.12 Lee Carter

Lee Carter was a 3rd Class Petty officer aboard the USS Sigourney (DD-643) Destroyer from 1950-1955. During this time he circled the globe twice while in the Navy and served a tour with his ship off the coast of Korea during it’s war there leading up to the signing of the cease-fire treaty. A man proud to have served his country.

Photo was cropped slightly from the original photo to remove a bright window in the background.  Post processing was done with Photoshop CS5 with levels being adjusted, slight burning in on the background to darken it down and then I applied the Topaz Adjust “Simple Pop” filter and applied a black edge to the photo.

Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Sigma 24-70mm f/4.5
Exposure: Matrix Metering, 1/80, f/4.5 with an ISO of 4,000
File Type: Nikon RAW

February 15, 2012 – A year of portraits – Jim Pearson

02.15.12 Jim Pearson

As part of this year long project I plan to include at least one self-portrait each month. For this one I used my iPhone 4 and a app called 6×6. You can shoot with it’s native camera in color or B&W and apply a border if you like. I like the square format that it shoots and how it handles the black and white photos. It brings back memories of the days of shooting with 2 1/4 film cameras. Find out more by visiting the apps website at http://jag.gr/6×6/

I did do some post processing with this image in Photoshop CS5 also. Mostly because I wanted to darken down the hooded jacket I was wearing to make my face stand out more and I also applied the Topaz Adjust Filter “Simple Pop.”

Technical Details:
Camera: 6×6
Lens: Built-In Camera lens
Exposure: The iPhone doesn’t record shutter speed or aperture information
Apps Used: 6×6 and Photoshop CS5

February 14, 2012 – A year of portraits – Jason Carl

02.14.12 Jason Carl

Jason Carl is with Trover Health System Sports Medicine in Madisonville, Ky and the athletic trainer for Hopkins County Central High School in Mortons Gap, Ky. An outstanding individual that always has the interest of the athlete at heart and keeps an eye out for their well being in all sports.

Photo was cropped slightly from the original photo to remove a distraction in the background. I usually like to shoot in the camera the way I want the final photo to look, but sometimes that doesn’t work. Post processing was done with Photoshop CS5 with levels being adjusted, slight burning in on the background to darken it down and then I applied the Topaz Adjust “Simple Pop” filter to provide the final look.

Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Nikon 50mm F.1.4
Exposure: Matrix Metering, 1/60, f/4 with an ISO of 4,000
File Type: Nikon RAW

Jason M. Carl

February 13, 2012 – A year of portraits – Dick Dodds

02.13.12 Dick Dodds

Today’s portrait is of good friend and fellow photographer Dick Dodds. I’ve know Dick for a long time as he used to be my mothers doctor and as the years have gone by he’s retired from that profession and pursued the passion he’s had since the 1970’s… photography. I asked him when he started in photography and his reply was, “I got serious about photography in the mid-70’s when I bought a camera that I could focus.”

Well, he’s been focusing a lot since then and has opened his own photo printing and restoration business called Southside Prints, in Earlington, Ky. His love is shooting a broad range of photography from nature to portraits and everything in between. His camera of choice is a Nikon D3S and for this portrait he’s leaning on his Nikon 300-800mm f/5.6 lens.

Lighting was available light from a window with a white board to bounce some light back into his face to fill in the shadows.

I used Photoshop CS5 to do the post processing on this portrait, however, I didn’t do much other than adjust the levels slightly and a little bit of burning in around the edges of the photo and applying the Topaz Adjust “Simple Pop” filter. The photo was used as shot without any cropping.

Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Sigma 24-70mm F.2.8 @ 65mm
Exposure: Spot Metering, 1/100, f/10 with an ISO of 4,000
File Type: Nikon RAW

February 7, 2012 – A year of portraits – Scott Schaefer

02.07.12 Scott Schaefer

When I started this year long challenge I said I was going to photograph the interesting and inspirational people that I meet along my daily travels and Scott Schaefer has to be one them. I have already posted one portrait for this day on this year long challenge, but since the paper’s story about Scott wasn’t scheduled to run until the 11th I didn’t use his portrait till today.

Scott was missing part of his heart when he was born and the doctors never expected him to leave the hospital.

In his 11 years, Scott has had five heart surgeries, 14 heart catheters and one bilateral hernia repair. He also suffered a shower of strokes during one surgery in 2007.

“I made it through because Jesus was with me,” he said.

He is called Scott Awesome by many of his friends and the short time I spent with him for the interview and pictures last Tuesday was enough for me to understand why he’s called that.

He’s a well spoken, well adjusted and compassionate young man, that loves going to school, Kentucky Basketball, football and NASCAR.

His mom, Kim, says Scott rarely gets upset about his condition and is more disappointed if he has to miss school.

It was an honor to help tell his story.

February 12, 2012 – A year of portraits – Justin Randolph

02.12.12 Justin Randolph

Justin Randolph is a senior at Hopkins County Central High School in Mortons Gap, Ky. I captured this “high key” stage portrait of him during rehearsal of “Little Women” by the school’s drama department Sunday afternoon.

He plays the part of Mr. Lawrence in the play which will be performed in the school’s auditorium February 12th and 13th night at 7pm.

Photo was processed using Photoshop CS5 using levels, a little bit of dodging and then I used the Topaz Adjust FIlm Collection’s filter called “Retro Sytle IV.

Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8
Exposure: Matrix Metering, 1/200, f/4 with an ISO of 5,000
File Type: Nikon RAW

 

February 11, 2012 – A year of portraits – Dai Carter

02.11.12 Dai Carter

Today’s environmental portrait is of Hopkins County Central High School’s Dai Carter, as he lifts 265 pounds, during the power clean event Saturday afternoon, during weight lifting competition, at Madisonville-North Hopkins High School. Dai is a sophomore at the school and is a running back for the football team.

I used Photoshop CS5 for postprocessing in this portrait. Adjustments were made in levels and some slight darkening was done using the burning tool, before applying Topaz Adjust’s Photo Pop filter to sharpen up the image a bit more.

Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Nikon 18mm F.2.8
Exposure: Matrix Metering, 1/250, f/2.8 with an ISO of 4,000
File Type: Nikon RAW

February 10, 2012 – A year of portraits – Brett Hoffland

02.10.12 Brett Hoffland

Brett Hoffland is Madisonville’s Bureau Reporter for NBC’s 14 News out of Evansville, Indiana. He works out of The Messenger’s newsroom and covers the Western Kentucky beat for the TV station. The Messenger and other newspapers are starting to partnering up with area TV stations and sharing their assets in doing so. The paper’s conference room has been converted to where Brett can do live newscasts. Brett is from suburbs of Chicago, Illinois where his interest for a career in television began. When he is not working, Brett loves following all Chicago sports teams, especially the Cubs. A great asset to the Madisonville community.

The photo was processed using Adobe Photoshop CS5 with adjustments in levels, some burning in and the Topaz Adjust Filter “Photo Pop” was applied.

Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Sigma 24-70mm F.2.8 @ 24mm
Exposure: Matrix Metering, 1/500, f/2.8 with an ISO of 4,000
File Type: Nikon RAW

 

 

February 9, 2012 – A year of portraits – Toby Miles, Sr.

02.09.12 Toby Miles

Toby Miles teaches business at Hopkins County Central High School in Mortons Gap, Ky and is also the boys basketball coach. Today’s environmental portrait was taken on the slidelines during his teams win over the Fort Campbell Falcons Thursday night.

Photo was edited using Photoshop with adjustments in the levels, some burning in on the edges along with the Topaz Adjust Filter “Photo Pop” applied.

Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Nikon 300mm f/4
Exposure: Matrix Metering, 1/200, f/4 with an ISO of 4,000
File Type: Nikon RAW

 

February 8, 2012 – A year of portraits – Lowell Mendyk

02.08.12 Lowell Mendyk

Lowell Mendyk has been a good friend and photographic mentor every since I was a junior at Madisonville-North Hopkins High School. Over the years we’ve had many photographic adventures together and still do today. I stopped by his house today to help with a computer issue; he is a little technology challenged when it comes to some things, and made this portrait in his office with two of his “kids.”

Post processing for this portrait was done with Photoshop CS5 with very little work done on it. I adjusted levels, dodged the edges a little and applied Topaz Adjust’s “Simple Pop” filter to round it off.

Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm
Exposure: Matrix Metering, 1/80, f/4.5 with an ISO of 4,000
File Type: Nikon RAW

February 7, 2012 – A year of portraits – Pat Walters

02.07.12 Patrick Walters

Sometimes portraits present themselves where you least expect it, as with this one of Patrick Walters in Earlington, Ky.

We were having lunch with members of The West Kentucky Photography Club, which Pat is a member of, and a couple members started taking pictures of Pat to go with an upcoming club program and after they finished I caught this portrait using the light in the restaurant.

Photo was shot using my iPhone, but processed using Photoshop CS5.

Levels were adjusted slightly and I did some dodging on the eyes as the light coming from overhead produced darker shadows than I wanted. I then applied the Topaz Adjust filter “Simple Pop” to produce the final look.

Technical Details:
Camera: iPhone 4
Lens: Built-In Camera lens
Exposure: The iPhone doesn’t record shutter speed or aperture information
Apps Used: Standard phone app

February 6, 2012 – A year of portraits – Maria Lee

02.06.12 Maria Lee

For Maria Lee creating things from fiber is her obsession. She is the owner of Black Dog Fiber Studio in Madisonville, Ky. Her favorite tools are her spinning wheel and rigid heddle loom – each allows her to work closely with the fiber she dyes and cards into batts and roving to create one-of-a-kind art garments. She also weaves with exceptional commercial yarns, many of which she has hand-dyed. An outstanding artist and business woman in our community.

On the Web:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/blackdogfiberstudio
https://www.facebook.com/BlackDogFiberStudio

This photo was processed using Photoshop with levels being adjusted, a slight amount of sharpening and burning in on the edges to bring the eye to her.

Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm
Exposure: Matrix Metering, 1/80, f/4.5 with an ISO of 4,000
File Type: Nikon RAW

February 5, 2012 – A year of portraits – Dana Classen

02.05.12 Dana Classen & Kids

Today’s portrait is of Dana Classen, grandkids, Chris, Elizabeth, Micheal and his nephew, Taylor, after today’s services at First Christian Church. Dana is very involved in our youth groups, a scout leader for Boy Scout Troop 1 and is one of the sound technicians at our church. A mentor to all the kids of our church.

Shooting and post processing was done today on my iPhone 4. After shooting the picture with the standard camera I opened it up in the Snapseed App and adjusted the contrast, brightness, did some dodging and sharpening.

I then opened the adjusted picture with the App called PerfectlyClr and applied the standard settings to the photo which clears up the image even more. The final App I used was Photogene to apply the border.

Technical Details:
Camera: iPhone 4
Lens: Built-In Camera lens
Exposure: The iPhone doesn’t record shutter speed or aperture information
Apps Used: Snapseed, PerfectlyClr and Photogene

February 4, 2012 – A year of portraits – Dannye and David Pearson

02.04.12 Dannye and David Pearson

Today’s portrait is of my brothers, Dannye and David. You can’t tell that much from this picture, but they are twins! Both just recently retired from the City of Madisonville and are enjoying their retirements. As big brothers go, they’re the best and would give you the shirt off their backs if you needed it. Good people…

Processing was done with Photoshop CS5 by burning in the edges of the photo, adjusting levels, desaturated the image slightly and then applied a little sharpening in Topaz Adjust using the Simple Pop filter.

Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 36mm
Exposure: Matrix Metering, 1/50, f/2.8 with an ISO of 4,000
File Type: Nikon RAW

February 3, 2012 – A year of portraits – The Maroon Mop

02.03.12 The Maroon Mop

Today’s portrait is of the Madisonville-North Hopkins High School mascot who has been the Maroon Mop as long as I can remember, probably dating back to when I was in high school there in the early 1970’s.

Photo was processed using Photoshop CS5 with some burning done to tone down the edges. Afterwards I applied the Topaz Adjust Filter called photo pop to finish off the processing.

Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 @65mm
Exposure: Matrix Metering, 1/500, f/2.8 with an ISO of 4,000
File Type: Nikon RAW

February 2, 2012 – A year of portraits – Scott Dillingham

02.02.12 Scott Dillingham

I grabbed this portrait of Scott Dillingham during Thursday night’s basketball game at Dawson Springs. Scott is the editor and publisher of the Dawson Springs Progress newspaper and is one of those guys you’d say has ink in their blood. Great guy all around. We were setting next to each other under the basket and pointed my camera at him and called his name. I shot off about four pictures and this is the one I liked the best.

I processed the photo in Photoshop CS5 and converted it to black and white using the Topaz B&W Effects plugin to achieve this final look. I also used the burn tool to darken down the edges slightly to draw focus on him better.

Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Nikon 50mm f/1.4
Exposure: Matrix Metering, 1/500, f/2.8 with an ISO of 4,000
File Type: Nikon RAW

February 1, 2012 – A year of portraits – Joe Kington

02.01.12 Joe Kington

Joe Kington has been a barber for 37 years, since he was 18 years old. That’s a lot of haircuts! He opened his own shop in Mortons Gap, Ky back in 1984 and has been in this place since 1996, which used to be the towns city hall. Like most small town barber shops it’s the hub for folks to stop by and visit, not just to get a haircut. If you need a good haircut and want to chat about anything then stop by and pay him a visit.

Image was processed with Photoshop CS5 with levels adjusted to lighten up the midtones and then I applied the Topaz Adjust Photo Pop filter to sharpen up the final image.

Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Sgima 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 32mm
Exposure: Matrix Metering, 1/160, f/6.3 with an ISO of 4,000
File Type: Nikon RAW

January 31, 2012 – A year of portraits – Randy Hardesty

01.31.12 Randy Hardesty

Randy Hardesty is one of the Madisonville Community College Community Theater actors who is performing Thursday – Saturday at the Glema Mahr Center for the Arts in a production called “Almost, Maine.” Here he portrays a character named “East.”

Image was processed with Photoshop CS5 with levels adjusted to lighten up the midtones and then I applied the Topaz Adjust Photo Pop filter to sharpen up the final image.

Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 @ 80mm
Exposure: Matrix Metering, 1/160, f/2.8 with an ISO of 4,000
File Type: Nikon RAW