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Let’s Talk About Light!
Posted
at
4:20 pm
by Jennifer Buchanan/Staff Photographer
Jennifer Buchanan/The Herald
(click to enlarge)
(Canon EOS-1D Mark II, EF 70-200mm f2.8 @ 70mm, ISO 800, 1/400 sec., f7.1)
Sun sets over Larson Stadium in Arlington.
Normally around this time of year, I begin to wax philosophical about great sunset light and how fun it can make shooting high school football. Well, I’ve only shot one high school game so far this year and it was cloudy and overcast, with no light. The sunset got nice for about five minutes and I was able to make a frame of the fans in the stands, but it didn’t last long enough for anything super spectacular. So let’s talk about different light. How about studio light!
Jennifer Buchanan/The Herald
(click to enlarge)
(Canon EOS-1D Mark III, EF 16-35mm f2.8 @ 20mm, ISO 200, 1/250 sec., f9)
Jackson running back Taylor Cox (left) and Edmonds-Woodway running back Tony Heard
I had a great time photographing six of our local high school football players. Last year I shot the photos for the same section and just met each of the kids at their high school stadiums. They turned out well, but I wanted to do something different this year. So I decided to bring them into the studio.
I’ve always enjoyed working in the studio. It’s a very controlled environment in which you can make anything happen. Since the photos were going to run all together in a special section, I decided that the best thing to do was to set them up almost identically to one another. The only thing I changed for each was the gel color on the background that corresponded to the player’s team color. It was convenient that they all pretty much had different colors with the exception of Everett and Sultan, which were just different shades of blue.
Jennifer Buchanan/The Herald
(click to enlarge)
(Canon EOS-1D Mark III, EF 16-35mm f2.8 @ 24mm, ISO 200, 1/250 sec., f10)
Everett senior Jake Frauenholtz
Jennifer Buchanan/The Herald
(click to enlarge)
(Canon EOS-1D Mark III, EF 16-35mm f2.8 @ 22mm, ISO 200, 1/250 sec., f10)
Sultan quarterback Zack Beebe
When people first start out using studio lights, they tend to go simple for a very good reason: more lights = more headache. One light can be very dramatic and look very good if done well. I’ve done one light, I’ve done two lights, I’ve done three and I’ve done various combinations of different lights. How does four heads sound? Good? Good. Two grids, one softbox and a barn-doored head with a gel.
Okay, ready for the set up? Basically, I setup two 10 degree grids on either side of the player, one to the left and one to the right, final position set after they were in the room to adjust for height differences. I put the softbox I put on a boom arm directly over their heads and finally the gel was placed close to the black wall to maximize the colored light. I’ll draw a picture for you. Just remember, I’m a photographer, NOT an artist.
(click to enlarge)
My favorite one was the photo of Levi Cartas from Marysville-Pilchuck. I think because red is always a good photo color.
Jennifer Buchanan/The Herald
(click to enlarge)
(Canon EOS-1D Mark III, EF 16-35mm f2.8 @ 22mm, ISO 200, 1/250 sec., f10)
Marysville-Pilchuck kick returner Levi Cartas
Finally, real men wear purple, Go Dawgs!
Jennifer Buchanan/The Herald
(click to enlarge)
(Canon EOS-1D Mark III, EF 16-35mm f2.8 @ 17mm, ISO 200, 1/250 sec., f10)
Kamiak linebacker Marcel Seely
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