A few photos of my friend

[DanOstergren]

This guy started out as my intern about a year ago, but over that time we've become great friends. We were out scouting a location yesterday, and I snapped a few shots in order to test the lighting and get a feel for the location. I ended up deciding on a different location for the shoot I was scouting for, but I definitely plan to save this location for something else.

Sorry, I know they're all practically the same crop/ pose/ expression. I wasn't feeling very creative or feeling like I wanted to pose him, I just wanted to get a sense of the location before deciding to use it for the upcoming shoot. Either way, I like these photos of my friend and thought I'd share them. Critique is welcome.

All captured in natural light with no modifiers.
EOS 5D MKI
135mm f/2L

@f/2
1/800th sec
ISO 400

@f/2
1/250th sec
ISO 400

@f/3.5
1/200th sec
ISO 400

@f/3.5
1/250th sec
ISO 400

@f/2
1/400th sec
ISO 400

@f/2.8
1/400th sec
ISO 400

 

[mrsblackfoto]

Very crisp clean, love the gorgeous blur. Nice colors I like the darker fall vibe. The quality of the pictures is what I hope to learn how to do. I would die to get that blur. lol I'm very new at this but your pics have some nice qualities

 

[Donde]

The Emperor's New Clothes

 

[EIngerson]

BOKEH!!! Nice Dan.

 

[FITBMX]

Those looks great, especially for test photos!

That is a BIG nose ring!

 

[DanOstergren]

Very crisp clean, love the gorgeous blur. Nice colors I like the darker fall vibe. The quality of the pictures is what I hope to learn how to do. I would die to get that blur. lol I'm very new at this but your pics have some nice qualities

Thank you! The blur is an effect of using a telephoto focal length lens with a fast aperture (I use a 135mm f/2 prime lens). The lens renders background blur quite nicely. You could also get a similar look with an 85mm f/1.8 lens. The lens doesn't really play much role in the quality of the photo though; what matters is lighting and focus.

 

[cauzimme]

Nice photos, i'm drawn to the second one.
Love the beard.

 

[DanOstergren]

Nice photos, i'm drawn to the second one.
Love the beard.

Thank you.

 

[manny212]

Great light , nice clean images , great bokeh . I would kill for a location like your first one , man cool .

 

[DanOstergren]

Great light , nice clean images , great bokeh . I would kill for a location like your first one , man cool .

Thank you. The location is a big park in Southeast Portland Oregon called Laurelhurst Park.

 

[beagle100]

good bokeh ........ but that nose ring

 

[DanOstergren]

good bokeh ........ but that nose ring

It's something I've never liked myself, and I'm shocked at how popular that piercing has become.

 

[Braineack]

great work as usual. It's almost like you know what youre doing.

Wish his expression was a little better in some of these.

 

[runnah]

good bokeh ........ but that nose ring

It's something I've never liked myself, and I'm shocked at how popular that piercing has become.

Yeah, that's something... I can't talk I had my eyebrow done when I was younger.

 

[terri]

Beautiful work, as always, Dan. You're a master with natural light and the casual pose.