An absolutely amazing Veteran's Portrait Project session...

Dean_Gretsch · Jul 11, 2018

97??? What? I hope I look that good at 70 ( if I make it )! His eyes are still so full of life and intelligence. Awesome story to go with this very nice portrait.

tirediron · Jul 12, 2018

oldhippy said:
Beautiful work, great subject. Big hearted photographer.

Thank-you, Ed!

Dean_Gretsch said:
97??? What? I hope I look that good at 70 ( if I make it )! His eyes are still so full of life and intelligence. Awesome story to go with this very nice portrait.

Tell me about it!!!! Thanks Dean!

Fujidave · Jul 12, 2018

For 97 Commander Chance looks great. On the image you made I think you did a very good job that I am sure you are both very happy with, no reflection in the glasses and even the medals are spot on. A very nicely made image and one to be proud of too.

Braineack · Jul 12, 2018

DanOstergren said:
I've always been a fan of this series and what it represents, but I've always kept my critique to myself on these photos for some reason. This is a great shot, as are the rest in the series that you've done, but as a whole for the entire series I've always had just one nit-pick: the uniforms seem to mostly blend into the background, giving your subjects the look of being floating heads. The light on their faces is always great and really captures them well, I just always find myself wishing that you used light to somehow better distinguish the uniforms from the background. Perhaps a liiiiittle bit of a kicker from behind, or an additional light that's placed at a low angle up at the subject (like a loose clamshell setup), which would act both as a light that illuminates the uniform, and adds some fill light from below. Or you could even perhaps do that with a silver reflector. Another option would be to aim a light at the backdrop, just to illuminate it enough to allow us to see the form of the uniform and to distinguish it from the background.

I was going to say something similar. My comment was going to be something to the effect: This is my favorite in the series so far because the subject seems well exposed, where ones in the past almost seem under.

snowbear · Jul 12, 2018

A fine job, sir.

tirediron · Jul 12, 2018

Fujidave said:
For 97 Commander Chance looks great. On the image you made I think you did a very good job that I am sure you are both very happy with, no reflection in the glasses and even the medals are spot on. A very nicely made image and one to be proud of too.

Thank-you, sir!

Braineack said:
I was going to say something similar. My comment was going to be something to the effect: This is my favorite in the series so far because the subject seems well exposed, where ones in the past almost seem under.

Cheers! I wish I could share the prints and get opinions on the exposure and appearance.

snowbear said:
A fine job, sir.

Thank-you!

mrca · Jul 17, 2018

Tirediron, I agree, I like the degree of separation on jacket and bg and am not surprised on a loss of quality posted over the original image either on your monitor or printed. The face would be the most important element in the image followed by the medals. I think the color of the jacket separates it from the mottled bg as well. By the way, not a speck of lint on it. Impeccable. Karsh is one of my favorite photographers and my business headshot is an homage to him and his subject, one of my favorite authors, Hemingway, white beard created with kickers a tad hot. His technique of intentionally ticking off his subject, Churchill, I employed with one of my trademark images. Lesson learned don't tell them you intentionally pissed them off when they are pointing loaded guns. What also caught my eye and probably some fans of the military, was his last name. It immediately reminded me of a movie I have watched several times about the respect given our fallen warriors. Taking Chance.

tirediron · Jul 17, 2018

mrca said:
Tirediron, I agree, I like the degree of separation on jacket and bg and am not surprised on a loss of quality posted over the original image either on your monitor or printed. The face would be the most important element in the image followed by the medals. I think the color of the jacket separates it from the mottled bg as well. By the way, not a speck of lint on it. Impeccable. Karsh is one of my favorite photographers and my business headshot is an homage to him and his subject, one of my favorite authors, Hemingway, white beard created with kickers a tad hot. His technique of intentionally ticking off his subject, Churchill, I employed with one of my trademark images. Lesson learned don't tell them you intentionally pissed them off when they are pointing loaded guns. What also caught my eye and probably some fans of the military, was his last name. It immediately reminded me of a movie I have watched several times about the respect given our fallen warriors. Taking Chance.

Thanks!

Given that the majority of my clientele are senior citizens I have become a bit of an expert at cleaning lint & dandruff!

mrca · Jul 17, 2018

A sticky lint roller is always in my location case. Saves lots of time in post. I'm in FL so not only am I among senior citizens, I are one.

tirediron · Jul 17, 2018

mrca said:
A sticky lint roller is always in my location case. Saves lots of time in post. I'm in FL so not only am I among senior citizens, I are one.

I have at least one in my grip case, but you never, ever get it all, and for as easy as it is to zap away in post, I only want to expend so much time and material on set.

mrca · Jul 17, 2018

That's the truth. Gotta love photoshop. Figured you had to do some in post, it looks perfect. Also, jacket, shirt and tie all perfectly arranged. A polished, professional job with an eye to all details. No reflection in glasses. Definitely one for a large wall print.