Having the D3s as renewed my interest in Portraits. My wife and I are thinking about setting up the studio better and creating striking portraits for anyone who wants to pay some serious dollars, wil need to recoup the Nikon setup fee!!
I shot this in front of a green backdrop then cut the girl out using Fluid Mask 3, a great program if your into this sort of thing. I then dropped it on to one of my landscape images. I saw Ric Syme doing stuff like this and even though it isn’t new, his work really inspired me.
It certainly takes the problem out of finding a good backdrop to use!
Nikon D3s, 700-200mm lens, oh yeah, thats the stuff!!
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that’s brilliant, great cutout on the hair would hardly tell!
Cracker of a shot. Looks like it was shot on location.
Yes the green screen stuff Ric showed us was pretty spec. Not as good as yours though. (slip cash under door on way out)
nice mate… your daughter looks very sweet. might be the start of her career as a model.
Interesting Christian
I’ve been really getting into combining off-camera-flash with landscape. I’ve got about 5 model shoot booked in over the next month starting tomorrow night (my fire twirler). I reckon the right model in the right landscape can really make a photo by creating a compelling focal point.
Obviously the economics are different, and I probably wouldn’t be doing that if photography was my business.
I think you could be on to a cracking idea. Talk about differentiating yourself!
BP
Dan Fluid mask is great for that and when I saw it demonstrated at PMA the guy cut white smoke out of an image perfectly, now that was impressive. Great for replacing skys from complicated scenes once you know how to use it. My problem is I don’t know how to use it very well.
That is the idea Graham, it makes portraits fun again.
Money should be under the door now David.
She is a sweetie, and as she stands still for about 5 seconds is pretty easy to shoot…… not!!!
Brent it is just a nice change from landscapes and you still get to combine the two anyway. Ric Syme is making money doing this sort of thing, his stuff is unbelievable. Just think of all the good locations you can drop a model into, Canyon X would be a start, wouls save the death defying climb into the abyss. Looking forward to your model shots.
Awesome work Fletch, great concept.
Beautiful girl, sweet background, huge potential.
TP
Well Fletch, now you’ve gone and done it for me. A committed Canon user, now I’m looking at the D3s seriously. I asked a good mate of mine, Tony Sweet, who is a die hard Nikon guy what he thought and he said sell the Canon glass and come over from the dark side. It’ll be tough economically, but I can’t argue with the image quality, especially the low light stuff as I prefer to shoot hand-held over a tripod.
CF,
Im up for some new lenses if anyone is contemplating this ridiculous idea….. email me !
Hey Cf, is this beast full frame
Great portrait, also like the B&W treatment
Cheers Adrian
Really fabulous stuff CF! Looks awesome
nice work CF as usuall
Almost there with Fluid mask mate…might need to ‘phone a friend tomorrow’ to get the finishing touches done though!
Thanks for lunch mate!
Gorgeous pic, mounted in a white frame and placed on a dark wall, this would look sublime!! If my 3 kids would sit still long enough I would get you take their pic anytime! lol
Ops!!! I think you meant “70-200″, not 700-200 (sic). Anyway, amazing shot!!!
Thanks Tom
Steve it has opened my eyes using this gear. I will help you sell your stuff if you need to move it.
Roddy, you can have my 85 f/1.2, it is supposed to be sharp but even the Nikon 24-70 out performs it!!
Yep Adrian full frame. The 60 inch print I did from it looks better than the equivalent from the 5d2 and that was with the 70-200 on it, 1600 iso, no mirror lock up, etc etc!
Thanks Jules, Phil.
You will probably teach me some stuff with it Markie, no probs with lunch mate, I owes ya for all the free loading at your place! Cheers
Thanks Donelle, I might print one up tomorrow and give to the wife ah la Brent Pearson style!
hehe Roger, no it is the 700-200, it is a special lens Nikon has made for me to make me look stupid, thanks for the correction, will leave it there to see if anyone else pics it!!
Hey mate,
Check out the Eagle Bay shot I got…I reckon we should target a few spots down here on Tuesday for some similar stuff??
Nice shot CF…..so tell us, stop hiding from it, are you gonna change? Are ya, go on, tell us, you know you want to……back to the roots, go Nikon!!!!!!
hmm we will have to wait and see Jamie, lets just say the cogs are turning!!!
Hey Christian, your wife must be unbelievably good looking for your daughter to look so pretty – to balance out your looks, I mean… Fluid Mask has great potential, but if you try to process large files at a high resolution, it can takes hours to process – I have given up on it until they resolve some issues, or optionally (if the subject allows it), you crop the area you want to deep etch, Fluid Mask the cropped shot separately and then stick it back on the main image…
Something about it that doesn’t quite work for me. Perhaps its because I know its a drop in or maybe I seen too much of Ric symes work. Gorgeous portrait though. Although wont be easy getting that sort of expression from a child you don’t know of that age in a studio.
Hey Christian, gorgeous shot!! You can borrow my kids anytime!!!!!!
very very nice pic!
you could maybe even make me pretty in a portrait!…. actually maybe not on second thought!
Great picture, sir! I am curious why one would need/want to use Fluid Mask 3 for working with green screen backgrounds? I am no Photoshop expert (nor am I an expert on Fluid Mask 3 – never used it!) but can’t it easily remove the green color so you are left with the subject? Thanks.
Just hoping to learn something,
Art
I love it Christian, this is the sort of stuff I want to get right into, what better way to add an awesome backdrop than the regular studio, and give you even more reason to get out and shoot awesome landscapes. Great job, and shows how adaptable you are in your photography, your studio work is very silky smooth.
Hiya CF, when you have your fire sale of Canon gear, can we bloggers have first crack?
Hi Pete, yes I have had issues too with large files and fluid mask but just yesterday my mate Mark used it on a 16bit stitch and had no probs, maybe they have resolved the problem, or he just got lucky! Yes my wife is good looking, didn’t you see her avatar in an earlier post!!! My daughter looks just like me so I guess she will always be gorgeous!!
Hazel it was easy with Amali as she is such a sweetie, also I fired away like a Finish postal worker! Rics work blows me away, I love it. So creative.
Kym lets shoot them! You get a discount because you work for me!
Dylan you could look pretty menacing, that is probably better for a young bloke like yourself, none of this sissy stuff.
Hi Art welcome to the blog. What you want to do is completely cut the background out of the image not just drop the green out. Then the object is floating on its own layer and you can put it on any background.
It is good fun too Chis, and a challenge to create something from nothing.
Rob, I will let you know when the Canon gear gets the chop!! Thats if I decide to go Nikon.
Rob, Christian’s gear will have some value add mate, kinda like Angelina Jolie’s knickers out of Tomb Raider or something people will pay big money for. But after CF’s pumping up of the Nikon gear here, he may have nothing of value to sell. Question is, has CF been put on the Nikon payroll? Have to get the bureau in to investigate that. haha.
Fletch, u certainly are a man of influence, and us punters have the deepest respect for your photographic thoughts.
Aaah, Fletch, I actually got on to ask a question. what is the difference between using a green screen and a white backdrip, so everything stands out? As i saw examples of having to remove the green reflections off peoples bits, which were near the green screen, whereas you wouldn’t with white.
Hey Chiz, you’re thinking about Nikon now too aren’t you?? I told you all along to go Nikon!!
I’m doomed, mate! I bought a used D3 along with the 50mm f1.4 yesterday and am waiting for them to arrive. Yeah, the spousal unit is a bit upset, and the Nikon glass will be expensive, but I figured why not get what I want.
Couldn’t quite come up with the scratch for the D3s, but I can’t argue with the low-light capabilities of the D3 compared to my Canon 5D, plus the weather-sealing is what I expect I’ll need during our year Down Under.
As for the Canon glass, thanks for the offer, Fletch, but I think it will be easier for me to seel it here in the States. Cheers!
I can only echo what others have said. What a great combination of subject and background.
BTW I am super impressed with the addition of the D700 to my bag. Still have the D300 as a backup. It actually worked well at the cricket yesterday. I used the D300 with 70-200 lens and 2.0x converter so effective 600mm lens that got me close while the light was good. Then switched to D700 when light faded. Not as close but still great shots. On a budget as I am, this combo works GREAT!
I bought the Topaz Labs software package (via recommendation by a friend). He says its great for cutting out backgrounds. Haven’t played with that yet but will keep you posted soon. The noise reduction part of the package though is awesome. There are many other parts to it also. Damn it … why are there only 24 hours in a day!
CF you know us Nikonians will wecome you with open arms. Especially if we need to borrow a lens or two
Is it Australia Day yet? Are we there yet??
Make sure you dont touch my drum kit when you clean up the studio. Remember it’s a Jam Room first, Studio second.
Nice shot. Take a look at a couple of natural portraits that I took on Christmas day at http://cameraadvice.co.uk/2010/01/christmas-day-port
If I can have it, send it over mate. Ill email my address