Tag Archives: 70-200mm

Raji

October 18, 2014 Michael Banks Leave a comment

When I do a photoshoot there are many shots that get captured, but there’s always a select few that stand out; even if it isn’t at first glance.

This was a shot that I almost got rid of because of the angle I took it, but I used Photoshop to fix it and made a composite from it. Just because something isn’t great out of camera doesn’t make it a great shot.

Once I opened this in Photoshop, the logical next step was making a selection of the area that wasn’t a part of the background.I basically made a selection and performed a content aware fill, one of the processes that replace an object and mixes the outside area into the selected area. This was the result.

Next, I got rid of the shadow from the lights and decided to add an effect to play off of the pose that Raji made. I was contemplating colors to use for the effect and a design concept that I learned was to use colors from the subject and I thought that the pink in her shirt really stood out so that was the color I used from my brush effect.

Lastly I just did some clean up and some general color correction to the image to get the final product. Overall, it was a great lesson to not get rid of an image out of camera even if it isn’t technically or composition-ally idea. Photoshop can sometime save the day.

It was a joy to shoot Raji and I think the photo is a great reflection of that.

Blog, Events

Clash of the Titans: A Greek Step Show

October 13, 2014 Michael Banks Leave a comment

Blog, People, Portfolio

There’s Two of ‘Em (Mother’s Day Post)

May 11, 2014 Michael Banks Leave a comment

Recently I had the pleasure of taking pictures of Twins.

Justina, who happens to be my BEST friend, just graduated and commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army, wanted to take photos for her mother for Mother’s Day so I scheduled a photo shoot. Justina’s sister Christina is also in the Army as well, which is why they both wanted to wear their Army Combat Uniform.

Taking photos of twins is that much more challenging than taking photos of a couple or even a family because it’s TWO similar personalities that have different ideas. Like tug-of-rope.

Overall I still had a blast taking these photos and in the essence of Mother’s day I would like to wish all the Mother’s out there a Happy Mother’s Day. Because none of us would be here without you all.

Blog, Events, Portfolio

Natalie Stovall and the Drive

February 27, 2014 Michael Banks Leave a comment

Concert Photography… That is a tricky one as always… You have to deal not only with the low light and not using a flash, but on top of that you have these crazy colors going on at the same time… A few days ago I covered an event on Georgia Regents University called Jaguar Jam, which was an event focused around GRU Athletics and Homecoming. It was located at Christenberry Fieldhouse. Natalie Stovall was the entertainment for the night and she sang many songs that night that were incredible.

Natalie definitely was a great singer and I really enjoyed how she kept the crowd’s energy up as well.

Since I had to shoot without a flash I had to push that ISO and utilize some noise reduction in post. I shot it with my go to lens, a 70 – 200mm f/2.8, since there was a stage and I didn’t want to go through the process of getting all the way to the front in other people’s way.

For me with concert photography it is very difficult to get consecutive good shots because you usually will get one of two things: An Actions shot of them singing or A flattering picture of them dancing or singing. There are many things that hinders that shot from their microphone placement and other like interesting variables that have them covering their face or instrument.

I ended up with only half the photos I shot. I definitely like some of the photo results I got and overall satisfied with my performance at the event.

I will definitely be doing concert photography more often. (if I can) Definitely a challenge.

Blog, Events

Low Light Photography is not as easy as it looks

August 30, 2013 Michael Banks 1 Comment

I have taken photos recently at an event at Brunswick National Lanes called jaguaRave. It was a social bowling events. The event started at Midnight so they turn off the regular fluorescent lights and turn on the colorized neon light. I love the vibe and colors in person, but capturing what you see in person was a definite challenge.

Figuring out what camera settings to shoot the event at wasn’t too much of an issue. The only issue I had at times was the ability to grab focus, while keeping a low ISO, WITHOUT using flash. This was a bowling alley and I didn’t want to upset the vibe with using my Nikon SB-910.

I decided to use my 70-200 f/2.8 to cover the event that way I can fill the frame and capture action without being in the way. I shot all of the photos at 1/6oth of a second handheld.

Last updated by Michael Banks at October 18, 2014.

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