Photographer's Spotlight: Auburn Tigers
Photographer's Spotlight: Auburn Tigers
Photographer's Spotlight: Auburn Tigers
Today the Photographer's Spotlight shines on the 2013 Auburn Tigers.
The image above features Auburn junior Bri Guy in a compelling pose; compelling to me not only because of her beautiful presentation, but because it reaches me emotionally and inspires me to imagine many different interpretations of its meaning and storyline.
I see the gymnast falling to her knees as a statement of vulnerability; looking to the heavens in amazement, drawing power from its light.
To bring this vision alive, I started with a larger depth of field in my camera than maybe I should have (in retrospect), but I wanted to ensure the gymnast was entirely in the field of focus. If the depth of field was too narrow it would have still given me a nice picture, but not the effect I wanted.
Light pours into the frame from above at an angle that compliments the gymnast’s line of sight. The light is allowed to shine brightly on her face, while at the same time a combination of filters gives the light a subtle glow that mimics sunlight. The light is broken up to give the effect of individual rays of light and natural shadows.
The look is finished with a combination of coffee and sepia tones which give character and almost a vintage feel. In HD, the image is stunning.
I continued the concept of rays of light pouring from the heavens in the above photo featuring Caryn Kadous. Individual rays of light modestly begin at the top of the frame, then pour down at gradual angles as our gymnast basks in its light.
The image is tightly cropped so that her eyes are prominent in the frame. Further emphasis is acheived with a soft swath of light along her eyes and underexposure of the rest of the frame. Its amazing how much impact a single splash of light can have on an image.
The above photo of Kait Kluz continues with the idea that a single splash of light can have a dramatic effect on an image. In this case, the "splash of light" and its contrast is more subtle than in the previous example, but still beautifully features the gymnast.
The look is completed with vibrant and saturated deep blue hues which provide a gorgeous backdrop upon which Kait is featured, and is amazing at full resolution.
The two photos above, featuring Abbey Habicht, were attempts to make the gymnast pop out from the background.
Unfortunately the backgrounds in gymnastics action photography are often very cluttered, to the point that it distracts from the main subject of the image.
The top image deals with this by using a narrow depth of field and photographing the subject at a particular distance ratio to create a beautiful blurred background (called bokeh by photographers), while the focus on the subject is sharp and clear.
Another way to deal with the background clutter is to blend together multiple image layers, each with different properties, to create a composite image. The second photo above blends a background layer that is in black and white and underexposed, while the foreground layer is in color and splashed with light.
The aspiring model in this photo is Auburn Head Coach Jeff Graba :^)
Coach Graba was very gracious to pose for this photo and I thank him and his team for accomodating me in my photographic endeavors. Auburn is a fine program clearly on the rise, and I wish the Auburn Tigers good luck next season.
The 2013 Auburn Tigers photo album can be found here:
http://www.gymnastike.org/photoalbum/449045-Photographers-Spotlight-Auburn-Tigers