The Four Tommy’s. This is a portrait that I made at Christmas of my new grandson who on his fathers side is the fourth generation named Tommy. This picture was one of several ad-hoc portraits that I took during a Christmas dinner.

The only gear I had with me was my Canon 40D, a 430EX Canon flash, and a Westcott Micro Apollo Light Modifier. I used the Westcott in order to soften and spread the flash which was mounted on the 40D hot-shoe.

I normally shoot in Raw, especially when I don’t have the ability to control all aspects of the environment and lighting so that I can… influence the image later. We had a dozen or so people squeezed into a small condo so there wasn’t a lot of opportunity or room to set up.

Let’s take a look at the steps to create the portrait.

This is the camera Raw image. Click on each image to see a larger view. As you can see the image was good, nice posing, good expressions, in focus, exposure was good. But it can be better.

The first thing that I do in Photoshop CS4 (this can also be done in Photoshop Elements) is to create a layer where I can make an image map. I make notes about what I want to do to the image. I want a better crop, I want to blur the background so that the blinds aren’t a distraction. I also indicate where wrinkles and blemishes are that I want to fix.

In this image I cropped the picture at an angle to add some movement to the image.

The first step in Color Correction is determining the neutral values in the image and adjusting the Black and White Points. This eliminates most of the color cast.

In the preceding image Grandpa’s skin color is still quite red. Using a Curves Adjustment layer dials in the skin color and is limited to Grandpa using a layer mask. The same was done for Great Grandpa and Dad.

Next wrinkles and blemishes are toned down using a combination of the Clone Stamp tool and applying a Lighten blend mode to the layer. One of the secrets to dealing with wrinkles and blemishes is to not eliminate them altogether. Using the Opacity slider lets the underlying wrinkles to show through giving a more realistic image.

The blinds in the background are too sharp drawing the eye away from the central part of the image. A Gaussin Blur is applied to the background to shorten the depth-of-field.

The 480EX Flash overpowered the lights on the Christmas tree. Using a Feathered Selection and sampling from the lights’ colors added reflection of the light onto the branches of the tree. There was a distracting corner of a Plasma TV on the wall behind Grandpa that was clone stamped out.

Next the eyes are brightened and sharpened. The layer opacity tones down the effect otherwise the eyes don’t look quite right. The Catch Lights were brightened slightly adding sparkle and life to the eyes. A Curves Adjustment layer was used to increase the contrast for more drama in the image.

Being that this is a Christmas portrait I added a decorative border to the image giving a “Frosty” feeling to the image.

A Vignette finishes off the portrait drawing the viewers eye into the center of the picture.

When printing I find that even using a Calibrated Monitor and the proper ICC profiles prints often come out blocked up in the blacks and lower in contrast than what you see on the screen. I usually use Lightroom for my final printing and will slightly Brighten the image and apply a little Clarity or Sharpening when men are the primary subjects.

Men can print with a little more grit to the image. Women on the other hand don’t want to show imperfections in their skin. Taking a little Clarity out will help to soften and smooth the skin. A little goes a long way, unless you’re doing a Glamour or Fashion portrait, don’t over do it.

I hope this gives you some ideas the next time you want to create an image beyond a family snapshot. You don’t have to have all your studio lights or reflectors to create a real nice portrait. Just make sure you get a nice pose, get as good an exposure as possible in-camera and use a little creative image enhancement.

Regardless, whatever type of sport action you’re interested in shooting there are some techniques that will help you create action photos that set you apart.

1. Know the sport. In order to get great action photos you need to be able to anticipate where the action will take place so that you can be in the best position to capture that decisive image. Plan how you will get into position as the action unfolds and pre-set your focus, zoom and exposure. All you’ll have to concentrate on is capturing the action.
2. Know the rules. Knowing the rules of the sport allows you to capture images of important moments that occur and may have a decisive impact on the outcome of the competition.
3. Have the proper gear. Be prepared for the type of conditions, access and distances from the action that you’ll be facing. I use remote capture frequently because you just don’t want to be downrange during a shooting competition. Instead of getting the shot, you might get shot. Although I use good equipment I don’t use my best equipment where there is a possibility of damage.
4. Talk to Officials. Talk to the Officials and ask them where the best opportunities are for great shots. This involves them in the decision of giving you access. Discuss with them how you would like to capture the action and get permission and buy-in from them. If they don’t agree with your plan respect their decision and that goodwill likely will get you where you want to be in the future because they will remember you as being cooperative and professional.
5. Become known in the sport. Over time I have become known by many in the Action Shooting community and have developed friendships. Because of my relationships I am trusted that I won’t get in the way or interfere  with the competition. Especially in a sport where there is a necessity for Safety Officials they don’t want to have you as one more thing to worry about.

It doesn’t matter if you’re covering Action Shooting or Motorcycle racing, professional sports or your kids soccer games these tips apply. To get the real action shots you have to be where the action is and prepared to capture it.

I have a blog dedicated to the Action Shooting Sports called The Action Shooting Podcast where I cover events as well as training, tips, interviews, and articles about Action Shooting.

So what is proper exposure? That depends on you the photographer and what you are trying to achieve. There is no single answer but rather a series of choices you will make to create the image that you want. Simply, exposure is controlled by how much light is allowed to reach your cameras sensor and for how long that light is allowed to reach the sensor. The amount of light is controlled by the size of the aperture-opening of the lens expressed in f-stops. Confusingly the larger the f-stop the smaller the aperture or the less light allowed. An f16 lets in less light than f5.6. Think of it in terms of slicing up a pie. If you slice a pie into 16 equal pieces, each piece will be smaller than a piece of a pie sliced only 6 times. The aperture chosen will also affect the depth-of-field, or how much of the scene is in focus. Again, exposure is a combination of choices.

Published by Wiley as part of their Photo Workshop series of books “Exposure” deals with the subject in a clear easy to understand manner. Written by Jeff Wignall the book covers a full range of exposure challenges. Each chapter offers an assignment to practice the concept covered in the chapter. As with all the books in the series, Wiley maintains a website that encourages photographers to upload the chapter assignments for review and critique. I recommend not only this book but the other books in the Wiley Photo Workshop series as well. If you’re ready to improve your photo results regardless if you have a point-and-shoot or a full featured Digital SLR this is a great place to start.