First Place ATPI Advanced Portfolio

I was the first student from Texas High to ever enter into the advanced portfolio category in ATPI. These are the images I entered and won first place with. These were shot in a compiled time of two afternoons in different locations. 

ISO: 500

APERTURE: 4.5

SHUTTER SPEED: 1/13

This is my least favorite image in the portfolio. I had taken an image the exact other side of this and it was perfect. Exactly what I wanted. The only problem was the background was a fireplace. I wanted it to at least look like a studio of sorts rather than a basic living room, so I came to this side and took this image. I ended up just settling with this. Lighting it was super hard until Kelsi Brinkmeyer who helped with my portfolio, had the genius idea to move the blinds and use natural lighting from the setting sun. Like I don't know why we were so stupid and didn't think of that before. I used a 10-24mm, and the problem I ran into was that because she was leaning towards the camera, her upper body looked dramatically distorted compared to her back leg. It was super rough, but I had to make it work and ended up with this. I plan on redoing this i age and working it for the next contest because it definitely isn't my strongest image.

ISO: 800

APERTURE: 4.0

SHUTTER SPEED: 1/250

This photo was second. I found an idea on Pinterest that I really liked, but I had to tweak it. I was very worried that this would end up being a "crotch shot." I attempted this photo in a practice shoot just messing around before I actually had the idea for a portfolio, but it didn't work out. I used a 10-24mm since that's all I had with me, and of course, because of the aperture I couldn't get a depth of field even remotely close to what I needed. Another complication was that My subject couldn't stand on pointe with her leg still in a straight line, and still look over her tutu. In this image, I was in another photographer's backyard on a pool deck. I used a 70-200mm lens on a 7D camera body. I had my subject hold on to the deck rail, and focused on her foot. In Lightroom, I obviously turned the image black and white, but I also ran up the clarity and sharpness of her foot. I put the image in Photoshop next, and put a lens blur over the top of the image where the subject is looking over her tutu. I was very pleased with how this image turned out. 

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This image doesn't have setting because it technically isn't the original. This required a lot of Photoshop work. The original image is the top half of the reflection: ISO: 100 APERTURE: 13.0 SHUTTER SPEED: 1/200. 

This is the original image, which is trying to convey stretching. I ended up cutting out the part of the image I needed and put it in Photoshop on a square black template. I copied and flipped the image over the horizontal, so that it looked like an actual reflection. I brought the exposure down on the bottom half and put a lens blur rather than a gaussian blur so it looked almost like an actual mirror. I ran up clarity and contrast on both images so that her spine, shadows and hair were more defined and gave the picture a more interesting look. I had the subject take the straps off her shoulders and tuck them into the sides of her tank top. This way, her straps wouldn't take away or distract from her muscles, shadows and the overall look. 

I like to nitpick this picture a lot because I used Photoshop. In saying that, I mean that I mean that Photoshop is basically the same as cheating, but it was necessary for this picture. The problems that make it look like super bad Photoshop work is that there was no way to distort, pull or bend the bottom image to touch the top image in a way reflections meet. This almost shows that it definitely isn't in camera work. Had I made the subject almost break her back to touch the ground completely and be perfectly flush with her legs, The image would've looked more realistic. I could've distorted the bottom image to look more like a reflections. 

Overall I'm happy with how this ended up. It took forever to nitpick, but the end result wasn't bad. 

ISO: 200

APERTURE: 4.0

SHUTTER SPEED: 1/200

This image was not a very strong one alone in my portfolio. It was entered into the single entry category of Informal Studio and Environmental Portrait with other images. This won an honorable mention. The story behind this is the stage was all set for a show theater was putting on that weekend. So, my original plan for this image was foiled. I wanted to pull the stage curtains to frame her from behind and put flowers around her feet. That way the coherent idea throughout my portfolio would come to an end, and this would be the final photo in sequence bringing everything to a close. I waited until everyone was out of the theater after practice one day and walked up to the sound booth and put the spotlights on the subject. I thought about using a fill light because I wanted more than just rim lights, but I didn't actually need them. I would've liked to have more of a rim light than the subject actually being exposed, but I suppose it's okay. I played with a lot of contrast and clarity on this image. I really appreciate the negative space and all the black because I think artistically, that's the kind of photographer I am. I love negative dead space when used correctly. 

ISO: 200

APERTURE: 29.0

SHUTTER SPEED: 1/200

This is one of my absolutely favorite images because it incorporates most everything I love as a photographer and personally. It's a vertical that its offset. It's black and white, without looking stereotypical.  There's negative space. It carries the idea of the final dance and performance in the portfolio. To get this photo I had to stand on top of a ladder backstage in the theater with a 10-24mm. After taking this photo, I don't believe your image is the best it can be until you risk your life for it. Not actually, but basically. I had to hold the strap of my camera with the lens at 10mm over the subject to blind shoot and pray that it would work. I nearly fell off the ladder a lot because both hands were on the camera and holding the camera strap for security. In all honesty I probably would've rather have fell off the ladder and sucked it up than to have dropped that gear. I had another photographer who was assisting me hold a flash with a pocket wizard about the subject. We had to keep moving the direction the flash was facing because the shadow created by the subject's arm would cover up the tutu and take away from the image. Another problem was getting the subject's posture perfect every time we took this image. 

When I finally got this image I pulled it into Lightroom. I played with contrast and clarity then turned it black and white. I used the brush to and pulled the exposure all the way down and painted where the negative space is to make sure that it was completely black. It was basically already done, except I wanted to get more of a spotlight effect on the subject, so I painted closer to her. 

I feel as though this portfolio conveyed a message and ended up very well. There's some things I want to tweak before the next contest I enter it into, but I like it, and I'm very happy this won.