For this shot I used my E-300 with a 40-150mm Olympus lens. I used two Rokunar(sp?) flash units that a friend of the family gave me, with two silver lined umbrellas. The background is a 120” piece of white muslin doubled up. My key light is about 5 ft away and my fill is about 10ft away. The key light is to the left of my nephew with a piece of white muslin over hanging over the light and umbrella to soften the light a bit more, and the fill is just to the left of my camera. My nephew is sitting down on a chair. I am shooting at iso 100, 1/50 shutter speed and F7.1. I probably shot this picture 6 or 7 feet away from him without a tripod.



I am very inspired by Raf Simons and David Sims portrayal of young boys and teenagers in the book and installation Isolated Heroes. I have three nephews who are 16, 15 & 13, and I decided to use Eli, who is 13. He is still in the stage in life where he still hasn’t lost all his cuteness, and hasn’t been ravaged by puberty. I wanted to transmit the happiness and exuberance of a relatively care-free life, and to get across the point that he is still just a kid. I used the infrared film effect in PSPX, and boosted up the flare which adds a purity quality, and the notion that the world has not spoiled his outlook on life. Since the purpose of the competition is show someone in the best light possible, I trimmed his eyebrows some, and touched up some blemishes.



I love taking tightly cropped shots because it forces the viewer to pay attention to the person, and doesn’t allow your eyes wander away from the face. I can’t say I had a particular pose in mind, but this pose seemed to work the best. The whites of his eyes immediately draw the viewer’s eyes to his eyes, and the white teeth draw the viewer’s eyes to his mouth.



When you look at this picture you cannot help but smile…