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Catching Some Air - Aviation Photography

It's not often that I have extra time these days, but every once in a while a few minutes pop up. Now, pair that with the right location and photographic fun ensues. Take these for example. I had some time to burn on a recent trip to Alaska waiting for a late-night return flight out of Anchorage where there is a publicly accessible area just past the end of the runway - similar to Gravely Point at DCA. Brad Kehr specializes in landscapes and does weddings, portraits, and events. He enjoys exploring life and sharing what he finds through the lens. You can catch his website at  www.bradkehrphotography.com , follow him on Twitter ( @bradkehrphoto ), Instagram ( @bradkehrphotography  and  @bradkehrphotography.landscapes ) or find him on  Facebook .
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MidWeek Edit: Girl in the Woods

Here in Midweek Edits, I take a look back at a random BKP favorite and re-imagine it. This one is from my first destination shoot in the woods of the Black Hills. I had just started to work on balancing ambient light and flash to be able to move away from available light shooting and have more control over my end product. This frame marked the moment where I finally put the pieces together and fast became one of my favorite portraits. The Girl in the Woods.

SOOC: The Girl in the Woods.

Here the image is rather dark with the balance between a speedlight and the setting sun. But any more or less light from either the flash or the ambient losses the balance. Though I was happy with the SOOC image because of this balance, it shows that I still had a lot of work to do in understanding controlling the balance of ambient light and flash. If I were to re-shoot it, I would open up more for the ambient and adjust the flash accordingly to get just a touch fill. So, I originally wanted to draw out a flatness in the image that highlights the composition and allows the subject and the environment to stand by themselves without the light being a distraction. This leaves and expressive, yet reserved image.

Original Edit: The Girl in the Woods.

In re-imagining it, I wanted to draw out the light more. To focus on the singular elements in the image - the girl, the woods, the sun, etc. This requiring separating each element by increasing contrast, shadows, and midtones. It also need a lift in exposure to draw out the light. Next, I increased brightness, added some recovery in the highlights, and increased the blacks in the image. At this point, the colors started to draw attention away from the elements, so I dropped the saturation way down, added a touch of vibrance, and put the white balance up near 8000. Here is the result:


Re-Imagined: The Girl in the Woods.

And a bonus, black and white edit.

B&W: The Girl in the Woods.

Thoughts? Questions? Put them in the comments below.



Brad Kehr is a photographer specializing in weddings, events, portraits, and landscapes. He enjoys exploring DC and sharing what he finds through the lens. You can catch his website at www.bradkehrphotography.com, follow him on Twitter (@bradkehrphoto), or find him on Facebook.

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