Baby JJ, originally uploaded by mark.mortensen.

I don’t normally shoot baby images. They are really hard to do and I admire baby photographers for their skill. In fact, this session was the second session for Baby JJ as the first failed terribly. Baby JJ is a grandson of a co-workers. Comments have the setup and the test subject ‘Cat In The Hat’.

Technical Ramblings: 3 AlienBee B800s used. 2 in large softboxes camera right and left (-2ev). The last strobe behind the hugh pillow shooting at a white seamless backdrop (+2ev). Post work was pretty simple and I used Photoshop CS3 and the Totally Rad actions; Oh Snap!, Prettyizer, plus some Warm It Up Kris!

Uploaded by mark.mortensen on 23 Sep 09, 9.43PM MDT.

Setup of Strobes:

Plus Test Subject Mr. Cat In The Hat: Yes thats sensor dust on the right of the image. Yuck

Carpet, originally uploaded by mark.mortensen.

So I have this tendency to photograph carpet with my iPhone. I also just downloaded Chase Jarvis’ Best Camera application so thought I should start to upload these to flickr. This carpet is from my son’s Boy Scout meeting room last evening. Lovely isn’t it.

Technical Ramblings: Taken with my iPhone 3G and did some post work with Chase Jarvis’ app to increase contrast and applied a vignette.

Uploaded by mark.mortensen on 22 Sep 09, 8.43AM MDT.

Maddie, originally uploaded by mark.mortensen.

Maddie is the sister of Graham. Both Graham and Maddie live up the hill in my neighborhood. My wife and I happened to be talking with their mother a few weeks back and I got the job to shot Graham’s senior portraits. During Graham’s session we took some pictures with Maddie as well.

Technical Ramblings: If I remember correctly there is a bit of fill from the Lastolite Ezybox. Shot outdoors on an overcast late afternoon. Post in Photoshop CS4 and Totally Rad actions; Oh Snap!, Prettyizer, Hue/Saturation bump (masked to bump up her blue eyes) and Select-O-Pop (eye pop)

Uploaded by mark.mortensen on 21 Sep 09, 10.15PM MDT.

Jacquelyn, originally uploaded by mark.mortensen.

The official year book photo for Jacquelyn. Shot at the Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, CO.

Technical Ramblings: Lastolite Tri-Flip with gold used to fill camera right. Her mom was holding the Tri-Flip. Post work in Photoshop CS4 and Totally Rad Actions; Oh Snap!, Prettyizer, Pro-Retouch (skin smoothing and eye pop).

Uploaded by mark.mortensen on 17 Sep 09, 7.35AM MDT.

Nana, originally uploaded by mark.mortensen.

A great image (at least I think) of my 91 year old Nana taken at my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary last month. Last year I took images at her 90th birthday party. It’s always fun to talk with her about her childhood.

Technical Ramblings: Single Nikon SB-900 in 36″ umbrella camera right. Triggered with the on board flash of the Nikon D700 in commander mode. The on board flash was setup to not have a role with the exposure. Exposed the ambient light of the conference room to be -1EV with that of the flash. Post work after my Lightroom tweaks in Photoshop CS4 and the Totally Rad Actions; Bitchin B&W, Oh Snap! (twice), Boring Sepia, Boring Selenium, Dirty Lovin (texture)

Uploaded by mark.mortensen on 12 Sep 09, 4.22PM MDT.

Me, originally uploaded by mark.mortensen.

Just tinkering with my Lastolite Ezybox and the Nikon creative lighting system. This was shot in my office around 3PM. However, kicking the ISO to 200, aperture to f/14 and shutter to 1/320s will kill all daylight.

Technical Ramblings: 1 Nikon SB-900 in a Lastolite Ezybox directly to my side. I was shooting into a mirror. The on board flash played no role in the exposure but acted as the commander to the SB-900. Something to note is even though the on board flash doesn’t play a role in the exposure it still shows up in images. If you are shooting in dark situations the pre-flash will actually mess with the exposure even through they say it won’t. Unless of course my camera is defective and it’s not suppose to show up in the image. Anyone know? Post work in Photoshop CS4 and Totally Rad Actions; My secret recipe for B/W processing.

view profile Uploaded 11 Sep 09, 6.50PM MDT by mark.mortensen.

Jacquelyn, originally uploaded by mark.mortensen.

Spent the Labor Day weekend processing two senior portrait shoots. This is Jacquelyn twin sister of Katie that I’ve posted earlier. Jacquelyn’s session was done at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, CO.

Technical Ramblings: All natural light. Lastolite tri-flip with gold sleeve down below kicking light up into her face. I can’t say enough good stuff about the Lastolite tri-flip but they just work well and are easy to handle. Photoshop CS4 (of course) and Totally Rad Actions; Oh Snap!, Prettyzier, Pro Retouch and a vibrance layer to punch the colors a bit more.

Uploaded by mark.mortensen on 7 Sep 09, 11.29PM MDT.

Seashell (Spondylus Regius aka Regal Thorny Oyster), originally uploaded by mark.mortensen.

A Spondylus Regius otherwise known as a Regal Thorny Oyster seashell isolated on white. I’ve had a collection of seashells from a friend, Dave, for waaaaay too long, like over a year. Bad friend I am keeping them for this long. However, the intention was to photograph a bunch of his shells for my portfolio and also sell as fine art. The shells really haven’t sold as fine art to well in land locked Colorado. So I’m on a quest to find the right market for these images. Dave invited my wife and I up to his place in the mountains at the end of Sept. He also said he wants the shells returned, go figure. Nothing like a deadline to get me to photograph things. Over the last three days I’ve photographed the 41 different shells I had. This is tiny compared to the 1,100 shells in his collection.

Technical Ramblings: Three AlienBee B800s with 7″ reflectors pointed into a large light tent. One Bee behind and one Bee on each side. The shells are sitting on top of some plexi-glass that is on top of some white foam core board to create the natural reflection. To help with the floating effect the lens is on the level with the plexi-glass. Lots-o-Photoshop with the Totally Rad Actions; Oh Snap!, Punch It! and Good vs. Evil (to gradient the reflection to white on the bottom).

Uploaded by mark.mortensen on 2 Sep 09, 9.48PM MDT.