Professional Photographer - USA (2019-10)

20 PPMAG.COM

MERITED
IMAGES FROM THE PPA LOAN COLLECTION

ABOUT THE LOAN COLLECTION: The current Loan Collection comprises more than 600 photographs chosen by jurors of PPA’s International Photographic

Competition. The compositions are considered the best of the best in contemporary professional photography, having been awarded the Loan Collection distinction

based on their success in meeting the 12 elements of a merited image. ppmag.com/12-elements

LOAN COLLECTION / ©SYLWIA OK

ON THE COVER

SOFTLY SLEEPING

Sylwia Ok, M.Photog., CPP

Sylwia Ok Photography

Bradenton, Florida

sylwiaok.com

SUBJECT: Client

CAMERA & LENS: Nikon D850, AF-S Nikkor

24-70mm F2.8G ED lens

EXPOSURE: 1/200 second at f/7.1, ISO 100

LIGHTING: The main light was an Elinchrom BRX 500

with a 53-inch Elinchrom Rotalux Octabox placed to the

left of the subject’s face, three feet from the ground to

feather the light. The fill light was a Westcott 40-inch

white reflector to soften the shadows.

BACKGROUND: Savage ultra-white seamless paper

POST-CAPTURE: Ok first did global adjustments

(exposure, lens profile correction) in Adobe Lightroom

CC. Then in Adobe Photoshop, she used the Portraiture

plugin (by Imagenomic) adjustments at low opacity to

even the skin and the Liquify filter to adjust the shape

of the wrap. Levels and curves were used to adjust

contrast and mid-tones. Dodging and burning to further

control brightness and darkness areas was locally

applied using multiply and screen blending modes.

Finally, the portrait was sharpened with a High Pass filter.

PHOTOGRAPHER’S NOTE: “When I spotted the cotton

stems in the craft store a few weeks earlier I knew they

would be perfect for this set.”

LIGHTING DIAGRAM

MAIN LIGHT FILL LIGHT

BACKGROUND