The Colonel
As my friend was preparing for his retirement from the United States Marine Corps, he reached out to me last week to take his final portrait in uniform. It was a huge honor for me because of how much I respect him and all that he has accomplished in every aspect of his life.
Shot on a Nikon Z8 with an 85mm f1.8 Z lens. Settings were ISO 64, shutter speed 1/125, and f/4. Lighting consisted of two Godox V1 flashes (back one in a strip box, main one in an octobox), an LED strip light, and white foam board for some bounce.
We initially shot the portraits with a blue backdrop and both an American and a USMC EGA flag. I'd been wanting to use this red foldable backdrop for a while, so this seemed to be like as good an opportunity as any.
Backdrop is a foldable fabric oval from Kate Backdrops.
4 Comments
Thanks for providing info on the backdrop. I was wondering if it was done in post. I love how the backdrop continues in the stripes of his pants and how it silhouettes your friend. Also masterfully executed. I don't see the background color bleeding in you r subject.
Thank you.
I've tried that backdrop with other subjects but it was a little too intense. Works great if it's converted to black & white, though. I chose it for this portrait specifically because the red "blood stripe" on the uniform's trousers.
I figured it would complement that and some of the ribbons but really loved how much it made the image pop, compared to using a blue backdrop and some flags. Those were good as well, albeit more traditional looking, but this one was very unique from most military portraits I see out there.
Great portrait! Backdrop works well.
That backdrop looks like gates of hell :D.
Really nice photo!