The Cheerleader

Posted by Russ Devan (New Hanover, United States) on 26 September 2008 in People & Portrait and Portfolio.

In addition to taking some portraits of Betsy as part of a landscape, we also shot some close-up portraits of her. Here, we commandeered an old pavilion in the woods near French Creek State Park, located in Chester and Berks Counties in Pennsylvania.

This old pavilion is no longer used by the park. It has a nice rustic charm to it with a herringbone-pattern brick floor, a mossy, shingled roof, and lots of posts, open door and window frames for posing. Here, Betsy relives her high school cheerleading days with this pose. The portrait was shot with a single Nikon SB-800 flash aimed through a translucent "shoot-thru" umbrella. Because Betsy wasn't used to being in front of a camera lens, we also employed a very valuable piece of photographic equipment to get this shot and which may have helped inspire her pose....a couple bottles of Yuengling Lager.

You can view Betsy's version of this image by visiting her photoblog.

"The Master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence in whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both."
- Zen Buddhist Text

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Comments (14)

Viewfinder from Bradenton, United States

I like your version; the more vibrant colors work well with the actual cheerleader pose. Betsy's a very good model!

26 Sep 2008 11:32am

Betsy Barron from Glenmoore, United States

I have to agree - yours is much better - the selective color is a nice touch - also, good skin tone - I always have trouble with that! You'll have to tell me your secrets!! Thanks RD

26 Sep 2008 11:36am

@Betsy Barron: I processed this weeks ago, so forgive me if I don't remember all the details. I will have to revisit the PSD file. I know I wanted to bring out the nice tan that you had, so I probably played with the white balance in adobe camera raw to warm up the image (I love not having to carry around warming filters for my lenses anymore). I also did some selective dodging and burning in certain areas of your face and arms.

Sandrine from Cincinnati, United States

Great portrait! I like this version a lot.

26 Sep 2008 11:48am

Lorraine from Canada

Yep agreed yours is better, slightly more dynamic...portrays Betsy's personable beauty ;)

26 Sep 2008 12:11pm

dogilicious from Millerstown, PA, United States

Great shot. Very beautiful. Yuengling never hurts!

26 Sep 2008 12:30pm

Mary from Exton, United States

So I am enjoying this fun presentation of both yours and Betsy's photos.. This is great! Colors are great!

26 Sep 2008 1:01pm

kerfendal from Paris, France

really dynamic picture and the model take all the picture by her fascinating presence

26 Sep 2008 7:03pm

Judy from Brooksville-Florida,, United States

I've given you each a bunch of 'views' because I keep going back and forth to see which I like better - can't choose!
Betsy doesn't appear to have had any trouble getting out of her 'box' ........ so maybe it was the brewskis!
Those dodge and burn turn work wonders, don't they and w/o a darkroom! ;D

26 Sep 2008 7:11pm

Observing from West Cheshire, United Kingdom

They are both great images, but this has the edge having better color and the definition is enhanced.

27 Sep 2008 1:35am

Monte Stevens from Fort Collins, United States

I love her facial expression, looks like the lager worked. Well done, Russ!

27 Sep 2008 1:27pm

Laurie from New Jersey, United States

Mmmmmmm....Yuengling! A very important piece of equipment indeed!

I actually am having a tough time deciding between the two. I think this works really well and is more straightforward than Betsy's and I thik it really depends on what or where you would use the photo on which is better. I do love the "Orton" glow in Betsy's.

I love the location and the pose is really fun. Very carefree and full of energy. I think it matches Betsy's personality very well.

I think you did a really great job with the light. The off camera application with the SB-800's makes a nice gentle light, not to mention they are much easier to cart around than heavy studio lights!

I use the SB800's off camera often and I shoot through umbrellas, and just got a mini (Lumiquest) softbox as well, which I am looking forward to putting to the test. The Nikon flashes are very versatile when used with the Nikon CLS. I did find that the CLS does have some limits so I do have to use Pocket wizards for those situations. The range is a little limiting and if it is a fairly bright location with high ceilings they don't always work. I had some issues on a recent job but the pocket wizards really solved the problem. Also with the pocket Wizards I can use some older non-Nikon flash guns I have too that I couldn't use with the Nikon CLS. I originally got the pocket wizards to use with my studio lights because I hate being tethered to them, but it is great to be able to use them with the speedlights too.

27 Sep 2008 3:19pm

@Laurie: Thanks, Laurie. Betsy and I, although, we sometimes shoot similar subjects (heck, we live in close proximity to each other, so sometimes we shoot the same subjects!), we differ in our processing a bit. Hence, the reason for this series.

I really like my set of SB-800s, too. However, they definitely are not foolproof and have some limitations, especially when shooting in iTTL mode. I started off this pose with the flash in that mode, but the flash kept giving me a loud warning beep indicating it was not giving the proper exposure. After several attempts, I just decided to go the old-fashioned, tried and true route and switched it to manual mode and pulled out my trusty flash meter to calculate the correct exposure. I also have older Nikon flashguns that are non-CLS, so I frequently shoot in manual mode and use a flash meter so I can use those flashes. Pocket Wizards are on my "to get" list (which never seems to stop growing). I, too, have the Lumiquest mini softboxes (I own two and a Lumiquest snoot). The mini softboxes are good for shooting people on the go and giving you somewhat softer light.

My SB-800s work exceedingly well in my studio, which is small. But, they don't always fire in areas of bright ambient light, great distance, or when the slave sensor is facing away from the camera, such as in outdoor shots. I had those problems during this photoshoot as well, which I then just used available light and a tripod.

And, yes, this pose captures Betsy's natural personality, which is always upbeat, positive, and fun. The beer really had nothing to do with it. I just added that for grins, folks.