Environmental Portrait of an Officer

[KimC]

Last week I was asked to do some environmental portraits of the latest K9 class. Location is always their pick. This time we ventured to an airport hanger ~ it's such a wonderful opportunity to be with them as it's always an adventure filled with new challenges. The airport hanger was not as I imagined -- it was like a giant garage filled with all kinds of equipment including 2 helicopters and a small plane. The helicopters and large emergency services vehicles are important to them, so that's where we focused. This is one image from the morning -- this was sized for 8x10 so they could print... in addition, the flag was purposefully left in the image as it's symbolism is very important to most of the class members and I intentionally included it in frame for them.

I just love working with these men and women... and donating my time to them since the towns and state have no money in their budgets for such luxuries.

[Shadowman]

Nicely done, very attentive models.

[Rent]

Like the dog

[rpcrowe]

Good looking image but, I would prefer a bit closer crop.

[bnnrcn]

Nice one Kim

[KimC]

Thank you John.

Nicely done, very attentive models.

[KimC]

Thanks for the comment.

Like the dog

[KimC]

Thanks for your comment Richard; yes, I understand that might be some people's preference, so that's why I explained my reasoning on the crop.

Good looking image but, I would prefer a bit closer crop.

[KimC]

Thank you Binnur

Nice one Kim

[Donald]

I love how you explain your thinking about, in this case, the composition; i.e. why you included the flag. That demonstrates a photographer working at a pretty advanced level - You see the flag. You know what it means ot these guys. So you work your shoot to included it.

That, I hope, is what less experienced people on here will take from this as their learning. Looking. Really looking. And thinking about what you want your finished image to be saying. Whatever the subject, be asking yourself - 'Why am I taking this picture?' 'What is it I want people to 'see' in the image?' These are the skills that separate out the good photographer from the rest of the bunch.

[KimC]

Thank you Donald. This wasn't about just the handler and his dog, but more so about them within their everyday environment - the police helicopter, the flag, etc. If I could do anything, every day, I would do this type of portrait work. I was so happy working on these images - they all made me smile. An interesting note, one of the Police Chief's was really excited about the images of his handler and dog - he asked if he could use one as his Department's Christmas card. I pulled the "police" labels off the cart the helicopter is sitting on to "clean it up" for his card version and he asked if I would put it back on. That's how much the little things mean to these men and women.

Oh, and a really exciting part - the man that let us into this facility saw my work and asked if I would be willing to do SWAT and explosive photography work for him -- something I have been hoping would happen. :-)

I love how you explain your thinking about, in this case, the composition; i.e. why you included the flag. That demonstrates a photographer working at a pretty advanced level - You see the flag. You know what it means ot these guys. So you work your shoot to included it.

That, I hope, is what less experienced people on here will take from this as their learning. Looking. Really looking. And thinking about what you want your finished image to be saying. Whatever the subject, be asking yourself - 'Why am I taking this picture?' 'What is it I want people to 'see' in the image?' These are the skills that separate out the good photographer from the rest of the bunch.

[Manfred M]

Kim - another extremely well done image. While I understand where Richard is coming from, I understood the need to include the flag before reading your explanation (makes sense to me!).

There is no "rule" in environmental portraiture that says you can't rearrange the setting where you are shooting, i.e. "borrow" a flag from elsewhere in the facility and place it in an appropriate location in the image. I have definitely moved things around when I shot environmental portraits, although in my case it usually meant removing distracting elements in the shot.

That being said, the photographer makes trade-offs in every shot he or she takes, and in this case, sacrificing getting closer to the subjects in order to get the flag into the shot seems to be a reasonable compromise.

[Donald]

An interesting note, one of the Police Chief's was really excited the images of his handler and dog - he asked if he could use one as his Department's Christmas card.

That is just brilliant. Well done.

[Manfred M]

An interesting note, one of the Police Chief's was really excited about the images of his handler and dog - he asked if he could use one as his Department's Christmas card.

That is great! Next year you are going to have to sneak some Christmas tree(s) and some snow into the hanger.

[bje07]

Donald and Manfred explained what I feel, but my English is too poor to write that I want. Very nice picture with plenty of sense for the subject.

[madcrow]

Your English might not be the best but your photographic skills certainly are not, there top notch. The image tells it owe story.

[mknittle]

Kim you are getting really good at this.

[John 2]

That's a great portrait Kim. The first thing that strikes about it is not the comp but how well the subject is lit. You have not only managed to include some of his environmental elements but the lighting very effective in separating the subject from the BG. Is this just natural light or have you supplemented it with fill in?

[KimC]

Thanks so much for your comment Manfred. When I saw some of the large equipment was on platforms with wheels, I was hoping I was going to be able to reposition them, but no such luck - had to work with what I had. Yes, it was a sacrifice to get the flag, but well worth it :-)

Kim - another extremely well done image. While I understand where Richard is coming from, I understood the need to include the flag before reading your explanation (makes sense to me!).

There is no "rule" in environmental portraiture that says you can't rearrange the setting where you are shooting, i.e. "borrow" a flag from elsewhere in the facility and place it in an appropriate location in the image. I have definitely moved things around when I shot environmental portraits, although in my case it usually meant removing distracting elements in the shot.

That being said, the photographer makes trade-offs in every shot he or she takes, and in this case, sacrificing getting closer to the subjects in order to get the flag into the shot seems to be a reasonable compromise.

[KimC]

I've never found your English poor Jean - actually I didn't realize it wasn't your first language. I'm honored when anyone takes the time to comment - thank you.

Donald and Manfred explained what I feel, but my English is too poor to write that I want. Very nice picture with plenty of sense for the subject.