Tag Archives: portraits

My Favorite Photos of 2015

January 8, 2016 by Ralph Clevenger | 3 Comments

A selection of my favorite photos from last year. Travels included Denali National Park in Alaska and Guadalupe Island in Mexico for Great White Sharks.

best of 2015 blog1

best of 2015 blog2

best of 2015 blog 3

best of 2015 blog4

best of 2015 blog5

best of 2015 blog6

best of 2015 blog7

 

My Favorite Photos of 2014

January 2, 2015 by Ralph Clevenger | 0 Comments

Photographer Jim M. Goldstein has been hosting a project on his blog called “the best photos of the year”.  He solicits other photographers to post their favorite images of 2014.

Here are seven of my favorites from 2014.  Be sure to check out his blog.  Hope you enjoy.

 

best of 2014 blog 1

best of 2014 blog 2

best of 2014 blog 3

best of 2014 blog 4

best of 2014 blog 5

Safety First

February 25, 2014 by Ralph Clevenger | Comments Off

A Santa Barbara charter boat company, Truth Aquatics, contacted me about a new life jacket info sheet for their fleet of boats. I thought shooting the new images on the boat instead of in the studio would really elevate the attention of the passengers.

Cherie Noel, a LA based model, joined us on a trip over to Catalina Island and brought along some of her favorite swimsuits. When I saw her 40’s style bathing suit I knew that was the look we needed. Life jackets aren’t very flattering so having a talented and beautiful model like Cherie really helps. I’m always impressed with how much effort good models put into their job. It may look easy but it really isn’t.

 

lifejacket

 

I lit the scene with two speedlights; a gridded rim on the left and the key was a shoot-thru umbrella on the right. Ambient was “soft sun”, I could just see a light shadow. ISO 200, 1/200sec f/8.

Lifeguards

October 21, 2013 by Ralph Clevenger | Comments Off

I had a chance to photograph a couple of the lifeguards at the Santa Barbara historic Los Banos del Mar city pool. It was a bright, sunny day so I moved Dustin into the shade cast by a palm tree at the shallow end of the pool. I set up one flash, gridded, on camera left to give him some edge lighting and the key flash on the right, no diffusion, just a bare flash. ISO 200 at 1/250sec, f/8, blew out the background by about 1 2/3 stops. Overexposing the sunlit area kept the background from looking too busy and really helped focus the eye on Dustin. This lighting/exposure technique is a favorite of fashion shooters on location.

 

Dustin McQuary;Santa Barbara lifeguard Dustin McQuary

Mermaids

September 9, 2013 by Ralph Clevenger | Comments Off

During this summer’s InWater Photography course at Brooks Institute one of the students brought a silicone mermaid tail, designed by Eric Ducharme, on our 5‑day boat trip down to Catalina Island. Getting into the tail, and then getting the mermaid into the water, was a group effort but it looked amazing in the water.

 

RAC_130709_011Angelina and Todd helping put the tail on Cherie. Lots of baby oil was involved.

blogmermaidMermaids Jane Austin and Hannah Geer