I have been doing a lot of portraits lately (as you can see) and after Jamie (my boss at Icon) sent some of my portraits to a few magazines I got a email from the editor at Rise with three upcoming assignments. Here are a few images from the first assignment.
For the shot my two assistants and I hiked up the side of a hill to try and get away from the “school feel.” The girls were nice and once they got the “giggles” out of them they were awesome models for the shoot.
p.s. Thanks to Jake and Brian, who are awesome for hiking up about a mile to the spot on the hillside with 7 lights about 60 pounds of extension cords, battery pack and extra lightstands and modifiers and we only used two, oops. Thanks!
The lighting is very simple. big Softbox in the front. (30×60 inch with an alienbee 800 inside) and an alienbee 800 with an umbrella on the right to give the background a little light.



Pimp!
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Dustin.. You have been doing some great stuff.. I really like your style and the way every image just stand outs.. Keep it up… Hope Cali is treating you well.
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Really cool tones on this one. Thanks for sharing!
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Dustin….
Great stuff….some great ideas for the Other “Iconettes” out here.
Hail the Aliens !
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Fantastic stuff Dustin. Your blog may be my new favorite. Keep it up.
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Thanks for looking everyone!
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Dustin,
Found you via strobist……
What time of day were these shot at? I really like how you overpowered the ambient. Great tones in what could have been a boring shot.
-bill
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Very nice approach to the subject (s).
I have noticed that You have a favourite way of post processing Your images. If it is not a secret, can You explain in general how do You do it?
Especially the skin tones are very nicely balanced.
Thanks!
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Dustin,
Also found you through strobist. Fantastic work.
Similar to Bill’s question – what time of day are you typically shooting this style? And the basketball shots?
Best to you!
Kristopher
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I am amazed by Your photographs. Probably it will cost me a lot of time… on reading all of Your posts
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Hey, Kristopher and Bill, It varies a lot. I shot at all times of the day. In these photos I acually started at 6pm and ended at like 7:30. I have a few more photos with a great orange sky in the background. Also I picked this spot because the girls were shaded enough so I can balance them out with the sky and make the background dark.
Hope that helps.
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Amazing Stuff Once Again
So This Was Just a two Light Set-up, Wow..
You’ve Shared so much If you don’t mind I would like to know What Kind Of Lens did you Use, and what Settings Aperture , ISO, etc.????
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Hey, here is some camera info I pulled from the shot.
16-35 f2.8 lens at 16mm
Iso 100
Shutter 160
Aperture f8
Camera 1D Mark III
Hope that helps! Thanks. Ill be sure to include everything from now on.
Dustin
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Dustin, this is astonishing! Incredible! You speak about such a simple light and at the same time show us such an amazing pic. I very like it!
Can you tell us how to achieve that look? What is the magic key for pictures like this? I think to myself: If I would go out right now with my nikon d200 at the sunset with girls and a big softbox I will get a usual red-to-pink-to-yellow skin and very boring light. How do you achieve that semi-monochrome look? I beg you please share the secret!
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Wow, stumbled across your work and I must say you’ve got the lighting down to an art! Keep it up man, top top stuff here
Laura
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love these shots Dustin. The lighting, composition and colors in the sky really make these outstanding.
Ed
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I love your shots, Dustin!
Any suggestions for post processing? What’s your technique for skin softening?
Thanks (and your awesome btw!)
-DS
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Just recently found about you thru strobist. I got to say your shots are amazing. As a big fan of photography comparison…can’t be help. I have seen works like Hill and Greenberg, your’s is totaly a trademark to be acknowledge and a skill of your own that should be taken notice and your feeds is on top of my list of feeds in my blog! Salute!
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To whom this concerns,
I am senior at Boston College High School in Dorchester, MA. In 2007 Sports Illustrated magazine ranked our Division 1A athletic program 9th in the nation. We have won a state championship in almost every sport that the school sponsors. We partake in one of the most competitive conferences in the state, the Catholic Conference, and are usually at the top in a majority of our sports.
Every monthly issue of Rise Magazine is sent to our school, and I am a huge fan because I enjoy reading up on what is going on in the state as well as other top athletic schools. I enjoy bios on certain players and teams. However, I am the co-captain of Varsity golf team, and I have never see a cover story on golf. I know that golf is not a nationally popular sport, but the majority of Massachusetts enjoys the sport. It has become popular sport among many young athletes. Almost all of my friends have played or want to play golf. Yet, our team has never been featured in Rise except for the occasional shot out to the top golfers in the state.
The BCH Golf Team has been at the top of the state for almost half a decade. Over the past three years we have maintained a 40-8 record. We have also been in the top three of the South Section for four years straight and just recently won the 2008 MIAA D1 South Sectionals. The team is a heavy favorite to win states this year, and we are looking to fulfill the expectations. Our team consists of four nationally ranked junior golfers, which are being heavily recruited. All of us put together have won over twenty junior golf tournaments both local and national, along with numerous top twenty finishes. Brad Cadigan and myself are both ranked within the top 500 in the world. Each of us plans on signing a letter of intent very soon to top Division 1 Colleges on scholarships. Noah Walker and Colin Buckley are two sophomores who will not be to far behind Brad and I when they come of age. I am the 2008 Catholic Conference Individual Champion and Brad is the 2008 South Sectionalist Medalist. Not only are we good golfers, but most of us play a second sport and still maintain a team Grade Point Average of over 3.0.
Our team has become dominant in the state of Massachusetts, and I think that it would make for a good story for Rise to feature us, or a small story on our winning ways. It would make for a good story and a very good read. Our team has been very solid for many years, and I believe that we fit the criteria for what the magazine is looking for.
Thank you for reading my request and I hope that you take an interest to the BCH golf team.
Ian Thimble
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HI Dustin, you do great works! bravo! i want to ask you in which program you modified the photos? thanks
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Nice work! Great color palette.
Thanks for shring the “How-To’s”.
C<
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Hi Dustin,
Nicely done, and thanks for sharing some of your lighting techniques. My only beef is this trend, mostly in advertising, to make skin tones look like they belong to the dead, as in the top photo. The second photo on this page is much nicer in my view due to the natural skin tones. Is this a preference by magazine editors as well and do you see it continuing?
Thanks, all the best.
Toby
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really good stuff…awesome lighting techniques…
keep up the good work..
Aruba…
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