World Cup 2010

Every 4 yrs the world comes together for a an event that only the Summer Olympics can compare too…the FIFA World Cup, and this year its in South Africa. Here in the U.S., Soccer or “Football” as its known worldwide, is not the most popular or widely attended sport. But leave the U.S., and soccer is not only the most popular played sport, but also the most watched!

Don’t believe me? In 2006, the World Cup was played in Germany with over 32 billion viewers! That’s right, billions with a “B”! Read the ratings recap by FIFA here. Over 207 countries watched that event and this summer, the world will be watching again, and perhaps getting higher numbers.

Over the last 15-20 yrs or so, with the addition of the MLS and the U.S. Women’s Soccer team winning the 1999 World Cup match during a memorable gave over China, the popularity of soccer has increased. Its taken a new role in local schools and colleges. Kids in the U.S. are now playing soccer on a regular basis and perhaps one day it will reach the same status as the rest of the world.

So what does this have to do with photography? Everything! Imagine a photographer taking part in the most watched and popular sporting event in the world! I can image photographers, whether they are attending the event or not, are taking stock photography involving soccer or tailoring some pictures they create to this event. After all, who wouldn’t want to have the opportunity for only a fraction of the 32 billion viewers to see your work? In a commercial, a billboard or a magazine? Like anything else, viewers equals money to any business person and most professional photographers are in it for business. So if you are a pro or semi-pro photographer, you might want to start creating images targeting the viewers of this large and profitable event!

As of today January 26, 2010, there are less than 140 days left to the start of the World Cup in South Africa. You still have enough time to work on creating images for this big event!

Kung fu pose picture after final edit.

Whenever I take a picture, I know that there is some possibility that I will work on it at least a little on Photoshop. After a shoot, I normally sort through them on my computer and place them in three ways. First are the best pictures, those that overall are great pictures and may still need some or no photo editing. The second group are those that have potential, that with a little editing can result in a good usable image. The last, yup, the junk. These are the ones that are more of outtakes and cannot be saved with editing.

I want to talk about the second group. Whichever way you sort your photos, I assume these images are often overlooked and forgotten, never to see the light of day, right? Well, I wanted to share how I resulted with the image on the left. The picture is of a girl doing a martial art kick in the air and a very high distance from the ground. So was this picture photo-shopped? Yes and no.

Yes, I used Photoshop to crop and lighten the image a little, but no I didn’t add her to the middle of the picture. She really did jump and I caught this in mid-air from a distance. She was playing around with some friends and I noticed a photo opportunity. I was only able to take one picture, image on the right. As you can see she jumped from that concrete block not from the ground. Although I wasn’t able to get her face, which was blocked by the hand, I initially put this image aside and having some possibility to use but I knew I would need to do some editing. The image on its own is really a snapshot, but my eyes immediately went to the distance she was from the ground. So it was this portion of the image I knew would interest the viewer, as well as her straight leg/pose.

The image was a little dark, so I adjusted the exposure. The yellow truck was a distraction, so that needed to be cropped out. However I wanted to emphasize her pose and distance from the ground, so the only way to do that and create some “space” under her was to remove or crop out the cement block along with the truck. I spent some time on Photoshop outlining the area that would eventually be the final picture. In this case, the area I was going to keep would be crucial in creating the illusion of the almost impossible jump and pose.

How I edited my picture on Photoshop.

If you haven’t tried it, by cropping an image at the right place, the new picture will “tell” a different story. This was the case for this picture. Try it yourself with some of your own photos. Almost all photo editing programs have the cropping feature and all are very easy to use. I’ve included a simple outline of the area I cropped or cut out that would eventually be the final image. First I selected the area, making sure I didn’t include the yellow truck and cement block. I was also careful not to include the bottom portion of the picture, the area with the decorative bricks. It was important to show her in the air and the distance to the ground without any of the other distractions.

The final picture now is much more interesting. The viewers eyes are drawn to the pose on the upper right hand side and the empty area on the lower left emphasizes the high distance she is from the ground.

Model for Energiafoto!

The site is developing as promised! Today I added a Model Castings page with several paid shoots available to local Los Angeles and OC models! We shoot based on projects, so when we have a specific shoot planned we will post it up right away. The page will change weekly, so check it often for new shoots.

When you submit your email, be sure to include two recent images and your location. Click on the image to your left or at the link below to visit our casting page!

Model Casting Page

Use of colors in your pictures

While photographing Nathia, I took advantage of the leaves and their natural color. The leaves were hanging/hugging the white wall, which made the colors stand out even more. And very conveniently there was a gap in between the leaves where she could easily pose! I always have luck on my side! ; )

I was especially fortunate to have a range of colors, from green to red. The setup was not a distraction but sort of a frame for the model. Not much work was done to the image on Photoshop, but I did soften the colors a bit and of course re-sized and framed it with a border. The angle of the models head also worked for the picture, since she is offset to the right side of the frame facing the leaves to her right.

Taken with a Nikon D70 with available light, it was a nice surprise to see these colors this time of the year!

Check back daily for updates.

Thanks!