Stenberg Photography photo post April 20 2009

I took this picture a few nights ago when the snow had finally cleared off our streets.  I was playing around with some lighting and caught my subject 'holding on' in the stone wall frame for his next picture.  Like most pictures, my favorites are the in-between moments that portray a  more candid style.  I like the fact you can't see his face and he becomes a shape along with his environment.  This environmental portrait looks best in monochrome since there was not much color in the photo anyways, and it brings out the contrast and textures of the stone against the subject.  The lighting in this picture also plays an important part.  I have a bare flash camera left firing up at my subject.  There is a light in behind on the far wall that you cannot see because of my subject in the frame.  The light from the back wall bleeds out and provides some separation between my subject and the background.  Without that light, this picture would not work very well since he would just blend into the foreground and there would be no dimension.  TIP: try finding and using lights you find in your environment.  Whether you use the ambient light as your main or only light or use it along with your flash, you can have more control of your photo and create what you want.  And if your lucky, you can capture some candid moments that initially you didn't think would turn out.  

TECH INFO: 1/40th sec shutter speed, F 5.6 , ISO 640 30mm (on a 24-70 lens).  Minor crop and straighten on LR.  Added some slight vignette, and a small boost to the blacks to help with the contrast.