Randy Narkir was the winner of our Wide Angle Portraits Challenge, with his awsome photo, "Inked". Congratulations, Randy! Keep reading below, where he has generously agreed to share how he created the winning photo.
My name is Randy Narkir and I am truly pleased to win what I believe is Photographers Cooperative's first monthly photo contest, wide angle portrait. I am a hobbyist photographer (for now) and I am an estate planning attorney whose practice focuses on people who have special needs and/or mental illness.
This portrait was my first attempt at fitness photography and CrossFit photography. The subject pictured is Chris Holt and I photographed him in Miami, Florida at his box, Crossfit Threshold. Chris has a lot of tattoos and I wanted to showcase them and his physique.
For posing, I asked Chris to swing the kettlebell to create as much dynamic movement in his body as possible.
The gear I used was a Canon 6D and a Canon EF 16‑35 f/4L at 24mm, ISO 100, 1/45 of a second. The photo was taken in vertical orientation to provide a more powerful pose. I lit Chris with two Yongnuo YN560-IV speed lights each modified by a MagGrid from MagMod. One flash was positioned subject left and one was positioned subject right, both at approximately 150 degrees behind Chris. I used hard light to emphasize Chris' back muscles and I used the grids to prevent light spill.
The photo was edited in Lightroom and in Photoshop. In Lightroom I adjusted the white balance, and I increased clarity and contrast with the adjustment brush. In photoshop I dodged and burned to emphasize Chris' muscles.
I am excited to see the Photographers Cooperative grow!