Andy Bell - Don't Mess With a Frontier Woman - Bannack State Park - Portrait

“Don’t Mess With a Frontier Woman”; February 10, 2012, 2:58pm; Bannack State Park, MT; f/5.6; 1/60; 53mm focal length; Canon T3i; Cropped to 8×10 format to improve composition and make suitable for printing

The lighting setup for this portrait was continuous. There weren’t a lot of edits done. I liked the rather dark colors, so I actually darkened the blacks a little more. Then I cropped the image to improve the composition and make the subject larger. I also applied burned edges and sharpening in Photoshop. I liked this picture because she looks focused and intense. And holding a gun, it seems like she’s the kind of woman you shouldn’t mess with.

Andy Bell - Portrait - Bannack State Park - Prepare to Die

 

“Prepare to Die”; February 10, 2012, 3:55pm; Bannack State Park, MT; f/5.0; 1/100; 40mm focal length; Canon T3i

Looks like Bannack is about to get another ghost! I almost didn’t consider this portrait usable, but I liked the intensity of it and the story it told so much that I decided to give it a go. And, all things considered it turned out pretty well. I used adjustment brushes in Adobe Camera Raw to increase the exposure on the subject, and then I used a second adjustment brush to lighten up the gun even more because it wasn’t standing out from the window frame much. I also added burned edges because I like how that effect looks on portraits. Even though it makes it hard to see details, I love the extremely dramatic lighting of the stark white window and the very dark person. The amount of light on the subject probably matches his dark mobster soul.