First OpLove Assignment - Stephanie & Ross

[Scott_Quier]

Operation: Love Reunited (http://www.oplove.org/) - if you haven't heard of it check it out. Maybe get involved?

Anyway, on with the story...

About a month ago I was contacted by the wife of a sailor. Stephanie had heard of OpLove and wanted to know if I would be willing to photograph her husband's return; Ross hadn't seen their child since he was about a month old and Stephanie wanted pictures of Ross' reaction. I thought this would be a very touching moment so I jumped on it. We made all the arrangements, signed all the release forms, etc - we were ready to Rock-n-Roll! :clap :ivar :barb

On the day (18 Aug), I had to take 4 hours off from work to travel to the Naval Station, clear through security, get to the pier, and hook up with Stephanie. Here's what I got for them...

BTW - these are almost SOOC, just a little exposure adjustment and some cropping. Harsh noon sun (NO clouds). White uniforms. What a challenge; I might be ready to do the same for a bride?:scratch:dunno I'll be working these (and the other 20+ images) up more before I deliver the book to the clients.

1. Stephanie trying to point out Dad on his ship
http://www.lnl-photo.com/photos/355839621_BUmi3-L.jpg

2. Dad waving back
http://www.lnl-photo.com/photos/355839557_3widR-L.jpg

3. The CAPT of the ship allowed visitors onto the vessel - I understand this to be a very unusual occurance. Anyway, they hugged, kissed. Dad's so proud of his son!
http://www.lnl-photo.com/photos/355839547_zg5WG-L.jpg

4. He's still proud!
http://www.lnl-photo.com/photos/355839560_PXrhJ-L.jpg

5. Pier-side, getting to know him a little better.
http://www.lnl-photo.com/photos/355839632_PQF6V-L.jpg

Stephanie was so happy to have Ross back home, that the little guy did get frightened of Dad (whom he hadn't seen for more than 6 months), etc - it just all came together so nicely!

[eL eSs Vee]

Some wonderful photos, Scott. White uniforms and all, I think you did very well, considering the circumstances. I think Stephanie and Ross will be very pleased.

:thumb :thumb

[Swartzy]

Scott...you did awesome!!!

[christulk]

Really well done Scott. Love #3.

[ladytx]

Really well done Scott. Love #3.


Wonderful job Scott.:clap

[Scott_Quier]

Thanks all - I appreciate the comments.

These were just a few random selections that kinda told the story of the day. As I said, I didn't do a lot of PP - that will have to wait until this shoot makes it's way to the top of queue; Aaarggg - I'm so behind on processing:D

I'm doing this in appreciation of their sacrifice - been there, done that; military members deserve all the perks they can get. I'm trying to do my little part to ensure that the military today does not experience what the military did in the late '70s and early '80s.

But, my reaction last night as I was previewing these was interesting. I really wanted to have some good, well exposed, shots to deliver to the clients - but mostly from a perfectionist stand-point. As I was going through them, I saw more and more touching moments and I got kinda all googily inside and the last one posted above brought tears to my eyes - yeah, I'm just a softie so deal with it:D

This had to have been one of the most rewarding experiences that photography has provided me. I can't wait to see what their reaction is when I deliver the book with all the shots from the home coming.

[Travis]

If they brought tears to your eyes, I'm sure that they will be balling. :cry (in a good way) Very nice job with these Scott and what an excellent way to give back to some of those not only in the service but also our community! :clap

[Llywellyn]

Scott, what a wonderful thing you've done. Just beautiful. :lust

And bright whites in mid-day. How? HOW?? Marvelous job! :thumb

[pvrsvarma]

awesome shots!
Very well captured.

Cheers!
PV.

[Scott_Quier]

Scott, what a wonderful thing you've done. Just beautiful. :lust

And bright whites in mid-day. How? HOW?? Marvelous job! :thumb
Wonderful thing - maybe. I just want to do something tangible to express my gratitude to the men and women serving in our military - :soapbox they get the short end of the deal in so many ways - they just deserve better, especially their families.

But, you can do it too - just e-mail in an application and let it flow from there.
<*/ soapbox >

Shooting this wasn't that difficult - it's just like shooting snow or a bridal gown in sunny-16 light (though this was closer to sunny-22 light:wink), but I cheated a bit...

Take a shot, look at the histogram and for the blinkies in the LCD. If you have blinkies, back down the exposure a touch. The trick is to get the exposure just as far to the right as possible without blowing out the white. The computer in your camera is going to want to turn that white to gray, especially if the white is a significant percentage of the view seen by the camera light meter. You just have to believe that the computer in your camera is stupid and force it to do what you want it to do. Oh, and be sure to shoot RAW - gives you so much more exposure lattitude than does shooting in JPG cause you get to determine where the expsoure is supposed to be when it comes time to generate the JPG images.

On advantage a sailor's uniform has over a bridal gown is that the uniform is not all satiny and reflective like a gown sometimes (usually?) is. So, the exposures are just that much easier to control. Bottom line - liberal use of positive Exposure Compensation. :D