A Quick Portrait

This was the last image we made at the Baby Animal Days festival at the American West Heritage Center a few weeks ago. This was in the Visitors Center, and this gal had been so cheerful and helpful to about a zillion people through the day. I was impressed that she was still smiling, even after five o'clock. COmbine that with her terrific outfit, and you've got a portrait ready to go.


The good thing about Visitors Centers is that they usually have big windows letting in loads of indirect light, and this was no exception. The key to making a quick portrait like this is simply to have your subject face toward the light. See how it lights up her eyes? Point her face so that there is light on both sides, but still a shadow from the nose. The huge window provides plenty of light under the brin of the hat, too, because it is from floor to ceiling and the lower portions of the window bring it in nicely under the brim. Even so, it was pretty dark and my shutter speed was a slower than I might prefer. Set your camera to continuous shooting and fire off several images in a row to be certain that at least of them will be sharp.

Nikon D90, 70-200mm VR lens @ 120mm, f/2.8, 1/30s, ISO 200.