As promised in the previous post, here is the follow-up to the poker face portraits created from the Vegas shoot. This group shot is a 60″ x 40″ poster titled “The Kings of Estonian.”

Concept: To feature the players as formidable forces in the game; additionally to create the look of an out-of-home billboard or wallscape. The color scheme is inspired by the street sign that represents the players’ mutual home. The poster was commissioned for final display in the home.

Tech: Shot on a Canon 30D using a snooted bare speedlight as key on the subject’s face at camera-right; and a silver umbrella for fill at camera-left-low. Each player was shot individually with the same lighting setup and then composited in Photoshop CS3. The artificial aurora backlight was created in photoshop along with subject shadows, rim light and type design.

Copyright © Tyler Kongslie, 2010. All Rights Reserved.

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During a recent visit to Las Vegas, I photographed three professional poker players who wanted over-the-top self portraits created for use in their homes and to share on their facebook profiles, etc.

The objective was to capture each player’s “poker face” that you would encounter if you sat at the Texas Hold ‘Em tables yourself. Because of their online play as well, their screen names were included. A lightning storm as a background was a client request and the rest was up to me in creating a hard-hitting image. Although the images were purely made for fun, I took the project very seriously because I wanted to create something that far exceeded the guys’ expectations; it was my goal to create 3 unified images that made a lasting impression and could be likened to an evocative and dramatic movie poster.

I photographed the players with my Canon 30D and two speedlights. One light was positioned directly behind the subject, high above, and aimed downward at roughly 30˚ toward the top of the subjects’ shoulders and head. The second light was camera-left and just above the subject’s eye level to create dramatic side-lighting.  I added some fill light on the opposite side with white poster paper acting as a bounce.

In post, I retouched skin blemishes, adjusted skin color, brought out color and detail in their eyes, applied a number of layer adjustments to achieve the color balance and desaturation I wanted, dodged and burned areas for more drama, and finally sharpened the image with a combination of unsharp mask and the high pass filter. I created the type treatment and poker suit “jewels” from vector shapes. All elements were composited in a 16″ x 20″ canvas and submitted for final prints to be done by Adorama in New York City.

More work is being created right now for these guys…next up is a 60″x 40″ composited group shot. Check back soon for the image and details!

Copyright © Tyler Kongslie, 2010. All Rights Reserved.