Paul Ernest Adds Depth to Senior Portraits

Dallas-based wedding photographer Paul Ernest, also well-known for his lush and textured conceptual commissions, added senior portraits to his catalogue of services about three years ago, which he says was “a fairly easy process given our kids and many of our friends’ kids are in high school.” 

Pictured here is Ian, who Ernest says finished school early and will be taking a year at the local college before he is of age to enter the Naval Academy in Annapolis. “Ian is a self-starter who is determined. He is also a history buff, which is how I met him and his dad. We were at a WWII reenactment event and let’s just say, in uniform he looked pretty intimidating, even at 16.” 

Photo © Paul Ernest

Shot at Lake Texoma Jet Center at Perrin Airport (formerly Perrin AFB) in front of a Learjet 24 using a two-light setup, Ernest says his approach was fairly simple: “The subject is in the middle and each light source is at the two opposite sides of the subject. As the light on the right became broader, the one on the left became narrower (in this case the broad light was the sunrise and the narrow light was a flash).”

Ernest explains that to maintain his signature style and approach here, he knew he needed to add an element to his lighting that would give the photo a cinematic look. 

“The warmer tones and detail, especially in the midtones, is always important to me,” he says. “I think a photographer’s style is more about a mindset and less about an action or workflow process. I knew in my mind before the shoot what I wanted to achieve. In saying that, you must have three things: experience, confidence and determination when achieving anything that sets you apart. Just make sure you prepare and experiment prior to your shoot.”

THE SHOT
Camera: Nikon D800  
Lens: Nikon 24-70mm  
Exposure: 1/200 at f/5.0 sec  
ISO: 200  
Miscellaneous: ND Filter  
Lighting: Sun/natural with OCF Speedlight Flash, no modifier  
Post: Ernest Edits and AlienSkin Exposure 6 (Cross Processing and mild Agfa Optima)

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