The subject of this image actually inspired me to create this photograph. She was in a horrific accident and was left with significant facial damage. I wanted to take photos of her magnificent recovery and healing process. After two extreme plastic surgeries, there is only a scar on her forehead and under her left eye. She is also graduating from the College of Natural Sciences in the beginning of May, so why not hit two birds with one stone and take her graduation photos as well. After witnessing her accident, something inside me changed. I realized that anything could happen at any moment, so I started taking notice of the smaller things in life and living in the moment. And with her quick recovery, she inspired me to capture the moments as best as I could.
My subject and I took this image in downtown Flagstaff, AZ while roaming around to find a contrasting backdrop to take her senior portraits. She found this beautiful brick wall that is on the side of a building and I took the image between the steps of a staircase that lead up to the entrance of the business.
I took this image with my Nikon D3000 with a focal length of 55mm. I took this photo with an ISO of 100, aperture of f/7.1 and shutter speed of 1/125. I edited this image in Lightroom with only a couple slight adjustments. I softened the skin around her left eye and forehead to make her scars more defined. I increased the contrast of the image to give it a more rustic look along with sharpening it, so the details in the brick wall were more noticeable. I also love using the tone curve so I used that to brighten up the dark spots on the image along with darken the light spots.
About the Photographer:
I am Carlye Townsend. I am a sophomore at Northern Arizona University. I believe that capturing life’s moments as they pass us by, evoke a sense of bliss that can be enjoyed over and over again. Through my photography, I strive to open a new world of photography that brings positive life back into fine art photographs. My goal is to capture moments that no one thought they could relive; I want to show people the value of living.
I prefer portrait photography over anything but I do sometimes like to switch it up a little bit and take either nature or architecture photography. I love using Lightroom because not every image is going to be perfect when you take it. Mine definitely aren’t. Lightroom and even Photoshop help me correct the little quirks and allow me to add my own twists to the image.
To read more about the Northern Arizona University “Behind the Image: Guest Blogger” project on our blog, please read the introduction at youcansleepwhenyouredead.com/wordpress/its-back-the-2014-nau-photography-students-behind-the-image-guest-blogger-project/.