Dramatic Portraits // Headshots // Camille Kurowski

I was really excited about Camille’s photo shoot. She is a very professional, beautiful, and enthusiastic model and I am very grateful to have worked with her. She came in ready to deliver a great performance and that she did. It is always such a treat to work with others that are just as passionate about this art form as I am.

This photo shoot was going to be a bit different than what I am used to. First: it is the first shoot in a series (yes, more photos coming very soon) of dramatic portraits and model headshots. I have never done a series like this before, so this was new ground for me. Second: it was going to involve a lot of post-production (Photoshop) work, of which I am used to. The end result of this shoot is to create a composite image with a completely new background and a more dramatic feel. I will be posting the final images soon.

This headshot/portrait session was intended to be more artistic in nature and so all of the pieces had to work well together: a great model, a specific type of lighting set-up, great hair and make-up, energy, and me not messing it up :)

It was great having my amazing hairstylist wife there and my talented brother-in-law (a very talented sports photographer) there to assist.

Here are a few images from our shoot. The final composite images will be on a new blog post soon:

Behind The Scenes


My many thanks to Camille! You made this shoot so much fun. I also want to thank Gary Middendorf for his assistance and ideas. And a super thank you to my wife, Christina, for being so supportive and for doing a great job on Camille’s hair. Thanks guys!

The Set-Up

  • Nikon D700 – Shooting in RAW
  • Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 lens
  • Tokina 14-24mm f/4 lens
  • Alien Bee 400ws (5 strobes)
  • Medium Softbox (2)
  • 22″ Beauty Dish
  • Pocket Wizard (2)
  • Lightroom 2 – For exposure and color adjustments
  • Photoshop CS4 – For all major retouching and background removal
  • 13″ MacBook
  • Sofortbild – For shooting tethered to my MacBook. It’s free for Nikon shooters!
  • Rock On! info@ottorascon.com | my portfolio | facebook | twitter | 773.430.4785

    By The Way: It was great sketching out pose ideas and lighting ideas before the shoot. I was also able to do some test shots before Camille ever came over.

    pixel Dramatic Portraits // Headshots // Camille Kurowski
    January 22, 2010 - 12:23 am

    Todd - Great series of images Otto and beautiful model! Love the dramatic lighting

    January 22, 2010 - 11:04 am

    Otto - Thanks Todd. I am currently working with 4 other models, so there will be more dramatic portraits. Rock on dude!

    January 22, 2010 - 11:27 am

    Veronica - Beautiful girl and beautiful pictures! Can’t wait to see what else you did.

    January 22, 2010 - 3:02 pm

    Otto - Thanks Veronica. I will be posting a few this weekend.

    January 22, 2010 - 3:18 pm

    Gary Middendorf - I’m not surprised to how good they turned out. The pictures were incredible straight out of the camera. Awesome job. I can’t wait to see your vision to composite them on separate backgrounds.

    January 27, 2010 - 10:48 pm

    Chicago Baby Child Toddler Photography | Chicago Wedding Photography | Chicago Family Portrait Photography | Otto Rascon - [...] portraits came after my model was done with her Dramatic Portraits. Jocelyn came in with her tutu ready to be photographed, and I am not to shy away from a portrait [...]

    February 18, 2010 - 1:32 pm

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