"I hate my Boyfriend's Friends / I hate my Girlfriend's Friends"
Phoenix, AZ ~ 3:54 PM on 9.16.2007

Photo-illustration for an article titled: "I hate my Boyfriend's Friends / I hate my Girlfriend's Friends," for an editorial profile story in the Winter 2007 issue of AZ Teen Magazine, and how high school teens struggle with the issues of relationships.

These 8 high school students are not models, so it took a bit of work to get them into the spirit of the shoot, but eventually they got it.

Lighting: Dyna-lites (2) medium Chimera softboxes from the rear, left and right as edge lights (2) shoot through 45" umbrellas to light the group -- gobo the lens from all the lights (or you'll get lens flair and it will kill your contrast).

Post production: Photoshop gaussian blur on the lower half of the shot (sharpness painted back in with layer mask)

Background is a 10x20 warm muslin. I extended the background a little bit on top and sides through cloning (and with the healing brush), then burned down top and sides (with level adjustment layer and brush in the opacity I wanted) to bring attention back to the group.