Critique #28 *Portrait*--5 Participants

Thanks for the comments. I'm happy people noticed the stressing of his arm, that was my intention as he is a painter (who makes stunning paintings by the way - Luc Tuymans is the first living Belgian to have his work exposed at TATE Modern, earlier in 2005). It was not a posed shot, he was talking with the interviewer who was sitting left of me. Photographs & interview for the local student magazine.

Drew, about the film; I'm not 100% sure, but if I remember correctly it was Ilford XP2 chromogenic.

Jonas
 
This was a photo for testing a lens. I posted it on purpose, knowing that there was nothing special about it. This is after all a critique forum of any photo and not just a place for parading good photos. I think, I am right here. I am glad that there was no "gentle words" but the truth. Well done.

Raid
 
I noticed all the comments about the DoF in the photo. Now that I think about it, I was shooting wide open, but with the I-26m, thats f 2.8. That might account for the not quite so blurry background.

And yes, I am under no illusions about my portrait. I myself probably wouldn't strickly call it a portrait, more environmental portraiture.

As for the exposure, I think I was guessing. 1/60th at f 2.8. Artificial light is always hard for me to guage.

Thanks for the comments.

Drew
 
Thanks for the comments. The image posted is a scan of as much of the 11x14" wet print as my scanner would allow. The original is not cropped so tight and shows more of the model's hair. I personally always liked the very even and smooth grain of the enlargement. It was shot in late afternoon in the shade with a white building reflecting the smooth even light across her face. I was shooting this model and a few others at a hair salon and we had been going at it for a few hours trying several different lighting set up's indoors. I took a break and went out the back door of the salon for a smoke. Randi followed shortly after and when I saw the light on her face I asked her to stay where she was and I went for my camera. While there were several good shots from the shoot this one has always been my favorite. It is a reminder of the "kiss" principle. :)
 
On my submission. I was driving around a lake at a local State Park and I saw a photographer set up taking "Old Time Digital Portraits" under the shade of some large oak trees. I stopped to chat with her and realized that I knew her. She had her grand daughters with her and they were having a tea party in the shade away from the Old Time set. I was carrying my Contax IIa with 50mm f1.5 Sonnar and I just loved the light falling on the girls in the open shade. I asked if I could get some snaps of the tea party. This little girl's expression was just priceless. It was pretty windy that day as you may be able to tell from the table cloth and her dress flapping in the wind. This is hand held at 1/15th of a second which does not help in the sharpness department.

Here is an overview of the lighting on the scene. Notice how it goes from dark at the bottom of the scene to light at the top.


Wayne

P.S. Notice how crappy my timing was and how unsteady I am at 1/15 of a second on this photo.
 

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