April 2012 Portraits

[Corran]

Hope no one minds me starting the April thread.

Here's an image I took last night of a friend of mine. Polaroid 900 w/ Schneider Xenotar 135mm @ f/5.6, 1/100, with flash, taken on T-Max 100 and developed for one hour in Acufine semi-stand. I believe I actually got a much faster effective film speed according to my notes; I accidentally underexposed this quite a bit.

http://www.oceanstarproductions.com/photosharing/0212ss.jpg

[merelyok]

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7116/6889425060_1d2b81a31d_c.jpg

Toyo 45CF
Caltar II-n
Fuji FP100C

[Tobias Key]

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7118/6892458764_393c4ab708_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tobykey/6892458764/)
Coco Deville (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tobykey/6892458764/) by Tobias Key (http://www.flickr.com/people/tobykey/), on Flickr

Another one from the series I'm working on, hopefully a bit of nice weather will get this project moving now!

[D-tach]

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7042/7043378619_4b343e645b_b.jpg

Chamonix 45N2 - Imagon 250 (no disc) - Efke 25

Tom

[z84]

Linhof Master Technika, Rodenstock 150, Kodak Portra 400 (Tetenal C-41)

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5151/6898521596_53b4072eb3_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/christoph_z/6898521596/)

[SergeiR]

Chamonix 45N2 - Imagon 250 (no disc) - Efke 25

Tom

Very nice and engaging. Of course it is strange to see man shot with diffused lens when its not romantic scene of sorts, but it adds up ;)

[Jay DeFehr]

Very nice and engaging. Of course it is strange to see man shot with diffused lens when its not romantic scene of sorts, but it adds up ;)

I'm not sure it adds up to anything more than a personal choice, and one I'm not likely to make. I suspect these guys just like shooting with their SF lenses, without much thought to subject, or it seems so to me, and that's not meant as a criticism, just an observation that might not be accurate.

[SergeiR]

I'm not sure it adds up to anything more than a personal choice, and one I'm not likely to make. I suspect these guys just like shooting with their SF lenses, without much thought to subject, or it seems so to me, and that's not meant as a criticism, just an observation that might not be accurate.
I kind of disagree here. I could see male image shot with with soft focus for a few reasons in general - romanticized image (like you know.. knight in shiny armour or bridal stuff or something like that) or to soften perception in general (ok, may be a bit less pronounced softness) when shooting someone like grandfather and you trying to add this nice warmth-ish glow to image... But other than this, agreed, normally males arent good subjects for SF lenses.. We like to be rough and strong.. ;)

But it works as experiment, and not a bad one IMHO, overwise if we take away freedom to display experimental images - quite many photos in displayed threads would be subject to quite harsh critique ;)

[Jay DeFehr]

I kind of disagree here. I could see male image shot with with soft focus for a few reasons in general - romanticized image (like you know.. knight in shiny armour or bridal stuff or something like that) or to soften perception in general (ok, may be a bit less pronounced softness) when shooting someone like grandfather and you trying to add this nice warmth-ish glow to image... But other than this, agreed, normally males arent good subjects for SF lenses.. We like to be rough and strong.. ;)

But it works as experiment, and not a bad one IMHO, overwise if we take away freedom to display experimental images - quite many photos in displayed threads would be subject to quite harsh critique ;)


Sergei,

I'm not criticizing anyone, just suggesting the decision might be more circumstantial than artistic, ie, "I want to shoot with my SF lens, and the only subject readily available is my friend, this old truck grill", etc. These SF lenses are clearly fetishes for many here who use them. I'm not making a value judgment, just suggesting you might be using a different criteria in your viewing than was used in the making.

I think I might be pro-experimentation to a fault, and have no desire to inhibit the presentation of experimental works in any way, but just the opposite!

[D-tach]

I suspect these guys just like shooting with their SF lenses, without much thought to subject, or it seems so to me, and that's not meant as a criticism, just an observation that might not be accurate.

Without much thought to subject?! A nice hard backlight, grey allmost white hair and a man who's just retired and complaining about his wrinkles... heck, they designed the damn thing for this situation ;) kidding aside, perhaps I should have used the 5.8 disc to make it a bit sharper but I wanted to try how soft it really is without any of the discs
Here is version with a sharper lens but a bit underexposed I'm afraid. I tend to like the soft version more... or do I...? :confused:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7212/6899426726_406b3ca1d4_b.jpg

Tom

[Jay DeFehr]

Without much thought to subject?! A nice hard backlight, grey allmost white hair and a man who's just retired and complaining about his wrinkles... heck, they designed the damn thing for this situation ;) kidding aside, perhaps I should have used the 5.8 disc to make it a bit sharper but I wanted to try how soft it really is without any of the discs
Here is version with a sharper lens but a bit underexposed I'm afraid. I tend to like the soft version more... or do I...? :confused:

Tom

I meant no offense, Tom, and was commenting more generally about the SF work posted here. FWIW, I prefer this one.

[D-tach]

No worries Jay! Beginners need critiscism :-)

[SergeiR]

Without much thought to subject?! A nice hard backlight, grey allmost white hair and a man who's just retired and complaining about his wrinkles... heck, they designed the damn thing for this situation ;) kidding aside, perhaps I should have used the 5.8 disc to make it a bit sharper but I wanted to try how soft it really is without any of the discs
Here is version with a sharper lens but a bit underexposed I'm afraid. I tend to like the soft version more... or do I...? :confused:

Tom

Actually i like this one better too ;) More tonal range in skin.

[Jay DeFehr]

No worries Jay! Beginners need critiscism :-)

Thanks for being a good sport, but I'm in no position to critique anyone. You've clearly made a creative choice, that's what I was commenting on. I knew going in there was an even chance I was wrong about any particular person or image.

[D-tach]

Actually i like this one better too ;) More tonal range in skin.

Damn! :) But there's none in the shadows - just banding:rolleyes:


Thanks for being a good sport, but I'm in no position to critique anyone. You've clearly made a creative choice, that's what I was commenting on. I knew going in there was an even chance I was wrong about any particular person or image.

But you're right... I must admit that those lenses and they're effect have an addicting effect on some people and I might be one of them :-) I don't know exactly what the reason is (blame Jim and Stefan!) perhaps it's because of a certain nostalgique look they give or so... just exploring what others did allready 120 years ago :rolleyes:

[SergeiR]

Damn! :) But there's none in the shadows - just banding:rolleyes:

Ah, yes, but i do share sentiment of Mortensen , coming from similar painting background, that shadows are in fact not as important for portraiture, as having proper tonal range in skin ;)

[Jay DeFehr]

But you're right... I must admit that those lenses and they're effect have an addicting effect on some people and I might be one of them :-) I don't know exactly what the reason is (blame Jim and Stefan!) perhaps it's because of a certain nostalgique look they give or so... just exploring what others did allready 120 years ago :rolleyes:

I understand, I have a few SF lenses, too. I haven't removed the 150 SF-C from my RB67 since it arrived -- part learning curve, part fascination.

Sergei,

I would have agreed about the shadows in portraits until I started printing in carbon. It's truly amazing what can happen in the bottom of the tonal scale in a carbon print. If it was just featureless tone it wouldn't be very interesting, but the long scale and straight line characteristic curve allow the viewer to see deeply into the shadows, if there's anything there to see. Using a film like TMY-2 or Acros, it's possible to get excellent separation in the shadows, and the effect can be mesmerizing.

[Ray Bidegain]

Here is a new portrait of mine. The model is named Lilith and this is a scan of an 8x10 platinum print I made.

Ray Bidegain
me on flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/25940714@N02/)

71399

[Jay DeFehr]

Love that one, Ray!

[Ray Bidegain]

Thank you Jay. It is one of only 2 sheets I did.

[David Brunell]

Like this alot!


Here is a new portrait of mine. The model is named Lilith and this is a scan of an 8x10 platinum print I made.

Ray Bidegain
me on flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/25940714@N02/)

71399

[Ray Bidegain]

Thank you David

[MIke Sherck]

Her expression is just to die for, Ray! Platinum is definitely the way to go -- the tones match the emotion so well!

Mike

[false_Aesthetic]

71408

Technically, this is on Mulholland Highway.

150mm HM Portra 160VC (5x7)

[Hugo Zhang]

some fuzzy pictures.

[Frank Petronio]

And then the evil witch turned me into a toad. Don't tell her, we think it's an improvement.

71413

[Stephane]

My neighbor.
Few weeks ago I took some portraits of him but used empty holders (blame it on alcohol and things).
This is a "re-shoot" to try an appear less stupid.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7249/7047217445_739bbb3008_b.jpg
Eidoscope

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7276/7047217979_d31335ed3c_b.jpg
Petzval

[andress007]

Gorgeous!


Here is a new portrait of mine. The model is named Lilith and this is a scan of an 8x10 platinum print I made.

Ray Bidegain
me on flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/25940714@N02/)

71399

[mathieu Bauwens]

Ray, these one is terrific

[mathieu Bauwens]

First "professional" use of my 4x5 camera; portraits of 3 young actors just before the show

Nagaoka 4x5 Inch, 150mm Symmar, FP4+ 9x12 cm and Fomapan 400

71432

71433

71434

[Frank Petronio]

First "professional" use of my 4x5 camera; portraits of 3 young actors just before the show

Nagaoka 4x5 Inch, 150mm Symmar, FP4+ 9x12 cm and Fomapan 400

71432

71433

71434

Excellent!

[threefoot]

Here is a new portrait of mine. The model is named Lilith and this is a scan of an 8x10 platinum print I made.

Ray Bidegain
me on flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/25940714@N02/)

71399

Ray,

This is very nice! I like this one a great deal! Nicely done. I bet this print looks fantastic in person.

Charlie

[Corran]

A quick shot of my gf after she gave a presentation - 300mm, f/11, 8x10 FP4, Acufine:

http://www.oceanstarproductions.com/photosharing/0032ss.jpg

Feel free to critique, trying to get better @ portraiture.

[Harold_4074]

Quoth d-tach: just exploring what others did allready 120 years ago

Uh-huh. And until we learn to do it as well, it may be a bit presumptuous to think we can do it better ;)

[bob carnie]

71448 Shot on the weekend

[Frank Petronio]

71448 Shot on the weekend

Like it

[OMU]

My neighbor.
Few weeks ago I took some portraits of him but used empty holders (blame it on alcohol and things).
This is a "re-shoot" to try an appear less stupid.

They says the devil is in the details, but suppose we all have experienced that the devil can be in the bottles as well... ;-)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7249/7047217445_739bbb3008_b.jpg
Eidoscope

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7276/7047217979_d31335ed3c_b.jpg
Petzval

[OMU]

[QUOTE=Stephane;871350]My neighbor.
Few weeks ago I took some portraits of him but used empty holders (blame it on alcohol and things).
This is a "re-shoot" to try an appear less stupid.

They says the devil is in the details, but suppose we all have experienced that the devil can be in the bottles as well... ;-)

[vitality]

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7088/6904961314_78a005a302_c.jpg
Sinar 5x7, Ross Cabinet No.3

[Frank Petronio]

The Easter Lumix is coming....

71479

[austin granger]

Speaking of Easter...

Old Bunny, Brentwood Street, Portland
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7215/7025814337_bbc93ca18c_c.jpg

And if you say it's not a portrait, Bunny will get very upset.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/austingranger/

[SergeiR]

Ilford 400, 4x5 , Fujnon 250mm (SF), no disks, wide open (afaik, but might have closed it about half stop from gut feeling, i remember thinking about it).
First scan with V700. Trying to figure out if it actually worth to keep this scanner at all..

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7200/6906190234_82f1161309_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sergeistudio/6906190234/)
Elona (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sergeistudio/6906190234/) by Sergei Rodionov (http://www.flickr.com/people/sergeistudio/), on Flickr

[David Brunell]

Ilford 400, 4x5 , Fujnon 250mm (SF), no disks, wide open (afaik, but might have closed it about half stop from gut feeling, i remember thinking about it).
First scan with V700. Trying to figure out if it actually worth to keep this scanner at all.

Wow, fantastic...I have just started to use a 250 Imagon. You do that Fujinon justice! The V700 has been fantastic.

[mvanderaa]

Ilford 400, 4x5 , Fujnon 250mm (SF), no disks, wide open (afaik, but might have closed it about half stop from gut feeling, i remember thinking about it).
First scan with V700. Trying to figure out if it actually worth to keep this scanner at all..

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7200/6906190234_82f1161309_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sergeistudio/6906190234/)
Elona (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sergeistudio/6906190234/) by Sergei Rodionov (http://www.flickr.com/people/sergeistudio/), on Flickr

Very nice and pleasing image, Sergei.

[Noeyedear]

That is so so nice

[Luke79]

http://s7.directupload.net/images/120407/nvu8lblu.jpg

[SergeiR]

Thanks, guys. Glad you like it. I am just still trying to figure out if i am indeed getting more tonal range with V700 vs HP 4050. I know that sharpness a tad better (not a lot though) with adjusted betterscanning station. But that soft focus for female images seems to do its magic quite well.. ;)

---

Nice instant , Luke. FP3000?

[Luke79]

Thank you sergei,

its my first polaroid 55 with my speed graphic , i thought that it do not come out right , but boy, i was so happy that everything worked out as i planed with the 545 holder and the film ,the tones and the depth is beautiful on the original, im loving it i will scan the negative but currently have no scanner , anyone can recommend one?
i need more 55!!!!

[rpalm]

Very Nice Luke!

r

[goamules]

5x7 Clear glass ambrotype, late 1860s R. Morrison (CC Harrison's ex-foreman) Petzval portrait lens. (New chemicals today, excuse the wacky artifacts. They look kind of cool, but I usually go for a clean plate)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7242/7055005301_ed58ef3f9f_o.png

[SMBooth]

Not big into portrait work, but its something I would like to try more of. This image of friend with a couple of basic lights on Delta100 pushed to 400 in Xtol. 4x5 with 210mmf9 Rodenstock Geronar.
Neg scan with some PS toning

[dupont07]

I like this, is it a print or what?

http://s7.directupload.net/images/120407/nvu8lblu.jpg

[Luke79]

This is the positive you get when you Open the polaroid 55 sheet, i have the negative too but currently have no Scanner

[dupont07]

It looks great, Luke. I got a problem with scanner too. Maybe I will consider to take some Polaroid.

[parleton]

4x5 ambrotype shot on speed graphic, caltar-s 210mm, fresh collodion with recently new silver bath, also developed in open tray.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7123/7060040987_c6b2c8f18c.jpg

[Craig Tuffin]

A black glass ambrotype shot as a part of my 'As Faulty As We Are' series...this particular eye doesn't work properly.

I guess the moderators will remove it if it's generally considered a macro more than a portrait.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7085/6914615186_bcda11179a_b.jpg

[dlin]

Grace, Easter Sunday 2012

P&S Visual Quality
4x5 Fortepan 200 in Pyrocat HD

[ghostcount]

Grace, Easter Sunday 2012

P&S Visual Quality
4x5 Fortepan 200 in Pyrocat HD

Wonderful glow Daniel. Bravo!

[Petzval Paul]

Nice ones, Craig and Daniel!

[Tony Evans]

First Portrait Attempts.

Using our friend Ross & his son Mathew as Guinea Pigs.

Sinar P w Schneider Tele-Xenar 360 f5.6 wide open, 1/25 sec, FP4+ in Rodinal/DDX (1+5+200), 1 hour semi-stand. Epson 750/BSH wet scan.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7221/6915431388_4259a99f07_b.jpg


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7182/7061514927_56b91faceb_b.jpg


Lots of problerms here. Background, focus on Ross, must pay attention to these things, etc. C & C welcomed and as usual, needed.

[vitality]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/55245071/photo/v_besedke_5x7.jpg
5x7, Ross Cabinet No.3

[luphot]

6x6" Tintypes

[dperez]

6x6" Tintypes

These are awesome. Thanks for sharing.

-DP

[Ramiro Elena]

These are awesome. Thanks for sharing.

-DP

Yes! Love the 2nd one specially. Very nice light and space.

[Shutter]

6x6" Tintypes

great portraits, I find it hard not to distract the viewer too much from the subject when there is a swirly background - but in this case it's very well done!!
The light in the second one is perfect! great job!

[dperez]

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7136/6917502168_0f78e21df9_c.jpg
[View Large (http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7136/6917502168_b327e4387a_o.jpg)]

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5344/7063580837_3a4940b1ce_c.jpg
[View Large (http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5344/7063580837_ff31e40199_o.jpg)]

Santa Ana, CA
4x5 Arca-Swiss, 210mm 5.6 Symmar-S Schneider lens, Expired Kodak EPP

My nephew. This kid does not like to sit still for a second. While I was trying to focus on him I told him that he could relax except not to move from where he was standing, so he took that as permission to contort himself from the waist wiggling and tilting himself forwards and back, all the while with a little smirk on his face! Then he says "I'm not moving my feet... ahaha." "Why you little...." Focus achieved via idle threats about upcoming beat downs...


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7039/6917373034_5f93a45c69_c.jpg
[View Large (http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7039/6917373034_0548c05c96_o.jpg)]

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5322/6917373036_9bac3218d7_c.jpg
[View Large (http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5322/6917373036_cdb787cab8_o.jpg)]

Ridgecrest, CA
4x5 Arca-Swiss, 210mm 5.6 Symmar-S Schneider lens, Fuji Astia 100

In my past life I was one of 39 national coaches for the sport of archery. I've coached training camps at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, and coached in programs in Long Beach, CA and Phoenix, AZ. I don't coach competitive archery anymore, maybe some day I will get back into it, but it's one of those things that sucks up a lot of time, and I would have to give up photography in order to do it at the level I used to. In any event, once a year I volunteer to introduce archery to novices at a shooting event in Ridgecrest, CA. This teenage girl attended two years ago, and spent the entire time at the archery range, she had such a blast. Not only that, but she was like a sponge; I would give her some tips, demonstrate a couple things, and she would have it down in two tries. In all of my coaching experience I had never had an archer that picked up the sport so quickly and so effortlessly. Her technique, while raw, was also that of a third year archer in a Jr. Olympic development program. She attended again this year and one could tell that she had forgotten a lot of what I taught her two years prior, but she did not forget how much fun she had on the range. She went from never touching a bow, to shooting bottle caps off the top of empty water bottles at 18 meters! I'm cool knowing that if she never picks up a bow again, that she will have fond memories of her time on the range; that's what it's all about for me when introducing archery to young people.

[dperez]

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5196/6917269840_5dcc3cdebc_c.jpg
[View Large (http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5196/6917269840_3de044e13e_o.jpg)]
Ridgecrest, CA
4x5 Arca-Swiss, 210mm 5.6 Symmar-S Schneider lens, Kodak EPP

[iml]

6x6" Tintypes

Lovely stuff

[ghostcount]

6x6" Tintypes

Wonderful!!!

Curious, how long was the exposure on #2 and what lens?

[luphot]

Thank you for compliments!
These pictures has been shot during a workshop in a beautifull place you can see here:
http://medusaphotographie.blogspot.fr/
First one (in backyard) Hermagis extra rapid petzval lens, 10in f:3 2sec
Second one with a tessar 210mm f:3.5 8sec

[Luke79]

great stuff Luphot!

[ghostcount]

Thank you for compliments!
These pictures has been shot during a workshop in a beautifull place you can see here:
http://medusaphotographie.blogspot.fr/
First one (in backyard) Hermagis extra rapid petzval lens, 10in f:3 2sec
Second one with a tessar 210mm f:3.5 8sec

Thank you so much.

[dperez]

Thank you for compliments!
These pictures has been shot during a workshop in a beautifull place you can see here:
http://medusaphotographie.blogspot.fr/
First one (in backyard) Hermagis extra rapid petzval lens, 10in f:3 2sec
Second one with a tessar 210mm f:3.5 8sec

Luphot,

What a great location for wet plate photography! I would love to shoot there.

-DP

[Ramiro Elena]

No idea. The photos are amazing.

[Craig Tuffin]

6x6" Tintypes

I agree...the second is particularly good. Nice work!

[rpalm]

Those are very nice.

r

[Jay DeFehr]

8x10 Fomapan (Sinar P1)
480mm APO-Ronar 9.0 & 360mm Symmar-S MC 6.8
dev. in Rodinal, scanned with v700
Does anyone had a clue as to how those strange lines at the left side and the bottom of the negative could have been produced? I have no idea but they seem to be occuring on all the negatives, so it's not the film holder...and as they were developed in trays it couldn't have happened as a result of the development...
Could a light leak from the camera bellows produce such strange lines?

Christopher,

The marks are consistent with the orientation of the image, if that means anything. Very nice images!

[SergeiR]

Christopher - great shots.

[Shutter]

Thank you! :)
I really wish I knew how those marks were produced, I have to assume that the negatives themselves were faulty...it's such a shame, I'd love to make some contacts but - oh well... :-/

[dupont07]

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7084/6919854780_c500c130ca_z.jpg

[cpercy]

Christoph,
Just a guess but looks like light reflecting off the inside flat surfaces of the camera or film holders. Make sure everything is flat black non reflective inside the camera very close to the film plane. I have noticed this a lot when light reflects off of the edges of a negative holder in the enlarger. That can be solved by beveling the edges of the holder so the reflection does not fall on the negative surface. What you have might be refections off of flat faces of your film holders.

[Frank Petronio]

http://artbase.jagatee.net/kundendaten/large%20format%20forum/img002-2.jpg

http://artbase.jagatee.net/kundendaten/large%20format%20forum/img003-2.jpg

8x10 Fomapan (Sinar P1)
480mm APO-Ronar 9.0 & 360mm Symmar-S MC 6.8
dev. in Rodinal, scanned with v700


Does anyone had a clue as to how those strange lines at the left side and the bottom of the negative could have been produced? I have no idea but they seem to be occuring on all the negatives, so it's not the film holder...and as they were developed in trays it couldn't have happened as a result of the development...
Could a light leak from the camera bellows produce such strange lines?

Lovely images and perhaps a leak. Or just over-sharpening?

[shOo]

Love these portraits. About the lines, wouldn't the light leak produce a brighter line, not darker? Maybe there was something that touched the emulsion in that place slightly when developing?(No idea, just guessing)

[Alan Gales]

Very nice images They look over sharpened to me. As far as a light leak, I really don't understand. Frank, you know a whole lot more than me. Could you please explain?

[iml]

http://artbase.jagatee.net/kundendaten/large%20format%20forum/img003-2.jpg

That's a beautiful portrait.

[Shutter]

Christoph,
Just a guess but looks like light reflecting off the inside flat surfaces of the camera or film holders. Make sure everything is flat black non reflective inside the camera very close to the film plane. I have noticed this a lot when light reflects off of the edges of a negative holder in the enlarger. That can be solved by beveling the edges of the holder so the reflection does not fall on the negative surface. What you have might be refections off of flat faces of your film holders.

Thank you! That's it!!! I did some quite extensive tilt, shift and swing for these portraits to get the eyes right into the plane of focus so a reflection so that must have caused the reflection!! :)

[Shutter]

And thank you all for your comments, I guess I'll have to get a new screen, it doesn't look oversharpened to me ^^ but then again it might be because of my terrible glasses

[parleton]

4x5 ambrotype , Burke & James Ajax len, i should scan this as oppose to use a digital camera

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5331/7067286071_c8537c4388.jpg

[jp]

Christopher, excellent work; they are nicely lit, and she seems quite relaxed. If your film is curling any, it could be scanning artifacts. You'd have to check for those lines with your own eyes looking at the negatives to rule out the scanner.

[Shutter]

Thank you! :)
Well, they are definitely on the negatives and as Fomapan is really thin it doesn't curl too much, acutally it's a pleasure to scan compared to other film types

[polyglot]

And thank you all for your comments, I guess I'll have to get a new screen, it doesn't look oversharpened to me ^^ but then again it might be because of my terrible glasses

Don't get a new screen; your sharpening is good and halo-free at this scale. Some monitors will apply sharpening (!) plus there are jpeg artefacts present, which is what I think may be causing people to speak of oversharpening.

[iml]

4x5 ambrotype , Burke & James Ajax len, i should scan this as oppose to use a digital camera



Nice. Great hat, too :-)

[Frank Petronio]

It actually looks like he scanned the film while it is still in a Mylar sleeve or something odd like that. I doubt my monitor is applying sharpening on its own since every other image doesn't suffer. I am saying that it doesn't look like a light leak to have a thin white line bordering a dark frame, that looks like a sharpening halo from when you over do it. Can you see the density on the film itself? I bet the scanner is doing this, probably the default setting is set to sharpen and the sleeve may make the effect worse.

[Shutter]

Frankt, that's not what we're talking about, I'm talking about the dark line on the right side, about 6-7mm into the negative (vertical format)... And I found out the reason for it:
it's a manufacturing error, lots of Fomapan sheet film seem to be affected, a facebook-contact of mine posted this image as a comparison:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/468458_3035606497404_1480214180_32518291_2644781_o.jpg

same line, same problem - same solution, I'm afraid: don't buy Fomapan :(

[jp]

He says, "Well, they are definitely on the negatives", but I've seen stuff like that when flopping film down on the scanner and scanning it when the edges of the film lift off the glass a little. When the film's not flat, sometimes you get some reflection going on between the glass and negative, which can be dark when inverted. A glass plate over the negative, if it's not big enough could do that too if you are getting reflections coming off the finished edges and bouncing down onto the negative.

[jp]

Thanks for the followup Shutter. I wouldn't put it past them to have a MFG error. I like their LF film and have a bunch in the freezer, but I like Kodak better and have more of that in the freezer, because they don't have such errors. (Ilford is quality too, but I don't want to juggle too many different films at once)

[Frank Petronio]

Ugh that doesn't bode well for once Kodak is gone. I've had several defects in Ilford before.

[Shutter]

Well.. we still have wetplate photography and photographic emulsions to create our own sheet film ;) hehe

[Harley Goldman]

Christoph, beautiful, especially the first one. Too bad about the mark, but lovely image.

[Jay DeFehr]

I've never seen a defect in any film made by the big 3 (Kodak, Ilford, Fuji). I'm not claiming there's never been a defect, but I've never seen one. Every other manufacturer is a crap shoot, as far as I'm concerned, and with some, it seems my odds are less than even.

[LarsGarage]

71808
Deardorff 8x10, shneider telexenar 550mm, Ilford Hp5+

[SergeiR]

Great baby shot :)

[OMU]

Beautiful baby and a nice shot :-)

[Roman Putintsev]

My friend is a photographer who went to live out of town to the village, and a camera on the gun.
toyo 45aII, Schneider Apo-Symmar 210/5.6 L. kodak 320TXP
http://putincev.com/files/ff/3a/48/01/ed_25034321_putincev_145.jpg (http://putincev.com/p/spage/photo/oid/25034321)

[ross]

Very nice environmental portrait Roman.

[Shutter]

Really great, Roman!!

[SergeiR]

Another soft one.

Fuji on Fuji here - 250mm SF fujinon on velvia 4x5

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5455/6908750940_bfece39104_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sergeistudio/6908750940/)
Field of dreams (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sergeistudio/6908750940/) by Sergei Rodionov (http://www.flickr.com/people/sergeistudio/), on Flickr

[Scott Walker]

Another soft one.

Fuji on Fuji here - 250mm SF fujinon on velvia 4x5

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5455/6908750940_bfece39104_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sergeistudio/6908750940/)
Field of dreams (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sergeistudio/6908750940/) by Sergei Rodionov (http://www.flickr.com/people/sergeistudio/), on Flickr

Very nice

[Harley Goldman]

Real nice hi-key image, Sergei. Is that fog or what about 1/2 way up in the middle ground?




Another soft one.

Fuji on Fuji here - 250mm SF fujinon on velvia 4x5

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5455/6908750940_bfece39104_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sergeistudio/6908750940/)
Field of dreams (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sergeistudio/6908750940/) by Sergei Rodionov (http://www.flickr.com/people/sergeistudio/), on Flickr

[jcoldslabs]

Sometimes the only model available is oneself. Taken yesterday in all my post-winter glory: weight gain, grizzly beard and hair that won't lie down. My wife operated the dark slide "Galli" shutter. Three second exposure. Shooting into the light without a hood so there was lots of flare.

Kodak 2D 8x10, 10" A.T. Thompson magic lantern Petzval, Kodak Low Contrast Aerial Duplicating Film (expired 1984) cut to 6.5" x 9", exposed at EI 1.5.

http://www.kolstad.us/ebay/SO-277---JK-03-SMALL.jpg

Jonathan

[rpalm]

That's Awesome!

I like all of it, the pose, the hair, the eyes, look at that stare!

r

[dperez]

Awesome portrait. He has that look as though he's about to say, "Get off my lawn!"

-DP


My friend is a photographer who went to live out of town to the village, and a camera on the gun.
toyo 45aII, Schneider Apo-Symmar 210/5.6 L. kodak 320TXP
http://putincev.com/files/ff/3a/48/01/ed_25034321_putincev_145.jpg (http://putincev.com/p/spage/photo/oid/25034321)

[SergeiR]

Harley - there is one weird streak as i notice now of "non foggy" background on left now.. I need to look at the negative again and rescan it.
Foggy effect is there from all the aberrations collected by Fujinon.. It was pretty clear by that time (there was fog earlier in morning, when i was shooting landscape, waiting for girl to arrive at designated spot ;)). ( could be that i goofed up and left "restore fading" in vuescan so it decided to suppress that effect).

I basically used what i learned with my 180 VSF on Mamiya - all these soft lenses with holes seems to behave more interesting while overexposed, so i think whole foggy stuff came from bluebonnet heads being a bit too bright and it was increased by usual dreaminess of velvia. But that streak now will bug me :)

[SergeiR]

Johnatan - awesome hair/look/beard combo :)

[Old-N-Feeble]

My friend is a photographer who went to live out of town to the village, and a camera on the gun.
toyo 45aII, Schneider Apo-Symmar 210/5.6 L. kodak 320TXP
http://putincev.com/files/ff/3a/48/01/ed_25034321_putincev_145.jpg (http://putincev.com/p/spage/photo/oid/25034321)

OT: Roman... Is that a Baikal MP153 shotgun?

[D-tach]

My friend is a photographer who went to live out of town to the village, and a camera on the gun.
toyo 45aII, Schneider Apo-Symmar 210/5.6 L. kodak 320TXP



Another soft one.

Fuji on Fuji here - 250mm SF fujinon on velvia 4x5



Great portraits guys! I thought Velvia wasn't good for skintones but apparently it works fine here

[jcoldslabs]

rpalm, Sergei,

Thanks. I'm not happy with the way I look these days, but I can't let that stop me. Nothing a good pair of clippers and a diet won't fix! The "pose" was simply me finding a place where I could keep my head still for three seconds. In this case, the back porch railing.

Jonathan

[dupont07]

Great portrait, Roman! What F and speed did you shoot at?

My friend is a photographer who went to live out of town to the village, and a camera on the gun.
toyo 45aII, Schneider Apo-Symmar 210/5.6 L. kodak 320TXP
http://putincev.com/files/ff/3a/48/01/ed_25034321_putincev_145.jpg (http://putincev.com/p/spage/photo/oid/25034321)

[rpalm]

Nah...
It would be PERFECT for a photographers business card!

r


rpalm, Sergei,

Thanks. I'm not happy with the way I look these days, but I can't let that stop me. Nothing a good pair of clippers and a diet won't fix! The "pose" was simply me finding a place where I could keep my head still for three seconds. In this case, the back porch railing.

Jonathan

[Jan Pedersen]

Sometimes the only model available is oneself. Taken yesterday in all my post-winter glory: weight gain, grizzly beard and hair that won't lie down. My wife operated the dark slide "Galli" shutter. Three second exposure. Shooting into the light without a hood so there was lots of flare.

Kodak 2D 8x10, 10" A.T. Thompson magic lantern Petzval, Kodak Low Contrast Aerial Duplicating Film (expired 1984) cut to 6.5" x 9", exposed at EI 1.5.

Cool, be happy your wife didn't use the darkslide for something sinister while it was out, 3 seconds would have been enough :)

[Roman Putintsev]

OT: Roman... Is that a Baikal MP153 shotgun?

Beretta-Stoeger 2000 12mm semi-automatic.


Great portrait, Roman! What F and speed did you shoot at?

kodak 320txp, speed 400, F-5.6,


Awesome portrait. He has that look as though he's about to say, "Get off my lawn!"

-DP

He lives on a hilltop on the edge of the village, there are no neighbors next to him.
It was early morning, the owner of a lawn of wild dogs chasing, I was at a party one night. Thank you :)

[Barrie K]

71875

Arca Swiss 150mm Ilford Fp4

[SergeiR]

Another one of tests with Fujinon 250mm SF.
Ilford 400 4x5, 1/10, f5.6, scanned with V700

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5079/6909659864_7d84ef9686.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sergeistudio/6909659864/)
Anna (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sergeistudio/6909659864/) by Sergei Rodionov (http://www.flickr.com/people/sergeistudio/), on Flickr

[Roman Putintsev]

http://putincev.com/files/cf/5f/44/01/ed_24804661_putincev_067.jpg (http://putincev.com/p/spage/photo/oid/24804661)
My friends photographers, Toyo 45aII, 210mm 5.6, Ilford hp5+, d-76 1+0

[sully75]

Christopher,

The marks are consistent with the orientation of the image, if that means anything. Very nice images!

I'm using Arista.edu which is Foma 400, and I get lines like that, in both 5x7 and 4x5. Not sure what's up with that.

[Jay DeFehr]

I'm using Arista.edu which is Foma 400, and I get lines like that, in both 5x7 and 4x5. Not sure what's up with that.

My tolerance of film defects has waned significantly over the last year, or so. And I'm not sure this is a film defect... just sayin'

[sully75]

My tolerance of film defects has waned significantly over the last year, or so. And I'm not sure this is a film defect... just sayin'

I'm not sure it is either. But I have heard 2 other people mention lines on their Foma negatives that look basically like that. And I get them too. It's a little weird. Something to do with their cutting process?

I just want absolutely perfect, defect free negatives. Is that so wrong??

[Jay DeFehr]

I'm not sure it is either. But I have heard 2 other people mention lines on their Foma negatives that look basically like that. And I get them too. It's a little weird. Something to do with their cutting process?

I just want absolutely perfect, defect free negatives. Is that so wrong??

If it's wrong, I don't wanna be right.

[Tim Meisburger]

I was in Myanmar last month for the elections, and spent six hours on March 22 following Aung San Suu Kyi while she campaigned in her constituency. The fellow with me was shooting digital and video, but being perverse, I took only my Ikeda Anba 4x5 and a cell phone. During the day I shot twelve sheets: six color and six black and white. When I returned to Bangkok I immediately burned up my film scanner, so these were scanned on a cheap combo-printer scanner. These are the best of the black and white (the transparencies will not scan at all).

Suu Kyi is normally smiling and waving on the stump, but here I caught her in an unguarded moment, looking like the campaign was taking a toll. She is 66 and a bit frail, and a day or two after this she suspended her campaign due to exaustion. (hand held, guess focus, Shanghai 100 developed in D23 in a hotel bathroom)

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l496/Tim_Meisburger/assk5001.jpg

What looks like a portrait of a an NLD campaign volunteer is actually a missed shot of Aung San Suu Kyi (entering the frame at the right). I was shooting my Ikeda Anba handheld, guessing at focus and framing, and got this a half second off. Had I had the 135mm on, instead of the 210, I would have got it.

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l496/Tim_Meisburger/assk3001.jpg

And here is one at the rally. She is a great speaker, very charismatic.

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l496/Tim_Meisburger/assk6001a.jpg

[Frank Petronio]

Damn, talk about a missed opportunity.... were you seriously trying to cover the events professionally? Why were you there other than coincidence?

[Tim Meisburger]

No, not professionally! If I was doing that for a living I would definitely be using digital or 35mm. I'm an election specialist and was there (professionally) in that capacity. The camera was just for fun, kind of like hunting with a bow. It was hilarious fun to run with the journalists, holding my camera over my head, and blasting off one shot with my cable release...

[Tim Meisburger]

Here is one more. Scan of a print I just made. This is my favorite of the hand-held black and white 4x5s. I may have a nicer transparency, but will have to wait until I get the film scanner working again before I can scan those.

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l496/Tim_Meisburger/ASSK001b.jpg

[Tobias Key]

One more from the series I'm working on

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7229/6933728672_26fe5b710d_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tobykey/6933728672/)
Ally @Clarence Pier (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tobykey/6933728672/) by Tobias Key (http://www.flickr.com/people/tobykey/), on Flickr

[Craig Tuffin]

Elliot has PDD (NOS) or Pervasive Development Disorder and suffers from Epilepsy. PDD is most often recognized as a branch of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) that requires specific care. He has a personality like no one else…I met him when he threw a stuffed penguin named Pingu at me :)

Elliot finds it difficult to sit still sometimes and when we worked together in the studio trying to get this shot it was challenging to say the least. Wet plate photography is a process that takes time and Elliot likes to move around. He often stands and flaps his arms when he’s excited…like when he goes and watches the traffic lights change colour with his dad. We had Elliot sit and place his head against a head brace so I could quickly focus my 14x14 camera. We then let him entertain himself with his IPad and the amazing ‘Talking Carl’. I sensitized a glass plate and gave up trying to check focus. I simply loaded the plate while his mum held the IPad next to the lens, prayed Elliot had his head against the brace and exposed it with 6000w/s of light. Then he laughed…and asked me to do it again.

It took several plates to get it right.

This is Elliot and his lucky elephant. An image of a wonderfully perfect boy that unfortunately people don’t always see…I guess we just don’t look hard enough sometimes…

Wet Plate Collodion Ambrotype on Black Glass.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5115/6934029990_67d7962c12_b.jpg

[rpalm]

Amazing

r

[Greg Y]

Fantastic portrait Craig!

[merelyok]

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5120/6934727308_0ce509e674_c.jpg

The Girlfriend.

Toyo
150mm Caltar
Shanghai 100
Ilfosol 3
Stand dev-ed

[Rob Klurfield]

72115


Perhaps my eight or tenth sheet of 4x5 shooting ever. Arista EDU Ultra 100 ... HC-110 ... Crown Graphic 135/4.5 Optar (recently treated with some balsamic vinegar which did a lovely job of eradicating some nasty fungus). Processed in my new old ($25.00) Uniroller/Unidrum (how do you get them to stop leaking???). Never used HC-110 before. Never used the Uniroller before.

[Frank Petronio]

Cool idea Rob

[Rob Klurfield]

Thanks, Frank.

She's not holding that mirror. The hand is sculpture.

[sully75]

If it's wrong, I don't wanna be right.

Nicely played.

[Ramiro Elena]

Vinegar? Please explain!

[mono]

He cleaned a lens from fungus with vinegar!?

[Rob Klurfield]

Vinegar while remove the white flowering fungus. White vinegar is the stuff to use. I didn't have any handy, so I grabbed some of the balsamic stuff. Vinegar, of course, won't do anything to cure etching of the glass.

[James Hughes]

Hi all, here's one from my new-to-me Sinar F shot on Arista.EDU 100.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5331/7086180801_ba22f7494a_z.jpg

Since I don't have any groovy brass glass or an Aero-Ektar, I had to use tilt to join the cool-kids-out-of-focus club.... :p

[Luke79]

http://s7.directupload.net/images/120417/a6ohbkwx.jpg

[Frank Petronio]

Since I don't have any groovy brass glass or an Aero-Ektar, I had to use tilt to join the cool-kids-out-of-focus club.... :p

Saved a lot of money and have a lens that can do more than one thing... smart!

[RPippin]

Great job James. Come on over and pick up some groovy brass glass after this crazy month is over.

[SergeiR]

Nice shot, Luke.

[jacobby]

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7112/6941212072_c21e89d25e_b.jpg
chamonix 45n2
APO Symmar 150mm
Ilford HP5+


portrait of my sister.

[David Brunell]

chamonix 45n2
APO Symmar 150mm
Ilford HP5+


portrait of my sister.

Beautiful jacobby, very.

[James Hughes]

Thanks Frank and Richard!


Great job James. Come on over and pick up some groovy brass glass after this crazy month is over.

Richard, I'll definitely have to try out that brass lens. Hopefully your workshop goes well! I might have some free time this weekend if things are calming down for you.

[mathieu Bauwens]

before the concert;

72384

72385

72386

Nagaoka, S-Symmar 180mm, FP4+ 9x12 cm

[Eric Rose]

I call this shot "Thirst for Power".

72387

[eddie]

My friends photographers, Toyo 45aII, 210mm 5.6, Ilford hp5+, d-76 1+0

great idea. well done


I was in Myanmar last month for the elections, and spent six hours on March 22 following Aung San Suu Kyi while she campaigned in her constituency. The fellow with me was shooting digital and video, but being perverse, I took only my Ikeda Anba 4x5 and a cell phone. During the day I shot twelve sheets: six color and six black and white. When I returned to Bangkok I immediately burned up my film scanner, so these were scanned on a cheap combo-printer scanner. These are the best of the black and white (the transparencies will not scan at all).

Suu Kyi is normally smiling and waving on the stump, but here I caught her in an unguarded moment, looking like the campaign was taking a toll. She is 66 and a bit frail, and a day or two after this she suspended her campaign due to exaustion. (hand held, guess focus, Shanghai 100 developed in D23 in a hotel bathroom)

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l496/Tim_Meisburger/assk5001.jpg

What looks like a portrait of a an NLD campaign volunteer is actually a missed shot of Aung San Suu Kyi (entering the frame at the right). I was shooting my Ikeda Anba handheld, guessing at focus and framing, and got this a half second off. Had I had the 135mm on, instead of the 210, I would have got it.

And here is one at the rally. She is a great speaker, very charismatic.


excellent! my wife (a former burmese national) recognized her right away!


I call this shot "Thirst for Power".

72387

i almost died doing something similar to that 40 years ago......great shot btw.

[matthew blais]

before the concert;

Nice to see sharp images in the portrait section :)

[Frank Petronio]

I agree, nothing wrong with focusing!

[mathieu Bauwens]

Well, thanks to both of you

[Emil Schildt]

I agree, nothing wrong with focusing!


:rolleyes:

I actually always try to focus....

This is Rebecca. Focussed..... but with 30 sec exposure - who knows what will happen..
Painted with light.
Pol 665 slightly solarized and cropped.

http://www.apug.org/gallery1/files/4/8/8/7/rebecca2.jpg

[Monty McCutchen]

Emil that is a beautiful portrait

Monty

[Stofjas]

Three portraits I did of family a week ago. Did it with Photographic paper as negative, ISO 6.
Took these photos with some very old paper and developed it with some dodgy chems. Graphlex 4x5, f4.5, 1/2s, ISO 6.
I know the imperfections would bother some people but I love it. It creates effects that is unexpected and something you can never recreate with a digital camera.
Graphlex 4x5 Camera, f4.5, 1/2s

724037240472405

[Jay DeFehr]

Three portraits I did of family a week ago. Did it with Photographic paper as negative, ISO 6.
Took these photos with some very old paper and developed it with some dodgy chems. Graphlex 4x5, f4.5, 1/2s, ISO 6.
I know the imperfections would bother some people but I love it. It creates effects that is unexpected and something you can never recreate with a digital camera.
Graphlex 4x5 Camera, f4.5, 1/2s

Very nice! I like the effect.

[jcoldslabs]

A good friend got married on Wednesday and I brought the 8x10 (Eastman View No. 2) and a 15" B&L projection Petzval along. Focusing was tricky as were the 1/4 -1/8 sec. exposure times with the Galli shutter (two 5x7 dark slides). Not one of the shots is tack sharp, but for this kind of portrait I don't think it matters. Sorry to disappoint the "sharp portrait" contingent!

Her bouquet was a bunch of bright yellow daffodils, but given the blue-sensitive nature of the film they went almost black. Whoops.

Shot on Kodak Low Contrast Aerial Duplicating Film (SO-277) exposed at EI 1.5. Processed in HC-110 dil. E for five minutes using Cibachrome drums on a non-reversing motor base.

http://www.kolstad.us/ebay/Wigger-Wedding-LFPF.jpg

Jonathan

[Jay DeFehr]

Those look great, Jonathan.

[jcoldslabs]

Thank you, Jay. I was most proud of myself for hauling the big camera out and making it all happen in a relatively short amount of time. I think I learned that a Petzval of such shallow depth of field with no iris or stops is not the ideal choice for portraits of this kind. Next time I'll bring something I can stop down a bit and therefore use faster film, too. My friend was up for the challenge and wanted me to bring the 8x10, so I did. He's a talented photographer himself and also shoots 8x10 so he was an understanding and forgiving subject. His new wife maybe not so much!

Jonathan


EDIT: one more.

http://www.kolstad.us/ebay/Wigger-Wedding-01-LFPF.jpg

[Corran]

I really like that last one. I keep thinking about getting a Petzval...

[jessicadittmer]

photographic paper (outdated) ilford pearl rc vc- rated ISO6 in 8x10 camera. settings were f8 and 2sec. for the "neg" then this print was made contact style from the other under the enlarger- scan of print thinking of calling it "On Display".
72483

[Jay DeFehr]

Jonathan,

Another beautiful portrait. Timeless, without being nostalgic.

Jessica,

An incredibly impressive result from such a young subject, difficult pose, and long exposure. I would caution you, in the friendliest possible way, to think twice about marring such beautiful work with a title more than simply descriptive, but here I reveal a personal bias -- I also dislike very much your signature on your images. A title like the one you're considering, coupled with your ostentatious signature would make it very difficult for me to take the work seriously, and that's a shame. I think. Tasteful restraint and understatement are far too rare these days.

[jessicadittmer]

I stick the sig on as habit after having images stolen offline so it is a regular web posting thing for me. perhaps we are safer in this forum than on others but I had a large company do this to me- they paid for it in the end but it makes me uneasy about posting without some kind of mark - they are not on printed images (just web). what type of title would better suit? I'm not use to giving titles to my images- this is new for me.

[Richard Wasserman]

Why do you need a title at all? Or if you feel you must, maybe a first name and date? I don't think titles generally add anything, and constrain the way the viewer relates to the image. I would rather keep the experience open-ended, and let the viewer bring all their baggage to the party.


I stick the sig on as habit after having images stolen offline so it is a regular web posting thing for me. perhaps we are safer in this forum than on others but I had a large company do this to me- they paid for it in the end but it makes me uneasy about posting without some kind of mark - they are not on printed images (just web). what type of title would better suit? I'm not use to giving titles to my images- this is new for me.

[jessicadittmer]

okay, thanks! So Cameron 2012 would work or no title at all even... I'm thinking of a series of images of my boys - would I title the series and not necessarily each image? Thanks for the advice- I'm learning.

[Jay DeFehr]

Jessica,

Please don't get the impression I think of myself as any kind of authority or expert -- I'm simply voicing my personal opinions, and you should feel absolutely secure in ignoring me completely. What the hell do I know?

My view of protecting web images is controversial, to say the least, and certainly not shared by many others. My view is that online images are generally low quality (low resolution) and not really competitive with an actual print, or any commercial usage other than web based. If someone wants to go to the trouble of disseminating one of my images, I have no real problem with that, but that's just me, and I respect opinions to the contrary, even if I find the arguments for them unpersuasive. And besides, if someone is willing to appropriate an image, they're probably equally willing to remove a signature, right? So, the negative impact on the image the signature represents is not balanced by any meaningful protection of the image, and so the signature can only be seen as self promotion, and that tends to decrease my appreciation of it.

Titles and captions are a sore point for me. I see so many really nice images cheapened by cutesy, pretentious, or generally depreciating and cringe-worthy titles that add nothing to the viewing experience. If a title must be included (and when is that the case?), I find simple, descriptive titles, like -- Des Moines, 2012, or slightly less preferrably, Boy with Found Antlers, etc., least intrusive. These kinds of descriptive titles serve a purpose in cataloging and identifying works with a minimum of distraction from the image. If you think a title will add value to an image, I urge you think very long and carefully about how and why you think this is true.

Again, all of the above are only the personal opinions of a non-expert, so don't give them undue consideration. I mean no disrespect, but just the opposite, and I hope you take my comments in the spirit they are intended. I like your image very much!

[jessicadittmer]

Thank you! more for me to think on for sure! Thanks for all the information and your thoughts - I appreciate it.

[Luke79]

http://s7.directupload.net/images/120421/llzjgahc.jpg

[Jay DeFehr]

Very nice, Luke. Well done.

[mandoman7]

http://s7.directupload.net/images/120421/llzjgahc.jpg
Excellent portrait, Luke. I like how the subject's face is turned slightly towards the light yet making contact with the viewer. The curl in the collar is also nicely supportive. I think I'd crop the shoulders out to strengthen the collar, but the polaroid edges are hard to give up...

[Scott --]

First sheet I've burned in 4 months. Far too long. Focus is a little off, but there's always tomorrow.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5238/7099955027_39a944ec71_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/scott--/7099955027/)
bubba421 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/scott--/7099955027/) by Scott -- (http://www.flickr.com/people/scott--/), on Flickr

10x12 Ilford FP4+ in HC-110 dil H.

[Ari]

First sheet I've burned in 4 months. Far too long. Focus is a little off, but there's always tomorrow.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5238/7099955027_39a944ec71_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/scott--/7099955027/)
bubba421 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/scott--/7099955027/) by Scott -- (http://www.flickr.com/people/scott--/), on Flickr

10x12 Ilford FP4+ in HC-110 dil H.

Hey, Scott! I've been wondering when you'd show up again.
Beautiful portrait of your son, as always.
I'd love to share some photos of my daughter here, but they're in MF; she moves too fast, which forced me to buy a Mamiya 645 with autofocus. :)

[Myxine]

My first LF portrait. Feel free to criticize and/or advise

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7201/6955036126_bcf70ac1bd_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nolarnaud/6955036126/)
Guapissima Olga (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nolarnaud/6955036126/) by L'Eidolon (http://www.flickr.com/people/nolarnaud/), on Flickr

Chamonix 45 and Caltar 210mm. Ilford fp4+

[Jay DeFehr]

Bonjour, Arnaud

Please take my comments as the opinions of a non-expert, and nothing more. I like the sharpness, and the depth of field seems to be just right, to my eye. Your portrait appears competently executed, but to my taste, a little thin, flat, and cold. Something is missing from the skin tones, like I sometimes see in digital conversions, and the pose is a little stiff -- she almost appears to be holding her breath. It looks like it could be the first image from a shoot that could have become productive, when the model and photographer loosened up a bit. LF portraiture is challenging, to an extreme, but you're off to a great start, and I look forward to seeing more from you.

[SergeiR]

My first LF portrait. Feel free to criticize and/or advise

Leaving LF aside. Note that apparent size of shoulder and arm is increased way too much. She is female, so you typical placement for portrait like that would be on about eye level or hair level, turning shoulders away from light. Anyway.. just me 2с

[Myxine]

Thanks Jay and Sergei!
I appreciate your sincerity and constructive comments. I agree with things from both of you. I've never been a good portrait photographer (well a good photographer for a start), i can't put my friends at ease: i guess i'm too stiff myself when shooting ah ah. But Olga is definitely not relaxed enough and that's on me. I'm not very imaginative when it comes to poses, i guess i should start picking up a list of portrait i like and look for the poses.

Concerning camera placement, i felt my mistake without understanding it clearly, so thank you. Now that i have a LF i feel that the back should be straight at all times. Sergei i'm correct understanding that i could have raised the camera to her hair level and bent it forward?

The only thing i'm not sure to get is your comment about the flatness, and the missing skin tones. Are the tone flat (the picture looks contrasty to me)? Or at the opposite, is the portrait too contrasty: not enough skin tones variation? That could come from Olga's placement, too close from the window, or me overexposing a bit...

Well, thank you guys. It gives me a lot to think to prepare for the next one, hoping that none of my future models are reading these pages, ah ah ah.

[shOo]

My first color 4x5 shoot. I like how it came out. Just wish shooting with color sheets would be cheaper.
Any c&c would be nice.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8027/7102702701_b69788c7fc_z.jpg

It's a picture for a little project I am working on with a few friends- something like a positive local brand labàdienà (hello in Lithuanian). So we thought the school's classroom would be the perfect place, to show our first t-shirt with our logo.

[Graham06]

I think you have a fine portrait and would have been pleased if I had taken that photo. I agreed with the thin and flat comment earlier. There is something wrong there but I cant identify what it is, and would love to hear expert printers opinion on what it is. With the correct insight, another printing of that negative will fix it.

[luphot]

A portrait of Luther Gerlach during European collodion week-end.
more portraits here:
http://medusaphotographie.blogspot.fr/2012/04/eindhoven-wetplate-portraits.html

72526

[David Brunell]

A portrait of Luther Gerlach during European collodion week-end.
more portraits here:
http://medusaphotographie.blogspot.fr/2012/04/eindhoven-wetplate-portraits.html

72526

Very, very good!

[Harley Goldman]

A portrait of Luther Gerlach during European collodion week-end.
more portraits here:
http://medusaphotographie.blogspot.fr/2012/04/eindhoven-wetplate-portraits.html

72526

Very well done! I like this a lot!

[Luke79]

http://s14.directupload.net/images/120422/8k5z8slp.jpg

[Jay DeFehr]

Arnaud,

I apologize if my terminology is not very clear, but it's difficult to put my impressions into precise terms -- my failing, not yours. What I mean by thin and flat, is that the skin tones look compressed, without good separation between tones, as if the film was over exposed and under developed. the midtones are not well separated. It's easy to get so preoccupied with adequate exposure, that we expose in a way that makes everything visible, but robs the image of chiaroscuro. I opened the image up in Microsoft Picture Manager (all I have here at work), and adjusted the midtones down considerably (-37), brightness up a little (+3) to compensate for the midtones adjustment, and contrast up a touch (+7), and it looks better on my monitor, but the skin tones still don't look quite as rich as they might.

Have a look at this:




http://monkeytumble.com/tmp/Billy.jpg

Billy

8x10 Kodak 2D
Dallmeyer 4D - Wide Open
8x10 FP4+ in HC-110
Kennewick, WA

Jay's portrait is similar to yours in some ways, but look specifically at the skin tones -- how well separated they are. Though there are no deep shadows, there is a sense of depth, volume, and balance that gives the image a richness. I chose this particular image because I think it's successful in every way, and what I aspire to in LF portraiture, and I hope it inspires you, too. I don't know how many LF portraits Jay made before he made this one, but I'll bet it's not his first. I think you're off to a great start, but this stuff is not easy, so please don't be discouraged by my comments, which are only intended to help and encourage you to make more LF portraits! Best of luck, and keep them coming!

[Myxine]

Arnaud,

I apologize if my terminology is not very clear, but it's difficult to put my impressions into precise terms -- my failing, not yours. What I mean by thin and flat, is that the skin tones look compressed, without good separation between tones, as if the film was over exposed and under developed. the midtones are not well separated. It's easy to get so preoccupied with adequate exposure, that we expose in a way that makes everything visible, but robs the image of chiaroscuro. I opened the image up in Microsoft Picture Manager (all I have here at work), and adjusted the midtones down considerably (-37), brightness up a little (+3) to compensate for the midtones adjustment, and contrast up a touch (+7), and it looks better on my monitor, but the skin tones still don't look quite as rich as they might.


Jay's portrait is similar to yours in some ways, but look specifically at the skin tones -- how well separated they are. Though there are no deep shadows, there is a sense of depth, volume, and balance that gives the image a richness. I chose this particular image because I think it's successful in every way, and what I aspire to in LF portraiture, and I hope it inspires you, too. I don't know how many LF portraits Jay made before he made this one, but I'll bet it's not his first. I think you're off to a great start, but this stuff is not easy, so please don't be discouraged by my comments, which are only intended to help and encourage you to make more LF portraits! Best of luck, and keep them coming!

Hey no worries buddy. Obviously there are feelings that you have looking at a picture that are not easy to translate. In positive and negative (pun intented). Concerning my picture, i forgot to mention that it's a scan (on a not so good scanner) and that i did very little tweak. I'm not sure the negative is much better though. Maybe it's a bad combo: exposure so so, development that could have been more thought if i had more knowledge, i don't know the FP4+ enough to use it at best... Well, en the end i guess it screams "novice" everywhere ah ah! Thanks a lot for the comments, it'll help me improve. Definitely i hope i can take portraits like Jay's one you posted as an example.

[Jay DeFehr]

Hey no worries buddy. Obviously there are feelings that you have looking at a picture that are not easy to translate.

Thanks for understanding, and taking my comments in the spirit they were intended.


Definitely i hope i can take portraits like Jay's one you posted as an example.

Don't we all! though I do permit myself the nitpick of wishing both eyes were in focus.;)

[jessicadittmer]

A portrait of Luther Gerlach during European collodion week-end.
more portraits here:
http://medusaphotographie.blogspot.fr/2012/04/eindhoven-wetplate-portraits.html

72526

LOVELY! Collodion is a goal someday for me...always love them, great work! Enjoyed the blog too!

[Luke79]

Great works shown in this thread , enjoying them all and really inspiring

[jp]

My first LF portrait. Feel free to criticize and/or advise

Chamonix 45 and Caltar 210mm. Ilford fp4+

http://www.midcoast.com/~jp/golga.jpg

I think your scan is a bit off as for the technical aspect of it. Your shadows start at the far left of the curve and that's usually for things that are actually black in a photo. So you've clipped the shadows a little. You've also got the highlights a little bit dim. The x173 position on my curves graph shows her left cheek. If you scanned it not so dim, you could have gotten a little more contrast out of the highlights. You usually want the distribution of light and dark in the scan to mostly fill the x axis of the curves graph, with a tiny bit of elbow room on both sides. You've got no room on the left, and lots of space on the right.

You could warm her up and try relaxing poses with a digital camera or smaller camera till you both "get into it" then use the LF which would be all setup and almost ready to go.

[Graham06]

Gorgeous!

Click on the "Me on Flickr" link. There's another of Lilith and more worth the visit.

[SergeiR]

Sergei i'm correct understanding that i could have raised the camera to her hair level and bent it forward?
only if you want to play with focal plane effect. Otherwise you don't need to use tilt. Swing - yes, a bit, if your subject is not deadly peering into camera (which is another common mistake in portraits - people look better when their face turned slightly). Basically classic portrait is always shot / painted like that - from eye level or slightly higher (but not much, otherwise you give them this little kid look "i am smaller than you , you win"). This assures that head is main subject in shot and shoulders and body - moved away and appear smaller (except for male poses, and for full body poses, but it is different kettle of fish, of course)

Anyway - this is whole other thing, on top of handling LF is how to light portraits and how to pose people. There are dozens of very good books written on subject. I personally recommend to look for Mortensen's "Model". It beats anything that i read so far on this particular subject on "how to pose" (or you can look for Zucker's book, not superb, but ok). But it is for more "classic" feel. Modern theories are a bit different specially when it comes to glamour & etc.. but there are some decent books too.

[Myxine]

I think your scan is a bit off as for the technical aspect of it. Your shadows start at the far left of the curve and that's usually for things that are actually black in a photo. So you've clipped the shadows a little. You've also got the highlights a little bit dim. The x173 position on my curves graph shows her left cheek. If you scanned it not so dim, you could have gotten a little more contrast out of the highlights. You usually want the distribution of light and dark in the scan to mostly fill the x axis of the curves graph, with a tiny bit of elbow room on both sides. You've got no room on the left, and lots of space on the right.

You could warm her up and try relaxing poses with a digital camera or smaller camera till you both "get into it" then use the LF which would be all setup and almost ready to go.

Jp498,
Thanks a lot for your post and the time you took to look at my picture. Indeed, i think my scanning was inappropriate: either my scanner (an old perfection 2450) isn't powerful enough, or (more likely) i can't use it properly. I use vuescan and you're right, the darks were nearly clipped while the highlights were more on the average grey side. Looking at my neg, it seems that skin tones are more distributed from highlights to shadows.
The idea of warming up with my digital seems a great idea. Let alone that when i'll use strobes, i can find the right exposure...

Sergei,
Thanks again. Those post really help. I'm looking for those books and another friend whose portrait i can butcher ah ah!

[Frank Petronio]

http://s7.directupload.net/images/120421/llzjgahc.jpg

Fine portrait but you could hit the hot spot on his nose and maybe even Liquify it to be a little smaller!

[Ramiro Elena]

True, I really like the light, pose and depth of field. The hot spot in the nose bothered me from the start. Really easy to soften it by the way (PS).

[polyglot]

Myxine: in Vuescan, set it in Advanced mode and press ctrl-2 to get the contrast-adjustment histogram. Drag the whitepoint slider so that it just nearly touches the highlights; likewise with the black point slider and shadows. That will get you a good start and at least avoid the no-highlights problem in your posted portrait. You can also drag the Brightness slider downwards to get more highlight-contrast at the cost of
lower midtones; it's a similar effect to printing a bit darker.

Note that if you have a lot of dynamic range in the scene, you will need to clip some of it off or the print will be flat: negs hold much more range than prints.

[Luke79]

Thank you guys for your help , i will correct that, i have to practice morein ps :)


True, I really like the light, pose and depth of field. The hot spot in the nose bothered me from the start. Really easy to soften it by the way (PS).

[Myxine]

Myxine: in Vuescan, set it in Advanced mode and press ctrl-2 to get the contrast-adjustment histogram. Drag the whitepoint slider so that it just nearly touches the highlights; likewise with the black point slider and shadows. That will get you a good start and at least avoid the no-highlights problem in your posted portrait. You can also drag the Brightness slider downwards to get more highlight-contrast at the cost of
lower midtones; it's a similar effect to printing a bit darker.

Note that if you have a lot of dynamic range in the scene, you will need to clip some of it off or the print will be flat: negs hold much more range than prints.

Hey Polyglot,
Thanks for the heads up on vuescan. What's weird is that i used the adjustement histogram and even though mine works quite clumsily, the black and white points were set. I'm telling you: something wrong happens.. :)
Someone suggested somewhere that one could/should use the color neg to scan the B&W negs too, i don't know. Definitely i can't shoot the picture again, she's back in Spain :)

Luke79: may i suggest something in PS: use the clone tool set to lightness. You select a skin tone that you like close to the hotspot as a reference and then correct the hotspot. Usually, it looks very natural and it's easy to do

[Ramiro Elena]

Luke79, what Myxine said. You could also use the healing brush tool which basically does the same as the clone tool in a duplicate layer. This way you can adjust the layer opacity and still have a little of that hot spot to define shape.

72553

75% layer opacity.

72554

100% layer opacity.

[Luke79]

thank you very much guys for your help, i will try that and practice, really nice !!!

[jcoldslabs]

Twin self-portraits taken this afternoon with a Kodak 2D 8x10, a 15" f/4 B&L Petzval and expired Kodak Low Contrast Aerial Duplicating Film (SO-277) at EI 1.5. The film is cut from a 400 foot roll that is 6.6" wide. I left the ragged cut ends and taped corners visible in the scans.

These were shot with the patented WIFE™ shutter. The WIFE™ shutter is akin to the Galli™ shutter in that it utilizes a 5x7 dark slide as the shutter blade, but the similarity ends there. These are two different images (I got up to replace the dark slide and turn the film holder around between shots) and the WIFE™ shutter was surprisingly consistent with both exposures of around 1/2 sec. each.

Not sure what I was going for here, but it was fun to mess around before I had to mow the grass which I did immediately afterward.

http://www.kolstad.us/ebay/SO-277---JK-Diptych-LFPF.jpg

Jonathan

[RPippin]

Where do you get one of those WIFE shutters. Mine can't stand to go out shooting with me and would rather have root canal than help out. Would this be similar to a GIRLFRIEND shutter?

[numnutz]

Would this be similar to a GIRLFRIEND shutter?...

It is a well known issue with a wife shutter that it may go bananas when in proximity to a Girlfriend shutter, thus requiring both to need a very expensive CLA usually involving jewelry...

nn :)

[Michael E]

Where do you get one of those WIFE shutters. Mine can't stand to go out shooting with me and would rather have root canal than help out. Would this be similar to a GIRLFRIEND shutter?

GIRLFRIEND shutters tend to work best in a short period of time after acquisition. By the time you get a WIFE shutter, it might be useless for photographic purposes. If you however have a working and reliable WIFE shutter, make sure to hold on to it.

I second the question: How do I find a WIFE shutter?

Michael

[jessicadittmer]

I have a "HUBBY" shutter sometimes....but I prefer to be BEHIND the camera...much less scary for those that may view the image later LOL

[Scott Walker]

Where do you get one of those WIFE shutters. Mine can't stand to go out shooting with me and would rather have root canal than help out.

Mine is the exact opposite, I can't seem to shake her :p
She'll even break trail when we are snowshoeing because she carries a bit of food and a dozen 8x10 holders so her pack is much lighter than mine.

[OMU]

Visited my family in Stockholm last Easter.
It was a cold and bad weather, but we managed to take a couple of portraits.

Toyo C45. FP4+ in Xtol. Ilford WT in Fomatol PW.

(Sorry for my bad scanning technique)

72622


72623

Thanks for looking :-)

[cjbroadbent]

I found another shot of Heidi. She is appealing me to get the shot over with. Her 'child' has been in tantrum mode and we don't have a backup.
4x5 FP4 in a Cambo Twin. Just one large umbrella and a big black flag on the right.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_iRctSeln5Q/T5ckHo-zwfI/AAAAAAAAK7g/c-p_K39dpwg/s800/15596785-lg.jpg

[jessicadittmer]

I found another shot of Heidi. She is appealing me to get the shot over with. Her 'child' has been in tantrum mode and we don't have a backup.
4x5 FP4 in a Cambo Twin. Just one large umbrella and a big black flag on the right.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_iRctSeln5Q/T5ckHo-zwfI/AAAAAAAAK7g/c-p_K39dpwg/s800/15596785-lg.jpg
beautiful.

[Alan Gales]

beautiful.

beautiful +1.

[rpalm]

ditto!

[Tri Tran]

Hi Christopher,
Very well executed Rembrandt lighting. Elegant and timeless portrait. Thanks for posting.

[tgtaylor]

I found another shot of Heidi. She is appealing me to get the shot over with. Her 'child' has been in tantrum mode and we don't have a backup.
4x5 FP4 in a Cambo Twin. Just one large umbrella and a big black flag on the right.


Terrific!!!

Thomas

[David Brunell]

I found another shot of Heidi. She is appealing me to get the shot over with. Her 'child' has been in tantrum mode and we don't have a backup.
4x5 FP4 in a Cambo Twin. Just one large umbrella and a big black flag on the right.

Absolutely beautiful, I am without words!

[Neal Chaves]

My daughter on her hunter horse. 4X5 TRF Crown Graphic, 150 5.6 Fujinon W, hand-held at 1/125 at f11, Ilford HP5+ rated at 200. Scan of negative.72634

[mandoman7]

My brother from Idaho came by for a visit, and I took the opportunity to shoot a handful of 8x10 sheets. Kodak 2D, 14" Xenar, Delta 100. This is one of his more animated portraits, actually.


http://theblood.smugmug.com/Other/LF-Forum-Photos/i-4CFt5MD/0/L/Bob-3a-sm-L.jpg

[bigguy88]

My brother from Idaho came by for a visit, and I took the opportunity to shoot a handful of 8x10 sheets. Kodak 2D, 14" Xenar, Delta 100. This is one of his more animated portraits, actually.


http://theblood.smugmug.com/Other/LF-Forum-Photos/i-4CFt5MD/0/L/Bob-3a-sm-L.jpghttp://www.edslrvideo.com/line.jpg
more animated? no matter what,,a nice portrait..

[jcoldslabs]

I like the high key aspect and the fact that his irises are the darkest part of the image. Very nice.

Jonathan

[Serge S]

I found another shot of Heidi. She is appealing me to get the shot over with. Her 'child' has been in tantrum mode and we don't have a backup.
4x5 FP4 in a Cambo Twin. Just one large umbrella and a big black flag on the right.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_iRctSeln5Q/T5ckHo-zwfI/AAAAAAAAK7g/c-p_K39dpwg/s800/15596785-lg.jpg

Beautiful & timeless portrait. May I ask, what focal length & lens did you use?

[SergeiR]

I found another shot of Heidi. She is appealing me to get the shot over with. Her 'child' has been in tantrum mode and we don't have a backup.
4x5 FP4 in a Cambo Twin. Just one large umbrella and a big black flag on the right.

well done!

[cjbroadbent]

Sergei, the 150mm. A little too long for my taste. The Cambo TLR had only two pairs of lenses.
(Sorry if this is a re-post from some time back - I'm also getting hard of hearing)

[jcoldslabs]

Another shot from my friend's wedding last week. After packing up the 8x10 the Speed Graphic seemed small and agile!

http://www.kolstad.us/ebay/Wigger%20Wedding%2000%20LFPF.jpg

Jonathan

[Luke79]

Great shot Jonathan , could you Tell me which Lens was used for this shot?

[Old-N-Feeble]

Sometimes you folks post images that are nothing less than breathtaking. I was never as good as some of you. It gives this old geezer something to aspire to.

[SergeiR]

Another shot from my friend's wedding last week. After packing up the 8x10 the Speed Graphic seemed small and agile!

Jonathan

love this one

[Jim Galli]

My brother from Idaho came by for a visit, and I took the opportunity to shoot a handful of 8x10 sheets. Kodak 2D, 14" Xenar, Delta 100. This is one of his more animated portraits, actually.


This sings! Beautiful John. The price of Xenar's just went up!

[jcoldslabs]

Thanks for the kind words. I have to say I was particularly pleased with this shot myself. Sometimes it works out better than you expect!

Luke--the lens was a Kodak Aero Ektar shot wide open at f/2.5.

Jonathan

[Hugo Zhang]

[QUOTE=cjbroadbent;879935]I found another shot of Heidi. She is appealing me to get the shot over with. Her 'child' has been in tantrum mode and we don't have a backup.
4x5 FP4 in a Cambo Twin. Just one large umbrella and a big black flag on the right.

Magical and I am speechless! Thanks for posting!

[Jim Galli]

[QUOTE=cjbroadbent;879935]

Magical and I am speechless! Thanks for posting!

Mr. Broadbent, me too!

[Old-N-Feeble]

I just can't stop looking at this one. It's simply magic. If I wasn't so enamored by it I'd be extremeley jealous. Classic Rembrandt lighting and look. I can't fathom this being any better. It's true that subject pose had a bit of luck to it (the child). But... damn...

And I think I'm falling in love with the lady.


I found another shot of Heidi. She is appealing me to get the shot over with. Her 'child' has been in tantrum mode and we don't have a backup.
4x5 FP4 in a Cambo Twin. Just one large umbrella and a big black flag on the right.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_iRctSeln5Q/T5ckHo-zwfI/AAAAAAAAK7g/c-p_K39dpwg/s800/15596785-lg.jpg

[John Conway]

Sergei, the 150mm. A little too long for my taste. The Cambo TLR had only two pairs of lenses.
(Sorry if this is a re-post from some time back - I'm also getting hard of hearing)

Hi, I'm curious about the camera. You say it is a Cambo twin lens 4x5. I didn't know Cambo offered a twin lens camera. Sounds very interesting. Beautiful image.

[D-tach]

I found another shot of Heidi. She is appealing me to get the shot over with. Her 'child' has been in tantrum mode and we don't have a backup.
4x5 FP4 in a Cambo Twin. Just one large umbrella and a big black flag on the right.


Indeed very beautiful - her expression reminds me of the Mona Lisa, is she smiling or not...?
But I'm not sure what you mean with 'black flag on the right'... is that on 'her' right to prevent spil on the background or on the right of the umbrella to counter flare?

[chassis]

Wow, stunning image Christopher. Well done.


I found another shot of Heidi. She is appealing me to get the shot over with. Her 'child' has been in tantrum mode and we don't have a backup.
4x5 FP4 in a Cambo Twin. Just one large umbrella and a big black flag on the right.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_iRctSeln5Q/T5ckHo-zwfI/AAAAAAAAK7g/c-p_K39dpwg/s800/15596785-lg.jpg

[lbenac]

Chamonix Saber Xenar 150/5.6 HP5 Pyrocat HD Hand held

http://www.lucbenacphoto.com/img/s1/v47/p282830154-4.jpg

Cheers,

Luc

[Frank Petronio]

Gotta get that sun behind the camera ;-p

[mandoman7]

Thanks for the kind words Big Guy, Jonathon, and Jim. I would have to defer to Mr. Broadbent as the guy who really knows what he's doing, of course.

[jcoldslabs]

John,

Mr. Broadbent's work is excellent, no doubt, but your portrait of your brother is remarkable, too. He has just the faintest hint of a smile. Very compelling image.

Jonathan

[viablex1]

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7118/6892458764_393c4ab708_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tobykey/6892458764/)
Coco Deville (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tobykey/6892458764/) by Tobias Key (http://www.flickr.com/people/tobykey/), on Flickr

Another one from the series I'm working on, hopefully a bit of nice weather will get this project moving now!


God that is such a lovely shot!!!!

[SergeiR]

God that is such a lovely shot!!!!

Out of curiosity - what in this shot makes you say that? I am always curious why people like certain things. Not picking on photograph or anything. Just really curious what do you like about it?

[polyglot]

Wife wasn't cooperating so I decided to try a self portrait:
http://www.brodie-tyrrell.org/pad/img/2012/04/22/display.jpg (http://www.brodie-tyrrell.org/pad/index.php?id=2012/04/22&full)

Toyo 45A, 150mm f/8, flash+softbox, Efke-25, Rodinal 1+50. I missed the focus by about 2mm (string method) though you can't tell at this resolution.

[cpercy]

Wife wasn't cooperating so I decided to try a self portrait:


Toyo 45A, 150mm f/8, flash+softbox, Efke-25, Rodinal 1+50. I missed the focus by about 2mm (string method) though you can't tell at this resolution.

Very compelling. Who needs a wife shutter anyway?

[polyglot]

Very compelling. Who needs a wife shutter anyway?

thanks ;)

I should add: all criticism/suggestions/advice welcome. Studio portraits are something I do very little of and would like to improve.

[Old-N-Feeble]

I'm not married anymore but I never had a "wife shutter". Back then I did often wish I had a "wife shut 'er up" though.

[taimaster2005]

5x7 Wet Plate positive tintype. 6 sec exposure at f4.5

72765

-Tai

[threefoot]

I found another shot of Heidi. She is appealing me to get the shot over with. Her 'child' has been in tantrum mode and we don't have a backup.
4x5 FP4 in a Cambo Twin. Just one large umbrella and a big black flag on the right.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_iRctSeln5Q/T5ckHo-zwfI/AAAAAAAAK7g/c-p_K39dpwg/s800/15596785-lg.jpg

This is absolutely fantastic! Well done!

[Scott Walker]

I found another shot of Heidi. She is appealing me to get the shot over with. Her 'child' has been in tantrum mode and we don't have a backup.
4x5 FP4 in a Cambo Twin. Just one large umbrella and a big black flag on the right.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_iRctSeln5Q/T5ckHo-zwfI/AAAAAAAAK7g/c-p_K39dpwg/s800/15596785-lg.jpg

+1 on what everyone has said already.
I would have commented earlier but the best I could come up with was Wow!