May 2014 Portraits

[John Conway]

Stefanie

Mentor + Zeiss Tessar 300/4.5
8sec f4.5
13x18cm Tintype

Wow!! This one really blows me away . I dig everything about it. Well done . The girl reminds me so much of a girl I was very close to back in the 70's. Fantastic portrait.

[johnmsanderson]

First portrait on 8x10

Dan, with landscape and former fracking site, central Pennsylvania

8x10 Portra 400 / Fujinon 300A

[Ari]

Love it; the tone, mood and pose are perfect.

[Raffay]

vorgonyi,

I like the portrait, but if I may make a suggestion: set up the picture with the eyes on the lens axis, and then focus on the catchlights. Then use front rise to frame the face exactly as you have done. Sharpness falls off in all directions from the lens axis, so this will retain the sparkle in the eyes.

A lovely picture, in any case.

Very informative, can you explain that in more detail.

Cheers.

[Harold_4074]

Well, this really applies to soft-focus lenses like the Imagon, although there may be poorly corrected lenses (Petzval, maybe?) that would benefit from the same technique. My experience is with the Imagon, Verito, Hyperion, Kodak Portrait and Heliar; in every case, the softness increases as one moves away from the lens axis.

The idea is that a typical head shot has the eyes about a third of the way down from the top. If the lens is centered on the film, the sharpest area will be somewhere below the eyes. In vorgonyi's picture, the nose is sharper than the eyes, at least on my monitor. He may well have focused on the eyes, but the depth of field was enough that the nose, on the lens axis, is sharper than the eyes will ever be (because they are farther from the lens axis).

So: center the lens on the film, position the entire camera to center the eyes in the picture, and focus on the catchlights. Now, using front movements only, shift the image on the film until the composition looks right, and make the exposure. This leaves the eyes as the sharpest features in the picture, which is what one usually wants.

Does this help?

Harold

[Raffay]

Perfect thank you.

[Scott --]

End of Season... by Scott --, on Flickr

14" no-name f/6 Petzval, Eastman #2 8x10, Ektascan BR/A in HC-110 dil H (6:00 at 20C).

[RHITMrB]

From March, but it took me way too long to develop + scan + dust + process these negatives.


Untitled by Isaac Sachs, on Flickr


Untitled by Isaac Sachs, on Flickr

[Ari]

Killer photo, Scott.
Isaac, the second photo is fantastic.

[jp]

Very nice Scott!