New Portrait Thread - September 08

[W K Longcor]

Jiri
I continue to be impressed. Beautiful images and a beautiful child!

[Frank Petronio]

Here are my first 8x10s from Saturday, using old VPS that expired in 1995 (it was kept cold).

The old C1 is a heavy beast, the 10" Ektar flared, the bellows and holders are somewhat suspect, and the subjects blinked.

It was fun.

[stehei]

another C1 user!
did you also take some gym excercises before you shot with the beast?
I like the first 2 very much!!

regards

stefan

[domenico Foschi]

Sleeping beauty.

She was sleeping in the evening, I went to check her and turn of the reading lamp. This sight presented itself. As I saw it, I knew I had to photograph it with the Chamonix. Because when she is awake, should would not stand still long enough for me to photograph her with a prepared shot. I might grab some snapshots with smaller handheld cameras, but nothing this large.

So anyway, I quickly set it up, measured the light (ow, 160-180s at f/11 with reciprocity and bellows extension factor), tried to focus (really tough in that lack of light, and R-Claron's f/9 maximum aperture), opened the shutter and hoped she would not move. After 135sec she rolled on the other side, so I had to close the shutter and hope for best...

Chamonix 5×8", Fomapan 100, Repro-Claron 305mm.

------------------

I'm starting a new month thread with this one...

Jiri, Jiri,....

[Jiri Vasina]

I'm deeply moved that even those people, whose work I admire and think of artistically as centuries ahead of me, do find some of my photos worth noting and pleasing...

I think this one [of my daughter] may bring back a lot of memories for the older of you, of your children. And then, my daughter is not that important, it's your child you see...

[eddie]

VDB on 8x10 that is hot at a wedding a few weeks back. toned in selenium. hand colored. i used my 11 1/2 verito about f11 or f16

eddie

[arkady n.]

Graphic View 4x5, Kodak Ektar 203mm

[Colin Graham]

I think this one [of my daughter] may bring back a lot of memories for the older of you, of your children. And then, my daughter is not that important, it's your child you see...

Not so fast there! I have no children, still an awesome capture by any standard. You should do more portraiture Jiri.

[Jiri Vasina]

Colin, I have shot more than 20 sheets 13x18cm of portraits so far, only 2 are barely good IMO - the sleeping daughter, and one of my wife in a portrait in bedroom viewable only by me and her . All the other are substandard for some reason. I'm not good at portraits, I'm too nervous with my subjects, they feel it and start to behave nervously too... And it shows...

Or they simply lack something, like this one here. But first the story:

It's a portrait of my very close friend. She has a child now almost 2 years old, that is very indisposed since birth. She (and her husband) has to keep constant 24h care of the child and have to be at their home every 120minutes for medical reasons. Therefore she had to find her pastime in her home - she started portrait photography (here are some samples atelier.sedlacci.net) - and no, she does not shoot LF, not even MF.

While we were visiting them once, the subject of me portraying her came up. I shot 6 sheets, this is one of them

In hindsight, it's clear it's not a portrait of her. It might be technically OK, but it's not a good portrait. And I was not enjoying shooting them as much as I enjoy landscape photography, I was too nervous.

My only hope is I'll outgrow this nervousness/shyness on my part...

[stehei]

Hi Jiri,

Think about Richard Avedons famous words (for me, because they helped me get over my fear, and start portraiture). It goes something like this: I have a white background, the person I'm interested in, and the thing that happens between us. It freed my mind completely, because meeting somebody, and taking a picture of that interaction is far less threatening than making 'the best, truthfull' portrait of a person. Too much pretension and stress.

Talk about their lives, ask them to focus on something they are familiar with (a holliday, a child being born, that what means something to them and makes them feel at home). And show that your not a photographer, just a person want to meet the other, with the picture as a secondary result. It helped me relax, and get my models relaxed!

Just my 2 cents. You're too talented not to get yourself involved taking portraits!
good luck!

regards

stefan