May 2011 Portraits

[Kerik Kouklis]

Excellent work! These images answer the question "Is Kerik back?" To which the answer is an obvious and resounding YES!

Thanks, Jay. Great petzval/portrait work, BTW! I should try mine with film at some point...

[D-tach]

I would add to Jay's excellent answer that in order to get the same depth of focus where everything is halved in 4X5, if the 8X10 inch lens is a 14" f4 petzval, you'll be looking for a 7" f2 petzval to achieve the same look. Ouch. That's one reason people are paying gazillions of $$$ for f2.8 Xenotar's. (not a petzval, rather a sharp lens, but with maximum aperture readily available in 4X5) You can buy a Kodak 2D 8X10 with a 300 f5.6 cheaper than the Xenotar and get the same depth. The Petzval is nearly impossible to duplicate.

My Petzval, Dallmeyer, and other softfocus lenses turn into well behaved lenses when stopped down and loose some of that 3D look.

Don't want to say that you can't find portraiture magic in the 4x5 film format, but here's my experience... with good exposure and good development, the T-grain films will yield the beautiful liquid tonal results (and wicked sharpness if desired) in 4x5. However, I personally prefer the to work with old emulsion based films, like Tri-X, FP4, etc., because they are more forgiving, particularly since exposure is less critical with these films and my old lenses and cameras can make my exposures less precise and less accurate. Consequently, I find films with older emulsion yield a smoother tonality in formats larger than 4x5 if my exposure is off.

Empirically, I have found that the lens character imparted to the image is lens, aperture, and film (image) size dependent. Restated differently, the Out Of Focus (OOF) effect imparted by the lens on the aesthetic rendering of the entire image is dependent upon 1) the lens OOF characteristics resulting from uncorrected coma, spherical, and chromatic aberrations, 2) aperture, which also effects OOF effect imparted, and 3) the film size. I suspect that the aesthetic appeal is dependent upon the depth of field and the size ratio of the OOF effects imparted to film to the size of the subject on the film. And, the combination of these three factors in 8x10 portraiture is in one of the sweet spots aesthetically. Personally, I did not find a lens and film combination with 4x5 that produces an aesthetic that I like as well what I saw in 8x10 portraiture. Again, I'm not say that it doesn't exist, I'm saying that I did not find one for myself...

Do you have to go to all the way to 8x10? I experimented with 5x7, and find 5x7 OK for portraits with Heliar or Tessar lenses. I prefer the 3D characteristic of a portrait shot on 8x10 film over 5x7 film. I think whole plate, 6-1/2x8-1/2, would be large enough to get the wonderful transition from sharp focus to OOF gooeyness in these portraits and the whole plate format size is easier for the modern hybrid photographer, but there is more equipment and material (film) available in 8x10.

Finding your magic lens and film combination for portraiture is an area where YMMV. But, when you find your magic combination, please post your results here… I for one want to see what works for you!

Thanks Jay & Jim for the euh... overwhelming explanations
But I think I know what you mean, a few months back I was so fortunate to do a wetplate workshop with Alex from Holland and only looking through that 8x10 studio beast with a Dallmeyer 3B (why isn't it called 3D...? ) plugged in to it was kind of... well... VERY COOL

For now I will keep practicing with the Chamonix 4x5 and the Voigtlander Heliar 210 4.5, haven't tried it wide open yet so I will do that and see what comes out...
So addicting, that LF stuff...

Thanks again gentlemen

regards
Tom

[mdm]

8 1/4 Dagor at f8. 5x7 TriX in Pyrocat HD. Some problems but my first portrait in some time.

[jumanji]

My second portrait. Hermagis Eidoscope only front element, approx 260mm f6. X ray film in A03.

[mdm]

too many lenses = too little money

[Frank Petronio]

So far this has been the best way I've found to keep them still and while maintaining their attention. You wet plate are welcome to use this technique too.

[William McEwen]

Love it, Frank.

[cdholden]

So far this has been the best way I've found to keep them still and while maintaining their attention. You wet plate are welcome to use this technique too.

Frank,
Why do that when you have "does my lenscloth smell like chloroform?"?

Chris

[Jay Decker]

So far this has been the best way I've found to keep them still and while maintaining their attention. You wet plate are welcome to use this technique too.

Frank,
Why do that when you have "does my lenscloth smell like chloroform?"?

Chris

Have to admit that what went through my mind was a little different... Though lovely, the young woman did not quite appear up to Frank's, um, upper standards. So, I thought that Frank was teaching us to use his foot pump trick to inflate her... er, um... lungs. And, shouldn't something like that be posted to the "alternative techniques" thread?

[dsphotog]

I just thought maybe she OD'ed & that was a new method of CPR.