August 2012 Portraits

[Frank Petronio]

Let's see if he really hates it, here is one from yesterday. Whole plate, Hyatt Petzval acquired here on the FS forum. Shot wide open @ f5.

Attachment 78523

It's so horrible that I spent five minutes studying it!

Seriously it is a really nice plate, I am not a wet plater but most can't get them that nice.

Hi Rudi!

[Jay DeFehr]

Let's see if he really hates it, here is one from yesterday. Whole plate, Hyatt Petzval acquired here on the FS forum. Shot wide open @ f5.

Attachment 78523

I'm afraid this one has slipped down into the uncanny valley, for me. I had to look hard to see if I could tell if she was a real person, or a mannequin. It could go either way. It's either a mannequin doing a good job of imitating a person, or a person doing a good job of imitating a mannequin. And a nice plate, but that seems rather beside the point.

[bvaughn4]

Thanks so much guys, I've only been doing this about 3 months so still trying to put all the pieces together for consistent results. She's definitely real. When I saw the plate, I thought she looked like one of the beautiful women sometimes used in the old horror movies. Like she was from Transylvania or such. Come to find out her grandmother is Romanian and I think that is reflected here. She was super pleased with the plate and just beside herself for being "allowed" to sit for me - looking forward to working with her much more in the future.

Struggling with the lighting for indoor plate making. This was a 30s exposure done with a panel of 6 - 4' black light bulbs, 4 - 300w equivalent CFL bulbs and 2 full power pops of a White Lightning 3200 - thus the freaky catchlights in her eyes. Home made headrest helped keep her still, but as sharp is it is, she could have held still for 5 minutes.

[Roger Cole]

Frank already gave his opinion. I love it - fantastic image!

[Frank Petronio]

Well....

[BrianShaw]

Well....

actually... the first word out of my mouth was, "what the heck?"

Is your scanner broken, or is it just malfunctioning? Nice pic... although I still find tatooed ladies a bit off-putting. I'm such a prude... and such a bore.

[jcoldslabs]

Well....

In this case I prefer the black and white to the earlier color shot. The tones render really well and the quality of light seems more....I don't know...pronounced. I'm neutral on tattoos, though. Old enough to be unfamiliar with them (especially on young ladies) but young enough not to care.

Jonathan

[Jay DeFehr]

Frank, I like the little girl looking into the camera from the edge of the frame. All eyes on the viewer! Along with the teetering pose, the tattoos, and makeshift setting, it lends a circus-like feel to the image.

[Jay DeFehr]

Thanks so much guys, I've only been doing this about 3 months so still trying to put all the pieces together for consistent results. She's definitely real. When I saw the plate, I thought she looked like one of the beautiful women sometimes used in the old horror movies. Like she was from Transylvania or such. Come to find out her grandmother is Romanian and I think that is reflected here. She was super pleased with the plate and just beside herself for being "allowed" to sit for me - looking forward to working with her much more in the future.

Struggling with the lighting for indoor plate making. This was a 30s exposure done with a panel of 6 - 4' black light bulbs, 4 - 300w equivalent CFL bulbs and 2 full power pops of a White Lightning 3200 - thus the freaky catchlights in her eyes. Home made headrest helped keep her still, but as sharp is it is, she could have held still for 5 minutes.

Yes, she's very exotic and beautiful, and I like the ambiguity of the image -- I hope I didn't come off as critical. Anything that makes me look long and hard at an image has got to be a good thing!

[jardel]

Thanks Jardel,

Yes i scan my plates as color. It's not really black and white, but it has a "coffe-cream" color.
And that i would like to keep in my scans'

Alex

Alex,

I've never experienced shooting with collodion plates, just shoot with common 4x5 film. Maybe in a near future. Who's the guy on the picture, a friend of yours ? He remember Christ.

Tks,

Jardel.