Your portrait technique

[BarryS]

I'm getting ready to do some portraits in both 4x5 and 8x10 and have a few questions about large format technique. Do you---

A) spend a lot of time looking at (and directing) the subject on the ground glass, then insert a holder and quickly shoot when you like the subject's expression, or do you

B) spend a relatively short time getting the focus and composition on the ground glass, insert a holder, and take a lot of time to interact with your subject and shoot when you find a decisive moment.

Does your technique vary if you're shooting portraits with a very narrow depth of field? Option B seems preferable, but I worry about messing up with a very shallow DOF if too much time passes between focusing and exposing.

[Ron Marshall]

Method B. I have a string tied to the camera, that I can put beside the subjects eye, if I want to check that they will be in focus.

[Walter Calahan]

B always works better for my subjects.

[Marcus Carlsson]

Always B.

I have noticed that the subject usually don't move that much, and I can at the same time talk too them calmly (sp?) and tell them to blink one more time.

/ Marcus

[domenico Foschi]

Be gentle with the young, wonderful Marcus.

Somewhere between A&B

[Ash]

I don't really have that problem when shooting handheld, but I guess I focus and make sure everything is set up prior to needing to engage with the model... then I focus as I go (good thing with rangefinders).

It's usually easier to engage before during and after setup, relaxing the person, then getting them comfy and taking the shot when you see it, not waiting for a second chance because you were too busy trying to pull out a dark slide.

[lenser]

Barry,

If you can find a copy of George Hurrell's biography, there is some fascinating reading about his camera and people technique while working with the elite in Hollywood from the twenties through the nineties.

Tim

[Norm Buchanan]

Hi Barry,

I use B, but as I don't shoot trained models I typically shoot for a little while with my digital camera to get the subject comfortable and so I know how they will behave before I use any sheets of film. It has worked very well for me.

Cheers,
N.

[Ted Harris]

Light, I always use lots of it so I don't have to worry about slow shutter speeds.

[Don Hutton]

Light, I always use lots of it .....
That may help when you're not using a Packard nor an Ilex 5 (show me just one example with an honest 1/50th) - all the LF portrait lenses I want to shoot don't really benefit from the zillions of w/s I could blast at unsuspecting subjects. 1/25th is the norm on an most Ilex 5s or a Packard. Mostly, I want to use lenses wide open with light modifiers which, by design, need the key light close to the subject. Slow shutter speeds are a fact of life with the portrait lenses I would most like to use. A simple rig with a mirror and a flashlight across the subject's nose makes assessing the subject position very easy after some interaction has passed.

[BarryS]

Thanks, everyone's responses are very helpful and I like Ron's string trick to make sure the eyes are in focus. I'll definitely dig up a copy of that Hurrell biography--I may not have stars to shoot, but I do have some fresnels. :)

[Frank Petronio]

The string only works if you're close and the model is good and static, at least when shooting wide open. The flashlight works best with strobe when you can have the ambient light dim enough to see the flashlight or slide projector beam. I prefer to stay behind the camera or near the lens axis so I can see what the camera sees, and to give the subject something to focus on. The real trick is to watch your subject carefully for movement between the time you loupe the ground glass (or use the rangefinder) and inserting the holder and firing.

It also depends on the subject. A good model can hold really still yet also be expressive without changing fore/aft position and messing up your focus, so you can shoot short depth of field relatively consistently. A figgety child, crack addict, or Type A CEO (sometimes all the same person) requires you to switch gears and shoot a f/16 if you hope to maintain reasonable focus because they might move an inch or two even when they are "trying to hold still..."

I've tried Graflex SLRs, tripod mounted cameras, and rangefinder cameras (waiting for the 4x5 TLR lol). For wide-open short depth of field shooting I get the best consistent "in-focus" shots from conventional tripod mounted cameras and loupe focusing. But not every subject or situation can be done this way, and sometimes it is more a matter of luck and percentages with a skitterish subject.

A six shot Grafmatic makes it somewhat faster to shoot than conventional holders, but they often require more leverage and force to pull and cycle through, so you have to factor that into the process... if working the Grafmatic changes the camera position you're screwed (sometimes the case with lightweight gear).

Finally, shoot a lot of film and practice. Starting off with a digital to "warm people up" is usually a good idea as you can see how they respond and what their best features are.

[David Karp]

. . . (waiting for the 4x5 TLR lol). . . .

Here you go Frank, just scroll down the page a bit.

http://www.petergowland.com/camera/index.html

[Ted Harris]

Don,

Points well taken. I shouldn't have been so brief but this is now day 10 of being mostly flat on my back and typing ain't easy.

I use all modern lenses, when I want to use a variable focus lens it is an Imagon.

As for lighting, I tend to use hot lights far more than strobes in the studio. I use 2 1000W fresnels, 1 2000W fresnel, 2 500W fresnels, 3 Kleig Inky Fresnels, 1 2000W strip and 2 Lekos. All are gelled as necessary and run through a dimmer panel. Obviously I don't use all of them all the time and I seldom have more than one or two at full power. Shooting this way gives me much more control over the light. I spent a number of years as a grip, stage electrician and lighting designer. So, while I can achieve what I want with strobes, working with the hot lights is i my blood. Interestingly, I often find that models and sitters are more comfortable with hot lights than with strobes.

For those that care my hot lights are a mixture of Kleig, Mole, Ianiro, Colortran and Narren. I use a Minolta Colormeter II and a Sekonic 718 to check the light and a variety of Rosco gels.

[Ted Harris]

And Frank, if you're really interested Peter has 4-5 new ones to sell, or he did the last time I saw him.

[jetcode]

I actually design a photograph in my mind first. This may take a few minutes or several weeks. Format, framing, lighting, and character are all considered. I will sketch the photograph and have already worked with the model in a preliminary session. I then assemble the necessary items to make the photograph happen. Since I have a prevision I frame the subject, setup the lighting, and get the camera ready for photographs. At the point when film is ready to be exposed I work with the subject to settle into a frame of mind conducive to the prevision. I will expose as many sheets as it takes to get the look I am after. The success of the image is a function of my prevision, technical approach, and energetic timing; i.e. capturing the moment.

This is the approach I use however it must be stated clearly that all of my work is a work in progress meaning that I am continually refining each step of the process.

[jetcode]

A figgety child, crack addict, or Type A CEO (sometimes all the same person) ...

What a hoot!

Most definitely there are models who are extremely capable of holding a pose and transitioning through a series of well conceived poses timed for photographic capture (whether digital or film usually hand held).

And some models who can't relax and react to everything you do. Not that I have the experience you do Frank but I do sessions in two stages; a pre-qualifier, and final capture. The pre-qualifier is for both of us; to get the model to relax and for me to learn about the model.

[Frank Petronio]

Thanks, I've always liked Peter Gowland's photos and his camera designs, we've corresponded about a lot of things. And while I used to love using a Rollei TLR, for 4x5 I think the TLR would be a lot like using the Graflex, albeit without the mirror rise and fall. The issue w the mirrored SLR or TLR 4x5s is having it be bright enough to focus accurate while concurrently weaving around trying to adjust the composition. I find it hard to do both well at the same time, as the ground glass is much larger than a 6x6 Rollei which I could see all at once and still use the focusing magnifier. Of course a tripod mounted TLR would probably be the ultimate for making sure you have exact focus at the time of exposure so I shouldn't rule it out.

Also I like to travel light and those 4x5 TLR are pretty big beasts so that would probably rule them out as well.

Per Joe's comments, I'm the opposite, I tend to shoot and compose handheld or with a tripod very rapidly, but I've done it enough to have a general idea of how to set up a good situation in anticipation.

I just got a monopod again, they are a pretty good compromise when you are in a handheld situation, and maybe they can buy you a stop or some added sharpness.

[jetcode]

Per Joe's comments, I'm the opposite, I tend to shoot and compose handheld or with a tripod very rapidly, but I've done it enough to have a general idea of how to set up a good situation in anticipation.


There is magic in spontaneity as we have all observed in your work!

Ted, that's some serious lighting you have there.

[jnantz]

hi barry

the best way is to be flexible.
i usually have a conversation
and focus on the eyes. sometimes
i shoot wide open and low light,
sometimes i am fly on the wall
and i stop down to f16 and use
a lumedyne as a fill flash ...
there really isn't a "way" that covers
every situation, except for
figuring out what will work ...

good luck!

john

[Gordon Moat]

A bit different is whether by portrait you mean headshot, because short DoF can be tougher than if the portrait is full body. Easiest way to set-up for headshots is to have the subject sitting, which will limit their movements and can often relax them a bit. Anyway, my style is rarely to do headshots, because I find them too limiting and often too lacking in storytelling potential.

More often I would set-up a full body shot, more of an environmental portrait. Everything is planned out and set-up first, often with an assistant to dial in focus, or run a quick Polaroid to see if the light effect is what I want in the final shot. Then the talent steps into the scene.

Since I work with a pre-set focus distance, I instruct the talent to only move along the plane of focus, basically like an imaginary line. If this line works better at an angle, then I will use swing on the camera to set-up that way, and the line becomes an angle to the camera.

Next I stand to the side of the camera, with cable release in one hand, and interact with the talent. At some point when the expression and stance are where I want, I click the shutter. Then a quick film packet change (Readyload or Quickload) and on to the next shot. So the pace of shots could be fast, or it could be interaction and a few shots at certain moments.

To get around shutter speed issues, I often use a little fill flash. I carry several small Nikon Speedlights, either slaved or synced to each other. These are set to add to the available light. Then it doesn't matter where the shutter speed falls for ambient, other than how much I want the background to burn into the transparency film. Using a flash to ambient meter (Sekonic L-358 for me) helps in this set-up. To avoid ghosting, keep your subject in the frame for any exposures faster than 1 second.

This is an example of a three light set-up (http://www.gordonmoat.com/life_02.html). There was slight swing to the camera set-up, and the model lined up on the plane of focus. Shot was somewhere between f5.6 and f8.0, and I don't recall the exact shutter speed. The interesting thing for me was that it was easy for the model to relax, because there was not the constant where and click of a motordrive, nor strobes firing at quick intervals . . . the slower pace with the big camera made it easier to relax.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography (http://www.gordonmoat.com)

[Charles Hohenstein]

Don,

Points well taken. I shouldn't have been so brief but this is now day 10 of being mostly flat on my back and typing ain't easy.

I use all modern lenses, when I want to use a variable focus lens it is an Imagon.

As for lighting, I tend to use hot lights far more than strobes in the studio. I use 2 1000W fresnels, 1 2000W fresnel, 2 500W fresnels, 3 Kleig Inky Fresnels, 1 2000W strip and 2 Lekos. All are gelled as necessary and run through a dimmer panel. Obviously I don't use all of them all the time and I seldom have more than one or two at full power. Shooting this way gives me much more control over the light. I spent a number of years as a grip, stage electrician and lighting designer. So, while I can achieve what I want with strobes, working with the hot lights is i my blood. Interestingly, I often find that models and sitters are more comfortable with hot lights than with strobes.

For those that care my hot lights are a mixture of Kleig, Mole, Ianiro, Colortran and Narren. I use a Minolta Colormeter II and a Sekonic 718 to check the light and a variety of Rosco gels.

What kind of electrical wiring does it take to support that kind of load?