Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/11/01
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Criticism can hurt, and that is one reason that I refrain from taking part in most of the discussions on the lug. I usually sit on the fence and let Ted , B.D. and the boys (and Tina) do all the hard work. I may then nod to myself and silently agree. I think my reticence is a backlash from sitting on judging panels and being critical of some poor bugger who has done his best, entered into the arena against very strong competition and has come up short. It hurts to have your work publicly dissected and possibly denigrated, even if it is done nicely and with the best possible intentions. I know, because it has happened to me.Repeatedly and recently. I thought at the time that the judges were incompetent, but as I look back at the prints I submitted, I am surprised that they scored so high! Having said that, let me now offer some general suggestions rather than criticisms. These are mainly technical rather than aesthetic suggestions. In most H&S portraits, the main centre of interest is the eyes and if the eyes are not as sharp as the end of the nose you have a problem. The eyelashes are the highest contrast area of the eyes and they frame the eyes, so if the eyelashes are sharp, the face will appear sharp. Be aware of the quality of the light you use for portraits. When using a shaded area on a sunny day, remember that the only light striking the subject is probably blue, with a colour temperature of anything up to 10,000 degrees K or more. There are a number of ways to correct this. Use a warming filter, use a flash (more on this later), use a white or gold reflector (either hand held or use the reflection from an adjacent wall). You will find additional colour casts from green leaves, grass etc. that can cause aditional problems. Just choose your spot carefully. As for flash......use it sparingly, if at all. Flash-on-camera tends to flatten the planes of the face and cast ugly sharp shadows. Try to diffuse the light by reflecting from a white card or umbrella, or flash through an umbrella. Anything to enlarge the light source. Better yet, use one softened flash on your camera and underexpose by at least a stop, and another slaved flash off camera about 45degrees at correct exposure, through an umbrella, preferably held by an assistant. This will give you repeatable, perfect studio light on almost any location. I rarely use flash but that is the system I use for emergencies. None of this works too well with an M6 and 1/45 sec flash synch if you are using 400ISO film! The umbrella is really cheap, about one metre across when opened and has a stem that telescopes. I have cut off the handle so the whole thing is less than a foot long and fits into my camera bag (or my pocket in an emergency). I buy four or five at a time (once every ten years) for about $10 each. After all that I admire the way you are experimenting with the Simar and find that the most pleasing shot to me is Nicole No6. Keep up the good work Regards Rob. langhans wrote: > It's not family but it's not grab shots of strangers, either. One of my > favorite students conned me into taking some senior portraits of her. She > was my faithful TA for a year and I couldn't say no. Unfortunately, my TA > for this year has found out and I will be taking his portraits soon. So, > feedback would be appreciated. All were taken with an R8 or R4 in manual > mode. I metered on the sunlit background if there was any, then set my Metz > flash for fill at -2 1/3 stops. The lenses were either a 90/2.8 or an old > Sima 100 soft focus. Anyone remember that lens from the early 80's? I > found it the other day in a box and said, lets give it a try. I didn't get > to scan many of the photos I gave her, as she was excited to get them. Most > of the Sima ones were from slides I had in my R4 and was just finishing the > roll. She hasn't seen them yet. > > http://168.212.133.189/wwwpages/senior/ > > Please feel free to pick and critisize. I won't include a form as had been > suggested, but if you want to return one, that is fine with me. I am not a > portrait photographer. Yet is was fun doing these and I would not mind > doing it for some of my favorite students who can't afford a "real" > photographer. > > Aram > > This message is made of 100% recycled electrons. No new atoms were > destroyed in making it. > > Aram Langhans > Science Teacher, Naches High School > 101 W. 5th. St / P. O. Box 159 > Naches, WA 98937 > > "Science Rules" > > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- __________________________________ Rob Heyman M.Photog 32 Binyara Street CHAPEL HILL Qld 4069 Ph 07 3878 3884 fax 07 3378 6639 __________________________________ - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html