Portrait shoot

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Izzie,

Dave, can you tell me how the Kindle version behave as? A friend of Bill bought him a Kindle Fire for his birthday last year and I just use it for my kitchen. No...not as a tea towel...following recipes. It might be useful for something else...so many useless tablets littering desk tops here...so little brain...LOL

I don't have the Fire, which I think is colour and if so, would be better for this book than my PaperWhite (2) model, which is great for text, but fairly useless for any kind of graphic or photograph, usually displaying them with a pretty low contrast (due to fine lines or grayscale).

Never-the-less, I was reading it in bed last night on that - and if I need to see the pictures in colour, I have the app. installed on my (Win 7) PC and can read it on that, which is in full colour. Best of all is that whichever I was last reading on, when I start the other one, it offers to take me to the place I left off reading (on that other device). Same goes for my Android phone, although the screen is so small on that (4.5 inches), I have to be desperate (e.g. stuck in a hospital/dentist waiting room) to use it.

Cheers, Dave

[IzzieK]

Thanks Dave...have purchased the book and going in Creativelive I am thinking of going to one of his workshop in Miami (Florida). I will ask the boys to fly me there and leave me to attend that two day workshop, then pick me up after and they can play with their airplanes. All even, we both got what we went there for.

You can view some of this techniques here...
https://www.creativelive.com/courses...lass-materials

[William W]

We had a young model at my club this week, so I had the opportunity to shoot under strobes with someone to direct for the first time. . . . I struck up an easy rapport with Zena, and then I realised the glaring gap in my knowledge - I have no idea how to pose a model.

To improve your skills in this sub-genre of Controlled Portraiture / Model Portraiture, I suggest that you prioritize “rapport” over the technicalities of white balance and post production techniques.

It occurs to me that there is a possibility that “I struck up an easy rapport with Zena” means that you easily and quickly “got along with Zena”: if so, this is not the “rapport” that I would seek from a Model.

“Rapport” between a Model and the camera lens is like the rapport between two dancers or two actors.

I suggest that you use your Performing and Dramatic Arts knowledge, experience and skills to understand and apply how you begin creating “Rapport”.

Obviously there needs to be an outline of the “choreography“ or the “script”, which is of course is akin to your mention of, in Post #10 “[I need to] think about poses or a theme for the shoot”.

On that note, I suggest that you think more about a “theme” than “poses”.

I understand that the model in this shoot could have been your junior and perhaps also inexperienced in photographic modelling: but that does not necessarily mean that there cannot be “rapport” created as I have outlined.

The Image in post #7 shows the best “rapport” (according to my definition) – maybe cast your mind back and try to remember what conversation/communication, either spoken or conveyed by body language, immediately preceded that shot: there might be a clue there.

WW

[Cantab]

Thanks Dave...have purchased the book and going in Creativelive I am thinking of going to one of his workshop in Miami (Florida). I will ask the boys to fly me there and leave me to attend that two day workshop, then pick me up after and they can play with their airplanes. All even, we both got what we went there for.

You can view some of this techniques here...
https://www.creativelive.com/courses...lass-materials

Izzie, thanks for posting this link to his course. His book has just arrived and I'm looking forward to reading it. I looked at one of the free previews in his course. He appears to be a good communicator.

[ionian]

Bill - thanks as always for your comments. I was referring to the fact that we seemed to feel at ease in the shoot, my surprise at which probably says more about me than it does about her. The rapport you mention seems a little more abstract, but would probably be helped by a themed shoot and going in with clearer ideas. I only had two 5 minute sessions (if that), as is the nature of these things when you are at a club, so my expectations need to be tempered within the constraints I was working. However, any further ideas about how to build this working relationship with a model would be gratefuly received.

The image in post 7 came about from me asking her to relax, look away and then come back to camera.

Kim / Dave et al - I've got the book on my wishlist for the future, let me know how you get on with it.

[Dave Humphries]

Kim / Dave et al - I've got the book on my wishlist for the future, let me know how you get on with it.

Hi Simon,

My take is that the book is intended (or better) for people regularly shooting portraits - it advises early on that there is much to learn and to only attempt one area at a time until it becomes second nature, then bring in the next (there are something like 15 areas in total).

I have been reading it one or two chapters per day - and have reached "5" so far. Unfortunately I have no-one to practice on - and am too lazy to try on myself (which might work, but take a lot longer). I am hoping more of it will 'stick' in my noggin and be useful next time I am shooting.

It does all seem good stuff though and I find myself analysing portraits I see everywhere now (he has a section at the end of each chapter for this too). It is early days though, my Kindle says I am only about 25% in to the book, so whether I'll 'overload', or more pieces of the puzzle will 'drop in to place' is yet to be seen.

I can see why Izzie's link to his course lessons ran to three days - but I bet you'd know a heck of a lot by the end.
Thanks for link Izzie, but I'll stick with the book for now at least.
Perhaps when I have exhausted Lynda.com for useful courses I'll try CreativeLive.

Cheers, Dave

[William W]

. . . [ref: "creating rapport"]I was referring to the fact that we seemed to feel at ease in the shoot, my surprise at which probably says more about me than it does about her.

The rapport you mention seems a little more abstract, but would probably be helped by a themed shoot and going in with clearer ideas. I only had two 5 minute sessions (if that), as is the nature of these things when you are at a club, so my expectations need to be tempered within the constraints I was working.

OK. Thank you. I understand what you mean about rapport in your context.

Yes. I always understood that it was a Camera Club Environment. I know that environment and how it works: I attend quite a few Camera Clubs here to give talks and also for print judging. So I completely understand the ‘constraints’ that you mention.

Yes a theme is important. So too is shooting with the same model a second time and with fewer people; or one to one, especially if the opportunity arises to shoot quid pro quo, if the Model requires some images for her/his portfolio - follow up that idea is my advice.

Whilst what I define as ‘rapport’ (referring to Model Portraiture) might seem abstract, in reality it isn’t.

It is, in part defined by the mechanism of transference of the idea (the script or the choreography) from the Photographer to the Model. That mechanism might be verbal or nonverbal or both.

***

Concrete example based upon what you already did:

. . . any further ideas about how to build this working relationship with a model would be gratefuly received. The image in post 7 came about from me asking her to relax, look away and then come back to camera.

OK she relaxed when she turned away – that’s good and also obvious in the image.

Asking her to look away was a good idea.

‘Close your eyes’ is a good idea too.

BUT - filling her head with the idea of the theme or the sub-theme when she turned away and/or closed her eyes could have been a better idea . . . if she were relaxed she would have come back with her head filled, or partly filled with that theme . . . and from that point you can build . . .

I reiterate go back to what you know about Drama and Performance – I believe that you know more about this mechanism, than you think you do.

WW

[Astramael]

I am keen on (and bad at) portrait photography, so this thread has been a wonderful read for me. People don't like having their photos taken all that often, so I don't get to practice much.

Where all these shots a 50mm prime? 1.5x or 2x crop? As you indicate they seem a bit shorter than optimal focal length for this face.

I personally like the more subtle lighting in the first one, it seems to give a more youthful appearance. Contrast is too high on number 3 for me. With portraits I find myself liking more subtle shading nearly always. I do locally boost contrast in the eyes though. The monochrome shot in post #7 has the shadows just a little weird and not suitable for her face.

Man that first photo: slightly less exposure, slightly longer lens, little less crop at the top. It's awesome now and doesn't need much love to really sing.

A great set, and a great discussion. Thanks all.

[William W]

. . . 1. I'm happy with the processing here; I used a 50mm prime (on a crop) which . . . has caused some slightly unflattering distortion across her face.

That is not correct.

and

. . . Were all these shots a 50mm prime? 1.5x or 2x crop? As you indicate they seem a bit shorter than optimal focal length for this face.

Accordingly, the conclusion that there is an "optimal" Focal Length for this face (or any face) is non sequitur.

*

The lens had nothing to do with any unflattering distortions that concern you.

The cause of the these “distortions” is the Camera Viewpoint that you chose to use.


*

Also, the recent comment prompted me to interrogate the EXIF of each image - it appears that:

> the two colour images were made with a 100mm lens

> the two monochrome images with a 50 mm lens.

Again I take the opportunity to reiterate that these “distortions” of the face in any of the four images are caused by the CAMERA VIEWPOINT (i.e. distance from Subject and Elevation relative to Subject).

The choice of the Focal Length of any (rectilinear) lens has nothing, zip, zero, naught, to do with it.

***

I am keen on (and bad at) portrait photography, so this thread has been a wonderful read for me. People don't like having their photos taken all that often, so I don't get to practice much.

I suggest to you that’s more in your mind and conditioned by your approach to photographing people, than in the minds of the “people” to whom you refer. Walking up to and photographing people can be daunting, for some, I don't underestimate that daunt - but the reason that you don't get enough practice on something about which you are keen, is certainly NOT because people don't like their photograph being taken.

WW

[ionian]

Phew Bill - this is a tough class but I'm enjoying it. Firstly, thanks for your explanation on rapport. I studied stage direction and I do completely understand what you are saying - my job in this instance was to find a way to get the ideas I wanted to convey over to the model in the short time I had. Keeping it simple would have been effective. It is, of course, academic at this stage, but very important for the future.

Thanks also for the clarification on focal lengths - yes, I swapped to my zoom for my second lot of pictures. One of the things about spending a disproportionate length of tie reading about portraiture as opposed to taking pictures is that you read a lot of stuff - then when you encounter something in your images you try to apply the knowledge you have read in theory. In this case I was wrong, and I can tell by the fact that the one image I personally like (no.2) was actually shot with the short prime.

So, how to rectify these gaps in my knowledge? Shoot more I guess, but maybe some practical courses are worth saving up for - if I can find the right tutor. You don't want to fly to the Uk do you?

Julian - it is a confidence thing I think, although studio portraiture requires access to the right subjects and equipment, something many of us are probably without.

[William W]

. . . this is a tough class but I'm enjoying it. . .

Fantastic!

And learning stuff too.

Keep on, getting out there and making pictures!

WW