52 Weeks of Portraits

[Village Idiot]

I'm attempting a 52 project. I don't have the time to do a 365, but I figured I can find time to do 52 portraits over the course of the year.

Week 1 - Brad

These were shot with an Alien Bee B800 and a Kacey Beauty Dish.

1.1


1.2

 

[AnotherNewGuy]

wish the meat was in the final crop, and wish he wasn't staring into nothing. Although, this is the same pose my friends will do if I tell them to pose for the camera.

 

[sly677]

Good work, I like the idea...52. Now are you gonna always shoot on the same day(ie: mondays)? You know 365 is one a day, 52 one a week...spaced out evenly?

I'd like to see the second shot with a dramatic lighting, it seems like he could be planning to do something other than cutting a piece of meat with that knife.

 

[Village Idiot]

Good work, I like the idea...52. Now are you gonna always shoot on the same day(ie: mondays)? You know 365 is one a day, 52 one a week...spaced out evenly?

I'd like to see the second shot with a dramatic lighting, it seems like he could be planning to do something other than cutting a piece of meat with that knife.

Just some time during the week. It'll have to be worked around my schedule and my subject's.

 

[rufus5150]

Are you looking for C&C on this, VI?

 

[Village Idiot]

Are you looking for C&C on this, VI?

If you want. The 2nd image is more or less just a by product of what I'm doing. I'd rather hear any words you have on the first.

 

[DScience]

I'm not fond of the completely centered subject, but other than that it's kind of interesting.

 

[rufus5150]

The 2nd image is more or less just a by product of what I'm doing. I'd rather hear any words you have on the first.

Exposure's good, content is good, the center frame doesn't bother me at all given the context of the background. I like the choice of the somewhat thoughtful pose, holding the knife. It takes it out of context. I like the dissonance between the two.

Lit with a single light when you have 3 lights overhead in the frame, the sense I get is 'the power's out, but we have an emergency light, hey! lets cook steak!'

The single source light creates some defined shadows which aren't bad except I keep getting drawn to the reflections the glasses are making in the back of the cupboard. I'm not sure you could make a technically different choice and end up with other results, and really it's a minor point at best.

I have to say, I don't get the hammer. Everything else makes sense.

I might have taken some time to declutter the background - the bag and the knife roll on the counter and the top of the fridge. I also may have either included the entire clock in the frame or cut it off about halfway through. Where the frame cuts off the clock looks accidental rather than deliberate.

All that being said, I think it's a great image and technically well executed with a single light source.

 

[Pugs]

Hammer = meat tenderizer?

Overall, I like the image. The skin-tones look off to me and the steaks look... gray-ish..., but that always could be the fault of my monitor.

Edit to add: I think that the 52 project is a really cool idea! I've thought about trying a 365, but I don't know that I have it in me schedule/creativity-wise to pull one off. A 52 might be a much more workable option!

 

[rufus5150]

the steaks look... gray-ish..., but that always could be the fault of my monitor.

They look nicely aged if you ask me

 

[Village Idiot]

the steaks look... gray-ish..., but that always could be the fault of my monitor.

They look nicely aged if you ask me

21 day old dry aged New York strips with a fine coating of salt and pepper.

My friend brad cooks at a hotel and conference center where the chef lets him purchase food for cost. It has benefitted us greatly.

 

[Pugs]

the steaks look... gray-ish..., but that always could be the fault of my monitor.

They look nicely aged if you ask me

21 day old dry aged New York strips with a fine coating of salt and pepper.

My friend brad cooks at a hotel and conference center where the chef lets him purchase food for cost. It has benefitted us greatly.

Sh!t... now I'm hungry for a steak!

 

[Derrel]

I thought the hammer next to a 1/2 gallon plastic jug of cheap vodka meant he was going to get "hammered"...I figure a guy who likes to cook and who owns a good chef's knife probably has a proper meat tenderizer--either a hammer-style one or a mechanical multi-cutter restaurant style tenderizer.

I see what Rufus is talking about with the strobe light overpowering the in-the-scene household lighting...

I think the white balance of the strobed lighting looks too cold, and makes Brad's hands and face look a bit too cold. The steaks--mmm.....you guys know how to eat! I love aged steaks with pepper coats!

RUfus is right to question the background and the clock being cropped off--the chef clock is an interesting tie-in to the main subject, while the red pot on the right hand side of the frame is less important to me than that cool chef's clock.

Shots like this are fun to look at very carefully,and once can spend a lot of time looking and scrutinizing all sorts of things--the lens's barrel distortion,the exposure, specular highlights on the rear cupboards, various elements, the three bottles of liquor, the screwdriver he's mixed, and why there's a gallon water in the frame...this has a lot of elements of an old time painted portrait.

 

[Pugs]

I thought the hammer next to a 1/2 gallon plastic jug of cheap vodka meant he was going to get "hammered"...I figure a guy who likes to cook and who owns a good chef's knife probably has a proper meat tenderizer--either a hammer-style one or a mechanical multi-cutter restaurant style tenderizer.

I see what Rufus is talking about with the strobe light overpowering the in-the-scene household lighting...

I think the white balance of the strobed lighting looks too cold, and makes Brad's hands and face look a bit too cold. The steaks--mmm.....you guys know how to eat! I love aged steaks with pepper coats!

RUfus is right to question the background and the clock being cropped off--the chef clock is an interesting tie-in to the main subject, while the red pot on the right hand side of the frame is less important to me than that cool chef's clock.

Shots like this are fun to look at very carefully,and once can spend a lot of time looking and scrutinizing all sorts of things--the lens's barrel distortion,the exposure, specular highlights on the rear cupboards, various elements, the three bottles of liquor, the screwdriver he's mixed, and why there's a gallon water in the frame...this has a lot of elements of an old time painted portrait.

Agreed! The hammer was a stretch, but the only thing that I could come up with!

I also agree with the WB (I noted the skin-tones being off) and I really like your analogy to old painted portraits!

 

[BAmereihn]

you need paper towels