Conan and Marin on the 4th of July

ksmattfish · Sep 9, 2005

camera: Rolleiflex 3.5E Planar
film: Arista Pro 400

JonMikal · Sep 9, 2005

geez, i feel like they're standing right in front of me...incredibly crisp! i like the composition and tones very much. the only distraction for me is the line running across the image (conan's forehead).

love you work man!

Christie Photo · Sep 10, 2005

Your choice to use black and white is perfect. A memorable image.

Thanks!

-Pete

ksmattfish · Sep 10, 2005

JonMikal said:
the only distraction for me is the line running across the image (conan's forehead).

Yeah, time to blow the dust out of the scanner again. I need an environmentally sealed room for it.

ksmattfish · Sep 10, 2005

I think a waist level finder is the ultimate portrait accessory. Being able to have eye contact with the subject as I take the photo seems to improve the portrait.

Christie Photo · Sep 10, 2005

ksmattfish said:
I think a waist level finder is the ultimate portrait accessory. Being able to have eye contact with the subject as I take the photo seems to improve the portrait.

Absolutely! But... I do the same with a tripod and cable release. I'm really trying to see how the finder has anything to do with it. Please help me understand.

Thanks!
-Pete

darin3200 · Sep 10, 2005

Wow, that's some great black and white! The tones are contrast are perfect

ksmattfish · Sep 11, 2005

Christie Photo said:
Absolutely! But... I do the same with a tripod and cable release. I'm really trying to see how the finder has anything to do with it. Please help me understand.

I just meant that I like it when I can get eye contact with my subject without the camera being in front of my face. I think that I get a more natural, somewhat less stressful response from the subject when they are looking at my face than when they are looking at the camera.

Standing beside a camera on a tripod works too, and I do like that method when I'm shooting with a studio set-up. When shooting hand held I like a WL finder ( or the swivel out displays on some of the digital point-n-shoots ( I want one for my DSLR! ))

I'm a big fan of tripods (I almost never take a landscape photo without one), but for much of my portrait work I need to be able to move around quickly. When shooting portraits on-location I don't need the extra stability, and the tripod slows me down both in set-up and moving around. I often start with my subject(s) in one location, say a park, and we'll end up wandering several blocks to a garden, stopping and taking photos at the cool buildings in between.

Paying clients rarely complain if I'm taking my time, and using whatever equipment I need to get the best shot. With friends, family, and other folks who aren't paying, and may not even really think they want their photo taken, the portrait session needs to be as quick and painless as possible. I tell paying customers that the portrait session will run 1.5 to 2 hours; even so it's best to make it short and fun. With folks who are humoring my compulsion to photograph everybody in the world I'm lucky if I get a few minutes.

Conan and Marin are friends of mine, and have been my subjects many times. They are very creative people, and understand that great art

requires patience, experimentation, and so on... On this occasion though they were busy hosting a 4th of July party, and only had a few minutes for me. I waited until I liked the light at the wall with the sunflowers, grabbed them away from stuff cooking on the stove, and had to get what I wanted before the food started to burn.