This one was taken at much the same time as the one of Evin I put up a while ago, and like that shot, this was taken while playing around with flash. In this instance I was showing John the difference between a diffused flash shot (using a Stofen diffuser) and a straight shot, and suggested at the time that a diffused shot was better because the lighting wasn't as harsh. As you can probably tell though, this is the straight shot which, in this instance, I think I prefer.
On a totally unrelated matter (and apologies for duplicating this in the news link at the bottom of the comments popup), we've had a few enquires recently as to whether we could sell gift certificates, either to buy prints or pay for our training weekends. So, if you're interested, we've put up some details here:
comment by paulk at 07:48 PM (GMT) on 28 November, 2006
like the harshness of the direct flash - good catchligh
comment byJustus at 07:53 PM (GMT) on 28 November, 2006
Absolutely brilliant.
comment byP.J. at 08:03 PM (GMT) on 28 November, 2006
Very nice portrait and closeup.
comment byRobert at 08:16 PM (GMT) on 28 November, 2006
Looks like the direct flash does a good job of picking up the little skin details; adds edge and masculinity to the shot.
comment by Evin at 08:40 PM (GMT) on 28 November, 2006
I can see John's new rockstar grin from over the sea!!
What I find most impressive about the two shots is that they both look as though they were produced in a studio. But they weren't, I was in that room and know the colour of the walls and how we were just sitting around chatting after coming in from the cold. Another sympathetic lesson here for us all I think.
As for this shot in particular, I really like the strength and contrast of the skin texture and beard - lovely lab curves! And I'm guessing that you took the left side of the image down to black.
Great shot Dave.
comment byJamey at 09:02 PM (GMT) on 28 November, 2006
If only I'd stayed in and chatted instead of nipping out to buy some shampoo, I could've been famous too :)
Lovely portrait of John, he photographs well. I've got a few shots of him which I messed up in various ways (camera shake, composition, etc) but he looks good in all of them. The skin texture looks a bit "crunchy" to me but only a bit, and everything else is perfect.
comment bydjn1 at 09:10 PM (GMT) on 28 November, 2006
Evin: thanks. As for the processing: I used RGB for this one as I did the B&W conversion using the channel mixer. And the left side of the image was pretty much black anyway but I did bring the right side down to match.
Jamey: the high-res' version looks a little less crunchy – I probably overdid the sharpening a bit.
comment bydavid at 09:58 PM (GMT) on 28 November, 2006
wow - very striking. its all in the eyes! you should do more portraits.
comment bychiara at 10:11 PM (GMT) on 28 November, 2006
Great expression. Makes me feel observed...
comment by Jennifer at 11:01 PM (GMT) on 28 November, 2006
Very Rock n Roll - like it!
comment byMal at 11:10 PM (GMT) on 28 November, 2006
Mean and moody John, very atmospheric! There had better not be any more!!! Mal
comment byDaniel at 12:38 AM (GMT) on 29 November, 2006
your portraits are portentous! this one is fantastic...
comment byAngry Buddha at 01:19 AM (GMT) on 29 November, 2006
Great detail
comment byEric Hegwer at 03:59 AM (GMT) on 29 November, 2006
Hi John - I'm anxiously awaiting the tutorials. This shot reminds me of some of Greg Gorman's later digital work. I'm curious as to how you accomplished this tonality in RGB - that colorspace doesn't seem to have enough latitude to capture these neutrals.
Eric
comment bygeckonia at 05:19 AM (GMT) on 29 November, 2006
You know, that is one of the best 50mm portraits I've ever seen. You found a flattering angle. I love him peering out over his glasses.
comment bynavin at 05:57 AM (GMT) on 29 November, 2006
Great potrait. Are those glasses real or is it just a frame. A little less light so only one half of the face is lit would have been even more dramatic.
comment byPlasticTV at 10:56 AM (GMT) on 29 November, 2006
A lighthearted and slightly comical portrait. Thanks for sharing. : )
comment byRies at 12:01 PM (GMT) on 29 November, 2006
This flash works well. The expression is great. Nice job.
comment by John M at 04:04 PM (GMT) on 29 November, 2006
This one was taken at much the same time as the one of Evin I put up a while ago, and like that shot, this was taken while playing around with flash. In this instance I was showing John the difference between a diffused flash shot (using a Stofen diffuser) and a straight shot, and suggested at the time that a diffused shot was better because the lighting wasn't as harsh. As you can probably tell though, this is the straight shot which, in this instance, I think I prefer.
On a totally unrelated matter (and apologies for duplicating this in the news link at the bottom of the comments popup), we've had a few enquires recently as to whether we could sell gift certificates, either to buy prints or pay for our training weekends. So, if you're interested, we've put up some details here:
www.chromasia.com/certificates/
Hopefully it should all be reasonably self-explanatory, but if you do have any questions about them, please ask.
camera
lens
aperture
shutter speed
shooting mode
exposure bias
metering mode
ISO
flash
image quality
RAW converter
cropped?
Canon 20D
EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
f/4.0
1/50
aperture priority
-1/3
evaluative
100
580EX
RAW
C1 Pro
1x1 (and rotated)
like the harshness of the direct flash - good catchligh
Absolutely brilliant.
Very nice portrait and closeup.
Looks like the direct flash does a good job of picking up the little skin details; adds edge and masculinity to the shot.
I can see John's new rockstar grin from over the sea!!
What I find most impressive about the two shots is that they both look as though they were produced in a studio. But they weren't, I was in that room and know the colour of the walls and how we were just sitting around chatting after coming in from the cold. Another sympathetic lesson here for us all I think.
As for this shot in particular, I really like the strength and contrast of the skin texture and beard - lovely lab curves! And I'm guessing that you took the left side of the image down to black.
Great shot Dave.
If only I'd stayed in and chatted instead of nipping out to buy some shampoo, I could've been famous too :)
Lovely portrait of John, he photographs well. I've got a few shots of him which I messed up in various ways (camera shake, composition, etc) but he looks good in all of them. The skin texture looks a bit "crunchy" to me but only a bit, and everything else is perfect.
Evin: thanks. As for the processing: I used RGB for this one as I did the B&W conversion using the channel mixer. And the left side of the image was pretty much black anyway but I did bring the right side down to match.
Jamey: the high-res' version looks a little less crunchy – I probably overdid the sharpening a bit.
wow - very striking. its all in the eyes! you should do more portraits.
Great expression. Makes me feel observed...
Very Rock n Roll - like it!
Mean and moody John, very atmospheric! There had better not be any more!!! Mal
your portraits are portentous! this one is fantastic...
Great detail
Hi John - I'm anxiously awaiting the tutorials. This shot reminds me of some of Greg Gorman's later digital work. I'm curious as to how you accomplished this tonality in RGB - that colorspace doesn't seem to have enough latitude to capture these neutrals.
Eric
You know, that is one of the best 50mm portraits I've ever seen. You found a flattering angle. I love him peering out over his glasses.
Great potrait. Are those glasses real or is it just a frame. A little less light so only one half of the face is lit would have been even more dramatic.
A lighthearted and slightly comical portrait. Thanks for sharing. : )
This flash works well. The expression is great. Nice job.
Thanks Dave. Youve made an old man very happy.
very nice portrait photo!
I like this shot very much. The tones are lovely. The eyes just pop out at you. very cool. Good job.
Thanks everyone.
John M: you're welcome :-)
wow.
very well-done portrait with expressive eyes.
Your portraits are awesome! I like the perspective and the lightning of this one. This picture is very felicitous!