I don't shoot many weddings, maybe three of four a year, but when I do I really enjoy them. One of the main reasons is that they're simply nice events to witness, but they're also a great opportunity for 'people watching'. If you've tried street photography you'll know that one of the major problems is that a lot of people simply don't like being photographed, and a good portion of the rest of them have become increasingly suspicious of any form of public photography. At weddings though it's generally a whole lot easier: people are relaxed, your presence is legitimate, and so on. As such I often end up with a lot of great portraits that would have been much more difficult to capture in a public space.
On a more technical note: this one was converted to black and white using the channel mixer, a technique I discussed in quite a lot of detail in my latest video tutorial. If you're interested, there's some further info linked below, but the short explanation is that I biased the conversion towards the blue channel to accentuate the fine scale detail (stubble, hair, and so on). This is a technique that works well for male portraits, but biasing the conversion towards the red channel often works better for portraits of women and children as it produces much softer (and brighter) skin tones.
comment by Mark at 04:35 PM (GMT) on 16 September, 2010
Stray ear hair? It's a strong portrait, but for me it would be better just the left half. The bokeh is very distracting and adds nothing to the shot. I love it just as the portrait.
comment bydjn1 at 04:42 PM (GMT) on 16 September, 2010
Mark: I just edited the ear hair following a comment on twitter, so it's gone now. As for the crop: I did try a square version, and darkened down the brighter area, but decided I preferred this version. The square crop felt a bit claustrophobic.
comment bydjib at 05:10 PM (GMT) on 16 September, 2010
Perfect portrait. I love how the skin comes out.
comment byNicki at 05:17 PM (GMT) on 16 September, 2010
Outstanding David - thats what I like. A deep impressive moment, full of feelings. This man seesm to be so interesting. And: The processing is delicate ... Dof, sharpness and composition - wow. I've seen a lot of you portraits, this will be my favorite for now. Critique: why not posting more like this? ;)
comment by Will at 07:41 PM (GMT) on 16 September, 2010
Really like this one. DOF is perfect. The BW really gives this portrait character. Absolutely stunning.
comment bycsj @id7 at 07:49 PM (GMT) on 16 September, 2010
I should have had that frame, he was just a perfect option for a candid portrait. I missed the oppo.... better luck next time eh!..... CJ
comment byXavier Rey at 10:42 PM (GMT) on 16 September, 2010
great portrait !
comment byCarlos Garcia at 10:59 PM (GMT) on 16 September, 2010
I feel like I have to edit my ear hair daily! Classic Chromasia capture and portrait! Congrats!
comment byDan Kaufman at 01:28 PM (GMT) on 17 September, 2010
right on the money with ALL your comments Dave. especially appreciated the incite of the benefits to using the blue channel or red channel bias in a CM black and white conversion. I sorta "knew this", but only through trial and error. I couldn't have articulated the male/female aspects of it.
And a great portrait besides !!
comment bymikelangelo at 02:46 PM (GMT) on 17 September, 2010
Very nice! I love your B&W conversion. The skin texture/contrast is great. The only thing I really don't like is I believe it's far to black in the lower left corner. I the coat is dark, but it's this big black triangle drawing my eye... otherwise, i really like what you've done!!
comment bymike at 01:21 AM (GMT) on 18 September, 2010
I'd like a Mini PSd of this one....bringing all thatdetail out without getting too obvious. Brilliant
comment bydjn1 at 10:15 AM (GMT) on 18 September, 2010
Thanks everyone :)
mike: OK, I'll consider this one as a Mini-PSD candidate :)
comment byChris Yakimov at 04:06 PM (GMT) on 18 September, 2010
Stunning.
comment byRob at 06:50 PM (GMT) on 19 September, 2010
Lovely portrait with great tonality. When looking at it on my laptop I let the screen tilt away from me which had the effect of darkening the image which made it stronger in my wiew.
comment byMatthias at 09:10 PM (GMT) on 19 September, 2010
a very very fine black and white portrait! great tonality and dateails at the face!
I don't shoot many weddings, maybe three of four a year, but when I do I really enjoy them. One of the main reasons is that they're simply nice events to witness, but they're also a great opportunity for 'people watching'. If you've tried street photography you'll know that one of the major problems is that a lot of people simply don't like being photographed, and a good portion of the rest of them have become increasingly suspicious of any form of public photography. At weddings though it's generally a whole lot easier: people are relaxed, your presence is legitimate, and so on. As such I often end up with a lot of great portraits that would have been much more difficult to capture in a public space.
On a more technical note: this one was converted to black and white using the channel mixer, a technique I discussed in quite a lot of detail in my latest video tutorial. If you're interested, there's some further info linked below, but the short explanation is that I biased the conversion towards the blue channel to accentuate the fine scale detail (stubble, hair, and so on). This is a technique that works well for male portraits, but biasing the conversion towards the red channel often works better for portraits of women and children as it produces much softer (and brighter) skin tones.
http://www.chromasia.com/tutorials/online/bw2_info.php
camera
lens
focal length
aperture
shutter speed
shooting mode
exposure bias
metering mode
ISO
flash
image quality
RAW converter
plugins (etc)
cropped?
Canon 5D Mark II
EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM
200mm
f/5.6
1/200
aperture priority
+1/3
evaluative
200
no
RAW
ACR
none
minor
Stray ear hair? It's a strong portrait, but for me it would be better just the left half. The bokeh is very distracting and adds nothing to the shot. I love it just as the portrait.
Mark: I just edited the ear hair following a comment on twitter, so it's gone now. As for the crop: I did try a square version, and darkened down the brighter area, but decided I preferred this version. The square crop felt a bit claustrophobic.
Perfect portrait. I love how the skin comes out.
Outstanding David - thats what I like. A deep impressive moment, full of feelings. This man seesm to be so interesting. And: The processing is delicate ... Dof, sharpness and composition - wow. I've seen a lot of you portraits, this will be my favorite for now. Critique: why not posting more like this? ;)
Really like this one. DOF is perfect. The BW really gives this portrait character. Absolutely stunning.
I should have had that frame, he was just a perfect option for a candid portrait. I missed the oppo.... better luck next time eh!..... CJ
great portrait !
I feel like I have to edit my ear hair daily! Classic Chromasia capture and portrait! Congrats!
right on the money with ALL your comments Dave. especially appreciated the incite of the benefits to using the blue channel or red channel bias in a CM black and white conversion. I sorta "knew this", but only through trial and error. I couldn't have articulated the male/female aspects of it.
And a great portrait besides !!
Very nice! I love your B&W conversion. The skin texture/contrast is great. The only thing I really don't like is I believe it's far to black in the lower left corner. I the coat is dark, but it's this big black triangle drawing my eye... otherwise, i really like what you've done!!
I'd like a Mini PSd of this one....bringing all thatdetail out without getting too obvious. Brilliant
Thanks everyone :)
mike: OK, I'll consider this one as a Mini-PSD candidate :)
Stunning.
Lovely portrait with great tonality. When looking at it on my laptop I let the screen tilt away from me which had the effect of darkening the image which made it stronger in my wiew.
a very very fine black and white portrait! great tonality and dateails at the face!