John (shotsphotography.co.uk) came over to Blackpool the other day but I didn't have time to go shooting with him as I was laying our new kitchen flooring. He was only out for a couple of hours but he managed to take some wonderful portraits that I've been marvelling at over the last few days. Anyway, my reason for mentioning John and his recent work is that it finally decided me that I desperately need to take more portraits and that I need to go out and engage with people.
So here's my first attempt.
Part way between the North pier and the Central pier is a bandstand, of sorts, that's the hangout for a group of skateboarders and other teenagers. So today, instead of walking past in search of something innanimate to shoot, I decided to stop and talk instead. What I forgot to do was ask their names, but I did give them the url so perhaps they'll stop by and introduce themselves.
Oh, and a few people have emailed me asking me how I produce my black and white shots. In this case it was simply a matter of using Hue/Saturation to desaturate the image after which I applied a Curves adjustment layer to slightly boost the midtones in the red and green channels.
captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped?
Yay - that's a really nice shot. Can't wait to see the rest of your attempts at engaging people! Excellent catchlights in the eyes and lovely soft skintones.
comment by Adrian Hudson at 10:32 PM (GMT) on 22 July, 2005
Sorry Dave, I think the red/green boost gives a rather bilious look to the shot. I think a rather more traditional brown tinge would have suited this more. But then, it's your photo and you'll colour it however you like!! :-)
comment byDavid D. at 10:36 PM (GMT) on 22 July, 2005
First good attempt ... Hey Dave, why don't you start shooting film for a while ? Portrait really can't get better with a B&W film ... What do you think ?
Fred @ 400iso.com
comment bySteveO at 12:00 AM (GMT) on 23 July, 2005
wow, people! I have been trying some people shots lately, they are mostly crap though, this is good, i like it. Maybe i will have to stop and ask some people myself. Nice work, look foreward to seeing more. (you coming to manchester on Saturday?)
comment by jcyrhs at 02:45 AM (GMT) on 23 July, 2005
beautiful tonation dave!! i love the sparkle you always have in the eyes of your subjects... they look so, may i say, ALIVE. I'm feeling your picture you know? great work man! and you're right, i think street photography is something you lack, the human touch. Hope to see more great works coming up!!
Very nice. You've done a good job of engaging them, because they look very relaxed and natural. Oh to be young again. Good for you, glad that you made the decision to go for the human element instead of the inanimate.
comment byTristan at 05:23 AM (GMT) on 23 July, 2005
Nice to see something different. I like the photo, but I think it'd be nice to have it true black and white without the colorization. I like the angle of the shot.
Great picture and interesting couple.
What do you think about 17-40L as a portrait lens? I am interested in this lens myself.
comment byandrew at 06:46 PM (GMT) on 23 July, 2005
Hey Dave, great photo. You really captured the beauty of these people, inside and out. I'm curious to know how you went about engaging into a conversation with them?
Adrian: the red/green boost is how I do all my sepia-like shots so, effectively, at least as best I can tell, this is a brown tinge.
Tom: yes the left edge is burned.
fred: because I don't have a film camera.
SteveO: sorry, missed your comment. I was there with John this afternoon.
MP: the 17-40 is a good portrait lens on the 20D as it has a 1.6 crop. On a full-frame sensor I suspect it would probably be a bit too wide.
andrew: I'm not sure. I guess I just stopped to chat. I can't remember the start of the conversation.
comment by fi at 04:02 AM (GMT) on 24 July, 2005
i can't help be distracted by the woman's nose ring poking out from her nose, it looks like a booger.
comment by jaydee at 05:23 PM (GMT) on 25 July, 2005
Hi - good natural portrait, certainly engaged with the subject, which is half the battle. Always difficult to tell with individual monitors having different calibration, but this doesn't look like a sepia toning to me, more like selenium (in old-style printing), which i think adds a fantastic blue-black tone to shadows. Have made notes on your usage of curves!
comment byIrfan Anwar at 09:22 AM (GMT) on 30 July, 2005
Great Shot...... Really amazing with a very clear and focused posture.
John (shotsphotography.co.uk) came over to Blackpool the other day but I didn't have time to go shooting with him as I was laying our new kitchen flooring. He was only out for a couple of hours but he managed to take some wonderful portraits that I've been marvelling at over the last few days. Anyway, my reason for mentioning John and his recent work is that it finally decided me that I desperately need to take more portraits and that I need to go out and engage with people.
So here's my first attempt.
Part way between the North pier and the Central pier is a bandstand, of sorts, that's the hangout for a group of skateboarders and other teenagers. So today, instead of walking past in search of something innanimate to shoot, I decided to stop and talk instead. What I forgot to do was ask their names, but I did give them the url so perhaps they'll stop by and introduce themselves.
Oh, and a few people have emailed me asking me how I produce my black and white shots. In this case it was simply a matter of using Hue/Saturation to desaturate the image after which I applied a Curves adjustment layer to slightly boost the midtones in the red and green channels.
camera
lens
focal length
aperture
shutter speed
shooting mode
exposure bias
metering mode
ISO
flash
image quality
RAW converter
cropped?
4.33pm on 22/7/05
Canon 20D
EF 17-40 f/4L USM
31mm (50mm equiv.)
f/5.6
1/200
aperture priority
+0.0 (-2/3 FEC)
evaluative
100
580EX
RAW
C1 Pro
minor
thanks for sharing your b/w conversion technique. i really like the skin tones and the contrast in this photo.
Ils se prêtent au jeu, ce qui les rend très présents. Le noir et blanc les fixe dans cette attitude. Good first attempt.
Yay - that's a really nice shot. Can't wait to see the rest of your attempts at engaging people! Excellent catchlights in the eyes and lovely soft skintones.
Sorry Dave, I think the red/green boost gives a rather bilious look to the shot. I think a rather more traditional brown tinge would have suited this more. But then, it's your photo and you'll colour it however you like!! :-)
AMAZING! I love it.
Nice shot.
I'd have sworn you also burned the lefthand side where the background was bright. Did you?
First good attempt ... Hey Dave, why don't you start shooting film for a while ? Portrait really can't get better with a B&W film ... What do you think ?
Fred @ 400iso.com
wow, people! I have been trying some people shots lately, they are mostly crap though, this is good, i like it. Maybe i will have to stop and ask some people myself. Nice work, look foreward to seeing more. (you coming to manchester on Saturday?)
beautiful tonation dave!! i love the sparkle you always have in the eyes of your subjects... they look so, may i say, ALIVE. I'm feeling your picture you know? great work man! and you're right, i think street photography is something you lack, the human touch. Hope to see more great works coming up!!
Very nice. You've done a good job of engaging them, because they look very relaxed and natural. Oh to be young again. Good for you, glad that you made the decision to go for the human element instead of the inanimate.
Nice to see something different. I like the photo, but I think it'd be nice to have it true black and white without the colorization. I like the angle of the shot.
-Tristan (Picture Life)
Great picture and interesting couple.
What do you think about 17-40L as a portrait lens? I am interested in this lens myself.
Hey Dave, great photo. You really captured the beauty of these people, inside and out. I'm curious to know how you went about engaging into a conversation with them?
Thanks everyone.
Adrian: the red/green boost is how I do all my sepia-like shots so, effectively, at least as best I can tell, this is a brown tinge.
Tom: yes the left edge is burned.
fred: because I don't have a film camera.
SteveO: sorry, missed your comment. I was there with John this afternoon.
MP: the 17-40 is a good portrait lens on the 20D as it has a 1.6 crop. On a full-frame sensor I suspect it would probably be a bit too wide.
andrew: I'm not sure. I guess I just stopped to chat. I can't remember the start of the conversation.
i can't help be distracted by the woman's nose ring poking out from her nose, it looks like a booger.
Hi - good natural portrait, certainly engaged with the subject, which is half the battle. Always difficult to tell with individual monitors having different calibration, but this doesn't look like a sepia toning to me, more like selenium (in old-style printing), which i think adds a fantastic blue-black tone to shadows. Have made notes on your usage of curves!
Great Shot...... Really amazing with a very clear and focused posture.