Stefan: 1/50

Stefan is a good friend of mine. We became friends while working in a French restaurant. I was a sous chef; he was a server. Stefan is an aspiring (medical) doctor. He lent me my first tripod, and has been hearing about my photographic ambitions for some time!


He good humoredly agreed to be my first portrait model, and sat in a chair while I clicked the shutter and adjusted my camera, my light (a small LED panel on a stand, with a white umbrella to diffuse the light) and my tripod.


After taking a series of photos, where I had (mostly) been paying attention to exposure, I realized I hadn't been paying much attention to the background. We moved to another room and I improvised a backdrop, which eliminated background distractions.


In the end, my favorite photo was from the first set. I have taken more portraits since, and am starting to sense a trend. The best photos seem to come, mostly, from the beginning of a shoot, when the model is fresher, more able to smile and less tired of sitting and waiting. Because my favorite was from early on, I had paid no attention to the background, and so went for a tight crop. I usually try to get the whole face in the frame, but I think I like the close-up here. I picked this photo because of the lighting, which feels a little moody, with a good range of tones. Stefan looks at the viewer, and there are catchlights in his eyes.


There is an open doorway to Stefan's left, which is the main light source (although he is turned away from it). There is also a small fill light about 45 degrees to his right and above him.


I convert most of my portraits to black and white in Photoshop to see whether or not I prefer them to the color versions. I find myself picking the black and white image more often than the color one, but have not yet figured out if I have a personal preference for monotone or whether I am not happy with my color adjustment yet. I guess that time will tell. Here, I also include the color version for the sake of comparison.


ISO 1250, f/5.6, 1/20 second. Focal length 42mm (micro 4/3).


Note that this is a high ISO, particularly for my camera, and a slow shutter speed. I would ideally have liked to decrease the ISO and increase the shutter speed, but was finding the light to be too dim. Maybe facing him towards the doorway would have solved this problem.

Introduction

Welcome to Fifty Portraits, my newest photo project. Since deciding to start on the track to becoming a professional photographer, I have met with several working pros, including John Griebsch (www.johngriebsch.com). John is based in New York state, and specializes in architectural and aerial photography.

John was kind enough to spend some time talking about his career, and giving some advice on how to build mine. After looking at some of my work, he offered some useful pointers to focus my efforts more effectively, and, after I told him that I was interested in portraiture, proposed that I make it my goal to 'shoot' fifty different people, in order to gain experience and refine my skills. And so Fifty Portraits was born.