8x10 portrait, early hollywood style

[Daniel Buck]

Here are two portraits I took about 5 months ago or so, 8x10 Tri-x with Gundlach Radar 12" (both stopped down, don't remember how much) with hotlights. I don't really shoot in the studio very often, so it was fun, but I wasn't satisfied with the results. I just looked at them again yesterday, and I find that I like them more now than I did before. I was going for an 'early hollywood' look.

 

[nicolas claris]

Hi Daniel

though I'm not a B&W guy, I must say the 1st one is quite nice and "amusing".

What a promising smile! (to say the least)

 

[Charlotte Thompson]

Daniel
how good to see you here-this is a very fine forum and I hope you stay with us-

I love the very fine soft sheen on this black and white- I have never seen this kind of work before-
how did you do it-
I will be back to see what say you-

Charlotte-

 

[Daniel Buck]

thanks for the replies

Nicolas, I think she was a little perplexed by the big camera, haha!

Charlotte, the lighting was pretty simple, point lights and a few black cards to block light from hitting certain areas. I've scanned the film flat, and then added contrast back into the image. However, I think most of the soft sheen is probably due to the angled lighting reflecting off her skin. I honestly don't know, portraits are something relatively new to me.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I think the soft sheen you're seeing, Charlotte, is just the look of 8x10". There's a lot of information on the negative, so even with this old, relatively undistinguished, probably uncoated lens, the sharp areas are really sharp and the tonal transitions are smooth, and you're getting lots of microcontrast that you won't get with smaller formats. A contact print is even more impressive than what you can see on the screen.