Grab Portraits Challenge: Fast Grab- Portaits: No lights, no reflectors.

[Asher Kelman]

Yes, I can feel the swing as he plays the song! Very nice one.


Asher, "Antique Dealer in Los Angeles" is just superb.

John,

Thanks for the kind words!

Asher

 

[John Angulat]

John,

Thanks for the kind words!

Asher

Hi Asher,
I can't take credit for that, the compliment was kindly paid by Ruben

 

[Rachel Foster]

I agree with Ruben!

 

[James Newman]

Thanks all very much. His face was definitely full of character as was his voice. Asher...the song he was playing when this picture was taken was "Yellow Submarine". I guess you missed the first sentence of my original post. Your reasoning and mariner connection however seems like a better description of the scene.
James

 

[James Newman]

This is another musical gentleman that we saw that day at the Winter Street Festival in Tucson. I was not too keen on his choice of location but in some way it actually seemed to work. He was physically challenged and sitting in his motorized scooter that was modified to carry his harp. The whole scene, his location, his seating arrangement, the wonderfully cartoon colorized instrument, just made a very compelling sight to me and my wife. He was really a very talented musician as well and at least in my daily life I don't see or hear harpists that often. It is surely just a grab shot and I wish I had taken a little more time and care in getting a shot but that too seems fitting somehow for this particular subject.
James Newman

 

[Clayton Lofgren]

A white wall

And a shady porch

I still like this type of shot better than dressed up kids.​

 

[Mark Hampton]

after a breakfast of yellow playdough - we begain training him for the masked ball

a split second later - it was off

 

[Daniel Schaefer]

I work almost exclusively in the Spontaneous portrait medium, i love catching the person Just before they really have time to react to the camera so heres a few!

this one is titled,

Speckles with Red

Wise ass/man

Why not Chew things over...

Demon tongue

Enjoy!

Cheers!

Daniel S Schaefer

 

[Asher Kelman]

And a shady porch

I still like this type of shot better than dressed up kids.​

Clayton,

You always get me with that look in your kids' eyes and the detail n the fuzzy hair! charmng!

Asher

 

[Clayton Lofgren]

This strikes me as very good, and your toothpicker as well.

 

[Daniel Schaefer]

This strikes me as very good, and your toothpicker as well.

Thank you very much Clayton!

the bulk of my photography consists of spontaneous portraiture, and ever since i starte using a 50mm 1.4 lens, ive found those portraits have gotten even more gorgeous than i ever thought they could be

Cheers!

Daniel

 

[Asher Kelman]

I work almost exclusively in the Spontaneous portrait medium, i love catching the person Just before they really have time to react to the camera so heres a few!

Daniel,

I too like getting these quiet moments. Interesting that the state of the relaxed face can be so varied in different public places. Somehow in the airports, when the plane is delayed, all pretenses at sophistication vanish.

Daniel Schaefer: Demon tongue​

Here, in demon tongue, the pose is both private but situation aware, so there's the personal satisfaction of smoking like a quiescent but still smoldering volcano and also the public view of a person who is wrapped in thought.

Asher

 

[Jim Galli]

Philip, leaves for college this AM

philip, somber​

Our beloved pastor's son, done last evening at the farmer's market. They left Nevada this AM to take him to Virginia Tech. Philip has a brilliant mind and a sweet spirit.

I consider this portrait to be just about as 'straight' as a portrait can be. Done in open shade with the 8X10 Kodak camera and a Bausch & Lomb petzval portrait lens. 15" f5 wide open @ 1/25th second.

 

[Asher Kelman]

philip, somber​

Our beloved pastor's son, done last evening at the farmer's market. They left Nevada this AM to take him to Virginia Tech. Philip has a brilliant mind and a sweet spirit.

I consider this portrait to be just about as 'straight' as a portrait can be. Done in open shade with the 8X10 Kodak camera and a Bausch & Lomb petzval portrait lens. 15" f5 wide open @ 1/25th second.

This is an interesting shot. There's a sense of great reserve in strength and quiet confidence as well as peace of mind. I'd have thought this was a portrait of a gut going to the marines and destined to become a great officer! He's one lucky guy to have you take this picture. This man is at the cusp of great changes. He'll meet such a spread of new people and ideas. That's a huge challenge and even a culture shock. Doubtless he'll make great friends there and do himself proud. He seems very fit. Does he do sports or is he a workout type?

Asher

 

[Jim Galli]

He seems very fit. Does he do sports or is he a workout type?

Asher

Ha ha ha ha ha, nah, he's just young. we were that way once. remember? Have a great day.

 

[Clayton Lofgren]

Bokeh doesn't get better than that.

 

[Tasha Pinheiro]

Critique would be greatly appreciated!

Natasha Pinheiro: My Adorable Niece!​

My adorable niece! It was my sisters wedding day and while she was getting her hair done, my niece ran out on the hair dresser and into the back yard. With no regard to her pretty flower girl dress and shoes, she climbed into the flower patches and started picking them. I just thought it was a moment that really captured her personality because she is all about doing her own thing doing what she wants when she wants, and all the while you can't get mad because of that adorable little grin.

I hope you like this!

Natasha

 

[Tasha Pinheiro]

So, I know I was the last one to post here, but I'd like to post another if you guys don't mind. I'd just really like to get as much of my work up as I can because I really want to know what you guys think... Reason being is that I'm trying to figure out whether I have enough potential to actually pursue a photography degree.

Anyways, took this one only like, an hour ago, haha. My mom came in my room to talk to me and I thought that in all her undone, dishevelled imperfection - what with her lack of make up and quickly thrown up hair - she looked beautiful. So here it is!

 

[Daniel Schaefer]

Outlierimagery.com

Here are 4 images for your viewing:

Detail- a gas station attendant in Studio City CA pauses for a portrait

I get by with a little help from my friends

neow neow- a girl soars playfully around an empty highschool

Lone Love- a woman sits somberly in the corner booth of a downtown restaurant​

Daniel

 

[Asher Kelman]

Critique would be greatly appreciated!

Natasha Pinheiro: My Adorable Niece!​

Hi Natasha,

Yes, she's adorable. If you wanted to stage the picture, you'd tell her to pick a flower, stand by the tree, head down and bashful. Neat! It's what happened and you just caught it.

Your two pictures are copied to their own new thread, here devoted to your portrait work so we can give attention to your request for serious feedback.

Thanks for sharing and "Good luck!" on your quest!

Asher

 

[Graeme McKellar]

Some shots from a school visit in Wuhan, China and one from a Yangtze Cruise.

Graeme McKellar : Happy Life

Graeme McKellar : Flower Girl

Graeme McKellar : Wuhan Schoolgirl

Graeme McKellar : Yangtze Cowgirl​

Cheers Graeme.

 

[James Cook]

Roy Jealous of Him, Wounded Knee, South Dakota

Ruth Black Bear, Wounded Knee, South Dakota
​

 

[fahim mohammed]

Roy Jealous of Him, Wounded Knee, South Dakota

Ruth Black Bear, Wounded Knee, South Dakota
​

James, the first photo is grand; the second is sublime. Brilliant.

Thank you.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Jim Galli in the Tonopah Silver Mine Office

At the end of a day of shooting, I discovered Jim and Eddie were photographing in a different part of the abandoned Tonopah Silver Mine Museum. The building is easily overlooked as its mostly empty. It has one very interesting small office with a broken down chair. The leather is cracked and the seat couldnt possible take the weight of an adult! So I purloined a small plank and put t over the dangerously fragile center of the seat and had Jm Galli sit down and it held!

The light coming in from the window was very bright. Ideally, I'd have overcome the light with flash and a fast enough shutter speed to get the effect of the evening light and have the shadows opened up just enough. Still, that was not possible. We were packing up!

So here's my grab shot with 8x10 Efke 25 ISO film, scanned at 600 dpi with a simple desktop all in one printer-scanner, MP610 I got for free when I bought my wife her iMac!

Asher Kelman: Jim Galli in the Tonopah Silver Mine Office

8x10 Silver Gelatin i50 mm Super Symmar XL, Efke 25 ISO PL 25 M Film, Chamonix 8x10 Camera ​

Jim has taken wonderful pictures of the chair and other treasures. His perfectly balanced pictures are here.

Asher

 

[Clayton Lofgren]

A great page, from China to Wounded Knee to Tonopah. All nice stuff, but I would really enjoy some time with the people from Wounded Knee.

 

[Ron Morse]

This is nice Asher. If you had more time to use your flash it would have been even better. Jim looks right at home in this setting.

 

[Jim Galli]

This is nice Asher. If you had more time to use your flash it would have been even better. Jim looks right at home in this setting.

I had to stop counting all my money for a minute, and look at Asher.

 

[Rajan Parrikar]

Asher,

This is a superbly executed exposure.

(I almost missed it - OPF has so many sub-sections, it is confusing at times!)

 

[Jerome Marot]

The light coming in from the window was very bright. Ideally, I'd have overcome the light with flash and a fast enough shutter speed to get the effect of the evening light and have the shadows opened up just enough.

Certainly not. The exposure is perfect as it is. Saturated highlights and blocked shadow are not a problem. On the contrary: we would be distracted if we had details in these zones, which do not belong to the subject.

I know that it is not fashionable today to have saturated highlights or blocked shadows. It seems that everyone wants HDR pictures. My feeling is that this fashion is wrong. Saturated whites and blocked shadows have been part of the tools of the artist for a very long time, proving their usefulness as tools. Yet, nowadays it sometimes feels as if the average internet critic would object to Rembrandt for its use of blocked shadows. Ludicrous.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Certainly not. The exposure is perfect as it is. Saturated highlights and blocked shadow are not a problem. On the contrary: we would be distracted if we had details in these zones, which do not belong to the subject.

I know that it is not fashionable today to have saturated highlights or blocked shadows. It seems that everyone wants HDR pictures. My feeling is that this fashion is wrong. Saturated whites and blocked shadows have been part of the tools of the artist for a very long time, proving their usefulness as tools. Yet, nowadays it sometimes feels as if the average internet critic would object to Rembrandt for its use of blocked shadows. Ludicrous.

That's a great caution, Jerome; well said! There's studio lights and then there's available light. i prefer the latter! We do not need to expose every detail as it opposes our choice for relevance.

Asher