Today’s Post by Joe Farace
It doesn’t matter what person, place, or thing you’re photographing, the ultimate subject of any photograph is light and it’s the quality of the light that ultimately determines the effectiveness of your portrait. Here are a few aspects that I like about shooting portraits with available light:
It’s free. There’s no lighting equipment to purchase, set up, plug-in, or chew through batteries. You can make photographs outdoors using natural light, as in today’s featured image, or indoors using window light. All you need is a camera and a subject. You can supplement available light with inexpensive reflectors or make one yourself using a piece of foam core board.
It’s easy. You can see the light falling on the subject and won’t have to guess about lighting ratios or move lights around and dealing with lightstands, hair lights, or booms. You’ll quickly discover that the subject is more relaxed and you’ll both be less distracted too.
It’s safe. You eliminate the expense of buying expensive shipping cases or the specter of damage or theft in transit.
It’s fast. You can work faster with the subject enabling getting more and better photographs while allowing them to relax at the same time.
How I made this portrait: In my video The Pros & Cons of Film Photography, I cite the film look as one of the reasons that I, among a lot of other photographers, like to shoot film. This image of young model in a style that might be called “Goth Glamour.” has what I feel is a cinematic quality that could have only been captured by using film.
The portrait was made using available light in the outdoor shooting space of a friend’s studio on a day when it was closed. It was shot with a Contax 167 MT SLR, that’s similar to the one I recently acquired along with a Carl Zeiss 50mm f/1.7 lens and Kodak color negative film. Scans were from Kodak’s defunct Photo CD process and opened using Lemke Software’s Graphic Converter that is not without its quirks (and features.) If anybody’s interested, the process I used could be the subject of a future post. Click CONTACT and let me know.
PS: I m still looking in my files for the name of this model, who are listed in alphabetical order by name in my model release binders. When I find it I would like to give her full credit on this and my other posts where she appears; she was an absolute delight to photograph.
If you would like to send a roll of film for me to review or other stuff for these posts and my videos you can mail it to: Joe Farace, PO BOX 2081, PARKER, CO 80134