My Sunday series on outdoor portraiture continues today with an image of Jamie-Lynn that was made during the third and last time I photographed her before she moved to Florida. She has since moved back to Colorado and maybe someday I’ll be able to photograph her again. Since it’s National Smile Power Day I hope your smile makes another person smile who then makes another person smile!
Today’s Post by Joe Farace
Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened. — Dr. Seuss
Making photographs in and around shopping malls can be challenging because they usually have all kinds of rules about making photographs on their premises. The management of an outdoor mall northwest of Denver where I made today’s featured photograph didn’t seem to mind and perhaps that’s why I often made images at this particular location. I’ve made some non-portrait images outside another Denver area mall and was accosted by a security officer telling me not to point my camera at any of the store’s facades because of…reasons.
The Olympus E-300
The Olympus Evolt E-300 was an eight-megapixel DSLR manufactured in Japan and was based on the Four Thirds System, not Micro Four-thirds. Oly’s MMF-1 adapter will, however, let you attach any of the impressive Zuiko Digital Four Thirds mount lenses to MFT cameras. This was the second camera, after the Olympus E-1, to use the Four Thirds System and the first aimed at the consumer market.
The E-300 used Olympus’s Supersonic Wave Filter dust reduction system to shake dust off the sensor during startup. In my experience, the system eliminated the problem of dust specks on its small 17.3 x 13mm sensor.
Most notably The E-300 used Kodak’s KAF-8300CE FFT-CCD sensor that is beloved by many shooters of classic digital camera for it’s (alleged) ability to produce film-like images. I don’t currently own a CCD-based Olympus camera (but wished I did) and based on my own experiences shooting them back when they were new, there is some truth in that assertion. The Olympus E-300 was introduced in 2004 and was replaced in 2006.by the E-330, a similar model that included live preview. I’ve seen used E-300 cameras selling on eBay for around $125, often with a lens, so maybe when my ship comes in I may be able to purchase one—again.
How I Made this portrait: I made this portrait of Jamie-Lynn at an outdoor mall when testing a Zuiko Digital 150mm f/2 ED AF lens for a review to be published in the former print edition of Shutterbug. This was the first of two images I made of this pose. The other image was cropped slightly looser and this is the full uncropped image from the original JPEG file. Jamie-Lynn’s pose and expression are identical in both, Prior to this shoot, I photographed her for an article on outdoor portraiture in the snow and that image was censored by the magazine for…reasons. If you’re wondering what that image looked like, I plan to showcase it in a Sunday series post this coming Winter.
To make this available light exposure, the Zuiko Digital 150mm f/2 ED AF lens was mounted on an Olympus Evolt E-300 Four Thirds system DSLR. The exposure was 1/640 sec at f4 and ISO 400 with a plus one-stop exposure compensation.The camera has a built-in flash but according to the EXIF data it was not fired.
Joe Farace’s Glamour Photography features information about how I shoot glamour portraits in available light situations or when using minimal lighting equipment such as reflectors or speedlights. Used copies are available from Amazon.com for around ten bucks, as I write this. Kindle copies are $19.99 for those preferring a digital format.