Category: Portraits

The eyes. The flowers. Oh my!

This portrait turned out a bit more yellow than I like because of a bit of tungsten light cross over but I’m very happy with Christopher’s pose and my composition of the shot. The two of us spent an hour working together in the studio, trading off as photographer and model. As always, Christopher is excellent in front of the camera and I really admire his willingness to do (almost) anything.

There is a HUGE difference in working in concentration with one person in front of the camera. I’ve really gotten away from doing portraits in this way over the past year, and I have to change this.

Holding his head in his hands

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Holding his head in his hands.

I always crave a creative challenge because it often gets the ideas flowing in new ways. This was taken during an impromptu studio session with friends where we suddenly decided to try out a non-photographic set of lights. I love using props in my people photographs to create a point of interest. The idea of using a mirror isn’t an original one but it is something I’ve wanted to experiment with. It worked to great affect in this shot.

The human element

I rarely do this type of shot where I use a person as a compositional element rather than as the focal point of the photo. I think taking more shots like this is just the thing I need to inject new life into my portraiture. Too often I compose my portraits the exact same way and want to change this.

Lovely Lillian

The Lovely Lillian - SeriesThe lovely Lillian - Series

Practising portraiture skills can be easy when working with a subject who is very comfortable with themselves. Lillian was one such person I was lucky enough to get in front of my lens. I found a location to photograph her and then spent only about twenty minutes one lunchtime taking one roll of pictures. As we chatted during the shoot I observed her natural movements and had her hold a pose when I caught her in a moment I thought worked well. Often with straight-forward people shooting it’s just a matter of catching the subject being themselves.

Kaishin

Kaishin

I’ve been wanting to break out of my usual style of close-up portraiture and take photos of people that are three quarter length or full body shots. I don’t do this often enough because I tend to find it more interesting to work with a subject up close and personal. It’s more challenging for me to create an interesting portrait when the subject is farther away, but I feel I’ve succeeded with this shot of Kaishin.

Two for one

A horrific look and an elegant stance

Lately I’ve had this thing for diptychs, most likely influenced by the Olympus Pen shots of both Jamie and Joanna. I seem to be unconsciously taking photos in a sequence that work well together and I combine them in photoshop. This particular pairing is odd but somehow it works. Hopefully Christopher’s expression won’t give you nightmares…

Portrait Throw Down

BlankartistChristopher Evans
[the user]JJ rockstar

Definition of a “Portrait Throw Down”: If you want to take pictures of your fellow photographers, then be prepared to step in front of the camera yourself. And this is exactly what Vandigicam did on our last meet up this past Sunday. These four shots are from the first session of the “throw down” that took place in August of 2005 at Kits Beach. Both events yielded terrific photographic results for everyone involved, and it was darn fun too!

Her name is Diana

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A gentleman, a daffodil, and beaded curtains

My friend Christopher Evans recently lent me one of his Diana cameras to try out. The Diana is a plastic toy camera very similar to the Holga. Both shoot medium format film, and produce artsy fartsy photographs through their respective technical faults, such as vignetting and light leaks. The Diana’s image size is slightly smaller at 4cm square which allows for sixteen shots per roll of film.

The above shot is from my first roll taken with the Diana and I’m happy with the results so far. I’m glad to get the chance of working with this camera more thoroughly and really see what I can do with it.