B&W Portrait

On a recent trip up to Vermont, I got the chance to photograph my nephew for his senior picture. My aim with this particular take was to use the lines of the building’s wood siding to create some interest. The shallow depth of field helps blur the details in back so that the lines don’t become too distracting. As with most of my images, I made sure the sun was located behind him, even though it was not illuminating him directly. This prevents the indirect lighting from going flat, which can often happen if you shoot in open shade with the sun located somewhere in front of the subject.

Tech Info:

Handheld Nikon D3, 85mm f1.4 lens set to f2.8, shutter speed 1/640th, ISO 400, on B/W mode.

–Eddie.

Tech Info:

Handheld Nikon D3, 85mm f1.4 lens. B/W JPG mode. Sun behind subjects, as usual. Meter reading taken off the kids’ faces, then fine tuned after looking at the histogram.

–Eddie.

Tech Info:

Nikon D200, 85mm lens, set to f2.8, at 1/1250th sec., ISO 400, B/W mode, normal parameters.  As the girls were running away, I made sure to focus on the one closest to me so that whatever depth of field I did have working for me would extend toward the girl furthest from me.  Lighting consisted of morning light coming in from the right of the girls, but which was partially broken up and diffused due to surrounding trees and a building on the right.

Ü

–Eddie.

I wanted to get some images of this friend before she headed off to college and the rest of her life. I had taken grab shots of her as she was growing up, but had never taken the time to have a dedicated session. Interestingly, being a bit of a rebel, she has since changed her hair color. Does that mean another session? Ü

Tech Info:

Handheld Nikon D200, 85mm f1.4 lens, set to f2.0, at 1/400th sec., ISO 800, B/W mode, normal parameters. For this series of images, I positioned her in front of a large sliding glass door that had indirect daylight coming in. I had to watch out for the light coming too much from below (from a bright patio floor outdoors), so in most of the shots I had her leaning forward to lessen the upward angle of the light, in turn avoiding upward shadows. A large piece of foamboard was waved just in front of her to get the little blast of wind that sent her hair flying. Ü

–Eddie.

Tech info:

Handheld Nikon D200, 85mm f1.4 lens set to f1.8 at 1/640th sec., 1600 ISO, B/W mode, normal parameters. This image started out a little dark when I opened it up in Photoshop, and of course got a little noisier when lightened, but I don’t mind the effect in the end. Indirect daylight coming through a window to the right, which meant I had to make sure I was getting a catchlight in the eye furthest from the window.

–Eddie.

Sneaking in another family related image. This one here is a silhouette of my niece and nephew relating to each other during a cozy family get together one recent afternoon up north. I wanted this image look a little abstract by shooting in close so that the outlines of the faces might be emphasized. They were unaware of the camera focused on them, which made it fun for me to hunt and wait for the right moments.

Tech info: Handheld Nikon D200, 60mm f2.8, set to f4 at 1/125th sec., ISO 800, B/W mode, aperture priority. Usually during a paid shoot, I use manual exposure mode and keep exposure/settings relatively constant by staying on the same side of the subject and shooting freely until the light changes. In this way I don’t need to take constant new readings. However, during loose occasions, where I don’t want to move around so much (to stay on the same side of the subject), I will use aperture priority and let the camera dictate the shutter speed as I point in different directions. Although I had a hunch the camera would expose predominantly for the window light in the background and not the skin tones, I thought maybe it was time for a silhouette experiment anyway. Ü

This month’s image is a grab shot of my niece up north. It was a joy shopping for a tree with her, her boyfriend, and her dad. Even the cold was fun. haha.

Tech Info:

Handheld (brrr) Nikon D200, 28-70mm f2.8 lens, set to 65mm, and shot at f2.8, 1/200th sec., ISO 1600, B/W mode, normal parameters.  Somewhat dim overcast winter afternoon lighting.

Ü

–Eddie.

Tech Info:

Handheld Nikon D200, 85mm f1.4 lens set to f1.6, at 1/500th sec., ISO 200, B/W mode, normal parameters. Similar shooting location and lighting as the previous image of these two kids.

–Eddie.

Tech Info:

Handheld Nikon D200, 85mm f1.4 lens, set to f2.2, at 1/400th sec., ISO 200, B/W mode, parameters normal. Lighting: Open shade location, sun behind the subjects, open sky illuminating the subjects from the front and top. Background of slightly backlit foliage about 10 to 15 feet behind the kids.

When my clients and I arrived at the beach, I was very pleased to see that a new piece of driftwood had washed up near the rocks. I never have a “plan” for using these oddly shaped creations, but I do know that kids love them and if I just get them together, something photogenic may happen. With this image, I kinda like the “confusion” that occurs when one views initially…at least when I viewed I did a double-take. And I love when that happens. Ü

Tech Info: Handheld Nikon D200, 85mm 1.4 Nikon lens, set to f2.2 at 1/1250th sec., ISO 100, shot in JPG B/W Mode, manual exposure mode, normal parameters. Morning sun behind the subject; metered for and adjusted settings for the shady side of the girl, then closed a touch so that I wouldn’t lose too much of the highlights.

–Eddie.

Tech: Handheld Nikon D200, 85mm f1.8 set to f2.8, at 1/800th sec., ISO 500, open shade lighting.

–Eddie.

Handheld Nikon D200, 28-70mm f2.8 Nikkor zoom set to 28mm, and f3.5, 1/125th sec., ISO1000, B/W Jpeg, normal parameters, manual exposure mode. To arrive at a quick metering starting point, I took a through the lens meter reading of part of the floor that didn’t contain the really bright highlights. After a test shot and viewing the histogram and my LCD screen (indoors I actually think the LCD helps me hone in on exposures in hurried situations), I futher adjusted my settings to get the children looking a bit dark, but light enough to keep things interesting in the shadows. Knowing ahead of time that I didn’t mind the windows white-ing out helped me interpret the histogram, which of course showed overexposure.

–Eddie.