Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 11   Go Down

Author Topic: Portraiture  (Read 142330 times)

Rob C

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 24074
Portraiture
« on: September 01, 2015, 03:49:17 pm »

Perhaps it's my mind, but I can't seem to think of anyone here who shows a lot of interest in portraiture.

I enclose a few links to one man: Barry Lategan, the guy who created Twiggy in a single afternoon.

Looking at the videos of the time, I note a strong resemblance to the face work of Sarah Moon, especially on the portrait on the wall to the right of his head during one section of the first vid. (8.37); so Sarah's Cacharel! The same eyes are on show in so many of the pìctures which might simply be because both snappers might have used the same make-up artist: Barbara Daly.

Anyway, if you like portraits, this might pass a few happy or, at least, interesting moments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mItrjVj1SGA

http://www.professionalphotographer.co.uk/Features/photographer-profiles/fashion-photographer-barry-lategan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCNmHWP4c48

On the final one, shame somebody decided to sqeeze sideways.

Perhaps one reason why there's not a lot of it on show is the same as mine: inability to find models who don't expect big bucks. All in all, I think I have reached a time in life when I coud happily stand or, better yet, sit on a bar stool behind a 500 Series and just look at faces and click. The essence of a woman is, in the final analysis, visible there more than in any other aspect of her.

Rob

« Last Edit: September 01, 2015, 03:55:27 pm by Rob C »
Logged

Chairman Bill

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3352
    • flickr page
Re: Portraiture
« Reply #1 on: September 01, 2015, 04:31:52 pm »

I like portraiture. That doesn't mean others like my portraiture though...

Thanks for the links

amolitor

  • Guest
Re: Portraiture
« Reply #2 on: September 01, 2015, 05:07:04 pm »

Portraiture on the internets gets short shrift, because it's not about technical details as much as it is about timing and personal rapport (or a good simulation of same).
Logged

AreBee

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 638
Re: Portraiture
« Reply #3 on: September 01, 2015, 05:10:48 pm »

Rob,

Quote
...I think I have reached a time in life when I coud happily stand or, better yet, sit on a bar stool behind a 500 Series and just look at faces and click. The essence of a woman is, in the final analysis, visible there more than in any other aspect of her.

The face, or the eyes?
Logged

Richowens

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 977
Re: Portraiture
« Reply #4 on: September 01, 2015, 05:18:19 pm »

Rob,

 Thank you for the links. Time well spent watching a master at work.

Rich

Logged

petermfiore

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2705
    • Peter Fiore Fine Art
Re: Portraiture
« Reply #5 on: September 01, 2015, 05:21:26 pm »

Rob,


Thanks your suggestions are always the best.

Peter

Rob C

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 24074
Re: Portraiture
« Reply #6 on: September 02, 2015, 03:35:16 am »

Rob,

The face, or the eyes?


Hi Rob,

They work best in tandem.

On the assumption that the question wasn't a tease, try this: go into a website or consult a magazine where you find big cosmetic ads – even just the covers, in many cases – and conceal the face of the girl to reveal ony the eyes. You will often discover that you have just found a dead fish.

I think that a mouth can reveal far more emotion and intent than do eyes.

Equally, if not ridden to death by post-production jockeys, it can work the other way: tight close-ups of eyes can be very powerful.

But there we touch on the problem to which I referred in the OP: models.

To do much in the manner of expression takes one of two things: a God-given skill and/or life-experience, of which the latter is the not-so-secret weapon of 'international' women in their mid-forties upwards. Maturity betrays youthful skin and freshness, but the years add their patina of sophistication which, of itself, has immense appeal to the more experienced adult.

Who wants to photograph teenagers?

Rob

Rob C

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 24074
Re: Portraiture
« Reply #7 on: September 02, 2015, 03:46:30 am »

I like portraiture. That doesn't mean others like my portraiture though...

Thanks for the links


My pleasure; here's a link to one of the most successful lady snappers of the Italian cinema era of the 50s - 60's; the Dolce Vita period.

Her 'blad shots remind me, painfully, every time I look at her work, of the stupidity I displayed years ago ditching my brace of Swedish squares for a series of disappointments with larger Japanes rectangles!

Such monetary consideratons aside, I just happen to be one of those folks who finds the square to be the most powerful shape for portraits. And for much else, too.

http://www.chiarasamugheo.com/4.aspx?sr=0

Rob
« Last Edit: September 02, 2015, 03:52:26 am by Rob C »
Logged

Rob C

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 24074
Re: Portraiture
« Reply #8 on: September 02, 2015, 03:47:48 am »

Rob,


Thanks your suggestions are always the best.

Peter


Hey, I'm blushing already!

Rob

Rob C

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 24074
Re: Portraiture
« Reply #9 on: September 02, 2015, 03:49:36 am »

Rob,

 Thank you for the links. Time well spent watching a master at work.

Rich




Glad you found them interesting!

Rob

AreBee

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 638
Re: Portraiture
« Reply #10 on: September 02, 2015, 04:20:49 am »

Rob,

Quote
On the assumption that the question wasn't a tease...

It was not a tease.

Thank you for clarifying.
Logged

Chairman Bill

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3352
    • flickr page
Re: Portraiture
« Reply #11 on: September 02, 2015, 07:46:56 am »

I see a lot of bad portraiture on the internet - Flickr, YouPic, 500px etc. Poor lighting is the biggest issue, silly poses another. But one thing that always strikes me is the eyes. When we look at someone, and their pupils are constricted, our response is likely to be 'meh'. Offer us dilated pupils though, and things are transformed. Dilated pupils suggest interest, and we find them intrinsically more attractive than constricted pupils. Candle-lit dinners are romantic, at least in part, because both parties will have dilated pupils, so indicating that they find the other person interesting, and making them appear more attractive. For the less handsome amongst us, the low light has other benefits too, maybe the darker the setting, the better it is. But the principle holds; trust me, I'm a psychologist.  :)

So, if you can arrange your lighting so as to promote larger pupils, your photo will look better, all other things being equal.

petermfiore

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2705
    • Peter Fiore Fine Art
Re: Portraiture
« Reply #12 on: September 02, 2015, 08:09:00 am »

I see a lot of bad portraiture on the internet - Flickr, YouPic, 500px etc. Poor lighting is the biggest issue, silly poses another. But one

So, if you can arrange your lighting so as to promote larger pupils, your photo will look better, all other things being equal.

This is true and perhaps a dilating drop or two!!

Peter

tom b

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1471
    • http://tombrown.id.au
Re: Portraiture
« Reply #13 on: September 02, 2015, 08:18:15 am »

As a teacher I took hundreds of portraits for school magazines, etc. It was amazing how many 6x4 prints were stolen by students. I didn't mind, but there was this lust…

Cheers,
« Last Edit: September 02, 2015, 11:01:21 am by tom b »
Logged
Tom Brown

Rob C

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 24074
Re: Portraiture
« Reply #14 on: September 02, 2015, 10:06:37 am »

I see a lot of bad portraiture on the internet - Flickr, YouPic, 500px etc. Poor lighting is the biggest issue, silly poses another. But one thing that always strikes me is the eyes. When we look at someone, and their pupils are constricted, our response is likely to be 'meh'. Offer us dilated pupils though, and things are transformed. Dilated pupils suggest interest, and we find them intrinsically more attractive than constricted pupils. Candle-lit dinners are romantic, at least in part, because both parties will have dilated pupils, so indicating that they find the other person interesting, and making them appear more attractive. For the less handsome amongst us, the low light has other benefits too, maybe the darker the setting, the better it is. But the principle holds; trust me, I'm a psychologist.  :)

So, if you can arrange your lighting so as to promote larger pupils, your photo will look better, all other things being equal.


You're kidding, right?

Large pupils equate with deep, black pools of nothingness; you then can hardly tell if she's blue- or brown-eyed! Gotta have powerful enough modelling lights to keep the pupils stopped down, not 'romantic' restaurant lighting. At least, if you are inviting her back to pose for you after dinner, in the literal sense of the invitation, in which case, my respect soars!

;-)

Rob

P.S.

I suppose we could always rely, in the last resort, on the photographer's favourite solution: red-eye.
« Last Edit: September 02, 2015, 10:08:49 am by Rob C »
Logged

Chairman Bill

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3352
    • flickr page
Re: Portraiture
« Reply #15 on: September 02, 2015, 11:14:09 am »

No, I'm not kidding. Larger pupils are more attractive than small ones. Our brain sees a person interested in them, and we're programmed to respond positively to that.

If you take two identical photographs & touch-up one of them so the pupils are larger, then ask people which one they prefer, the larger pupils will win.

Rob C

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 24074
Re: Portraiture
« Reply #16 on: September 02, 2015, 02:34:08 pm »

No, I'm not kidding. Larger pupils are more attractive than small ones. Our brain sees a person interested in them, and we're programmed to respond positively to that.

If you take two identical photographs & touch-up one of them so the pupils are larger, then ask people which one they prefer, the larger pupils will win.

Only in the mating game, in the gloom of lowered lights; in photography, looking at a face with two large black holes where there should be the colour of iris is not a winner.

Look more closely at magazines covers. You can still create moody light and shade but retain iris colour. The secret's in the strength of modelling light, not flash power.

Maybe troglodytes do it differently, have different song sheets...

;-)

Rob

David Anderson

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 715
    • http://www.twigwater.com
Re: Portraiture
« Reply #17 on: September 02, 2015, 07:17:10 pm »

IMHO, on-line Portrait photography suffers the most from the 'fix it in post' mentality of the internet photo age.
While it's hard to know what the butchered landscape photos might have looked like the before the 'magic' of Photoshop, a portrait where the subject is not even a little interesting really stands out.

That said, I occasionally see some awesome portraits, but they don't seem to get any attention unless they've been absolutely  hammered in post.



Logged

Antonio Correia

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 184
    • Antonio Correia photography
Re: Portraiture
« Reply #18 on: September 03, 2015, 10:15:43 am »

I am not a professional but I have been doing portraits for some time now.
Critics welcome. Thank you ! :)

Logged
All the best to you :)
António Correia
+351 969 067 950 = WhatsApp | www.antoniocorreia.com

RSL

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 16046
    • http://www.russ-lewis.com
Re: Portraiture
« Reply #19 on: September 03, 2015, 01:12:56 pm »

Haven't done any formal portraiture since my kids were young, but here's an informal one I like. As I recall, the lady was 102 when I shot her playing a part in a play.
Logged
Russ Lewis  www.russ-lewis.com.
Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 11   Go Up