I am currently photographing a series of images on Artists. John is quite a well known sculpture in my area. He is a kind and 'gentle' man who is very generous with his time. I very much enjoyed photographing him as he is a great character.
That's one of the most powerdul portraits I've seen! The man is certainly a great character and the arrangement in the room, his pose and the lighting testify that!
I like the visual impact of the image, the deep blacks and the clear highs, but I am a little distracted by not seeing his eyes at all. Maybe I'm too conventional, but I have a hard time with that. Is that intentional?
The other lines in his face are so clear, I have to wonder...
Thanks for your comments all. Thom, this was one of the first times I photographed an environment portrait without studio lights, this was intentional as i wanted to use avaliable light in the Barn conversion that he lives in. There was about one stop difference between the light side of his face and dark side, i tried to fill in with a reflector but obviously it was not enough. Nevertheless it did kinda work out in the end as it is more natural and atmpospheric.
Dave, I imagine the blacks in the rest of the image might be dull if you reduced contrast in the negative. Available light is hard. I think despite the lack of detail in his eyes, that the image is strong, the contrast adds lots of impact, and also the environment really suits the model well, as he obviously is comfortable here. You said it yourself, natural is the word.