Classical pianist

Ulrik Christiansen

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Joined
Oct 13, 2021
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94
Location
Denmark
Format
Medium Format
Hi all

A good friend of mine played a concert of Rachmaninoff works. We usually meet and shoot some portraits of her, when she comes home to Denmark (she lives in France). Mostly digital work, but this time I had my Mamiya C220 loaded with a roll of HP5+. Here are some shots, developed in DD-X 1+9 dilution for 15 minutes and 45 seconds, 20 degrees celcius and scanned with an Epson V550.



Have a nice weekend everyone!
 

Molli

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Dec 28, 2009
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Victoria, Australia
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These are lovely. Both times I photographed pianists I messed up - too slow a shutter speed for musicians moving in the moment (apologies for the excessive alliteration!), resulting in blur.

Your choice of black and white and the square format lend themselves well to the weight of history and timelessness I ascribe to classical music. Your photos are beautiful and I hope your friend enjoys them, too.
 

guangong

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Sep 10, 2009
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Very nice. Helped by fact that your friend is very pretty.
I usually photograph friends while performing. Because light
is usually less than perfect, and to avoid being a noticeable annoyance
to audience, as well as movement from artists actively playing instruments, I find that a rangefinder Leica 35mm works best for me. I prefer my M4, but sometimes use an even more discreet screw mount Leica.
 

Donald Qualls

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Jan 19, 2005
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I think the only shot I ever took of a pianist "at work" was made by the blur -- I braced against the upright piano cabinet and shot at 1/8 second (available light on 1970s Tri-X, but I had only f/3.5 lens, so it was go slow or go home), and the blurred hands were the most important part of the image. I'm still proud of that image almost half a century later (don't have it in a form I can post here, unfortunately).
 

Moose22

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Jul 1, 2021
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Musicians are always a compromise. I do a lot of rock and/or roll stuff. Big on 1/15 to 1/60, depending, because I want to see the hands moving, but I want the face to have minimal motion blur. But different musicians move differently. You have to tailor it to the situation.

But your philosophy is like mine. The action shots with a little motion in them are usually my favorites.

Ulrik's portraits are lovely though. Great model and some classic poses.

@Ulrik Christiansen you're lucky to have so great a model to come work with you. And she's lucky to have you making these shots. The second and the fourth are my favorites.
 

awty

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Jul 24, 2016
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Australia
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Nice compositions, lovely smile, great choice of film.
I would like to see the piano keys better lit.
The candle works better at illuminating in the second picture. Appart from my thoughts the lighting on the whole is very good. Well done.
 

GregY

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Apr 12, 2005
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3,401
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Alberta
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Very nice work Ulrik. I like the lighting as it is.... keeps some mystery in the images....and great depth
 

jimmelcher

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Joined
Jul 22, 2012
Messages
22
Format
35mm
Nice work! I like the second one best, with the hint of a smile. Light is great on all of them: nice, full range of tones. If I were to print one, I’d try reducing the contrast. HP5 has a tendency to exaggerate contrast, I find.
 
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