LF Portraits

laz · Oct 21, 2005

Lately I've become dis-enchanted with landscape. This is funny considering I got into LF for it (not all that long ago either). Visiting the APUG gallery has influenced me greatly; while there are many stunning landscapes, and I still love them, it is portraiture that attracts me like a moth to a flame.

It really shouldn't be all that surprizing because this shift mirrors the one I had in 35mm from strictly "nature" to people and human places. I guess I thought of LF only for landscape. This dis-enchantment becomes most acute when I look at Jim Galli's work. I don't just mean his fabulous old lenses. I've seen old lenses in hands other than Jim's that don't even come close.

So what are some B&W LF portrait techniques and tricks? I know that studio and field are apples and oranges so I guess I'm talking informal natural light.

-Bob

juan · Oct 21, 2005

Edward Weston purportedly used window light and a movable screen/reflector. He'd vary the distance of the screen to vary the background from dark to light.
juan

David A. Goldfarb · Oct 21, 2005

I find it helps to think of LF portraiture with a view camera (as opposed to a Graflex SLR or a rangefinder camera like a Graphic or Technika), as a collaborative venture. The subject needs to understand the process, so they can hold still while you focus, close the shutter, insert the filmholder, remove the darkslide, make final adjustments, and take the shot. I explain, switch places, and let them see the groundglass image, so they know what I'm looking at. The fleeting moments you can capture this way are more subtle changes in expression than gross movements or changes in figure and form.

Those old portrait lenses are usually pretty fast (around f:4). In natural light, that's a good thing, and is pretty well matched to the simple shutters they may or may not have, where an "instantaneous" speed is aroun 1/4-1/15 sec. For more speed, or if you have a focal plane or Sinar shutter, shoot an ISO 400 film and process it in Acufine, Microphen, Diafine, or the RAF Pyro formula I've posted in the chemistry recipes section of APUG.

With natural light and big apertures, focus is tricky. I recommend tying a string to the tripod and putting a knot on the end. Have the subject hold the knot to their nose, and in this ridiculous position, focus on the eyes. Then when you put the filmholder in and pull the slide, you can check the focus with the string before taking the shot. Feels silly when you're doing it, but it works. I can take shot after shot with the 8x10" at f:4 this way, and the eyes will always be in focus.

And yes, there is a guy out there who makes photographic head clamps.

rbarker · Oct 21, 2005

Dead Link Removed

I've found that posing the person such that they are supported in some way helps with maintaining focus. Most people, even when seated, will tend to weave back and forth just enough to throw focus off a touch. In the "good old days" they used cast-iron body clamps for that purpose.

BradS · Oct 21, 2005

rbarker said:
I've found that posing the person such that they are supported in some way helps with maintaining focus. Most people, even when seated, will tend to weave back and forth just enough to throw focus off a touch. In the "good old days" they used cast-iron body clamps for that purpose.

Now-a-days we just use strips of leather....

Seriously though, I find semi-formal portraiture to not only be the most difficult but also the most satisfying form of photography.

John_Brewer · Oct 21, 2005

David A. Goldfarb said:
With natural light and big apertures, focus is tricky. I recommend tying a string to the tripod and putting a knot on the end. Have the subject hold the knot to their nose, and in this ridiculous position, focus on the eyes. Then when you put the filmholder in and pull the slide, you can check the focus with the string before taking the shot. Feels silly when you're doing it, but it works. I can take shot after shot with the 8x10" at f:4 this way, and the eyes will always be in focus.

Excellent idea. Up to now i've taken several shots at a time while keeping my fingers crossed which can get a bit expensive.

J

eumenius · Oct 21, 2005

He-he,

from what I can recall from my studies in our Moscow photo college (yes, I finished it as a document photographer in 1986, before entering the University), the most important tool for 18*24cm portrait is a tack sharp pencil All the sharpness usually was made by a heavy yet invisible on print negative retouching. I doubt that a regular old wooden 18*24 Russian FKD camera (http://cgi.ebay.com/FKD-18x24cm-WOO...ryZ15247QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem) with glass plate holders was able to deliver a sharp picture of human's face. We were taught to stick the film by its back on old loaded plates with pieces of our analogue of Band-Aid. And all the holders were old and curved from uneven drying. And add 32 ASA film and hot lights. Of course, on this background the modern cameras will do...

removed account4 · Oct 21, 2005

hi bob

david's suggestions with the knot is a good one.
i don't have one of those thingy's ( or an egg looking thing at the end of a string ) ...

i practice a lot focusing on eyes. it works well when you don't have a bright light or a "tool" to help you get things in focus. i also have a magnifier that i use to make sure they are in focus. it isn't a little loupe, but one of those big things that i got for a toyo view camera. it comes in handy.

i shoot a lot of available light with a tiny bit of fill - i tend to have a little strobe with me. mine is a lumedyne, and i generally dial it down to 50ws (or less now that i can). i like the fact that you can sync at any speed with large format shutters... so i tend to shoot sometimes at 1/15 or 1/30S and with the flash. you don't have a big flash you can do this sort of thing with any flash as long as you have a pc plug and a cord.

in a "studio setting" i am a big fan of very low light in 'soft boxes' set at 45º ( or more like a light bank ) angles from my subject. i don't use strobes, except for the modeling light, and i have monoblocks so i can change the intensity of each light independent of eachother. i fan ( i think some people call it butterfly ) the lights so the nose shadow doesn't appear, and i tend to shoot wide open ( sometimes this is f3.8, f3.5, f4, f5.6 depending on the lens i am using ). my exposures are anything from 1/20ths to 3 -5 seconds.

while fast exposures are great for some things, i am believer that you really "see" a person better when it is a long exposure, the trick is to have them practice sitting still for that long

buy a whole bunch of outdated film to practice with, it is cheep, and you won't regret the learning curve ( i only shoot outdated film )

laz · Oct 21, 2005

Lighting; I'm a complete know-nothing. I don't even own a strobe anymore! I've been looking for a decent basic studio lighting book, anybody with any suggestions?

I do have a couple of specific questions:

jnanian said:
hi bob
in a "studio setting" i am a big fan of very low light in 'soft boxes' set at 45º ( or more like a light bank ) angles from my subject.

Okay, I found out what a 'softbox' is how many do you use?

i don't use strobes, except for the modeling light,

modeling light, what 'dat?

and i have monoblocks so i can change the intensity of each light independent of eachother.

Searching monoblocks gets me nothing related to Photography?

Thanks !
-Bob

dphphoto · Oct 21, 2005

The Britek lights sold on eBay are cheap and fairly sturdy. Umbrellas are cheaper than softboxes and easier to move around. Those Sekonic multi-meters, while not cheap, kill several birds with one stone (including flash meter).
It amazes me when I look at the portraits Weston did (in books, I can hardly afford the prints). He was shooting film at maybe e.i. 25, though it was probably more like 12 or 6, and he got so much in focus. But more importantly, he got people looking wonderfully natural.

Charles Webb · Oct 21, 2005

"Butter Fly Light" According to G Hurrell and others, Is a small spot (Inky Dink or Photogenic 150 to 200 watts) mounted directly above the "sitter's" head on a boom, aimed down so as to cast a tiny "Butter Fly" shadow below the nose. The shadow should not touch the upper lip with the sitter smiling nor burn out the top of the forhead. A very difficult technique to perform with strob light but with a long small diameter snoot it can be done. Charlie.......

removed account4 · Oct 21, 2005

thanks charlie!

i had a feeling what someone told me my lighting was, was not "really" what it was

i appreciate your knowledge !

-john

Charles Webb said:
"Butter Fly Light" According to G Hurrell, Is a small spot (Inky Dink or Photogenic 150 to 200 watts) mounted directly above the "sitter's" head on a boom, aimed down so as to cast a tiny "Butter Fly" shadow below the nose. The shadow should not touch the upper lip with the sitter smiling nor burn out the top of the forhead. A very difficult technique to perform with strob light but with a long small diameter snoot it can be done. Charlie.......

jimgalli · Oct 21, 2005

Hi Bob. Any success is beginners luck as I really don't know much about portraiture and am just getting my feet wet so to speak. To me it is the biggest LF challenge simply because I am the wrong personality type to make it easy. I'm shy and retiring, and I put people ill at ease somehow. Not the best combination. Never-the-less I'm motivated and the few nice things I've gotten to date have been among the most satisfying pictures I've made. I've got a nice studio light set-up but have relegated it to the future. So far I've simply made portraits in open shade.

I spent a lot of $$ recently restoring a nifty old RB Graflex and adapting a Wollensak 9" Verito for 4X5 portrait work. I also adapted one of the magic lantern petzval's for it so it can do things very similar to the last group of 3 I posted, but in 4X5. Then I discovered my vision is so poor I can't use the darn thing very well. Contact me off line if you've got any interest.

removed account4 · Oct 21, 2005

hi bob

i have a chimera ( medium ) and a 40" larson soff box.
new larson soff boxes are *really* expensive, but sometimes you can find their older boxes for cheep. chimera softboxes are pretty cheep used too, but not as cheep as the larson. in both cases, it is the mount that will cost a fair amount of $$ i think i paid more for each of the 'speed rings' than both boxes combined.

a monoblock light is a self contained strobe
http://www.novatron.com/ns/specials.php#

the modeling light is just a tungsten bulb so you can see constant light from the strobe.

i've a few different books ( pro series off of amazon, ny institute of photography coursebooks ross lowell's matter of light and depth ) but i'm not sure if any one of them is better than the other.
the coursebooks are kind of dated, the lowell book reads kind of like a novel, and the pro-lighting books always have diagrams and all sorts of lighting that only a photographer with a war-chest worth of lighting might have ... i worked for a portrait photographer as an apprentice when i got out of school and seeing her work, and then seeing the result on film really was the best thing of all ... kind of like a long workshop.

not sure if you are going to the apug conference, but i think blansky (michael mcblane) is giving a portrait workshop.

good luck!
john

df cardwell · Oct 21, 2005

This is weird.

Talking about portraits, and we're into all kinds of weird technical stuff, but not dealing with the real part.

Start with a person. Put them in front of the camera. Take a picture. That's it.

The thing to get from Weston is what he said about it: "If I'm thinking about the camera, it isn't a portrait. "

Get some film, any film, into some holders, and drag a willing victim into some light. Any light. Look shoot. Have fun. It'll sort itself out.

cheers

laz · Oct 21, 2005

df cardwell said:
The thing to get from Weston is what he said about it: "If I'm thinking about the camera, it isn't a portrait. "

Of course at the end of the day you are right. But remember, Weston didn't need to think about the camera. Like all true artists his tools became extensions of himself. Part if the enjoyment I get from photography is about the tools, but unlike my younger self I choose very carefully and with great deliberation. Equally enjoyable to me is learning technique, aquireing knowledge.

So I guess you would say I like to start with my toolbox stocked with a small number of quality tools as a starting point for whatever venture I'm setting off on. I need to understand what I'm setting out to do, it just gives me pleasure that way!

-Bob

Ben Diss · Oct 21, 2005

Laz- Here's the book: Light- Science and Magic. I read the AA trilogy, Simmons, Stroebel, and a book on canned lighting sets for portraits (yuck). Nothing taught me more about light than Light-Science and Magic.

Now, having said all that I still don't know diddly, except now when I take a really bad picture I know the right term to describe what I did wrong.

-Ben

Ben Diss · Oct 21, 2005

Here's one of my early attempts. I love this pic because I loved the subject. Spot was the perfect cat. No mess, no fuss, understood how not to get in the way, posed for pics, purred on command.

Of course, the lightings all wrong. I needed to balance the left with right and I really, really hate the sheet I hung up for a background. Still, I got her to sit still long enough to take the shot and I managed to get her eyes in focus.

laz · Oct 21, 2005

Jay! went to you gallery, wow! That one of your son and his "girl" is awesome!

Kayus · Oct 23, 2005

So what are some B&W LF portrait techniques and tricks? I know that studio and field are apples and oranges so I guess I'm talking informal natural light.

-Bob[/QUOTE]

I like doing portraiture with LF, even outdoors. To me working with LF on portraiture will show more the character of the subject. See my site: Dead Link Removed on the portrait subject. Except "Bali farmer", "Medicine man" and "Mask carver", all were made with LF, Linhof Technika 2000MT to be more specific. Some were made on the run, so to speak. The painter "Don Blanco" (the Great Master passed away one month after the photo session) gave me only 5 minutes, not even time for polaroid! (He was just recovering from illness and i had to shoot with natural light wide open @1/4sec! From the 8 sheets, only 1 were in focus. But one is all i needed.)
Another thing with using LF is, it will give you more respect. The portraits from Bali were all made without prior appointments. Just showed at their house and asked permission to take their photographs. When they saw me with "a serious camera", they changed their attitude (from: "ah, another tourist with a camera...!" to "hey, this guy must know what he's doing") and made the effort to put on their best clothes.
One thing about doing portraits with LF (or any format for that matter), is to show confidence to your "client". Dont fumble with your camera too much. Cover the basic.
Hope this will help. Happy shooting!
Kayus.
Dead Link Removed

Gregg Brekke · Oct 24, 2005

Hi Bob,

I've been concentrating on 8x10 portraiture almost exclusively over the last 1.5 years. I had the privilege of attending a Kim Weston workshop here in Dayton, OH with my huge old Cambo 8x10 monorail and that taught me a lot. Kim only uses natural light and I wanted to create a natural light-like feel but my studio is in the basement...

So, lighting is two Sunkpack 1000ws monolights, each at 45 degrees to the subject. One full power, one at 1/4 power. I have them covered with 60 inch Photek Softliter II umbrella/soft boxes. These create big and soft light. Check out my gallery for a few examples.

As for camera technique - I try to have everything set up for a standard 3 foot focus distance prior to the subject showing up. This works well for most head and shoulder shots. My lens is fairly wide (250mm) for 8x10 so I usually apply a little forward tilt on the back standard to maintain perspective. I find that at this focus distance f11 or f8 work pretty well.

Explaining the process to your subject helps a lot. Nervous people tend to "sway-and-bob" and you have to be conscious of their activity - tell them about how critical the camera focus is. They will usually get it and stay still while you compose, focus, tilt and check focus. The faster you can move from final focus check to film holder in the camera - the better. Practice with a still-life: compose, focus, close shutter, stop down, insert holder, remove darkslide... click.

Hope this helps. GB

laz · Oct 24, 2005

Gregg Brekke said:
I wanted to create a natural light-like feel So, lighting is two Sunkpack 1000ws monolights, each at 45 degrees to the subject. One full power, one at 1/4 power. I have them covered with 60 inch Photek Softliter II umbrella/soft boxes. These create big and soft light. Check out my gallery for a few examples.

Thanks Greg, I like the effect.
-Bob

BradS · Oct 24, 2005

df cardwell said:
The thing to get from Weston is what he said about it: "If I'm thinking about the camera, it isn't a portrait. "

Amazing insight. The goal then is to be so proficient with your equipment that you need not give it much of your attention. The process must become second nature. One has to get past the "Oh! Crap!...I forgot to close the shutter and stop down the lens before I pulled the darkslide" stage of LF photography. I guess I at least know where the goal is now.

JHannon · Oct 24, 2005

I had heard that Weston used only one brand of film and developer and knew almost by intuition, the right amount of light and how the equipment will perform. I think once he had the technical side down and didn't have to worry about it, it allowed him more freedom to concentrate on the subject.

Just my thoughts...
John

laz · Oct 24, 2005

JHannon said:
I think once he had the technical side down and didn't have to worry about it, it allowed him more freedom to concentrate on the subject.

I think that this holds true for any art. I've heard musicians describe how they "become one" with their instrument and read how sculptors "feel" the stone and "see" what it is to become with their hands.

I think one of the keys to good photography is knowing how your camera and film are "seeing" things and duplicate that vision in your mind. You can then look at the world and "know" what it is you will capture and how you will do it.

-Bob

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