Portraits of Family

[andrew green]

all shot with a sinar f 4x5 camera on portra 160nc with a 150mm lens.

i've probably only shot 20 photos with this camera, but its really growing on me. what are your thoughts?

 

[Tori8x10]

I really like these. Obviously I don't know any of these people but your portraits make me feel like I have a glimpse of who they are as people. These have a very intimate feel to them and I like how you've isolated your subjects, just enough.

 

[Prest_400]

They are great. I like more the second and third. The way you used movements to focus makes the picture different from those on "Normal" cameras. I like the way the left hand tree on the second photo appears unfocused. The last one is curious, seems like he's a giant.
And what's that blue/purple thing/cast that appears on the edges? bellows reflecion, light leaks?

 

[andrew green]

light leaks. either my film or backs leaked. i only have like 3 crappy backs i bought off ebay. i can be a cheapskate . but thanks for the comments guys.

 

[Sputnik]

The second one really knocks me out! I think you've really nailed the composition, motif and depth of the image. And the last one also really stand out in my book.

 

[andrew green]

thanks! i want to c-print these bad boys and try to get them into a gallery of sorts.

 

[Jeff Kubach]

I really like your photos. Keep it up!

Jeff

 

[bobwysiwyg]

I really like the night shot into the car interior, very nice. The second one, as others have said, is terrific also.

 

[SuzanneR]

Great work... thanks for sharing them here.

 

[archphoto]

Realy good shots !
I like the second one !

And now...... get some NEW film holders ! Using leaky old ones is such a waste of your effords !

Peter

 

[Rvoge]

Your portaits look great, I recently aquired a 4x5 and wondered how to use it for portraits, your pictures will give me some inspiration.
Rachel

all shot with a sinar f 4x5 camera on portra 160nc with a 150mm lens.

i've probably only shot 20 photos with this camera, but its really growing on me. what are your thoughts?

 

[andrew green]

oh, thanks a lot! its a lot different than shooting a snapshot or even spending some time exposing a photo. you put so much effort into it,however, that you're going to most likely come out with the photo you had in mind. just take your time!

 

[ntenny]

Terrific. It's the last one of the set that really gets me, but they're all compelling pictures. I find this sort of "slightly environmental" portraiture really hard to do well, but when it works, it captures something about the subject that's very individual and communicates it really strongly.

I've got a 16-month-old, so I take a lot of "family snapshot" pictures. Far too many of them end up at one extreme or another: "here's a gigantic setting with the boy occupying three grains in the middle of it" or "here's yet another photo of his face with nothing to give it any context". (I'm leaving aside the group that fall into "here's a really terrible picture that I'll keep anyway because it's of him".) The winners are the ones in the middle: "here he is in his natural habitat", as it were.

As mostly a non-portrait shooter (as I once told someone, I don't even really *believe* in other people, so how can I expect my camera to?), I find this hugely challenging. You seem to be hitting the sweet spot pretty well---if I ever shot a set of ~20 photos of which those were the four best, I'd be pretty darned happy with myself for it!

-NT