Portraits with TLR

[Pieter12]

Have the subject hold a small ball of crumpled tin foil next to their nose. It will be easy to focus on. If there is not enough ambient light, you could shine a flashlight beam on the foil. But if there is so little light, you might have a hard time getting a decent exposure, too.

 

[eli griggs]

flashlight is normal flashlight that you keep it in the house. Typically when the light is dim its difficult to focus on ground glass then you shine a bit on the subject face...

I use continuous video light

View attachment 410753

This looks to be a Lume Cube type LED, of which I've pretty much built a full system, two Pro 2.0, one smaller "Go" panel, two square, waterproof cubes, two knock off cubes with barndoors, filters, honeycomb, funnel, etc.

For close-up and fill light im very happy and have a system of Vivitar 283 and 285 strobes for more power.

Light is always relevant and workinh with the light as it is, rarely calls for maximums or, for instance, Speeding Black Line strobes, etc.

Learning to work with your kit is half the battle of great shots, the rest just requires your imagination and practice.

IMO.

Eli

 

[Pieter12]

Is this a lighting thread now?

 

[Vaughn]

A portrait taken back in the mid-80s. Among many things, I ran a trail crew for the US Forest Service for all of the 80s. This was taken while working in the wilderness. I'll remember his name late tonight or in the early morning hours.

While I work mainly with large format cameras, the Rolleis have proven to be good portrait cameras for me...mostly to photograph my triplets as they grew (using color negative film). And mostly in the landscape, but closer to the camera than my work with the boys and the 8x10 (B&W).

Trailworker, 1980s
Yolla Bolly Middle Eel Wilderness Area, CA

Rolleiflex 3.5, 10x10 silver gelatin print, photographed with iPhone.

 

[Vaughn]

One more from that time.

Larry hit the beach in Vietnam as a marine in the 60s. Great man and hard worker -- went on to work in Wildlife Mgt. Taken at the cabin we worked out of at the edge of the wilderness.

Same camera, etc. as above.

 

[Cholentpot]

One more from that time.

Larry hit the beach in Vietnam as a marine in the 60s. Great man and hard worker -- went on to work in Wildlife Mgt. Taken at the cabin we worked out of at the edge of the wilderness.

Same camera, etc. as above.

If you don't mind me saying, this is a wonderful shot.

 

[LibraryTroll]

Hi,

I want to get more experience with portrait photography. Still no Pentax 67, but I have a beautiful Rolleiflex 3.5F with Rolleinar 1 and 2.

I have a Rick Oleson spilt screen ground glass in my Rolleiflex.

I lean on the coupled lichtmeter (yes I know....). I also use only natural light.

In some pictures I made, if found it hard to focus, and some portraits are slightly out of focus, maybe due to too open aperture, but don't know for sure.

Anyhow, tips and tricks are welcome!

Thanks in advance!

Hello,

I felt the need to circle back to the original question. It seems to have gotten buried in "helpful" responses. Yes, we all should remember that sometimes we just need to practice with the equipment that we have. (What's the saying? The best camera for the job is the one in your hand.... or something like that.) Would portraits be easier with a different camera or lens combo.... yes, no, maybe, and it depends on the person! Some people just can not abide using TLRs for whatever reasons. Totally fine! I hear that some people don't even like the form factor of a Hasselblad... total heresy, but okay, fine!

My introduction into medium format photography was my grandfather's old Yashica MAT-124 so I have had a soft spot for TLRs ever since he gave it to me. You have a very capable camera, which sounds like you have kitted out nicely. I have a similar setup with a Rolleicord Vb. I have used the Yashica Close-Up lens sets and Rolleinars. They take practice. Tripods do help since I find that the focal depth is still rather shallow when using close-up lenses even at smaller apertures.

I recently used a Rolleinar #3 and chased around a bunch of bees on garlic chives -- handheld! Yeah, stupid I know, but it was rather good practice in patience. Results were okay. I would not call them great photos. It was a challenging practice exercise, and one fully confirming how much a pain the ass it is to chase bees with a Rolleicord, Rolleinar 3, waist-level finder, and all while handheld. I found this exercise challenging in other ways too like my aging vision. I have an adapter that allows me to use Hasselblad prisms or chimney viewers. I would probably use this in the future while I'm in the field.

Sample Photos (if I can get them uploaded): 1. Cat portrait w/ Yashica MAT-124G and Yashica Close-Up Lens #2; and the rest are Garlic Chives / Bees w/ Rolleicord Vb and Rolleinar #3

 

[baachitraka]

Is this a lighting thread now?

It's still on focusing the subject...

 

[bdial]

Way back when, I worked with a Rolleiflex day in and day out shooting everything from portraits to accident scenes, i used the sports finder quite a lot, which a lot of Rollei users seem to ignore.
It avoids all the issues around moving left to track a subject moving right, or up vs. down. For portraits it gives a more pleasing viewpoint for most subjects.
On many (most?) Rolleiflexs you can still focus. I didn’t have a Rolleinar as part of my arsenal though, so wide open at close distances might be iffy, unless you’re really careful with camera and subject movement.

 

[Analogski]

Way back when, I worked with a Rolleiflex day in and day out shooting everything from portraits to accident scenes, i used the sports finder quite a lot, which a lot of Rollei users seem to ignore.
It avoids all the issues around moving left to track a subject moving right, or up vs. down. For portraits it gives a more pleasing viewpoint for most subjects.
On many (most?) Rolleiflexs you can still focus. I didn’t have a Rolleinar as part of my arsenal though, so wide open at close distances might be iffy, unless you’re really careful withe camera and subject movement.

The sports finder turns everything upside down. I can't seem to get used to it...

 

[BrianShaw]

The sports finder turns everything upside down. I can't seem to get used to it...

I'm assuming that your tongue is in your cheek. Hope so because I LOL'd at that response.

 

[BMbikerider]

C'mon guys. I haven't read this much BS and speculation in a long time. Does anyone here actually take pictures?

Possibly but obviously some have never used a TLR.

I tried to today with my Yashicamat 124G and drove 60 miles to a 11th C. Saxon church which I had promised myself to visit to photograph the inside - but when I got there the outside churchyard wall. was being rebuilt so could not get inside. Ah well there is always another day. That is the beauty of retirement

 

[baachitraka]

The sports finder turns everything upside down. I can't seem to get used to it...

In my Rolleicord Va for example, I have a sport finder which is a window without glass or what ever in-between. Setting the focus to infinity and viewing through the sport finder could able to shot some sport shots.

And where as my old Rolleicord I/II, I have a sport finder that turns the image upside down and with the dim screen its so difficult to see the entire frame.

 

[Cholentpot]

Possibly but obviously some have never used a TLR.

I tried to today with my Yashicamat 124G and drove 60 miles to a 11th C. Saxon church which I had promised myself to visit to photograph the inside - but when I got there the outside churchyard wall. was being rebuilt so could not get inside. Ah well there is always another day. That is the beauty of retirement

Yashica Mat, BW400CN. Does this count as a portrait? I may talk a lot but I do take photos. 129 rolls and counting this year. And I developed all of them myself aside from about 5. The fresh stuff goes to a lab.

 

[Donald Qualls]

So you are saying you can do same portraiture with ANY lens? Which is of course impossible.

If the focal length isn't too long (causing a too-tight composition at the optimum working distance) and if you aren't afraid to crop. A 35 mm lens on a 35 mm negative may leave you with too little negative area to crop to a good composition, but on a 6x6 with 75-80 mm lens, that shouldn't be a problem. A 4x5 with a 105-ish mm lens will give you a choice of multiple kinds of portraits -- full frame will be full-length seated, but there's plenty of negative to crop down to head and shoulders or even tight facial composition.

 

[OAPOli]

I'm assuming that your tongue is in your cheek. Hope so because I LOL'd at that response.

I think he is referring to the "optical" sports finder, whose viewing window is slightly below the direct finder frame. It shows a central crop of the focusing screen, and it is laterally AND vertically flipped. Not practical.

 

[cliveh]

One more from that time.

Larry hit the beach in Vietnam as a marine in the 60s. Great man and hard worker -- went on to work in Wildlife Mgt. Taken at the cabin we worked out of at the edge of the wilderness.

Same camera, etc. as above.

Great portrait Vaughn. He looks like a really interesting character.

 

[Pieter12]

One more from that time.

Larry hit the beach in Vietnam as a marine in the 60s. Great man and hard worker -- went on to work in Wildlife Mgt. Taken at the cabin we worked out of at the edge of the wilderness.

Same camera, etc. as above.

A fine portrait, indeed.

 

[baachitraka]

One more from that time.

Larry hit the beach in Vietnam as a marine in the 60s. Great man and hard worker -- went on to work in Wildlife Mgt. Taken at the cabin we worked out of at the edge of the wilderness.

Same camera, etc. as above.

very natural indeed. I wish, I could go around the world and make a good photos of those hard working men & women...

 

[Vaughn]

very natural indeed. I wish, I could go around the world and make a good photos of those hard working men & women...

Trail crews are unique. And they double as fire crews as needed for local fires. Other crews I have worked on that had the same energy were the tree-planting and land restoration crews -- bidding on jobs, both private and gov't. I should have made more images, but the work is hard, often dawn to sunset, and with not a lot of extra energy at the end of the day beyond making a fire and cooking dinner ...at least me as the old man of the crew (in my 30s).

I've taken more photos in the wilderness I worked in after I had moved on to a university job. This image is on top of my favorite mountain on a solo backpack. A sunset shadow portrait thrown on a Western juniper on the top of Shell Mountain. My second favorite mountain is to the far right, Solomon peak...spent my 30th birthday camping on top of it.

 

[minhnk1990]

One more from that time.

Larry hit the beach in Vietnam as a marine in the 60s. Great man and hard worker -- went on to work in Wildlife Mgt. Taken at the cabin we worked out of at the edge of the wilderness.

Same camera, etc. as above.

I like the expression in this man's eyes.

 

[ole-squint]

Thanks! Do you have the splitscreen, or the microprism? I don't now witch one is better fot focusing when taking portraits. I have the splitscreen now.

Ow, and what is the idea with the flashlight? I don't understand this part...

Sorry. Just saw your reply. Been moving to Europe and have had a lot on my plate. Your splitscreen is fine. Half usually blacks out in low light, so just use the space around it.
The flashlight is held by the subject even with their face, turned on and directed at the camera. Focus on the light. Easy to see when you're in focus.

 

[facezplacez]

I sporadically do street photography, mostly tending toward head-and-shoulders portraits, and there are a few advantages to TLR cameras:

1. Small, lightweight, easy to travel with
2. People have a natural curiosity about TLR cameras, I guess because they are funky and notably vintage. Nobody much cares about my Canon EOS Rebel 2000 or the Mamiya 645 Pro, but when I'm carrying a Ricoh Diacord or Rolleicord, people always approach and start asking questions. Such people are basically announcing that they're down to have their picture taken, so it takes the social anxiety out of approaching a complete stranger.
3. Subjects seem to find it less intimidating when you're composing with a waist level viewfinder, so you get more naturally relaxed poses and expressions.

Downsides are that it is indeed more challenging to focus (I still miss focus from time to time with my other cameras though) and compositions can get a bit wonky if you're shooting someone taller than you. I can do a quicker point-and-shoot with an SLR, whereas I might have to take a moment to pose someone or find something to climb on to get a natural-looking shot. When you're stopping strangers, you don't want to test their patience; fortunately, most people are willing to take a few seconds to try and get it right.

I shot a roll of Tri-X on Venice Beach last year and I'm including the only shot that came out reasonably well--others were out of focus, poorly composed, or underexposed. The main lesson I keep learning over and over when I get my results back is that I need to slow down and shoot with more intentionality and thoughtfulness.

 

[warden]

I sporadically do street photography, mostly tending toward head-and-shoulders portraits, and there are a few advantages to TLR cameras:

1. Small, lightweight, easy to travel with
2. People have a natural curiosity about TLR cameras, I guess because they are funky and notably vintage. Nobody much cares about my Canon EOS Rebel 2000 or the Mamiya 645 Pro, but when I'm carrying a Ricoh Diacord or Rolleicord, people always approach and start asking questions. Such people are basically announcing that they're down to have their picture taken, so it takes the social anxiety out of approaching a complete stranger.
3. Subjects seem to find it less intimidating when you're composing with a waist level viewfinder, so you get more naturally relaxed poses and expressions.

Downsides are that it is indeed more challenging to focus (I still miss focus from time to time with my other cameras though) and compositions can get a bit wonky if you're shooting someone taller than you. I can do a quicker point-and-shoot with an SLR, whereas I might have to take a moment to pose someone or find something to climb on to get a natural-looking shot. When you're stopping strangers, you don't want to test their patience; fortunately, most people are willing to take a few seconds to try and get it right.

I shot a roll of Tri-X on Venice Beach last year and I'm including the only shot that came out reasonably well--others were out of focus, poorly composed, or underexposed. The main lesson I keep learning over and over when I get my results back is that I need to slow down and shoot with more intentionality and thoughtfulness.
View attachment 422431

One good shot like yours is all I’d ask for a roll of film. Great shot. And welcome to Photrio! That’s a quality first post.

 

[eli griggs]

Carry a spring loaded roll out cloth numbered tape (12-15 feet) with ideal distances marked for sunny 11 (16) settings and, ask your subject to hold the loose edge while you set up and drop it right as you take the shot.

IMO, your ratio of good shots will increase and you'll enjoy the process more and so will they, enjoy being part of the process, too.

PS: shallow F-stops will become a real option