I just finished a series where I featured nine Drink and Click portraits framed up-close and most lit with a ring light. It’s a very different look for me. An experiment, as I’ve mentioned, to try something new. I think it was a success for a few reasons. I’ll talk about why in a future post.
I also created a few of my classic black and white portraits that night, though with a slight twist. Instead of my usual Olympus PEN-F camera, I used the Fujifilm X-T10 that I’ve been putting through its paces. I switched lenses from the Fuji 56mm f1.2 to the 35mm f1.4. The 35mm on the Fuji is nearly the same focal length as the 25mm that I use on the Olympus. They are both around a 50mm equivalent in full frame terms.
Despite the similar focal length, it’s very different to make my classic portraits with the Fuji instead of the Olympus. I’ll go more into that tomorrow. But for today, I feature Dusana, who I met for the first time back in May when I created this picture. I feel it’s a very quiet and elegant photograph, but the high contrast black and white makes it atypical compared to the standard color portraits most people make. That’s good, because while it may be more conventional than a ring light portrait, it’s still not ordinary.
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this is an absolutely beautiful portrait.!!!!
Thank you, Kirk. That means a lot coming from you.
What Kirk said. Ya don’t listen to me, maybe you’ll listen to him. 😉
All feedback is appreciated and considered.
I’ve become hesitant to compliment you on my favorites of your work since, to my chagrin, you tend to stop posting those types of photos for long periods soon thereafter. I was hoping that the thought process wasn’t that if a crappy photographer like me likes it, better stop doing it! 😉 I feel a little better seeing Kirk on board with my aesthetic preferences.
Mike, I welcome your comments and if I make a photograph that you like, it certainly makes me happy that you appreciate my efforts. I don’t make random snaps and just post them. There is considered thought that goes into each photograph, regardless of the subject. However, your favorites or Kirk’s for that matter have little bearing on what I post. In fact, if you think about it, that’s the way it should be.
I make a lot of different kinds of photographs, have many interests, and I like variety. Plus, others that come to my site may have different interests. It’s not that I’m ignoring your feedback. If fact, I respect it quite a bit. However, black and white portraiture is not the only thing that interests me.