Kara, Precision Camera Portrait – Austin, Texas

As I mentioned yesterday, I had an opportunity to make portraits at the Precision Camera South grand opening. I arrived in the afternoon — after the mad rush — and was able to take pictures of all five models. I’ll feature each over the next several days.

First up is Kara, who I’ve photographed a couple of times before (here and here). I used the small gray background for her and the others that you can see in this picture. The gray was the most neutral of the available backgrounds. And while the lighting wasn’t ideal, it was better there than at the other shooting spots.

I probably could have used the large softbox nearby, but I like available light portraits anyway. I used the Fujifilm GFX 50R and the Fuji 63mm f2.8 lens. It’s not the fastest camera and lens, but more than enough for these slow-paced shoots.

I prefer portraits in black and white. That’s the style that I’ve become accustomed to. It’s something different and perhaps a bit more artistic. However, as a change of pace, I will post these Precision Camera South portraits in color and monochrome.

Black and white also has an advantage in tricky lighting as we have here. There were multiple light sources, and Kara’s fair skin was the most challenging to post-process. Ultimately, the post-processing is done to taste with a bit of creativity. I don’t remember the models’ original skin color, and the uncontrolled lighting takes some finessing in post. Luckily, I was shooting in RAW, where I had the most latitude.

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