Sndbox Summer Camp Photography/Filmmaking – Task 3
PORTRAITS – Topic 6
I had not really intended shooting for the Portraits topic in the Sndbox Summer Camp Photography/Filmmaking Quest, but while I was at the beach yesterday photographing waves for the high-speed photography topic, my husband showed up on his bike. Because I was photographing beside and underneath the Jacksonville Beach Fishing Pier, I thought it would be fun to do an environmental portrait of a senior citizen.
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved.
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| Camera | EOS 5D Mark II |
| Lens | EF50mm f/1.4 USM |
| Exposure | 1/80 sec; f/6.3; ISO 400 |
| Post-processing | Adobe Photoshop® CC 2018, Adobe Camera Raw and Topaz Adjust 5 |
When I had my photography studio years back, the pier was a favorite location for portrait shoots, and also for shooting stock, like this image on Alamy here.
I was never a big fan of posed studio shots, so I always tried to find out the hobbies, likes and dislikes of the person wanting portraits done. I liked to photograph people in an environment that told something about them and their lifestyle. Some people would ask for beach shoots, but after talking with them for a while, I would sometimes discover that they hated the beach, so I would ask them to reconsider and come up with a location that was meaningful to them. Nine times out of ten, it would work and they would choose a different location for their shoot.
This location, on the other hand is ideal for a portrait of my husband, as he spends at least five days a week cycling and walking on the beach. He does not like to dress up, so this shot captures his personality.
In order to give the image a timeless older look, I made it look like the old bleach bypass technique in photography, where the bleaching function during color film processing was bypassed. Silver was retained along with the color dyes in the emulsion, resulting in a black and white image on top of the color one. Saturation was often reduced leaving just a hint of color.
I have now completed the minimum of 5 photo shoots in Task 3 of the Sndbox Summer Camp Photography/Filmmaking Quest. However, I have chosen to enter Portraits as a sixth Topic. The third task for the @sndbox Photography Quest is to photograph at least 5 out of 8 different topics and to write about them and how they were captured. Read about it here.
For those interested in participating in the #wiwcontest, you can find the rules for and the theme for this week here. Be sure to join us! All SBD from that post will be shared with the 3 winners!
Thanks for taking the time to read this! I appreciate it. Please check out my photography-101 account here for tips and tutorials about photography.
