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Explore the world of vintage lenses through repair notes, real test shots, and detailed archive threads packed with images.

Explore the world of vintage lenses through repair notes, real test shots, and detailed archive threads packed with images.
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Portrait of my lady
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Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 11:12 pm
Post subject: Portrait of my lady
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Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 11:12 pm
Post subject: Portrait of my lady
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I had to fight a lot to get this one. My lady doesn't want to be photographed, in general. And especially, when she has no make up and no nice clothes. But she looked so fine with the sun in her hair, I had to beg her about it. The photo did not turn out 100% perfect, but there was no way to get another one. In any case, I rarely like 100% perfect photographs so... here it goes. Wink



direct link: http://img353.imageshack.us/img353/8984/monica20070311ci5.jpg

I used the 5D with the Planar 1.4/85 lens wide open. This lens is so sharp that even wide open, it was too much for her skin, so I had to add a little soft focus in Photoshop to gentle it. This Planar is superb but really unforgiving, you can probably only photograph ladies below 20 years of age and not feel the need to soften it! Wink


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Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 11:43 pm
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Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 11:43 pm
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Excellent photo Orio. Very smooth DOF.


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Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 11:45 pm
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Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 11:45 pm
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I agree 100% about sharp lens for portrait, I just don't like them for human portraits. I like soft lens like Helios-40 wide open and Pentacon 135mm. She has nice smile and seems you had nice sunny weather in this weekend.


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Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 11:50 pm
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Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 11:50 pm
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Very nice, Orio! I like how the background is in focus on the right and
progressing to the left blurs out to bokeh, cool! She's smiling, but the eyes say she wants to hit you over the head! Surprised
Just a glint of mischief, there...

Bill


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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:00 am
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:00 am
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Attila wrote:
I agree 100% about sharp lens for portrait, I just don't like them for human portraits. I like soft lens like Helios-40 wide open and Pentacon 135mm.


Yes, but I think this is really true only for subjects above 40, like I and my lady (unfortunately) are. For younger subjects (and fashion photography, for which this lens is made, usually uses very young subjects), you really want all the sharpness you can get, because their skin is smooth and does not need much masking, and printing on horrible EUR2 magazines paper takes a lot of sharpness away anyway.

Also, even in portraits of not-so-young-anymore subjects like this one, there are sometimes fine details you still want to keep at max. sharpness, like fine hair.

So soft lenses are not always the answer.


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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:02 am
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:02 am
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katastrofo wrote:
She's smiling, but the eyes say she wants to hit you over the head!
Bill


That's right, Bill.
Eyes never lie!


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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:05 am
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:05 am
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Himself wrote:
Excellent photo Orio. Very smooth DOF.


Yes, the merit for that really goes to the lens. Great lenses make you look like a better photographer than you really are Wink


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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:14 am
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:14 am
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Quote:
I like how the background is in focus on the right and
progressing to the left blurs out to bokeh, cool!


This is an interesting observation that leads to a subject that is often misregarded: the importance of the background in photo portraits.
Normally, portrait photographers use smooth backgrounds that are parallel to the film plane. This way, the background becomes much like a painting background: unresolved, uniformly smooth blots of colour, if not straight monochrome.
I often take a different approach and like my backgrounds to be oblique. This has two consequences usually: it gives the image a perspective (thus placing the subject in a spacial context), and it creates differences: the right and left parts of the photograph get different importance.
There would be many things to talk about on this subject. And it would require an essay probably. So i prefer to leave it that way. But, I think this is an important part of a photographer's style - I mean, the backgrounds.


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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:19 am
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:19 am
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Melissa said she was jealous and so she gets her share of attention too. Here she's cuddled by my lady. I missed the focus a bit, due to the fact that the lens does not focus nearer than 1mt and I had a wall behind my back so couldn't get farther than that. But I think that the missed focus and big out-of-focus feline nose give the image a comical effect which I like Laughing



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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:34 am
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:34 am
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I like this capture, Melissa always very good model.


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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 6:43 am
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 6:43 am
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Attila wrote:
... Melissa always very good model.


And not to forget - she didn't wants to hit everyone who's pointing a camera at her, unlike some human models. Wink
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