Category Archives: Portrait

Portrait

Yuma, CO | Portrait Of A Young Girl | The Eyes Have It

Portrait of a five year old girl standing against a brick wall. Photographed at a farmhouse in rural eastern Colorado, on a Mamiya 645AF using Ilford HP5 film.
This is what I would call a “quiet portrait”. Soft light, simple background, traditional clothing and hair – all of that simplicity works to reinforce the main point of the photo – the eyes. They really draw you in and hold your attention.

The simplicity also lends an air of timelessness to the picture. Aside from Emma’s ear rings and hair clips, this image could have been made any time in the last 80 years. Shallow depth of field and medium format black and white film also contribute to this feeling.

I really like this image because it is a very traditional portrait, but it doesn’t feel contrived like a studio portrait would.

Click on the image if you would like to see it larger. Enjoy…

Tech Info:
Mamiya 645AF
Mamiya 80mm f2.8 AF
Ilford HP5 film

Portrait

Westminster, CO | Haircut+Warm Spring Day=Park Photo Shoot

Back in the spring, my daughter Molly got a nifty new haircut. A warm spring day and a delivery of fresh film provided a great opportunity for a photo shoot. We just took a quick trip over to our local park – Nottingham Park in Westminster, CO – and shot all these pictures in about twenty minutes. There is a pretty short window of opportunity when working with a two year old, especially when it’s your own two year old.

There are a few things that I really like in these photos:

  1. Molly’s pixie cut
  2. The vertical bars on the playset vs. the horizontal stripes on Molly’s dress
  3. All of the different settings that we were able to incorporate into the images
  4. Molly’s interaction with her surroundings as well as with the camera

You can click on any of the pictures below to see them larger. Enjoy…

A two year old girl looks through a playhouse window on the playground at Nottingham Park in Westminster, CO. Photograph from a documentary portrait session using Fuji 400H film in a Nikon N90s camera.
A two year old girl sits for a quick portrait on the playground at Nottingham Park in Westminster, CO. Photograph from a documentary portrait session using Fuji 400H film in a Nikon N90s camera.

A two year old girl peers through bars on the playground at Nottingham Park in Westminster, CO. Photograph from a documentary portrait session using Fuji 400H film in a Nikon N90s camera.
A two year old girl looks through a telescope on the playground at Nottingham Park in Westminster, CO. Photograph from a documentary portrait session using Fuji 400H film in a Nikon N90s camera.

A two year old girl standing on the playground at Nottingham Park in Westminster, CO points in to the camera. Photograph from a documentary portrait session using Fuji 400H film in a Nikon N90s camera.
A two year old girl goes down the twisty slide on the playground at Nottingham Park in Westminster, CO. Photograph from a documentary portrait session using Fuji 400H film in a Nikon N90s camera.

Tech Info:
Nikon N90s
Nikon 50mm f1.8 lens
Fuji 400H film
Straight scans from Richard Photo Lab

Portrait

Arvada, CO – At Home Family Portraits – Baking Cookies

Nearly any family activity at the family home can be a great occasion for a documentary photo shoot…

Here we have kids baking cookies with their grandmother. These images were shot in the family kitchen using only the available light. I really like the story that you can piece together with these images. Everyone has a purpose and is in their element. We are capturing a memory, not just recording how these people look at this moment in time.

For this self-assigned shoot, I was testing out a used medium format camera, and though I was not crazy about the camera itself,  I love the medium format “look” of these images. Even an in-use kitchen does not become a distracting background when you shoot with the 80mm lens wide open.

Family portrait of a Grandmother and grandson baking cookies at home in the kitchen. Shot on a medium format camera using black and white film.
 
Documentary portrait of a baby boy with a spoon in his mouth sitting in a walker in the kitchen. Shot on a medium format camera using black and white film.

Documentary portrait of a 5 year old boy frosting cookies at the kitchen table. Shot on a medium format camera using black and white film.
 
Documentary portrait of a 5 year old girl decorating cookies at the kitchen table. Shot on a medium format camera using black and white film.

Tech Info:
Mamiya 645AF
Mamiya 80mm f2.8 AF lens (at F2.8)
Ilford HP5 film

Portrait

Documentary Portraits – The Brothers – Brighton, CO

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Below is a gallery of documentary portraits from a recent shoot. I love the authentic expressions in these images. We even got some nice smiles and no one had to say “cheese”…

slideshow

Beautiful color and awesome dynamic range provided by that ancient medium called film.

Tech Info:
Nikon N90s
50mm & 85mm prime lenses @ f2
Fuji 400H film
Processing and Scanning – Richard Photo Lab

View the whole shoot and order prints here.

Portrait

Bright Shining Faces, or Maybe Not – Documentary Portraits

Documentary portrait of a young boy
I was going through my archive looking for images to add to this site, and came across this one…

I love it!

It’s certainly not traditional, but it is real. The hat, the bib overalls, the messy face, the expression, even the out of focus cup in the foreground – I had totally forgotten about this day, until I saw this picture. Then it all came rushing back. That is the power of a documentary portrait, it doesn’t just capture what a person looks like, it captures who they were at that moment in time. Beautiful – no matter what is smeared all over their face.

Info for any photographers out there:
Sigma SD9
Sigma 50mm f2.8 Macro
Manual exposure, 1/180 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100, Compensation: +1/2
Check out the detail (Click on the picture to see it larger). When this camera gets it right it is really right. Unfortunately, when it gets it wrong, it is really wrong. There is no safe middle ground.