Tag Archives: Portrait

Portrait

Northglenn, CO | Senior Portrait | Breanna – Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peek of a Senior Portrait session that I shot this week at E.B. Rains Jr. Memorial Park in Northglenn, CO. Beautiful (and smart) young lady, cool locations and great light – what a fun afternoon.

These are just my digital “polaroids” from the shoot, but they looked so good I wanted to get them online. I am super excited to get the “real” pictures (shot on film) back from Richard Photo Lab.

Click on any of the images to see them larger. Enjoy…

High angle senior portrait of a young woman.
Senior portrait of a young woman lying down.

Senior portrait of a young woman on a park bench.

Senior portrait of a young woman sitting in a flower garden
Senior portrait of a young woman sitting in front of a tree

Note: I will often use the digital “polaroids” to show my subject how everything looks before switching over to my film camera.

Tech Info:
Nikon D70s
Nikon 35mm f2 & Nikon 85mm f1.8 (against the tree)
Shot raw files and processed in Adobe Camera Raw (for CS5)
No Photoshop retouching or actions

Portrait

Yuma, CO | Documentary Portrait Session | Toddler Shoes

When working on a documentary portrait shoot, I always like to keep an eye out for the little details that can add depth to the story and will work nicely with the more traditional images in a session album.

In this case, we have a picture of a little girl’s worn out patent leather Mary Jane’s. You can tell these shoes are well loved and were not jut put on for the portrait session. In other words, they are a real part of this little girl’s life; So even though they may not be pretty and perfect, they are important to document all the same.

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

Two year old girl's worn out shoes

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

Documentary

Salt Lake City, UT | Family Gathering| Kids Crack Me Up!

We recently went out to Salt Lake City, Utah, for a Bat Mitzvah (attending, not shooting). The night before, there was a reception at our hotel. I brought along my camera and grabbed some fun pictures of Molly at play.

For me, these pictures fall somewhere between wedding photography and documentary portrait photography. I shot them at a family gathering (similar to a wedding reception) but they are really all about my subjects (Molly and her Grandfather) rather than the event itself.

Almost any situation or event will give you an opportunity to get great pictures of kids. Get the camera ready, pay attention, and they are bound to do something funny or interesting. Along with being ready and paying attention, I am always on the lookout for great light or great expressions. Either of these things can make for a nice documentary photo, if there is a chance to get both, that is when exceptional photographs can happen.

In the case of these three images, I didn’t have great light, but the expressions are really fun and they tell us a lot about Molly’s personality (and Papa Al’s as well).

Just click on any of the images to see them larger. Enjoy…

A two year old girl plays with her grandfather at a hotel reception the night before a Bat Mitzvah in Salt Lake City, Utah.
A two year old girl surprises her grandfather at a hotel reception the night before a Bat Mitzvah in Salt Lake City, Utah.

A two year old girl looks suspiciously at the camera. Picture from a hotel reception the night before a Bat Mitzvah in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Note: Molly is always perplexed by my old film cameras. She asks “Who is it? Who is it?”, Which actually means “show me the picture on the back of the camera”. Of course, I have to tell her “Sorry, this camera shoots film.” Which usually gets me the suspicious look you see here.

Tech Info:
Nikon F100
Nikon 50mm f1.4 lens (wide open)
Fuji Neopan 1600 (@ 1600)
Processing and scanning by Richard Photo Lab

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

Personal Work

Documentary Portrait – Mother and Children

A mother and children sitting on an airplane.

Here is a fun picture from our recent family vacation. The image has a lot of layers to pull you in. The obvious focal point is Molly’s face, but what is making her smile like that? Pull back just a bit, and you notice the puppet on Julie’s hand. If you look past Molly, you can see the boredom that usually accompanies air travel all over Emma’s face.

Finally, there is the light. You don’t usually associate airplanes with flattering light, but in this case the cabin lights were off and the strong back lighting from the windows gave me great rim light on the girls, and bounced around the cabin enough to fill in the shadows. Of course, the wide dynamic range of medium format black and white film was a major help.

Tech Info:
Fuji GS645S Medium Format Camera with a fixed 60mm f4 Fujinon Lens – Wide Open
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.