The Pros and Cons of Large Format Portraiture

I've only just begun experementing with LF portraiture. But I think it has many possibilities. The leaf shutters work great with flash. The large film size makes a wonderfuly soft image with no grain.

 

True it is not quite as fast as MF or 35mm. But the end results are wonderful.

 

Here my example. Busch pressman 4x5. Ilford FP4+<div></div>

Just look at the portraits taken by the great Hollywood photographers in the 1940's. That will answer your question. Nothing can make a beautiful subject more beautiful.... or an ugly subject more ugly.

By the way that "Legs" shot was superb.

I agree that most people will not be able to afford the services of a professional portrait photographer. Most people have limited budgets and a large-format portrait is a long way down on the list of necessities. This does not mean that these people are 'common' or do not appreciate quality, it simply means the value they place on it does not match the cost of producing it. The real rewards will come to those who can figure out a way of to provide a quality product cheaply.

David, that's the definition of common. The fact that a large-format portrait is a long way down on

their list of necessities in fact does imply that these people do not appreciate quality.

 

"...The real rewards will come to those who can figure out a way of to provide a quality product

cheaply." Huh? Did you ever hear of "You get what you pay for" ?

'The real rewards will come to those who can figure out a way of to provide a quality product cheaply.'.........................One of the problems is the perception of what is cheap. I am aware of several folks located in the general area of Hollywood who advertise their services for a portrait for $30-$60, they don't guarentee or promise anything except 36 exposures...................36 exposures!!!

 

They essentially expose one roll, with 'cookie cutter lighting', that is, one size fits all, no make-up, no co-ordination of wardrobe, 'sit down............................say cheese' and that's it. Someone who came to me to do their portrait showed me some of this work and it was not the work of a legit portrait photographer, it looked terrible, terrible looking 3 1/2 x 5, the subject of the photographs said she sat down, and it was over in five minutes.

 

The department stores out here aren't too far behind this with a little more elaborate set-up with a price for portrait and/or group shot for around $40.00, they, like the folks above, advertise with imagery that was obviously done by a professional(a phony family which is composed of model, co-ordinated clothes, make-up, excellent lighting done by somebody else who I gurentee you is not working for $40) which is suggestive to folks that they will be getting the same kind of service, and for next to nothing.

 

So everybody is undercut, and the people who go into the above kinds of services, are undercut, and/or barely satisfied, and left with a bad taste in there mouth, folks will look at an ad, see a great photo, and think they'll get the same kind of service for $40.00, it's not going to happen.

 

I'm not looking down my nose at $40.00, anybody who makes $5.00 doing what he/she already loves doing, is ahead of the game. When I started out doing portraits quite a few years ago, I wasn't making much more than this, but I was doing everything I could to give folks a nice portrait, and until 'word of mouth' kicks in, you aren't going to make much money, that's just the way it is, also I wouldn't except any money until they were happy. This is different, people are conned out of their money and recieve a terrible product.

 

I've gotten clients who've been through this, and I've sat them down and explained that this guy may have showed you portraits that were done by somebody else, or if they were done by him, he's only guarenteed you that he will expose one roll, NOT that there'd be anything decent on that one roll, that he's there basically to collect a quick bit of cash, after running down what's involved in trying to get a decent portrait by somebody who's supposed to know what they're doing, many folks start to understand. Some can't see past the $60.00 that's been planted in their minds, and the original ad of a beautiful model, or group of models that have been photographed to look like a family by a real professional who is not the one at Sears who's about to take their photo.

 

Someone else has mentioned the value of a well done image, I've some kids who want to start out in acting will ask me what I charge, I'll tell them my price, almost always they'll ask me what they get for that price,.........I ask them, when a casting director, or more likely one of their production assistants pulls out their photo from a stack of thousands do you want them to see an image done by the cheapest photographer, or by somebody who'll make you standout?

 

I turn down folks who want me to kill myself, while sparing to expense, and expect me to work for nothing, because I'm in a position to do it. Plus there are some folks out there that expect to pay their gas and light bill, but don't expect to pay you. So the question is open about what's cheap, and that's the problem, particularly if you're thinking about doing somebody's portrait with a LF, which can run into some money.

Jonathan, I would be very interested to see a portrait you made and of which you feel

particularly proud. I'm sure others would enjoy seeing this as well.

Sure...............go to the Cooke website........that's at....www.cookeoptics.com....................click on 'Cooke PS945 portrait'..................my image is 'Portrait of Dayna'.

Quid pro quo...<div></div>

It's not LF, but there's a franchise called Venture that has been surprisingly successful in

getting people I know to stump up for portraits. People who otherwise expect their

photos to come with the school report or free with a frame from Ikea. The look is

deliberately commercial, and they've perfected a way of hiding the production lines and

making clients feel like they're being wooed rather than processed.

 

www.thisisventure.co.uk

I'm a black and white portrait photographer who shoots mainly Hasselblad and recently bought a Littman to help in the process of shooting young children in LF. I have a Linhof but found it almost impossible to use for small children.

 

Most prints I sell are 16x20 and 20x24 framed. You are absolutely right that high end portrait photographers having a limited clientele. We are not even competing so much with other photographers but with the mentality of our throw away/consumer society who are constantly being inundated by advertising for all the cool stuff that they think they need. People are replacing computers or adding on all the time, they are buying the latest big screen TV sets or the latest whatever.

 

We as photographers are competing with these purchases for the disposable income of people. To get these new gadgets, they will often take second rate other products if they are able to serve sort of the same purpose. Hence crap pictures from cut rate photography outlets.

 

However I still prefer to plod along and provide a high quality product to the clients that I have who really do care about their children or families and will not compromise on quality.

Mr. McBlane -- you summed it beautifully. Also, I enjoyed your comment/critique on Thomas

Paul's "early portrait of a CEO". Very funny! Care to comment on any of my images on this

page?

I love the 4x5 depth of field look of the boy at the top and I also love the "early immigrant" look of the child. I'm less impressed with the lady with the closed eyes although it's technically well done. The boy has a curious intensity about him and the "immigrant child" has a timeless look.

 

If you have any interest in the work I do I'm at michaelmcblane.com

 

Later,

Michael, thank you for your candid comments. I think you and I may have similar taste. Although

the last image has won several awards as well, I prefer the feeling of the first two.

 

Yes, I would very much like to see more of your work but your website doesn't seem to be

responding. Are you sure you typed it in correctly? Otherwise, it may just be my computer

right now...

Sorry, it's www.michaelmcblane.com

For those of you who have not gone to Mr. McBlane's website, it is worth the visit. Stunning work. Glad to see such fine portraiture in black and white.

Very, very nice Michael.

B. POETZ! Your work is stunning. Thanks!... :)

About the only thing I shoot with my 4x5 Crown Graphic is portraits and lucky for me it excels at that. LF portraiture is very possible, it just takes a little more patience than with my Nikon. Both give wonderful results, but nowadays I prefer to capture my images with my Crown. The image I have attached is cropped a little bit because the 135mm Schneider lens is unfortunately not as long as I'd like. But it is wonderfully sharp since this image was shot almost wide open.<div></div>