LF photography and the soul

Gee, if you look at the subject of 95% of the posts here you'd think

that LF photographers have O.C.D.. Do we really only care about lens

resolution, tilt, swing, rise, fall, shift and other measurable

things ?

 

I'd like to see more photos and the stories behind them here.

 

Anyway, what's your opinion of a 219mm f6.6 1940 Stupfenheimer Blue

Dot designed for medical photos ? Can I use this lens to do

portraits ?

Gene, the Stupfenheimer I think was designed for x-ray photography. It only works with gamma rays.

 

You can check out my folders any time. :)

What's O.C.D., and how does it apply to LF photographers?

219 f6.6 Stupfenheimer Blue Dot? Are you the guy that out bid me on ebay? Really, you bring up an interesting point I've been thnking about, which is portrait photography, and why so few portraits successfully capture a sitter's soul, while more often than not, a simple, but well exposed snap-shot will convey so much more about the subject. When there is plenty of time to set up a portrait with a Deardorff, how much of the image is contrived by either the photographer, who has an agenda(like, "I want to make money" "I need more customers" or "I want to make an example of this poor schmuck" etc...)or the sitter who also has an agenda(like "I want to look sexy" or "I want to look powerful, dignified" etc...) as opposed to a quick shot grabbed with something like a speed graphic, showing the genuine raw expression of feelings like those seen on the faces of winners(or loosers) at an atheletic event, or the wonder of a toddler when finding a starfish on the beach, or the romantic mood of a couple walkng under an umbrella on a rainy day? IMHO, the later examples make far and away the best portraits, if a portrait is supposed to be a photo of a soul. A cliche? No, I don't think so--not if it is genuine. I realize following some stranger around hoping for a kodak moment is impractical, but it seems like many of the portrait photogs I've seen lately(admittedly, they all seem to work at shopping mall franchises) don't even try. The most pathetic examples are the business cards I saw at a real estate agency, where all the sales staff, from middle aged men to ladies both young and close to retirement, were shot using techniques best employed in the glamour genre(I had to ask myself, would I want to buy a vineyard from someone who looks like they came straight from a casting call for a x-rated flick?) LOL! Does anybody else see this?

Hi Gene.And John, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders makes portraits with an 11x14 camera, and instructs his sitters not to smile. The instruction may be due in part to the mechanics of the format, but Greenfield-Sanders has said that he finds the snapshot to be inaccurate, or at least untelling of the sitters true self. He argues that the "smile for the camera" posture is a defense mechanism employed to project a predetermined and socially acceptable image.

I tend to shoot more candidly, as John K. describes inhis post, but I have a Niece who just stares directly into my lens without the slightest hint of self conciousness. No smile, no attitude, just a fixed gaze. It unnerved me a little at first, but I've come to appreciate her directness. Portraiture is, for me, very complex, as any personal relationship is, and I try to distill that relationship as far as possible in my photos. My photos are very much like snapshots made with an 8x10 camera. My subjects are family and friends, and my studio is my backyard, or a local park, or a picnic or camp site. I hope that my archivally processed prints last long enough for future generations of my family to understand how much I love and respect my family. Snapshots that last.<div></div>

This is a very POWERFUL Image to me....Thank YOU! I can almost read what she is thinking!!!

Bill,

OCD stands for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It is a clinical term describing a personality disorder (see DSM-IV). It applies to most LF photographers because they (we) tend to be control freaks, anal-retentive and obsessive/compulsive about equipment, sharpness, dust, chemicals, etc. Apparently there is a direct correlation between the size of one�s camera and the size of one�s...errr... ego�and the severity of OCD. They have powerful, mind-numbing medication for this.

P.S. It helps to have a sense of humor...<div></div>

Gene, what's the minimum circle of confusion on the Stupfenheimer? Will it do soft focus????

'Hi Gene.And John, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders makes portraits with an 11x14 camera, and instructs his sitters not to smile'..........If this is how the instruction is phrased when it is given, then I disagree with it. There are an infinite number of ways to smile, what I dislike is the old 'say cheese' style of clenched teeth and the old 'hand on the chin' which some photographers have had subjects do even while they are standing up.

 

Telling somebody not to smile, might be misunderstood by the subject/sitter to the extent that he/she feels they need to eliminate a number of useful expressions and nuance that could be very useful. A better tack to take is to explain what you want in detail and ask the subject/sitter if they understand and agree, discuss this at length/in detail before starting the shoot.

 

There is no way that you can tell a subject/sitter how to look or how not to look, that will equal what the subject/sitter can generate from deep within themselves, but whatever you and the sitter do together it will never be the truth, the bottom line is that whatever a photographer decides to shoot, it is a 'put on' that if you're lucky is totally convincing.

 

Your lens focuses on something, and everything else is left out as is whatever you have framed, you've shot in B&W, Color, or Infrared or Infrared Color, you have recorded a thin slice of the truth filtered through your individual perceptions.

 

Other than specifically telling the sitter that I have never asked someone to 'say cheese' I talk about moods, feelings, past experiences and how we can tap in to those kinds of tools, you can many times get exactly what you want by never specifically/directly asking for it, doing this many times makes the sitter feel like they need to please you and/or give you what you want instead helping to peel away the layers of self-conciousness.

 

Put two people together with stools very close to each other and then asking them to sit down, gets them close, if they are a couple it will not take them long for one of them to put their arm around each other, you won't have to ask them to do it, so you work situations where things come naturally, somebody likes jazz, I've asked them to bring their favorite CD's, sooner or later without asking for it, this will probably create an ambience that will lead to a priceless and indiscribable expression, verbal commands pale as to what they can accomplish compared to what a sitter can create for himself given the right inspiration.

 

You set up an atmosphere by work and/or deed to help the sitter to relax and be themselves, how they look when they can relax and be themselves will have a richness of nuance that comes from within and is therefore much more compelling/convincing than anything in a book of poses or you telling them how to smile, not to smile, or to look serious, and so forth.

 

After you onto something that the sitter has come up with, of course there's nothing wrong with fine tuning it, provided the sitter is aware what you're doing.

 

A smile can be so many things other than a forced show of teeth, the variation nuance regarding any mood/expression/attitude in any combination is infinite and will defy description in terms of what even non-professional sitters can come up once they've relaxed and caught on to the act.

 

When you do a portrait, the photographer, the sitter, and anyone looking at the print knows this is an 'act', the idea is to tap into something so convincing that for seconds at a time you're swept up by what the image has to say and not the technique.

George, I looked at your B&W landscapes and I like them much, especially the long time exposures. However regarding the above �Not staged but...� (it is yours isn�t it?) what is the reason for the confusing shadows from multiple light sources? My Obsessive Compulsive Disorder does not permit me to accept such photographs as esthetically pleasing.

Hi Jonathan. I was simply passing along the working methods of one photographer whose work I admire, and not suggesting that anyone emulate those methods. I wish you the best of luck in your own work.

I have always found that I get better portraits when I follow the first rule of portraiture rather the worrying about the lens. (though the purple dot Distaphoto gradient coated series sure helps here)

 

That rule is simple. "If you want a better portrait, bring a better face."

Steve - there are other, vital principles which govern picture taking with gamma rays and the Stupfenheimer lens. For one thing the image is not upside down when viewed on the ground glass. You know it, don�t you?

 

Gene, let your soul fly! �Can I use this lens to do portraits ?� - not really, but you can take a photo directly, without the lens (with gamma rays).

Jay,.........thanks, that was understood, my response was not aimed specifially at you or Greenfied-Sanders, moreover it was aimed at the idea that you(anybody) have to be careful and mindful of what you tell a sitter as what you say may mean something different to the sitter than it means to you.

 

I'm in agreement about a facade/veneer/defense mechanism/clinched teeth/grimace that covers up rather than exposes which is what many folks will reach for as a kind of safety valve until they're comfortable/relaxed and trustful of you. In fact what I've just said is usually the first thing I discuss with a client before we shoot.

 

My idea is that there's the possibility of a client reacting to 'don't smile' as being the same thing as 'I need to be serious'. I myself want the cliend to feel whatever he wants to feel, while running a whole gamut if possible of whatever moods/attitudes/feelings he/she feels comfortable and relaxed enough to expose.

 

Simply put I can understand the idea behind 'don't smile', but the point is what does the client understand when you say that.

What's the 'soul'?

Gene, I think it was Mark Twain who said, "Man is the only animal with the one true religion, all seven of them."

 

I prefer the Gold Dot, but my carrier only uses blue dot.