Kevin

One from a series in my'expats' folder. Thanks

I like the lighting and the dof, but the wide lens is not very flattering.

Ryan Disney

Thanks Ryan. It was shot with a 75mm (medium format). It was shot close but its not exactly a wide lens.

The portraits are fine... I think the background is distracting.

Sarah, I agree, however under the available lighting conditions it was my only option at the time. I'm going to shoot some more and see if I can try something different. I was already pushing HP5 to 800.

Brett, thanks for your remark on my portfolio.

 

Excepting this one (because of the aforementioned distortion and the background) I love these portraits. They are so plain and direct, and tonally consistent.

 

It's the viewer and the subject. Nothing else.

 

As a set, I would consider removing this one, the other one with the brick wall background, and the one titled "Jesper," but not because they aren't good, rather because they aren't consistent with the other 9 which have the same background, lighting, cropping and tonal values. "Jesper" could have been shot at the same time, and same place, but it still feels a little out of sequence with the others.

 

I enjoyed several similar projects of my own in the past (and have plans for another one, soon). I notice in these that the subjects all appear to be having the same experience. Their expressions and interaction with the photographer are all identical, which makes my experience a little less energetic. Obviously they enjoyed being photographed, and it's clear you put them at ease, but there is a homogeneous character to the collection that adds a pebble of redundancy to the viewing.

 

 

Doug thanks for looking. Your are very right in your observations. The two with the tiled background were obviously at a different location. 'Jepser' was at the same location as the others, but a different day and obviously different lighting conditions. However, the reason they are a series is because they all have the same occupation. Therefore I will leave them be as the 'dirty dozen', and perhaps shoot some more. Maybe they'll then become the 'bakers dozen' instead.