Pastor Portrait_small

Our pastor is departing and I arranged to take a portrait (not my favorite

category) of him for hanging in the church.

I had the pastor stand on the threshold of the sanctuary just off center (his

left shoulder is butted against the door frame). I opted to reposition the

cross on the altar slightly to have it show up and reflect back at the camera.

There was a single speed light on a stand with a shoot-thru umbrella just to

the left and slightly in front of the pastor. After several captures with the

pastor, I did a series without him where I adjusted the shutter speed to get

the stained glass window to the correct exposure (or, at least, closer). This

is a composite of pastor with some of those other plates. I shot f/2.8 in

order to maximize the focus on the pastor, though I am having doubts

whether stopped down further to make it more apparent that the window is

Jesus with two lambs on either side.

Any thoughts or constructive criticism is welcome.

Scott

This is a strong portrait of the minister for several reasons:  textbook composition with rule-of-thirds placement of the head, multiple balance points (head with the stain glass, Bible with the cross), color harmony with the Bible, his shirt & tie, and the background behind the cross, 3-D lighting on his face with the mild suggestion that the lighting is from the window (and that it illuminates him on many levels, physical and spiritual).  The window and the cross are secondary elements in this composition and are blurred the right ammount for me.  Nice job.