portraits Untitled

Used an old-school, fuzzy portrait lens

The tones and composition are excellent but it's the intense human quality of the picture that, for me, makes it a memorable portrait.

A genuine lady ... with a wonderful expression that is very inviting into her soul!  Thanks for sharing :-)

Beautiful. Sometimes it's the quiet, elegant, subtle ones that steal the show and this one does it. It's a standout, ironically because it does not scream out to me but because it's just so darn genuine.

There are no tricks here.  The only photoshop adjustment was a little contrast plus some burning at the top, which I would have done in the darkroom.  I photographed this with a vintage portrait lens, the kind that is deliberately not in focus, with a green filter (X0) on the lens.  Not a studio shot. Empathy, contact and simple camera technique are what matters.  No amount of digital processing will give you those.

Why all the stuff about digital post processing? None of the comments mentioned processing at all. This photo doesn't seem like any kind of argument about digital, film, lenses, or anything else. It just feels a genuine moment captured. Why turn it into something it's not about? Seems almost to defeat the purpose.

 

As long as you brought it up, though, I've seen many sincere, elegant, and empathetic portraits that employ digital technology and are post processed. So what?

Ed, I like this one very much, and I have to say that the lens used really works here.  Usually I am not all that taken with "soft-focus" lenses, but in this case the results are superb.  As for the shot itself, well, you nailed it.

 

--Lannie

It's my belief that excess post-processing ruins the immediacy of a good portrait.  Once you start mucking around in photoshop you start to get results that the brain doesn't process as looking human, and that causes it to loose connection.  My belief is that as much as possible when doing portraits you should try to get the results you want in-camera.  I know this sounds clinical, but the response I am getting here helps confirm my beliefs.   Post processing by its nature adds an inhumane element that distances you from the human.