More Portraits

[drmoss_ca]

But with variations in negative size....

This one is 8.3 times larger than the next (it's a 6x6cm negative):


and this one about one eighth the size of the one above, but is stii 4.15 times larger than the next (it's a 24x36mm negative):


and this one is the tiniest (being a 24x18mm negative and half the size of the one above):


This one is 60 times the area of the last (a 4x5" negative):


All of which are dwarfed by a 10x8" negative, which is four times larger than the last picture (or 120 times bigger than the smallest here):


Having been under house arrest (no ankle bracelet, just no immunity during a pandemic) I have to keep on bothering the same subjects. I seem to be settling on 6x6cm for quality, and half-frame (24x18mm) for fun.

[CMur12]

Great portraits, Chris! (I have been following your family portraits for some time.)

My favorite format is also 6x6, though I am amazed at the image quality in your half-frame photo of Pippa.

- Murray

[fallingwickets]

19 thumbs up on the pictures, especially the one of you....from this side of the screen you look to be in tip top shape

clive

[brothers]

. . . . you look to be in tip top shape

Considering all you've endured, you look like a mllion bucks!

[Rufus]

Great pictures, Chris. You look amazing; must be the clean air in Tatamagouche.

[drmoss_ca]

Ah, that was me when I first had the 4x5. Me this week looks like this:

[brothers]

Well, OK. How about bright eyed and bushy tailed!

[drmoss_ca]

I'm strongly considering buzzing off all the remaining hair on my head, so I don't know if bushy-tailed is an epithet that might even begin to apply. I always had a thick head of hair, but the first six months of chemo in 2014-2015 made it pretty thin on top. The rather stronger chemo this year means that I look like an idiot with a combover now (need not mention any orange-y examples, I'm sure). Probably better to be rid of it and done with it.

Less time wasted on top of head hair means more time shaving and in the darkroom, right? How could that be bad?

[TRBeck]

Chris, one way or another, I'm glad to see you. The portraits are wonderful, as is knowing that you took them and are not merely alive but living, pursuing your hobbies and interests and spending your time with loved ones.

Thanks for sharing these lovely photographs.

[pausted]

Ditto on everything Tim said. Great to see your wonderful pictures.

[Rufus]

I'm strongly considering buzzing off all the remaining hair on my head, so I don't know if bushy-tailed is an epithet that might even begin to apply. I always had a thick head of hair, but the first six months of chemo in 2014-2015 made it pretty thin on top. The rather stronger chemo this year means that I look like an idiot with a combover now (need not mention any orange-y examples, I'm sure). Probably better to be rid of it and done with it.

Less time wasted on top of head hair means more time shaving and in the darkroom, right? How could that be bad?

Chris, I’ve taken to buzzing my head (with #2) and quite like the look and feel of it not to mention the near zero grooming I have to do other than brushing my scalp in the morning(I like the feel of the brush on my scalp). I became used to having no hair on my head when I had chemo 12 years ago. Even my sister-in-law has complimented me saying it makes me look younger and more modern . My step-son is a little less complimentary, however, telling me I look intimidating…maybe that’s not so bad. After my chemo I had radiation on the right side of my chest, which totally denuded the hair on that side and it hasn’t grown back; looks a bit weird, but I’m not in the habit of going shirtless.

[drmoss_ca]

There's a book about 'Hollywood Portraits' that looks at the classic studio publicity photos of the 1920's to the 1940's, and assumes they were taken with 10x8 cameras and tries to recreate the lighting used by examining the shadows and their relative depths. Who knew, even if they had ever heard of 'Klieg Lights' that there was a condition known as 'Klieg Eye' that any ER doctor today would call 'welder's flash'?

No matter, there were wonderful portraits, dramatically lit. We'd like to know how. Could be Jimmy Cagney:



or Hedy Lamarr:



There are hundreds of these amazing portraits available. A few years ago, Roger Hicks and Christopher Nisperos published a book of the best known, in which they tried to analyze the lighting used. Where was the key light, the fill light, the kicker, the hair light and so on. Not a book of interest to the masses, but fascinating to those who try to make portraits. I re-read that book every so often, and then I try to re-create what the masters did. Lately, I addressed classic 'Hollywood lighting' in which a strong light from above makes a butterfly-shaped shadow under the nose. SO I took a strong strobe mounted high, and then used a continuous CFT fill light from one side to soften the effect. I got a nice photo, but it was nothing at all like my imagined result (this is no 10x8" negative, but an 18x24mm negative, which is half a 35mm frame):



So today I decided to re-create what the golden age photographers did when they used a Polaroid back on their Hasselblad before committing rolls of film to the result. I placed one high strobe, no fill light (you can accurately call that laziness), and set up a digital camera such that it would use the same ISO as my film (not its rated ISO, but the one that works best for the developer I like), the same f-stop, the same shutter speed, and auto-focus on the subject with use of a remote release), who was only me at home as I am under pandemic house-arrest despite triple vaccination of little value as I have no immune system. This is what I got:



I think I might reasonably commit a whole roll of film to that kind of thing next weekend.

[CMur12]

Chris, your self-portrait is very impressive.

The lighting is very dramatic, consistent with the classic celebrity portraits displayed above. The shadows accentuate contours, mid-tones and highlights, without interfering with any desired detail. I have to admire what you have accomplished here.

The expression on your face is equally dramatic and well conceived. It successfully portrays one confined to pandemic house-arrest for far too long!

- Murray

PS. I would keep the hair you have. I don't think shaving your head would be an improvement.

[EL Alamein]

I have to agree with what Murray said, I like these portraits especially yours. And I also agree with the suggestion to keep your hair.

I never got the bug to take pictures but I must admit I do like looking at other people's photographs when they share.

Chris