B&W My Street Portraits ***Complete*** 15 July 2016

blakester said:
You're welcome Anthony, I would say go for it, don't overthink it, and have a good idea of which settings you're likely to use for whatever effect you are aiming for. Shallow depth of field etc. it just takes something else out of the equation when shooting the portraits and you can concentrate on the engagement/interaction with your subject. Good luck!
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Excellent advice Iain, (y)
Not that I'd have the balls to try it TBH,
I get enough grief from our "distant cousins" :D
 
Cobra said:
Excellent advice Iain, (y)
Not that I'd have the balls to try it TBH,
I get enough grief from our "distant cousins" :D
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:D
Our distant cousins love you really Chris, they just have their own unique way of showing it!
 
blakester said:
:D
Our distant cousins love you really Chris, they just have their own unique way of showing it!
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Ah so that's what it is, love eh? :D
 
davidd said:
Great set of shots, cracking work.
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Thanks David.

Brian_of_Bozeat said:
Oh balls! - Now I'm jealous in colour AND black & White.

Great work Iain. :D
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:D Thanks Brian,

benc98 said:
Inspired by Iain I'm very tempted to start something very similar, you've given some great advice in this thread and thank you for sharing :)
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Thanks Ben, give it a go, I'm sure you will enjoy it.
As for advice, I'm very happy to share my experiences, if you've got any questions,fire away I will do my best to answer them.
 
bloody hell - how good are these - can you make anyone look good?
are they natural light - or do you use a portable fast set up?
 
sheridant said:
bloody hell - how good are these - can you make anyone look good?
are they natural light - or do you use a portable fast set up?
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Thanks (y)
All natural light, I use a lastolite 120cm tri grip reflector on most of them though.
Processing wise, I have cloned out the odd temporary blemish, spots etc but other than that, what you see is what you get,these are all natural portraits.
Oh, as a matter of course, I generally lower the clarity a little on woman portraits, I think it is a flattering look but beyond that,there isn't any skin smoothing or suchlike.
I have toyed with the idea of portable lighting, off camera flash etc. I have all the necessary equipment, just haven't got around to using it.
 
Really liking the way you get the subjects to pop out from the background, ensuring the main contact is on the subject.
The background is unobtrusive, but on many you use it to benefit by drawing the eye into the subject.
Great work, especially control of DoF, and hitting the eyes every time in focus.
Much respect in your contact with the subjects in the first place, they look at ease.
 
@reheat module
Thanks Paul, shooting at wide apertures helps massively with popping the subject out of the background as does choice of background itself.
I do particularly like the vanishing point perspective in a background. I tend not to shoot wide open on my 50mm 1.4 lens just to give myself a little leeway on focussing as I am wary not to take up too much of the persons time.

As much as most subjects are happy for me to take a few frames, I am conscious of the fact I couldn't shoot loads of frames to ensure critical focus on the eyes. I also take more of their time asking about them, this probably takes more time than the photography itself.
 
Been away from shooting my project for the last month, yesterday, I managed to kickstart it again with a few portraits.

Results are posted below!
 
Some great shots on this thread Ian, and these last two are well up to standard.(y)

George.
 
I agree with everyone else, a superb collection of shots. I am very envious and would love to have the nerve to go out and do this. Good for you and keep showing us the results of your excellent work.
 
Speedyflash said:
I agree with everyone else, a superb collection of shots. I am very envious and would love to have the nerve to go out and do this. Good for you and keep showing us the results of your excellent work.
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Thanks Julian
Its easy for me to say, as I have been shooting my strangers project all year and am into the groove with it but its really not difficult.
People will surprise you in their response, I have met some genuinely lovely people. Every one of the strangers engaged to varying degrees but we are all different.
Once you get over the initial portrait and approaching a stranger Im sure it would work for you too. Good luck!
 
Haven't looked in for a while Iain but great to see you're turning in some great work still. Love that one of Chloe above, the lighting falls off just right below her cheek, and then those eyes are so engaging. I mustn't leave it so long next time!
 
It's really interesting that you're using a 50mm lens. I have read so much on the internet about 50mm not being a good lens for portraits. You've proved them all wrong and I'll definately be using my 50mm much more from now on. By the way, how do you shoot: manual, aperture or shutter priority?
 
Livin The Dream said:
Haven't looked in for a while Iain but great to see you're turning in some great work still. Love that one of Chloe above, the lighting falls off just right below her cheek, and then those eyes are so engaging. I mustn't leave it so long next time!
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Thanks Kris. Chloe's portrait was a very simple set up but I am very happy with how it turned out.

SPR Photos said:
Certainly and interesting set of individual - good project work
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Thanks Richard.

Speedyflash said:
It's really interesting that you're using a 50mm lens. I have read so much on the internet about 50mm not being a good lens for portraits. You've proved them all wrong and I'll definately be using my 50mm much more from now on. By the way, how do you shoot: manual, aperture or shutter priority?
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Thanks Julian.
I started this project at the beginning of the year with the 50mm and just fell into the habit of using it.
Its the smallest lens (in terms of physical size) that I have and felt it the least obtrusive for using it on the street. The fact its on the front of a D4 body kinda contradicts that though haha.

I mainly shoot a mixture of manual and aperture priority, never shutter priority.
 
Hi there Iain, fantastic work/project, looking through these, there seems to be a age that you seem to prefer,or is this part of the project? or do you feel that this age group is more responsive to your project ?....
 
gazmat said:
Hi there Iain, fantastic work/project, looking through these, there seems to be a age that you seem to prefer,or is this part of the project? or do you feel that this age group is more responsive to your project ?....
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Thanks Gary.
I don't have a preference for a particular age group as such it's just sort of turned out that way.
I had noticed that myself and that's a major part of why my project has slowed considerably of late.
I want to steer away from young, good looking 20 or 30 somethings. It's essentially too easy, they are so confident in front of the camera, it's difficult to take a 'bad' photograph of them. Don't get me wrong, I still have to choose the background, work the pose and lighting etc but there's a part of me that thinks not another 'youngster' Iain!!
My encounter with Nick above was one of my favourites to date. Not for the photography so much as the actual encounter itself.
I have considered parking the project but it would annoy the s*** out of me to leave it unfinished. 62 strangers doesn't quite have the same ring to it as 100 ;)
 
I am no portrait photographer or ever likely to be. I love this work by you Iain keep at it I say.
 
alfbranch said:
I am no portrait photographer or ever likely to be. I love this work by you Iain keep at it I say.
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Thanks Alf (y)
@gazmat Gary asked a very good question, and its something which I have been thinking about for quite a while now.
I will continue to the end of this round of 100. Beyond that, I'm unsure.
Portraits are what i want to do, so people photography will figure highly in what I shoot.

Thanks again Alf, such kind comments, they are much appreciated.
 
I haven't been shooting my 100 Strangers project for what seems like a long time so thought I'd take the opportunity today on a visit to Norwich. Met up with Damien @Slimbert who was my tour guide for the day. A very successful day, but posting my favourite from the day below.


Andy by Iain Blake, on Flickr
 
Blimey! look at the eyes on Chloe!
( And yes I did say eyes :D)
You could drown in those!
Another cracking set Iain (y)
 
Cobra said:
Blimey! look at the eyes on Chloe!
( And yes I did say eyes :D)
You could drown in those!
Another cracking set Iain (y)
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:D Thanks Chris,
As mentioned, some of these are from a few weeks ago, but different compositions/looks etc.
 
Another really great set of images Iain, with some spot on B&W conversions. I'm liking all of these very much but my fav' would have to be #1 (Chloe).

George.
 
G.K.Jnr. said:
Another really great set of images Iain, with some spot on B&W conversions. I'm liking all of these very much but my fav' would have to be #1 (Chloe).

George.
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Thanks for dropping in George @G.K.Jnr. much appreciated (y)

Chloe's portrait is one of my favourites too.
 
That top one reminds me of someone, I can't quite place him though.

Another nice study Iain (y)
 
Cobra said:
That top one reminds me of someone, I can't quite place him though.

Another nice study Iain (y)
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Thanks Chris, I had a similar thought when I was talking to Kit, I was trying to work out if he was famous :D
 
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