Here is the second image in my series on “Porter.” I started calling him that simply because it’s what everyone else around us seemed to be calling him. I’m honestly not sure if it was his actual name or just his job title, but it fit the character perfectly in my mind, so I’m sticking with it until someone corrects me!
Given that he spoke absolutely no English, and my Bulgarian is virtually non-existent, actually getting any hard facts from him was near impossible. Instead, we relied heavily on a lot of gesturing, pointing, and smiling, but we managed to get the job done. I think he instinctively understood exactly what I was trying to capture, and I couldn’t be happier with the results.
I have one more shot of him left to share from this series. It’s an environmental portrait—capturing the person within their surroundings rather than the tight, head-and-shoulders detail shot that most people default to. I’ve always preferred what I like to call the “industrial portrait,” an image that hopefully reveals a little bit more about the subject’s life and the gritty reality of the environment they operate in.
Apologies for the slowness in getting these uploaded to the blog. I honestly have no idea where the time has gone since I got back from BG. No rush though, eh!
Thanks for stopping by… csj
Technically, shooting at the 40mm end of the 17-40mm lens gave me just enough reach to frame him comfortably within his workspace without distorting the perspective. Dropping the shutter down to 1/32 at f/9.5 (and keeping the ISO at a clean 100) allowed me to pull in the ambient light perfectly. Running the RAW file through Topaz during post-processing in CS3 really helped bring out the raw, industrial textures that make these environmental portraits work so well.
capture date | 02.05.2009
camera | Canon EOS 5D
lens | 17-40mm f/4 L Series
focal length | 40mm
aperture | f/9.5
shutter speed | 1/32
shooting mode | aperture priority
exposure bias | +0.0
metering mode | pattern
ISO | 100
flash | no
image quality | RAW
RAW converter | CS3 + Topaz
cropped? | no
love this shot!
Fabulous composition. Your black and white shots are amazing.
A nicely composed shot that gives a real sense of what his life is like on a day to day basis. There’s lots of personality to it, as well as a documentary feel.
That sounds perfect – one man, one horse, ONE shoot :D.
Nicki: I placed him, but he was very natural and easy to work with, he basically knew where to go, and what to do, as he had done it every day of his life I think…. 😉 But it was very natural and quick to shoot. I don’t hang around, and shoot in between the shots if you know what I mean I must have taken 100 frames on him in 3 poses, all of which he chose instinctively. CSJ
Hi Craig, you’re looking behind the scenes i think. The last two shoots have a journalistic / documentation character. How did you get this shoot? Have you placed horse and man, or did they stood there?