Portraiture has been around forever. Portrait photography dates back to the 1800s. And before the invention of camera, portraits were painted. Portraits are used to show the personality and essence of a subject. They come in many forms--traditional, lifestyle, environmental, candid, fine arts, conceptual, etc.--therefore it creates a broad theme for us to tackle.
Switching from inanimate objects in our still life/flatlay theme last month to living, breathing subjects has been a fun change. I enjoyed searching through the Photo Dumps and seeing the various ways everyone is approaching the theme. The creativity of some and the simplicity of others is so incredible. Two weeks down, three more to go--and I can't to see more!
xo Angie Mahlke
Gear: Sony aRiii with Lensbaby sol 45
Settings: ISO 1250, f 3.5, 1/250
The Shot: Every year I take a portrait when she wears Chinese traditional clothes "Qipao". This is for our year 2021. Took this one in the late afternoon because I want the low light to apply in this picture, she was facing the window.
Post Processing: Edited in both LR and PS, adjusted colors, applied matte/paint feeling, and made her eyes more sparkle.
Gear: Canon 5D Mark IV, Canon 24-85mm f/2.8
Settings: ISO 100, f/10, 1/160sec
The Shot: My in-laws popped in for passport photos so I seized the opportunity and asked them to pose for few portraits together. The entire shoot lasted maybe 2 mins. But I love the result. I used my studio lights - Elinchrom d-lite, one on each side.
Post Processing: I warmed up the image in LR then took it to PS where I used frequency separation to get rid of some aging spots on FIL skin, cloned out his knee brace and got rid of few wrinkles from the backdrop, then cropped the image.
Gear: Nikon D3500 and Nikkor 50mm 1.8
Settings: 1/125, f1.8, ISO 100
The Shot: Working on low key, side light/profile.
Post Processing: Took it in to fotor.com to up the contrast and darken the background and also cropped out the white logo on his tee!
Gear: Canon 6D mark ii, Canon L Series 70-200mm
Settings: ISO 640, 85mm, f/4.5, 1/80sec
The Shot: I set up my ring light on the ground leaning on the wall, slightly angled up. My son grabbed the cat and sat on the floor. This took bribery as he’s growing up and more resistant to having his photo taken.
Post Processing: Edited in Lightroom. Started out with my own, personally built and saved bnw preset. Pulled highlights down, played with shadows, white and blacks to get the mix I wanted.
Gear: Nikon d750
Settings: 1/100, f4.0, iso 400
The Shot: This is a self portrait of mother and me. I set her up in the chair, set focus, put timer on and ran for my chair.
Post Processing: Cropped, straightened, Tweaked white balance, reduced exposure, brought down highlights and applied a preset from The Loveliness Collection - Soothe Strong.
Gear: Nikon D500, 85mm
Settings: ISO 100, F 2.8, 1/320 sec
The Shot: The sun was setting fast, so I placed him along the fence so i was shooting into the sun. I made sure the sun was more top left in my camera so I would get the flare. I wanted to keep the details so I under exposed slightly. I love Kelvin to be at about 7200 for this light.
Post Processing: I've created a preset on my own where I deepened the shadows, adjusted the mid tones a bit, played a little with the color panel. Then I brought into PS where I brightened the highlights on him and upped the saturation for the bokeh.
Gear: Sony a7iii with Sigma Art 35mm
Settings: ISO 160, ss 1/160, f 1.4
The Shot: I asked her to stand and hold up the mirror, repositioning a few times to get her reflection just as I wanted. Had her with window a bit to the side for soft slightly directional light.
Post Processing: Basic edits in LR to white balance and exposure, then pulled into PS to clone out window and add some bokeh overlay.
Gear: Fuji XT3 with viltrox 23mm
Settings: ISO 800, f1.4 1/125
The Shot: It's the last days of homeschooling during our lockdown in the UK and I wanted to document my eldest girl so I came into her room had a chat and took some. This is a reaction to her work, not me!
Post Processing: Edited in LR using Elena Blair back and white. I increased the texture and brought down some highlights.
Gear: Nikon Z6 & 24mm f/1.8
Settings: ISO 2000 - 1/250 - f/3.5
The Shot: Used a black blanket as backdrop over my kids’ bunk bed. Diffused natural light coming in from the window. Set an interval timer on my camera to 2sec and 30 shots and just played around for a bit. I think I shot 90 frames in total.
Post Processing: Edited in Lightroom. Applied Krautkopf 02 CLR preset and made small adjustments to highlights and whites. Also removed a few dust spots from the background with the healing tool.
Gear: Nikon D750, Sigma 35mm 1.4
Settings: ISO 500, f/2.2, 1/125
The Shot: I was really just letting her play and taking shots here and there. I scooted the chair back from the table to be in more light from the window and she instantly climbed in and just happened to look outside at some loud birds flying by.
Post Processing: Edited in LR and used a custom preset that I then played with shadows and highlights. I added some grain to this which I never do but felt like it added to the vintage feel.
Gear: Canon 6D Mark ii, 85 mm
Settings: ISO 100, f/2.0, 1/800
The Shot: It was a windy but spring-like day so I knew I wanted to get some portraits of my girls with their hair blowing in the wind. Just waited for the wind to pick up and snapped away.
Post Processing: Applied Unblemished 01 preset. Adjusted white balance, decreased blacks, increased clarity and exposure.
Gear: Canon 5d, 85 mm
Settings: f/1.6, 1/320, iso 1000
The Shot: I thought it'd be cute to have my son stand behind one of the trees to showcase his playful and at times shy personality. A mask is required here, but I feel it represents the times.
Post Processing: Adjustments in LR, added some directional light with filters, and some focused edits to make my son stand out a bit more.
Gear: Canon R, 50mm 1.8
Settings: ISO 320, f/2.0, 1/100
The Shot: Snapping quick photos for a class I’m taking. The assignment was 1 subject/location 6 different ways. During snack time he is not moving, so I could move all around him.
Post Processing: Edited in LR, using the color grading sliders I lowered shadow and highlights, increased midtone. Increased light tones on the tone curve, brushed over his face to decrease shadows a little.
Gear: Canon 6D Mark ii
Settings: 50mm F2.0 1/200sec ISO1600
The Shot: Took this from the floor while my son peeked over the couch at me with the devil in his eyes.
Post Processing: Edited in lightroom from color to monochrome and add cropping and contrast.
Gear: Nikon D750. 24-70 lens at 58
Settings: Iso: 100, ss: 200, Ap: 3.5. OCF camera right
The Shot: My kids haven’t been reading much now that they are older but this one just discovered Harry Potter and is PLOWING through the series so I wanted to capture his intensity reading them.
Post Processing: LR: upped shadow, point curve and clarity and added vignette.