A couple of days ago, I showed you the first results of my studio experiment with a 70 EUR setup (lights, modifiers and background). I basically shot most of the pictures with my 5D mkII so I could see the results instantly but I just had to use my old Hasselblad and shoot some film too. It just felt right. In the end I managed to shoot only a couple of rolls of film because we’ve spent quite some time testing the light and finding the right amount of movement or the lack thereof. But I’m pretty pleased with the results.
I tried out some different films, to see which ones would suit the setup best. The next three pictures are shot on Ilford HP5+
This only color picture is shot on Fuji Pro 400H which captured the skin tones surprisingly well.
And the last one was shot on Fuji Neopan. It’s only the second roll of Neopan that I shoot, but I really like it. I’m going to try it a bit more often.
Too bad all the developing, scanning and dust spotting is such a pain in the ass. If it wasn’t for that I would shoot a lot more film.
Before the FEP Congress I already knew Paolo Roversi was a fashion photography legend but when I saw his images on the big screen I was blown away. It became even more impressive when I heard that most of these iconic shots where made with a big Polaroid camera in his rather small studio in Paris with nothing but a north facing window as the light source and a blanket as a backdrop.
Of-course it doesn’t hurt that he gets to work with the world’s best designers, make-up artists, stylists and supermodels like Natalia Vodianova. But still, I think he creates magic in his studio. I have a nice big studio and I’m perfectly fine with studio photography techniques and equipment. I can create what my clients want but at the same time I also feel like I haven’t find my own “voice” yet when it comes to personal work in the studio.
Paolo’s work inspired me to try another angle on shooting in the studio. Lore was so kind to be the guinea pig for this experiment. The main goal was to try to do things that I normally don’t do without fear of failure.
I wanted to get out of my comfort zone, so I decided against using any of my usual lighting/studio equipment. I went to the nearest DIY store and spent a whopping 70 EUR on some halogen work lights, translucent shower curtains and some rough blankets. I will probably do another shoot in this setup and make a Confessions Video of it, to show you the technical aspect.
I’m not afraid of slow shutterspeeds but I basically only use them when I have no other options or if I want to pan. This time I decided deliberately to work with a little motion blur from the subject while the camera was locked on a tripod (also something I rarely do). Most of the shots failed because there was too much or too little movement (or because we burst out in laughter after realizing what a sight it must have been).
I’m pretty happy with what we did. Some of the shots worked out rather well but more importantly, I learned a lot. I don’t know exactly what I’ve learned, but sooner or later I will.
All the pics in this post are shot with the 5D markII but basically they were test shots as I really wanted to shoot these on film. I shot 4 rolls on my Hasselblad and 1 with my Holga. I’ll have to wait for the results until they come back from the lab.
So is this my new style of studio portrait photography? Probably not, but it might be a step in the right direction. There’s the organic feel and the beauty of the imperfection that I miss so often in studio photography. Anyway it inspired me to push this whole idea a bit further and I’ll be doing some more shoots in my 70 EUR studio setup.
Thx Paolo for the inspiration and giving me the urge to try something different.
A couple of weeks ago the kind people of Calumet let me play with the Hasselblad H4D. It wasn’t a real scientific test. Tom and Pieter were trying out some lighting gear and I just snapped away some pics with the Hassy while we acted ridiculous as usual.
We did this just outside the room where Mike Larson was giving one of his great seminars organized by Calumet and Sunbounce. We even borrowed his beautiful model for an hour or so.
So what about the H4D then? First of all, this wasn’t any kind of scientific test. I basically just snapped away some pictures like it was a compact camera and that’s probably not what it was intended for. (Although a friend of mine said he saw a tourist with an H4D in Venice.)
Let’s start with the bad news: ergonomics, build quality and handling sucks big time. And I mean really big time, my 450D feels a lot more professional. The H4D looks and feels like it’s made of the same plastic as my first DSLR, the 300D (aka the digital rebel). It’s very slow in writing pics to the card (not even 1 pic/second). I do understand that these are very large files but then the camera should have a larger buffer / more processing power. The autofocus is slow and simply doesn’t work at all if the subject is backlit. The menus seem to be designed in the 90′s. The LCD-screen is plain rubbish. If Canon would fit such a bad screen on an entry level DSLR, the forums would be filled with complaints. I could not tell anything about the pictures when watching them on the lcd.
Is there anything good to say about the H4D? Well, it has something that my 5D mkII nor my 1D-bodies have … a pop-up flash. Yes, that’s right, a pop-up flash.
But wait, there’s more: Once you download the huge files to your computer, you finally discover what Hasselblad has been famous for during decades: SUPER QUALITY. The resolution is just mind blowing. If I zoom a picture to 100% in Lightroom on my rather recent Macbook Pro, I can go and make myself a coffee while it’s rendering. To some this resolution is essential for their work but most of us can easily get by with a Canon or Nikon. To me, the biggest advantage of the Hasselblad files is the depth. The gradients are way smoother than any digital camera I’ve ever seen.
Since I met him for the first time, I’ve been wanting to take a portrait of Waldemar. You may not know him, but he’s the one that drives the van on the European Sunbounce workshop tours. He’s also the one that bends the ultra strong German steel in the Sun-Movers. He looks like a very tough guy (and I’m sure he is when needed) but he’s also a very generous man. And he’s the owner of a face that just screams to be taken a portrait of.
These were shot outside in the middle of the day. I underexposed the ambient so it didn’t play any role in the picture. We lit this with just one beautydish overhead.
I know the H4D is not supposed to be a replacement for a 5D mkII. It’s probably expected to be used tethered to a computer, in a controlled environment. But still, for that price I would have expected a decent construction, good lcd and excellent ergonomics. I wouldn’t even mind if they would have to drop the pop-up flash for that. If you need the resolution and/or the depth it’s probably still worth the hefty price tag and I’m not sure if the other digital medium format solutions are any better.
Conclusion: The H4D is certainly “haute cuisine” when it comes to image quality, too bad you have to consume it with a plastic fork on a cardboard plate. But still, I wouldn’t hesitate to rent one, if I need the image quality.
As you know I’m very much in favor of photographers getting together and sharing their knowledge over a few beers. But don’t just stick to the beers and shooting for fun. One of the best ways to learn something is to join other photographers on real assignments. And if you’re there you might as well assist too.
Pieter dropped by for a coffee and a chat because he had to shoot one of his famous L-style Sessions in my neighborhood. We meet pretty often but I’ve only seen him at work a few times. Since I’ve had nothing to do and needed some fresh air anyway, I just invited myself to trail along on his shoot. I operated the Sunbounce a couple of times but I also had some time to fire off a couple of shots of Pieter at work with the Leica M4-2, I borrowed from Wilhelm.
Although I know Pieter’s style pretty well, it was still very interesting to see how he gets those pictures. The other thing that’s always interesting is to see how other photographers interact with their clients. You can’t just copy someone else but there are always a couple of things that are worth trying out to incorporate in your own style.
So what did I learn? No big secrets but the way Pieter directs and poses his subjects is phenomenal. I also really like how he frees his mind and back by working mainly with one camera, one lens and natural light. That might give him less technical options but also lets him work fast and concentrate on the subject.
Assisting fellow photographers benefits both the photographer and the assistant. The assistant learns something and the photographer has an extra pair of hands available. And if he’s lucky he’ll get some very flattering behind-the-scenes pictures when the assistant takes out his Hasselblad and concentrates on the photographer’s best part.
I’m certainly going to assist more in the future. What about you, do you ever assist? What did you learn?
It’s been quiet on my blog. It happened before and it will happen again. Usually this happens just because of a very busy time. But the last months it was not just the heavy workload that kept me from blogging, I went through a very dark time in my personal life. After 10 years of marriage my wife decided to move out. I never saw it coming and it was a very hard kick in the face for someone for whom family is the most important thing in life. I won’t pretend that I understand it all and I don’t feel the need to blog the parts that I do understand.
I just know that I have no choice but to move on and start a new chapter of my life. I’m in the clear with myself and I just try to make the best of it. I have the kids every other week and I miss them like crazy when they are not with me. But I can still be the father that I always wanted to be. After my wife moved out, I decided to take the kids on a trip to the coast to get our minds of the big changes and show them that I’ll always be there for them.
We had such an amazing time and all enjoyed every second of it. Even though it was pretty cold, it was dry and the sun was out most of the time. We also had a lot of good conversations on how we have to go from here both emotionally and practically. I’m so proud of the way the kids handle this. Off-course they feel lost sometimes but they don’t hesitate to talk to me. They also understand my situation really well and help me out so well.
Lately I found myself again. And that’s thanks to the incredible amount of help and support I received from my family and friends. I feel very lucky that I can count on so many great people.
My main concern is being a good dad but to do that I need to figure out how to sort out the many practical and financial challenges I’m facing. I really want to keep the house and the studio but that won’t be easy. I’m going to have to refocus on some parts of my business to increase my income substantially. Some things are still a bit vague but every day my plans take more form. You’ll discover them over the next months and I hope I can count on your patience and support.
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