Looking at a guitar case like this one makes you think that you about to meet a real special character, and when you finally meet Steve, you are definitely not disappointed—he is a real special character!
Steve is a good friend of my brother (also Steve). They have known each other for many years and have performed together. My brother invited Steve over to eat dinner with us and then share some of his favorite songs. The stage was long chairs arranged around a fire in the back yard of the cabin.
Each song would take about 20 minutes. With each song, you got a story about how he wrote it and a detailed explanation of his life when he was writing it. Between songs, you also got his views of everything from friendship to religion to the state of the world. I did not always agree with Steve's views (surprise, surprise, surprise), but I did find the telling of them was done with a unique style that you had to admire.
I wanted the portrait to be totally about Steve’s weathered face with a little hint as to what he is. I wanted his character to be front and center. I feathered the light by pointing the Speedlight head to camera left which helped keep the light off the background while still properly illuminating his face.
I felt that the color version was too busy so I converted it to black and white using nik Silver Pro Efex and used the high pass filter method to sharpen Steve, his clothes and his guitar.
Enjoy.
Camera settings: Nikon D3, Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8 at 70mm, shot at ISO 800, f/8 and 1/30th of a second with a Nikon SB-800 Speedlight attached to a Really Right flash bracket.
Post Processing:
Lightroom—Set white and black points, added mid-tone contrast, clarity.
Photoshop—used nik Silver Efex Pro convert image to black and white and used high pass filter method to sharpen Steve and his clothes and guitar and used onOne PhotoFrame to add a boarder.
Nicely done photos and story. I particularly like the guitar case still life but both are excellent with great post-processing.
ReplyDeleteVery nicely done portrait Patrick!
ReplyDeleteThere is lots and lots of Steve's personality in this photo to be sure! Only the very best musicians can play a harmonica and smoke a cigarette at the same time! :-) And forget his weathered face...how about that weathered hat?! :-)
Great, fun photo!
Well done!
Barry
Another great job on matching the photos with the story. These two can stand on their own, without the story if need be. There is just so much character in the portrait shot. B&W was the way to go. I place this one, along with your music cover shot, as one of my favorites.
ReplyDeleteDHaass
You created an interesting effect when you cropped the guitar along its middle with just part of his hand and a thumb showing that he was holding the instrument, perhaps playing. The guitar also helps stop the eye at the bottom of the frame. You killed at least two birds with one third of a guitar. Apparently he was not singing with this song since he has a cigarette in his mouth. What did he do with the cigarette when he blew the harmonica? Although you described the location in your narrative, the cropping made the story be about the man and his instruments. Therefore you accomplished your stated objective. (I still like the narratives that some bloggers (often you) add to their pictures. The words are like colors and tones; they add to the image. The writers are painting with words! Combining the two artistic areas make for a more complex and rich experience.)
ReplyDeleteI do not know which I like better the story or the photos and when I look at the photos, I do not whether I like the guitar case or Steve better. Great combination. I do believe that you are more comfortable working in black and white than you are color. Your black and white photos seem to have a more emotional impact than your color photos. I enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteDebbie
Good portrait. Steve's character and personality seem to come right through this photo.
ReplyDeleteSteve
I see why you have started to do portraits. You have a knack of getting the subject's personality to show through the photo. I like this portrait a lot.
ReplyDeleteAllie