Portrait Photography
Paul Malley • 26 July 2021
Portrait Shoot - Friday 23 July
A favourite aspect of my photography is Portrait work. I think it comes down to a 'person' confidence and ease in speaking with people, as well as having 'technical' confidence in the camera settings, lighting and equipment in use. During the Lockdown period, there has been little opportunity in improving my Portrait work: however, the recent easing of restrictions has allowed a return to this genre.
During the last few weeks, I had met a young lady who I thought would make a wonderful subject for enhancing my portfolio. In talking with her, she has done remarkably well in her own Film & Media studies at College and has her own genre enjoyment and prolific skill in taking photographs of music gigs and groups. It was a great coincidence which broke down some potential barriers between photographer and subject, in that she was at ease and relaxed at an early stage. I had broached the request for her to pose for a Portrait sitting and she agreed. Following on from this, we met shortly after, with her boyfriend over a social coffee, where again we relaxed and talked of location, timings, - I left the discussion of costume entirely to her, just saying it should be something she is entirely comfortable in. Once she was happy with my aspiration of the shoot, we set the date and time.
Prior to Friday 23rd July, we had almost 7 blistering days of heat, and I opted for a 8am start, so it wouldn't be too hot, and the option of backlighting on her long hair would offer some shots. My mind was buzzing with ideas. On the Friday, I awoke to drizzle on the bedroom window and a grey, overcast sky!!! - Oh well, at least I wouldn't have many issues with bright, contrasty shadows...
We all arrived in the space of 5mins and the outfit she wore was perfect to match the surroundings at the end of Hubbard's Hills. The onus was now on me to manage the shoot. Thankfully, with her studies in Film & Media, direction on my part was easily received and confidently acted upon. Effective, two-way communication is vital during a shoot, as is feedback and encouragement. I used flash, setting the variable power setting to balance the daylight. I sought to reduce the background by -1/2 a stop in camera, whilst setting the flash to +1/3, thereby allowing my subject to 'pop' or stand out slightly from the background. ISO 200 was set, with the 24-70mm 2.8L EF lens set at 70mm for a pleasing perspective.
It was a joy to work with my subject, a lovely 2hrs with her and her partner. I was delighted with the images shown on the screen; they required very little post production work, other than a tweak with the magenta balance (in RAW), an expected consequence of the large green overhang influence. Sharpening was set at 45% and 0.8pix rad.
The following morning, I had converted the images to jpeg and saved them on a memory stick as promised for her. I also had 2 images (see attached) printed at 12"x8" and these were handed over as a 'Thank You'.
I feel that the Portrait mojo has returned again!
Huge 'Thanks' to A for your time, agreement and wonderful personality, as well as the use of these images.
A favourite aspect of my photography is Portrait work. I think it comes down to a 'person' confidence and ease in speaking with people, as well as having 'technical' confidence in the camera settings, lighting and equipment in use. During the Lockdown period, there has been little opportunity in improving my Portrait work: however, the recent easing of restrictions has allowed a return to this genre.
During the last few weeks, I had met a young lady who I thought would make a wonderful subject for enhancing my portfolio. In talking with her, she has done remarkably well in her own Film & Media studies at College and has her own genre enjoyment and prolific skill in taking photographs of music gigs and groups. It was a great coincidence which broke down some potential barriers between photographer and subject, in that she was at ease and relaxed at an early stage. I had broached the request for her to pose for a Portrait sitting and she agreed. Following on from this, we met shortly after, with her boyfriend over a social coffee, where again we relaxed and talked of location, timings, - I left the discussion of costume entirely to her, just saying it should be something she is entirely comfortable in. Once she was happy with my aspiration of the shoot, we set the date and time.
Prior to Friday 23rd July, we had almost 7 blistering days of heat, and I opted for a 8am start, so it wouldn't be too hot, and the option of backlighting on her long hair would offer some shots. My mind was buzzing with ideas. On the Friday, I awoke to drizzle on the bedroom window and a grey, overcast sky!!! - Oh well, at least I wouldn't have many issues with bright, contrasty shadows...
We all arrived in the space of 5mins and the outfit she wore was perfect to match the surroundings at the end of Hubbard's Hills. The onus was now on me to manage the shoot. Thankfully, with her studies in Film & Media, direction on my part was easily received and confidently acted upon. Effective, two-way communication is vital during a shoot, as is feedback and encouragement. I used flash, setting the variable power setting to balance the daylight. I sought to reduce the background by -1/2 a stop in camera, whilst setting the flash to +1/3, thereby allowing my subject to 'pop' or stand out slightly from the background. ISO 200 was set, with the 24-70mm 2.8L EF lens set at 70mm for a pleasing perspective.
It was a joy to work with my subject, a lovely 2hrs with her and her partner. I was delighted with the images shown on the screen; they required very little post production work, other than a tweak with the magenta balance (in RAW), an expected consequence of the large green overhang influence. Sharpening was set at 45% and 0.8pix rad.
The following morning, I had converted the images to jpeg and saved them on a memory stick as promised for her. I also had 2 images (see attached) printed at 12"x8" and these were handed over as a 'Thank You'.
I feel that the Portrait mojo has returned again!
Huge 'Thanks' to A for your time, agreement and wonderful personality, as well as the use of these images.
Louth Photographic Society

We held a print competition at our meeting last night with the categories of "Curves" and "Open". Our judge for the evening was the very competent, and accomplished Diane Seddon. Diane gave excellent critique of the prints, and one of the main themes that Diane highlighted was the presentation of the prints, siting print sizes, mount sizes, mount colours, and more thoughtful cropping of images selected for printing. Definitely food for thought, and addressing those issues will improve members points scoring in future competitions. All the prints submitted into this competition were of a very high standard, however, it was Dave Turner who swept the board with 1st, and 2nd placing in the "Open" category, and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd placing in the "Curves" category, it was a well deserved placing with some stunning prints. The Competition page of our website has been updated with the full results. Thanks to Diane Seddon for judging the competition, and Dave Mann for the refreshments.

Dave Turner, and I attended the LPA Fosters Challenge at Nettleham. The judge for the competition was Sue Wilson from Clay Cross. Axholme took first place with 19 points, Grimsby 2nd, and Cleethorpes 3rd. Louth was awarded 13 points, consisting of: Damselflies Mating – Graham Harrison 4pt Saltwick Bay – Tony Gaskins 4pt The Thinker – Keith Rossington 3pt Muted Swan – Harry Kerman 1pt Pier Number 9 – Dave Turner 1pt It was an interesting competition with some amazing images, a big thank you to Dave Turner for selecting the prints and submitting our entry into the competition.

Good Morning All Last week at the club member Chris Birchmore took us back in time with old photographs and a very interesting talk on one of Louth's old shops Platts stores. Platts stayed traditional for many years but as like most of the old shops eventually disappeared along with it's upside down sign. There is a blog on our website as well to look at. This week, Wednesday 16th April, we will hold our Print competition with the categories of "Curves" and "Open" to be judged by Diane Seddon of Cleethorpes. Harry is also now taking entries for the local PDI competition, with the categories of "Local Events" and "Open". Regards Graham

Our member Chris Birchmore gave an illustrated talk last night titled "The Shopkeeper and his Assistant". Chris related details of his family origins, and family history in Louth, in particular his connection with Platts Provision Store in Eastgate. It was a very interesting talk which evoked many memories with those members who had themselves been raised in Louth. Many thanks Chris, the preparation, and talk was excellent.

Good Morning All With all this warm weather some insects are out and about to photograph, I took this photograph in our garden with a Sigma 105mm lens to get close in on the bee. It is another month now, so you need to think about your "Prime Time" project, if you are taking part. Last week at the club Brian McCarthy FRPS showed us his personal journey in photography, Brian takes most of his photographs in his shed building models with lighting and creating photographs that most of us would never think of. This week, Wednesday 9th April, our member Chris Birchmore who will be presenting a historical talk entitled "The Shopkeeper and His Assistant" specifically talking about a relatives memories of working for Mr. Platt the Shopkeeper. For those who have prints for the next competition, with the categories of "Curves and Open", you need to send Dave Turner a list of your entries and bring the prints in this week. Regards Graham

Good morning, All Last week we held our spring committee meeting, we discussed many topics including the new program which will be available to you all soon and did some preparation for the AGM. This week, Wednesday 2nd April, Brian McCarthy FRPS will be coming along to show us some more of his work. Brian is an ex-member of our club but has more recently been a member of Grimsby Photographic Society. You can also now start sending your print titles for the Curves and Open competition to Dave Turner. Regards Graham

This year’s project is “Prime Time”, simply one photo taken each month with the same prime lens. The resulting 12 images will be shown to members on our “Project Night” next January. Why a prime lens? Well, a lens with a single focal length, a prime lens, provides a photographer with creative options. Composition of the image when using a lens such as this is essential, a photographer must choose a subject and move around that subject to obtain the photo. Every photographer should have a prime lens in their bag, and it doesn't need to be expensive. I recently switched from Fuji cameras to the Olympus / OM Systems camera ecosystem. Now, I use the OM Systems OM-1 camera with two zoom lenses and three f/1.8 prime lenses. For the “Prime Time” project, I'll creatively use the Olympus 45mm (90mm full-frame equivalent) f/1.8 lens, this lens is typically employed for portraits. This tiny, sharp lens, which captures beautiful portraits, was bought used for £149 from a reputable dealer.

Good Morning All Last week at the club we held our PDI competition for March, with the categories of "Including the Moon" and "Open" judged by Mike Bennett. It was a very good night with some excellent photographs entered in the competitions, especially the Open. There were three twenty points awarded out of twenty photographs in each subject, Tony Gaskins had a very good night winning both the subject and the Open. All the results are on our website under competitions. The NEMPF PDI Inter - club competition went ahead recently, not so many clubs entered this year, I think there were only three LPA clubs who had entered, Louth came 11th, I'll leave it there. Thank you to Harry for organising our entry. This week, Wednesday 26th March it is a committee meeting for committee members only to attend. To keep you busy though you could prepare your prints for the next print competition, with the categories of "Curves" and "Open". Regards Graham

At our meeting last night we held our Projected Digital Image (PDI) competition with the categories of "Including the Moon", and "Open". The judge for the evening was Mike Bennett. Mike skillfully judged the 33 submitted entries in the "Open" category, providing excellent feedback on the various images. After the break Mike appraised the 18 images in the "Including the Moon" category, this had been a difficult subject for members to photograph, and was also challenging for the judge. Congratulations to Tony Gaskins for his first placements with "Moonbell, Mablethorpe" in the "Including the Moon" category, and "Dawn, Whitby" in the "Open" category. As is usual, the Competition page of the website has been updated with the top three placements in each category, and full results. Many thanks to Mike Bennett for judging the competition, and Dave Mann for providing the refreshments.

This morning I took my used OM Systems OM-1 camera, and the used Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 75-300mm, f/4.8 -f/6.7 lens, recently purchased for £249, with me for a photographic walk around the nature reserve at Gibraltar Point. The weather was excellent, and I'm pleased with the resulting images of the various birds to be seen. I believe the bird reflected drinking from the pool is a Common Chaffinch, and the other bird perched on a log appears to be a Dunnock.