THE FEELING...

To sculpture with LIGHT... I seem to have lost. Or so I believe at this early stage. You know; how to form, shape and change light and shadows in a photo studio / during a photo session... While it appears to reside within me, at the same time, i have to be honest enough to say; it has been such a long time ago - that i lost quite a bit of that FEELING... how to sculpture.

The cure ?

Experiment. Work. Experiment. Work. Work. HAVE FUN ! Do projects (Themes). Repeat old themes from a long time ago - is also aa way to "get back into the sattle".

Last time I did a real photo session in the studio was back on 31 Dec 2017 with Mary and Sal, dancing. And before that, another bunch of years, with Daniel, back in 2013. Which was super fun, i remember - and we did quite a lot of portrait photography with people. Per-Olof, Britt, Daniel, Claus, etc.

On Fire

My mind is pretty much on fire now: my thoughts are in the studio practically all the time, thinking of lighting all the time. The things that help to do so, and the situations and ideas I could bring to life.

Nothing facy though, I may add !

I am NOT into super sophisticated photography. I have always like a simpler, kind of warmer style in my portraits - with real people - which almost always were friends and closer contacts. (Now that has changed a bit, unfortunately, because it is only a few people i have some contact with).

To have an idea. A theme

So, i'll probably have to get creative in that area... One potential way, could be some people from Sal's work, for example. And some I have already met. Yeah, thaat would actually be cool after all. Especially when there is a theme involved - which i personally - find it to be easier to start to work with a person in a studio.

Hanging onto the early 90s

As of now - I orient myself onto what i did back in the early 90s - as sort of "start-up guide" in order to get back into the game of fun and experimentation in portrait photography. To get back the feeling, so to speak. But in the mean time, i will test and experiment with Sal. It is a way for me to get my stuff ready / familiar with again. You know the practical things in a photostudio. It actually went very well. Surprizingly fast as i built-up the studio the other day.

Years of stagnation - and then suddenly "boom" !

It is funny how my mind works... getting so sucked in. While during many years i can literally avoided to think about studio photography, or even getting close to do any real action. A thought, and then I would push it away. Another day. Some day. And that went on for years. Then of course also my apartment changed. At times it was practically impossible to have a studio, because too much stuff was around.

Anyway.

I am at it again

Naturally, I want to do a better job with portraits in the near and fruther future. Yesterday's session with Sal was strictly about practical things: Ω

1) Getting the Photo Background painting ready - See how the ink patterns turned out
2) Test shots with flashlight with Sal
3) see how the VERTEX METHOD works with FLASH utilizing Pentax 6x7 lenses fully
4) Testing for the first time wireless sync units on the studio flashes vs camera

It all worked really well - except

The only issue i had was the Fujifilm GFX 50s II camera itself. It is very easy to accidentally change the shutter speed. Once you get over 1/125 sec - you see suddenly dark streaks on one side. First i didn't realize that. Then later, I understood. The thing with the Fuji GFX is, that when you test the sharpness, by pressing the wheel, you can sometimes shift the shutter speed by accident. It is one of those moments i would prefer real dials, instead of settings.

And from what I now understand real professional have said about the Fujifilm GFX system menus is that it is psychotic. And i can only agree. I have never encountered a camera with such strange menus, confusing and erratic in "logic".

I do really "hate" the Fuji GFX menus. Even now more than a year later. That has never happened to such a degree with any other camera I have ever been working with, in my life.

It says something...

Composition issues with the VERTEX Method

That is an issue. you never get a full feeling of the ENTIRE FRAMING - due to the strange nature of using a rotating adapter with 4 different positions and exposures. Not until you stitch them together in post - you see what you got !

The abysmal DOF (Depth of Sharpness)

Then you see that abysmal depth of sharpness through an 150 MP emulated 7x7 cm digital sensor with vintage mediumformat Pentax 6x7 lenses. It is quite interesting.Due to the clean nature of digital sensors, the resolution of micro details are very marked - giving the feeling that the "depth of sharpness" is even smaller compared of using film negative material. than it would be perceived with film negatives.

Silver grains in film spread the incoming lights diffusely on micro level - making them... well, more diffuse - but in an overall images you get a sense of depth of sharpness as you stop the lens down. Now with digital lenses, and digital sensors, that seem to be far less deep. Yet - in the final, overall photo - it all looks sharp, clean and nice. So, it is not a big deal. And the vintage lenses here, perform very well, even if you find optical flaws when you zoom in at 100%. However that is not that what matters really.

It is the final image as such. There, you get clear sense of sharp defined details.

The visual deceptions: Overall Image vs 100%

It is the same with film negatives after you scanned them: look at them at 100% and it looks absolutely horrible by todays digital standards. And yet, when looking at the same OVERALL photo, e.g. on a Fine Print - The photography looks gorgeous - and sharp where it matters.

Everything is relative, and it is important not to get lost in the forest because of all trees.

The Background paper story

As my background paper - i started with brownish packaging paper (No wait, i started first a couple month with just black cloths in April 1992). The brownish packaging paper came a bit later in 1992 - when i glued two paths together, in order to get a 2.6 meter broad background. That paper type was truly awesome, because it had such a nice, natural looking "hammered" pattern - as seen in the photos with "Errki & Ina" further below. This worked excellently for black & white portraits - but wasn't pretty in color.

Only 5 years later, when i wanted to buy new rolls of package paper - it had a whole different quality. Ugly, weird, and annying.

Ina and Erkki were amazing !

I absolutely loved to make portraits of Ina. She had such a wonderful personality - and i still miss her, often wondering where she is, and what she is doing.