As i am working with the images i took of Sal in the studio - one of the little delights is to post process them later. Not all at home - god forbid. But every day i sit down after work in the morning, and "translate" a RAW image into either color or gray tones.
This is what i love to do !
In that process I just realize - Gosh - I feel at home. These are the kinds of (simple) portraits i feel at home with. And they are also a nice bridge (between film based 90s, and digital 2020s) i have taken of people in my "studio" in the past. To work with medium format. Back then with film. Now with a digital medium format sensor.
6x6 Medium format
I also notice that i do get away with Photoshop AI, turning the 51 MP horizontal images into what looks more like "Hasselblad 6x6" format. By simply expanding them with help of Ai. Because there are not true details at the borders - this actually works. It only does so as long things are absent or blurry. But once you have fine details in the photo, and use AI expansion... it looks plain dreadful (due to the far too low resolution of the AI).
However, I also realize, that I don't need to use the 150 MP rotating Vertex method when i take portraits of people - in order to get "quadratic images". Portraits are of course a lot easier to judge what is in the frame, when you take one single shot (instead of 4 rotated off axis shots you need to stitch together later, without even knowing of the model stood still and all 4 images match exactly in the stitching process).
While I do love the Vertex method - it isn't necessary for portraits. Therefore i can focus more on the image itself; the way a person looks like in the composition within the frame. And the model doesn't need to stand absolutely 100% still - and small movements are possible. But not for- or backwards (because then the model goes quickly out of focus). But at least they don't need to stand still, freezing for 5-10 seconds like with the Vertex method.
Character portraits ?
Maybe that is where i am leaning, and have been leaning towards. Character portraits. I simply love it. That doesn't mean the person just sits down and does nothing. I do love/like to engage them into various position, facial expressions, even playful variations. And i love when they themselves come up with versions. After all - in the end well see what works, and what doesn't. It is simply fun to connect with the person, as the person connects with me - or at least has some confidence that some portraits will be wonderful.
There always are a couple portraits who stick out of the crowd !
Man, i am very happy finally having reactivated my photo studio. With a fresh background, and a room that actually allows me with relative easy to prepare all the studio flashes, the background and things - without too much hassle. It really works wonderfully now.
I somehow... I don't know why i so hesitated to do this ? While now all i can think of, is the joy of taking human portraits in my photo studio. And to work with their faces - kind of like i would do in the analog darkroom making prints.
The neurotic menu / settings in the Fujifilm GFX
Having the Fujifilm GFX 50s II camera - is absolutely fantastic for studio photography. I couldn't be happier. She is perfect for those tasks. Except for the neurotic menu system that camera has... which still is absolutely dreadful and illogic - every single time i try to search a certain setting. Last time, one setting disappeared for unknown reason. Where you can set the image proportions; like 3:2, 2:3, XPan panorama or quadratic 1:1, etc.
Suddenly... it just was gone from the "Q" Quick menu.  |
