p.58 #1 · Portrait and People Image Thread using Sony
So, my Grandson who lives a long way away in Montana, knowing how much I like taking portraits of my grandkids, decided to play along. He took this portrait of his little sister and sent it to me.
It looks like I have passed down (afflicted) both my photography skills and fashion sense.
p.58 #2 · Portrait and People Image Thread using Sony
1bwana1 wrote:
So, my Grandson who lives a long way away in Montana, knowing how much I like taking portraits of my grandkids, decided to play along. He took this portrait of his little sister and sent it to me.
It looks like I have passed down (afflicted) both my photography skills and fashion sense.
Somehow it is one of my favorite images of late.
It's very fun to pass on some glimmer of interest in traditional photography to a generation whose lives will be 100% saturated by smart devices.
My boy took this shot of me with his T3i and 85/1.8 when he was 5.
And a meta-portrait of the two of use doing our things, shot by my mom with a Helios 44, from whom I received the photography bug
p.58 #4 · Portrait and People Image Thread using Sony
AGeoJO wrote:
A young lady in red...
Joshua - This is just one example (among many in your excellent samples) where you're shooting wide open yet achieving considerable DOF/sharpness on the entire subject, near and far. I know distance is part of how this happens, and the PP and OOF areas enhance the effect - nonetheless I'm impressed! I'm working on improving this kind of wide open + whole body sharpness DOF for my own projects.
On an aside - Like many, my shooting frequency was squashed into oblivion last year due to the virus - on top of which we did a coast to coast cross country relocation in 2020 where I went from a steady flow of business, to starting over - but I'm recovering from these set backs, and hope to contribute more soon!
p.58 #5 · Portrait and People Image Thread using Sony
KE_Photo wrote:
Joshua - This is just one example (among many in your excellent samples) where you're shooting wide open yet achieving considerable DOF/sharpness on the entire subject, near and far. I know distance is part of how this happens, and the PP and OOF areas enhance the effect - nonetheless I'm impressed! I'm working on improving this kind of wide open + whole body sharpness DOF for my own projects.
On an aside - Like many, my shooting frequency was squashed into oblivion last year due to the virus - on top of which we did a coast to coast cross country relocation in 2020 where I went from a steady flow of business, to starting over - but I'm recovering from these set backs, and hope to contribute more soon!
Karen, thank you very much for your kind words! I do enjoy the shallow depth-of-field for portraits. Frankly, I just focus on the closest eye and anything else be damned. And if you closely scrutinize the actual file on a large monitor, you would notice the depth-of-field is still somewhat limited but on images for the web, it is not readily visible.
I have seen your images on the People Photography thread. Please do post your images here, too.
__________________________________________
Two images using one of my favorite portrait lenses...
p.58 #6 · Portrait and People Image Thread using Sony
Shot with the Samyang 35mm f1.4 at 1.4. Lit with a v860ii speedlight in a 25'' Glow EZ Lock 25'' beauty dish (double diffused) with CTO + 1/2 CTO gels to match the lamp in the BG.
Off topic: I just replaced my Spyder 5 Pro that I hated with all my heart with an X-Rite i1 Display Pro. Wow. My editing monitor and the loaner monitors I have from work for my film editing now look the same and I want to go back and edit every photo ever.
p.58 #7 · Portrait and People Image Thread using Sony
In a world gone viral I haven't been doing a lot of new work but here's a few from the past!
Miscellaneous evolution - through Sony cameras....(I've had many many different Sony models)
p.58 #10 · Portrait and People Image Thread using Sony
AGeoJO wrote:
Just for fun at a local park; and yes, she was running for real...
I sold my 85GM a while ago. I've been wanting another 85 and everyone keeps telling me to get the Sigma because it's sharper and smaller, but when I look back at my images with it and see images like these it makes me think there are more important things - the rendering of the 85GM is special.
p.58 #11 · Portrait and People Image Thread using Sony
saxguy wrote:
I sold my 85GM a while ago. I've been wanting another 85 and everyone keeps telling me to get the Sigma because it's sharper and smaller, but when I look back at my images with it and see images like these it makes me think there are more important things - the rendering of the 85GM is special.
George, there is absolutely more to a lens than sharpness alone, especially for portraits or people photography in general. You have to trust your own results rather than listening to others that have different preferences. Another lens that has a special rendition for this type of photography is the Sigma 105mm f/1.4 but this Sigma lens suffers from flare more so than the Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM.
p.58 #12 · Portrait and People Image Thread using Sony
AGeoJO wrote:
George, there is absolutely more to a lens than sharpness alone, especially for portraits or people photography in general. You have to trust your own results rather than listening to others that have different preferences. Another lens that has a special rendition for this type of photography is the Sigma 105mm f/1.4 but this Sigma lens suffers from flare more so than the Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM.
I had the Sigma 105 1.4 and will be getting it again. In the "traditional" portrait range I already know I'll be using the 100 STF, 105 1.4 and 135 GM. I'm waiting to see what the 50 1.2 GM has to offer before ordering it or the 50 1.4 ZA again (although I'm already first on my dealer's list for the 50 1.2) and I'm on the fence between the 35 GM and the Sigma 35 1.2 (which I used to own). I'm moving back to Sony with the alpha 1 from the Leica SL2/SL2-S (it's a shame the AF of that system is so far behind everyone else).
p.58 #13 · Portrait and People Image Thread using Sony
saxguy wrote:
I sold my 85GM a while ago. I've been wanting another 85 and everyone keeps telling me to get the Sigma because it's sharper and smaller, but when I look back at my images with it and see images like these it makes me think there are more important things - the rendering of the 85GM is special.
I won't sell my 85 GM - but I am also having a hard time letting go of my Batis 85 for the same reasons you cite about the Sig - I rarely grab the Zeiss, but if I need smaller, lighter, faster, sharper, sleeker - it's perfect. IMHO the Batis vs GM is like a sports car vs a luxury car. Both make you say "wow" and "aaaaah" - just in different ways.
p.58 #14 · Portrait and People Image Thread using Sony
KE_Photo wrote:
I won't sell my 85 GM - but I am also having a hard time letting go of my Batis 85 for the same reasons you cite about the Sig - I rarely grab the Zeiss, but if I need smaller, lighter, faster, sharper, sleeker - it's perfect. IMHO the Batis vs GM is like a sports car vs a luxury car. Both make you say "wow" and "aaaaah" - just in different ways.
I have the same two 85mm lenses and I am not selling both either for the exact same reasons, Karen.
p.58 #16 · Portrait and People Image Thread using Sony
saxguy wrote:
I sold my 85GM a while ago. I've been wanting another 85 and everyone keeps telling me to get the Sigma because it's sharper and smaller, but when I look back at my images with it and see images like these it makes me think there are more important things - the rendering of the 85GM is special.
I'd advise you to at least give the Sigma a try (espcially since it's not as expensive as the GM), if you can live with the distortion. It's just joy to use, given its size/weight, IQ (besides sharpness, which indeed can be excessive, it also has great CA correction) & AF.
p.58 #17 · Portrait and People Image Thread using Sony
Here's one from this week - instead of hot models it's real people - clients that help pay for all my expensive gear - but I also really enjoy working with them, hearing their stories and creating memories for them to treasure and share. It may not be as glamorous as models - but it's work!
It's their 49th anniversary shoot (right on the date) - they wanted to do one holding the original photo - I shot this on plain BG but came up with the idea to copy the department store style Olan Mills background - so I created a custom clone version from the original photo to drop in behind them!
Shot with the A7RIII and 85 1.4 GM combo it's almost too much resolution - so just the right type and amount of retouching is critical. As long as they don't zoom in on the digital and see every pore they will be happy - and for print once the ink hits the paper - it's forgiving, and fantastic looking.
p.58 #18 · Portrait and People Image Thread using Sony
Great shot and very evenly lit!
KE_Photo wrote:
Here's one from this week - instead of hot models it's real people - clients that help pay for all my expensive gear - but I also really enjoy working with them, hearing their stories and creating memories for them to treasure and share. It may not be as glamorous as models - but it's work!
It's their 49th anniversary shoot (right on the date) - they wanted to do one holding the original photo - I shot this on plain BG but came up with the idea to copy the department store style Olan Mills background - so I created a custom clone version from the original photo to drop in behind them!
Shot with the A7RIII and 85 1.4 GM combo it's almost too much resolution - so just the right type and amount of retouching is critical. As long as they don't zoom in on the digital and see every pore they will be happy - and for print once the ink hits the paper - it's forgiving, and fantastic looking.
p.58 #19 · Portrait and People Image Thread using Sony
I got some fun new portrait toys today. A mini fog machine about the size of my hand and a Godox LC500R tube RGB LED light. Can’t wait to shoot some whacky stuff with them.
