Sheila - rock on

Mike McCarty · 12-26-2002, 10:00 PM

I don't hire myself out as a photographer. However, when Sheila (full time biology student, part time waitress, part time Barnes and Noble clerk, full time punk rocker) suggested that she wanted to give her father a nice photo of herself for Christmas, well I'm a sucker for a girl trying to be good to her dad. I'm also a sucker for a willing model and a chance to practice my reference photo taking skills.

I don't see any of these becoming portraits in the near future, but you never know. I thought I would share a few.

These black and white photos were all taken with T-Max 400 speed black and white film in my Nikon n90 film camera. For the indoor shots, I used a tripod.

Mike McCarty · 12-26-2002, 10:02 PM

number 2

Mike McCarty · 12-26-2002, 10:04 PM

number 3

Mike McCarty · 12-26-2002, 10:06 PM

number 4

Mike McCarty · 12-26-2002, 10:09 PM

number 5

why did I think dad might prefer black and white?

Mike McCarty · 12-26-2002, 10:19 PM

Please feel free to comment and give any criticisms on how these might be improved or why any would not make good reference for a painting.

Personally I think the one outdoors under the light sconce, although a nice photo, would be a little tough. Sheila has a kind of oriental look about her and her eyes would be difficult in this shot. The other that might be tough is the close up head and shoulder shot outside. A nice composition I think but not enough value range in the face.

Mari DeRuntz · 12-27-2002, 01:29 PM

Mike

Mike McCarty · 12-28-2002, 12:28 PM

Mari,

Personally I think #1 would be my favorite to paint. I get a little more of that personal connection with it. There is more info there than I have shown. I darkened it up a bit to get a little more drama, ok for photo's when you don't need to see so much. Black and white seems to allow a little more wiggle room than color.

My favorite, as a photo, would be #3. I love this one. It does demonstrate the outdoor trap of including more stuff into the composition which diminishes the head size. I think a very skilled painter could make a wonderful painting of this. I think I could do this if I painted it as big as Sharon K.'s seven-footers.

The following photo demonstrates very well why I don't hire out as a photographer. I was trying to work on my two person composition (not a simple matter) with Sheila and her sister. I had remembered Michael F.'s suggestions regarding adding a third element (light shade) to create the illusion of "3" instead of two. I might have pulled it off had I had not fallen into the amateurish trap of letting my auto focus take a perfectly focused picture of the center of the frame, which unfortunately was 4 feet behind the subject.

Karin Wells · 12-29-2002, 05:47 PM

My problem with Number 1 is that the light/shadow divide is exactly down the center of the face and that will become a more obvious compositional problem as you begin to paint.

I think that photo Number 2 would make the most interesting painting because of the way the shapes of light and dark interact.

All good painting begins with good abstraction as its solid foundation.

Sharon Knettell · 01-03-2003, 04:21 PM

Mike, I agree with Karin. The dark forms have a beautiful shape, highlighting the face. It is a really beautiful photo.

Sincerely,