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Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Zuiko and Portraits, Part 1

Portraits!

A snapshot of the soul... a picture to tell the whole story of a person... portraits!

I always like to shoot portraits; mostly candids, as my subjects are mostly children.

The details, the expression, the lighting, the mood, the background, the foreground, the focus, the de-focus, the bokeh, the sharpness, the eyes, the soul, the shadows, the highlights, the smiles, the sorrow... I can go on, and on....

Portraits!



A quick snap with the Zuiko Digital ED14-35mm F2.0 SWD lens yields an exquisite rendition of the children's expression. The subtlety of the monotones, coupled with the soft lighting from the background adds aura to the composition. Adequate bokeh qualities to blur the backgrounds adds silkiness to the textures. Eyes, yes, very sharp eyes!




In awe!

This meticulously composed image was done with care. Soft sunlight through the day curtain provided the adequate side lights to this composition. Flash was not used in this shot, but yet able to have a beautiful catchlight in the eyes. How was that possible?

Apparently, my son was watching the telly, and the reflection was caught in the eyes. Marvellous!

All I needed was a Zuiko Digital ED50mm F2.0 MACRO lens, and lots of patience.




My niece suddenly made the pose. I saw, I took the shot. Simple!!!

I was shocked to see the image turned out so nice, with the pair of eyes as the perfect centerpiece! Awesome!!

This was made with the Zuiko Digital 14-54mm F2.8-3.5 lens, at the 54mm end. A flash strobe was used to fill the image, bounced! Thus, the fill light on the hair, and soft shadows lining her arms. Soft Gaussian filtering was used to envoke the elusive feel in the composition. Bokeh was not adequate, but the tight crop was able to hide the obvious.

Portraits are fun. It is even more fun if the innocence are captured; real expressions, with the spur of the moment and the luck of exquisite lighting.

All you need is patience, a good lens, and the light. Any lens will do, and any light will do, too. As long as the subject is comfortable with your presence. That is all it takes.

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