alittlenews

Photo copyright Paulo Rodrigues. All rights reserved.

A few weeks ago I did a post on shooting dignified portraits. In that post I also invited you guys to submit a dignified portrait photo to our Flickr Pool which Paulo Rodrigues did with this very nice executive portrait.  Paulo lives in London, United Kingdom and has become an email supporter for my wife and I as we raise a child with Down Syndrome.  He has a daughter who is two or three years older than my son, Reece, who has DS. (Thanks for all those notes Paulo.  They really do mean a lot.)  Take a minute to check out Paulo’s Flickr Stream, his Web Site, and his Blog.

I really like this portrait and should have done something with it before now but I, like many of you, get a little busy from time to time and things slip out of my mind.  There are several things to like in this photo.  First of all, the portrait has a nice, dignified feel that would work well in anything from a news story in the local paper to an annual report.  The lighting is very well done with an SB-28 fired through an umbrella and Paulo managed the always problematic reflection in the glasses masterfully.  Another thing I like is his positioning of the subject within the frame.  I love the negative space and the use of color in the negative space.  A page designer for an annual report could easily place type over this with little distraction.  Then there is the look on the man’s face and the way he is dressed, both of which declare him to be a person of substance.  This is just a well executed portrait.

The only criticism I have, and this is being very nit picky, is the top and back of the head could benefit from the addition of a hair light.  It is just a matter of preference, really, because this portrait is excellent just as it stands.  It would have to be a very soft hair light to not ruin the mood of the lighting and it would have to be controlled not to spill onto the background and ruin the light falloff there.  Any time you decide to add light to “improve” on what you have, you need to be sure that the addition enhancing the lighting scheme and not simply just more light.  Some of the most effective portrait work of all time has been done with a single light source so don’t feel like you have to go multi-light set every time.

Photo copyright Paulo Rodrigues.  The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.