Any comments or suggestions are appreciated:

Technical info: Pentax 67 with 135mm lens, Speedotron Brownline M11 Head in Photoflex softbox, Agfa APX 100 film, printed on Ilford Multigrade IV paper.

-- Joel Collins (jwc3@mindspring.com), February 14, 2000

Answers

NICE ! great exposure, and a really memorable expression.

-- C Terry (yeti-man@webtv.net), February 14, 2000.

Mmmmm, like the light. Just one softbox high above the camera?

Good one!

-- Allan Engelhardt (allane@cybaea.com), February 14, 2000.

Well done. You gotta just "be there/be ready" with these kids. A rewarding challenge. Delightful!

What a difference catchlight placement makes. What size softbox (lightbank?)

It's all I use (along with a small and large Photoflex lite disc). Less confusing for this simple mind:^P

I'm having trouble getting images on this site so, surf on over:

www.photoworkshop.com/members/billst

Bill

-- Bill Stengel (Canis61@AOL.com), February 14, 2000.

My only criticism is that the picture is a bit "cutesey" for my taste. Kinda hits one over the head. As for the technique, well, superb. Fact is, I have a series of shots almost exactly like it, shot with almost the same lighting, and the same camera and lens. I printed it slightly warmer, though. And I opted for somewhat more neutral expressions. Also, my model was older, about 2 years old.

Perhaps I'll scan one of them and put it up.

-- Peter Hughes (leo948@yahoo.com), February 15, 2000.

Ain't APX-100 great :)

-- Nigel Smith (nlandgl@eisa.net.au), February 15, 2000.

I'll answer a few question about this photo:

The softbox is 24x32 inches -- I think the size is "medium." The softbox was on a boom and I was sitting on the floor under the softbox, but the softbox was not high above. It was just high enough to prevent the catch light from covering the pupil of the eye. The background paper is medium grey -- it appears black because I prevented it from being lit by using louvers on the softbox.

As for the image bing too "cute" -- it was really hard to pick photos from this series because this is my son. I guess I'm drawn to the cute ones. I have another photo on my web page that is probably less cute. Let me know what you think.

And, yes, Agfa APX is a great film. It's the only B&W film I use. APX 25 in 6x7 is a killer for landscapes. I can't print big enough in my darkroom to see grain.

Thanks for you comments!

-- Joel Collins (jwc3@mindspring.com), February 16, 2000.

Oops, guess I goofed that HTML in the above response. Sorry, gang.

-- Joel Collins (jwc3@mindspring.com), February 16, 2000.