Click the above image for a larger version. I've just recently scanned my portfolio of B&W portraits, and I'll be posting one or two a day to see what everyone thinks.

-- Steve Leroux (steve@bigadventures.com), September 26, 2000

Answers

Argh! Click here for a larger version.

-- Steve Leroux (steve@bigadventures.com), September 26, 2000.

This is embarrassing. One more time .

-- Steve Leroux (steve@bigadventures.com), September 26, 2000.

very nicely done example of a pleasant genre. your dad looks like he would make a great l.l. bean or orvis model.

-- wayne harrison (wayno@netmcr.com), September 26, 2000.

The photograph communicates to me a warm, fatherly figure. The shirt, being checkered, the sleeves being rolled up, the comfortable position of the subject, his facial expression and hand positioning, all convey a nice sense of warmth, wisdom, trustworthiness to me. I might even be able to sense a smell of aromatic pipe tobacco if I stare long enough. The overly dark eyes, however, are hiding a potential gold mine of emotional information. The background is dull enough to deflect attention more to the subject, but I don't really like the downward converging virtical wood slats of the wall/fence. I think a portrait of this nature in this setting may work better from a lower angle of view, more direct. I think the image, as seen on my monitor and maybe as printed, is slightly "muddy" which is a term I haven't used or seen for awhile. The contrast is probably OK but maybe printing a bit lighter would make this technically a better print. Let's see more of that porfolio.

-- Tony Rowlett (rowlett@alaska.net), September 26, 2000.

Yes, I agree that the image is a little dark. This is my first time doing B&W scanning with a flatbed scanner and the results are less than ideal. Not that it matters to the online community, but the print looks better.

I found him puttering in the backyard and quickly commanded him into position so I could burn through the end of a roll of film. The camera is a Rolleiflex TLR.

-- Steve Leroux (steve@bigadventures.com), September 26, 2000.