portrait

1956 Packard Hardtop in Black and White

1956 Packard Hardtop in Black and White

1956 Packard

This is Chris with his 1956 Packard.  We were able to get some nice photos in spite of the rain. This was a luxury automobile in its time.  With a push-button transmission and torsion bar suspension, it was smooooth!  And nothing like a V8 engine when you have cheap gas.  Gas was $.23 (23 cents!!!) a gallon (a GALLON) in 1956.  I think when I started buying gas it was about $.35.  And we complained even then.   Pretty sure 1956 was the last year Packard built cars.  Or anything for that matter.

The camera

Photos were taken with a Nikon Z6 and 50mm 1.8 S series lens.  Great combination.  Fast, sharp focus for these old eyes.  I do have an adaptor and tried an old manual wide angle lens - that did not work out well at all.  I've used the adaptor with a Tamron 70-300 Zoom quite successfully.  But the autofocus works in that combination.  

Working with the time we had.  It started snowing about three minutes after we completed the photo shoot.  I used my 50mm 1.8 and took a few shots with the adapter with an old 28mm manual lens.  Great lens but my eyes are not what they were.  There is a new Nikon 28mm (Autofocus) that I really need.  Will be getting that as soon as is available.  Tamron has excellent lenses as well and are developing some for the mirrorless cameras.  But not sure I can wait, although they are great.  I have a Tamron 70-300mm  zoom that I use.  I've had it for years and is one of my favourite lenses.  I love it. I've used it with the adapter for the Nikon Z6 and works wonderfully.

the model

Chris was great.  Pretty sure he'd not done anything like this before.  Comfortable and took direction, what there was of it, very well. He is selling this car and getting another in the Spring, so we will likely shoot again.

For more portraits see my Portrait Section

#packardcar #1956packard #vintagecar #classiccar #moneypit #model #malemodel #blackandwhiteportraits

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Horse Portraits

Horse Portraits

Horses

Some different portraits.  Sometimes horses are like 8 years olds, especially when you are trying to photography them.  They don't stop moving.  I was taking some photos of a friend's boys years ago.  They were 5 and 7.  Mom was in the studio trying as she might to get them calm and posed.  I finally had to ask her to leave the room.  There was no way those two boys were going to sit still with her in the studio.  Truth be told, they weren't a hundred percent better but I did get some great shots.  Almost like with the horses here.  They are such curious beasts.  One of the biggest challenges, often, is getting them to stay far enough away that I can get a decent photo.  They come up and are all curious about the camera!  I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I did taking them.

See some photos of Bella here

#horses #horse #portraits #horseportraits #portraiture

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Antonio and the Hat

Antonio and the Hat

Antonio and I met and became friends when I was at my son's wedding recently.  I immediately wanted to photograph him when we met.  Later when he was wearing the hat, well, that clinched it.  Here are three from the shoot.  That overcast northern California weather at the time was perfect for outdoor shooting. 

Some more recent portraits here

Here is a link To purchase a straw Trilby

#thehat #portrait #portraiture #headshots #portraits #strawhat #fedora #bilby

Posted by Martin in Blog, Portraits, 0 comments
Portrait of Gerry

Portrait of Gerry

My Friend Gerry

I asked my friend Gerry a while back if I could do some photos with him.  He has a great look.  Setting it up last week, he said that we’d better hurry up; who knows how long he will be around. [read more]

Gerry is in his mid eighties.  In season he works at the campground.  He has no real need to work from a financial aspect.  He has done well enough in life that he doesn’t have to worry about money.  But he is aware that work is more than that.  It’s good for the soul.

In a day when it is hard to get people to work because the government is constantly throwing money at them to keep them home, Gerry keeps on truckin’.   He likes it here and feels part of the group

It is too bad that more young people these days don’t understand that part of the joy of working is the joy of working.  Exchange for that is not always money. 

I got him to take a 10 minute break from work and with my Smithbilt cowboy hat and his truck as props we took 15-20 photos.  Below you will see four of the best from that shoot. [/read]

Some Hollywood style photos here

#blackandwhiteportrait #portrait #gerry #portraiture #headshot #blackandwhitephoto #streetphotography

Posted by Martin in Blog, Portraits, 0 comments
Some ‘Dark’ Photos with Owen

Some ‘Dark’ Photos with Owen

Dramatic Portraiture

The world, if not exactly getting back to normal, is at least to the point where one can function more naturally.  With that I’m taking portraits again. 

My happy place.

Perfect lighting here most evenings and lots of space.  Last couple of photo shoots, I’ve been using an old Nikon 50mm 1.8 ‘E’ series lens.  This lens is likely about 50 years old.  I’ve had it for years and often when shooting I default to zoom lenses, even for portraits.  Zoom lenses are so easy.  Definitely great for candid shots but one does lose some quality/sharpness. 
[read more]

So… I’m forcing myself to use a prime lens for these portraits.  This old ‘E’ series lens, in my Nikon D7500 acts as about a 75MM.  In a couple of days I will be able to compare these photos to some taken with a Nikon Z6 with the new ’S’ series 50MM.

I’m taking about fifteen minutes with each of these recent photo shoots.  I do about 30 photos.  Similar to film when one was limited to 24 or 36 exposures per roll.  Pretty sure newer photographers have no appreciation how inexpensive photography is in this current day and age. 

Hopefully, I will be shooting enough to post some new photos once or twice a week.  Subscribe to the newsletter or check back often.  If you subscribe to my ‘portrait’ Instagram account, you will get notification when there is new material.  IG: @portraits.by.martin

Call me now to set up your portrait session! (Contact)[/read]

#streetphoto #streetphotography #portrait #portraiture #headshot #headshots

Posted by Martin in Blog, Portraits, 0 comments