My latest photo session...
saw me return to my love of black and white portraiture with a photos session celebrating a Wedding Anniversary. It was a dark wet December morning and photographs outside in natural light were not going to work. Instead I suggested we take some portraits under studio lighting I quickly rigged up serving to replicate natural light. Talking to the couple and keeping a conversation going enabled a relaxed and more candid capture to come across. Looking back over the contact sheets I can trace the conversation through the movement of the images. From there I select the best ones, those that show connection, emotion and facial expressions that perfectly sum up the subjects in the frame. Getting their son in the photograph made it extra special as well !
Some of the very first portraits I took were under these conditions drawing on inspiration from French Photographer Jean Baptiste Huynh. His use of light with its timeless style and take on the human gaze are an aesthetic I am drawn to. Initially photographed in colour, which I provide as an option as well, I convert to black and white in post production. Tapping in the deep black silky tones in contrast to the creamy whites compliment the human form so well. It is done through the positioning of the soft box lighting either side of the subject to elevate the shadows.
Black and white photography allows us to better see the subject in the frame rather than being distracted by the emotions of colour. It's a nod to the yester-year of 1950's Hollywood glamour and the cinematic tones that accompanied film photography genres and their conventions.
