PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY

by Ginny Santora

Our October 11th lecture was provided by John Kacz, a local area photographer. Many thanks to Fred Steiger for his suggestion of John as a great lecturer on portraiture! John currently teaches Intro to Photography as adult education at Spotswood High School. John has been shooting weddings professionally for the last 18 years. John is no stranger to our club --- he started out as a member of the Raritan Photographic Society around 1977/1978. While here, he answered an announcement that came to the club for an assistant to a wedding photographer. He began his career as a professional photographer when he lost his full-time job. John has gone on to win numerous awards, including Wedding Photographer of the Year for 2000!

John began the meeting with a discussion of some photographs he brought with him. He discussed a picture of his son that he created many years ago, when his son was a young child. He used a 35mm camera, took the flash off the camera, pointed it at the child, who was looking straight at the flash, and produced a beautiful photograph, which comes alive due to the catchlights in the eyes. John explained that portraiture is a character study; environmental portraits include what is around your subject.

Portraits do not have to be of people; you can also make portraits of animals. John illustrated this in several animal portraits he brought with him. Always place the camera at eye level, whether it be for people or for pets. Do not just lock in on a pretty face -- capture your subject from all angles, half body, full body, close-ups, etc. You will know what you like the best when you get the film back. He advised us to think close, closer, closest, and do not be afraid to turn your camera to a vertical orientation.

By the way, John does not process his own film; he sends it to El-Co Labs in Englishtown. He does this because, as he says, he prefers to spend his time outside on a beautiful day, not in the darkroom!

Reflected light is important in portraiture. John uses a silver/gold/white reflector, such as those manufactured by Photoflex. When on the beach, you can use sand as a reflector to bounce light back. A reflector should be used on the opposite side (shadow side) from the strongest direction of light. A bride's train also serves as a very useful reflector of light. Sidelight a wedding dress, so that the bead work and details of the dress will show. Go for color harmony. Using window light is just fine. John uses 100 ASA film; to him a tripod is essential. As far as metering goes, John uses his in-camera meter. As long as there is both light and dark in the picture, you will get a good exposure. He will meter the light area and the dark area, set the exposure half way, and bounce the flash off the ceiling. A hairlight should light only the hair. To minimize a receding hairline, decrease the light coming in on the top of the head.

The strobes John brought to demonstrate his lighting techniques were White Lightning Ultra/800. When you are able to use them, strobes are very good in that you can see where the light is falling. This is something you cannot do with flash. If shooting outdoors in full sunlight, however, flash on camera is better than no flash at all. By using a flash you will avoid deep, dark eye sockets, something that is not attractive on anyone! John talked about "split lighting", where half the subject remains dark. This is considered hard lighting; a reflector can be employed for this technique, which is best reserved for photographing men. Women are best photographed using the "butterfly lighting" technique, angling the light so that a small shadow appears under the nose. And always look behind your subject to see what will show up in the background. However much he shoots --- and John does recommend bracketing --- he knows he better come back with the goods, as his livelihood depends on it! You can go back to the location later the same day and the light will not be the same.

Never doubt your own abilities, and do not give up. Otherwise you may miss the most magical moment in time. Finally, let the personality of your subject come out. Talk to him/her, stand away from the camera and use a remote cord to get your subject's mind off the shoot. Always make sure to carefully watch their faces, however, as when they are talking, they might not always be smiling! John's enthusiasm and obvious love of his profession shone through that night, and we were the beneficiaries of his knowledge and experience that he willingly shared with us. And remember, John will be our judge for our February 28, 2002, competition, when "Portraits" is the assigned theme. With that in mind, let's get going and get started making some incredible images!