Photographing strangers have always been something I enjoy.
Part of it has to do with the possibility that I can be told to take a hike, or worse, be punched in the face.
It’s not that I like to antagonize people.
It’s a real challenge even if you have the camera handling down.
Quizzical look of a fruit vendor–This guy was curious to see me use a strange-looking camera I’m sure. The Hasselblad with 80mm lens shot wide open at f2.8 produces nice sharp images but it is a slow camera to work. You have to take first a meter-reading with a handheld meter.The 500CM had no built-in meter. Ridiculous considering how much it cost me. The fruit is called lychee.
Side Lit–Delia lit by strong sidelighting coming off of Lake Evans. The fill light is provided by a gold reflector on the right. Fill flash would have also worked but it would have required a Canon Speedlite capable of high sync speed. Exposure was ISO 100 1/350 sec @ f4 with a 50 mm lens.
Contrast can be friend or foe.
The more adept you are at controlling it, the better your pictures look.
In a portrait, if there’s too little contrast, the colors may look muted. Skin tones look drab.
Too much? You have to decide where in the scene you want to retain the detail.
