About the Image(s)

As a nature photographer, I have very little skill for portrait photography, so I am apologizing ahead of time. I did have a chance to take some impromptu shots of family members at a recent event. Nothing studio. I also have a problem evaluating my images when it comes to portraits, so I am submitting two, both taken on the same day in the near vicinity of each other. The first image is of my SIL who was playing the role that day of a bereaved former wife on the day of scattering his ashes (over a year later, unable to have a funeral at the time). She seems to be holding onto 'things' in an attempt to be a bit scattered and bewildered. Knowing her, she is a good actress. I do think I captured the feeling she was trying to emulate. I have always enjoyed taking pictures of her white hair. Camera settings: 1/180th sec., F16, ISO 640, and 62mm focal length. Cropped, some blurring and darkening of the background, and I left her soft and a slight increase of the saturation of the subject and a slight decrease and blurring of the background.

Image #2 is of a younger family member, also shot outside, in the shade, and converted from color to black and white. The image has been cropped, some dodge and burn used, in PS, and the background muted somewhat, using PS. This is my nephew's wife and she wanted a new headshot. I wanted to capture the late afternoon sun behind her hair (backlit), but the best I could do was side lighting. Camera settings: 1/125th sec., F 5.6, ISO 280, and focal length 125mm.