Woodworker

I haven't gotten around to post to my blog in almost a week. I have been busy digitizing some of my older images which were taken with real cameras on film. ;) Instead of showing my usual lansa and seascapes, I will for a while show some of my people photography, which varies from natural to bizarre to unnatural. Don't be frightened!

Here is an image I took of a Polish woodworker who was working next to a road on an art project in the Marin Headlands (Marin, CA). I was intrigued by that guy chiseling away on huge pieces of lumber, and I asked him if he would allow me to take pictures of him. He didn't want to let me take pictures while he was working on his project, probably because he needed to concentrate, but he was willing to sit for me. Here's what I consider an environmental portrait that shows the person with a tool of his trade in his environment. There was no preparation time whatsoever and communication was marginal due to the language barrier.

This image was shot on 35mm EPP (Ektachrome 100 Plus Professional) with a 20mm lens. I used off-camera fill flash with a straw-colored gel to match the warm ambient sunlight. Fill flash was necessary to lighten the eye area and underside of the hat's brim.