Tuesday, January 09, 2007

JoEllen

I managed to spend a bit of time on Sunday with my friends, Arun & Jo. The weekend had been hectic, with a long bike ride and a fairly tiring run that morning, so it was good to just relax and have a beer. They have a lovely, beautifully lit house with plenty of bright window light and white walls, so it was perfect for shooting portraits. I've probably known Arun longer than any of the other friends I've made in Austin, as he and I worked together on my first project here with Motorola. I've known JoEllen for about as long as I've known Arun. Since I met them, they have gotten married and now are expecting their first child in a few weeks time. When we first met, Jo was friendly to me, nodding and smiling. I only found out about a year later that she couldn't understand a word I said, with my odd, foreign accent! I think she can understand a few words now though. The shoot was pretty low key, with me needing to sit on a stool because my legs were aching and also just being tired and not feeling very creative or active. I just set the camera up on a tripod and talked to them, shooting occasionally when I saw something promising. This one above was actually taken after we'd pretty much finished and was shot hand-held. I like what was happening with the triangles of the red couch and yellow pillow, combined with Jo's neckline & face so we played around with some poses. Available light, shot handheld. Canon 1DII, 85mm 1.8 @ f3.2, 1/60s, ISO 320

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Gordon;

Great portrait, I like the bold colors of the couch balancing the frame with her portrait.

I, too, recently found out my father's side of the family hails from Scotland, the Highlands in fact. My last name is Fenton, a sept of the Chisholm clan. I'm doing some research still to lay out the exact genealogy. I'm having the most trouble here in the US. I figure once I find out when we crossed the pond it will become much easier given Scotlands extensive genealogic records.

Anyway, nice to see another's blogspotter. You can check out my blogs if you like from my profile.

Unknown said...

I love the pose here on this one. The red couch stands out nicely but its a bit to high key for my tastes. Maybe my monitor is set to high. ;)