Being out for my birthday this evening I was wandering around downtown taking pictures on my Pentax loaded with a recently expired roll of Kodak Portra 400. I’d never shot Portra and wanted to try it on some things I see pretty often.
Being as it’s my birthday I was drinking some beer and wound up at a kind of upscale bar called SiP. Beautifully decorated, it feels like a swanky just-after-Prohibition bar. I was sitting at the bar enjoying a 133 proof Elijah Craig barrel pick the bar had, surprisingly smooth for the proof, delicious overall. The kind of bourbon you pull out for a really special occassion.
As I was sitting there, back to the door, I see a man who’s overall look/vibe, to me, was begging to be captured on film. I asked if I could take his picture and after he said yes got him to pose slightly. Looking through the viewfinder on the Pentax K1000 I knew I had found someone great to photograph.
Now the anxiety kicks in. Did I get a good picture? Will he be happy with the end product? Did I mess anything up?
My anxiety is growing, luckily I only have a few more pictures to take on the roll before developing it. I’ll edit everything and take great care on that man’s portrait.
Hopefully most of my anxiety about this photo is just nerves from being my first staged portrait. I do have ideas for some portrait shoots that I want to do that are purely artistic and less spontaneous than this was tonight.
WC Fulks 