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Hugh Jacob started with a slide show of environmental portraits - all square format and many soft focus
images, and many had a lake or a waterfall setting. He pointed out that none of the subjects was looking at the camera.
Hugh suggested,
"Find out what everyone in your area is doing, and do something different." He also said, "Try to photograph every session as if it was for print competition, and you'll see your overall quality rise."
Hugh
said that Leon Kennamer was his first photographic idol, and later he emphasized the "subtractive lighting" that Leon taught. He also credited Jack Curtis, Joyce Wilson and Robert Becker as being strong influences
on his development.
He mentioned that much of his work was done with warming and diffusing filters. He tries to have his portraits show feeling, emotion and storytelling. He said he does many high-key
children's portraits, mentioned that he envied our climate, for in Canada, there is a very limited time to do warm weather environmental portraits.
Hugh said the two hours before sunrise or two hours after
sunset are his favorite times for portraiture (author's note - two hours? I think they have longer twilights in the north than at our latitude!) He said look for directional lighting instead of flat lighting. Hugh
strongly favors using a Singh Ray UV filter for all outdoor portraits except direct sunlight (helps prevent blue shadow crossover), and for very flat lit subjects he uses the Singh Ray Color Intensifier and
Polarizer to accentuate both cool and warm colors and increase color saturation. This filter requires a 3-stop exposure increase, but that enables you to use a wide lens aperture even with fast films, which throws
the background out of focus. The polarizing filter helps darken the sky and can reduce reflections. He also uses Texture Effects screens for some images, to softens them and reduce contrast.
Hugh suggested
the use of dynamic symmetry in composition. He also recommended not filling the frame with the subjects; leaving more space allows for positioning the center of interest at one of the four dynamic intersections. It
also increases the sales of much larger wall portraits, because the smaller subjects do not become objectionably large, even in 40" x 60" prints.
Hugh feels it is important to offer people a number of
choices, and the computer/watercolor prints are a choice that many clients have not seen before. One of his specialties is to sell collections of images - either as a standard album, a gallery box, or a fine art
book where each print is mounted on archival paper with parchment interleaves. For the collections, he bills the photography time on an hourly basis, shooting many different poses, and sells with a slide
presentation. He will sell B&W, color and "monochromatic" (a B&W image printed on color paper, in any shade) prints.
He suggests mats that complement the image, and mentioned that high quality photos
must have high quality frames. He showed some mats that had been "painted" with an airbrush to reflect the colors and shapes in the image. The airbrush also removed the white markings where the mat was cut, making
for a better viewing experience.
Hugh spoke briefly of his fondness for the Imagon soft focus lens that can be varied for the amount of diffusion it provides. It's a view camera lens that can be fitted to
most roll film cameras (Hugh uses Hasselblad) by custom repair shops. (Mamiya makes a similar lens for RB/RZ cameras.) Hugh shoots almost entirely for a horizontal format for his portraits, because people are so
used to looking at TV, movies and computer screens - all of which are horizontal.
Regarding other equipment, Hugh said he uses a tripod with a ball head that will go very high and very low, and can be used in
water without damage. He likes a 180mm lens on a 2 1/4 square camera on location, and a 150mm lens in the studio. He uses a double compendium lens shade, because it has the flexibility to use several filters. Hugh
said when using a soft focus filter, always focus without the filter, and then replace it. He likes Polaroid's 400 Polapan for testing. When using a soft focus lens or under low light conditions, he recommends using
a film with more contrast, such as Kodak's VC type. He commented that if you use custom lighting, you'll often be able to order candid printing from the lab, resulting in greater profits.
Mr. Jacob next
talked about pre-selling the portrait. He said: 1) Tell them the price, what they have to spend. 2) Insist on a clothing consultation, color coordination is essential for outstanding images. 3) Always work toward
concepts or story telling. He said he always gets a fee before the portrait consultation; otherwise, they will cancel at the last minute if anything else comes up. He uses trans-views at the consultation and to sell
the images. When people ask, "How much is an 8x10?" he tells them there is no way to tell a final cost until they see the trans-views and decide what they want and need.
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