> Ken, I thank you... and my E-1 thanks you, too!
Ditto in return.
An analysis of the image is actually very instructive. This image could be
a poster child for several E-1 issues.
1. The E-1's sensor is overly sensitive to near-IR. The problems seen with
the Leica M8 are also present with the E-1, but just to a lesser extent.
Typically, this is not a problem, but when using strobes it can be. Strobes
have extensive IR and UV radiation. Caucasian skin will turn nice and pink
when photographed with the E-1 using flash.
2. This extended near-IR sensitivity leads to the exposure lifting of
caucasian skin--especially in the red channel. We are more likely to blow
exposure in this case. If we use highlight-recovery to bring things back
into line again, we get color shifts in the highlights as the four color
array did not clip at the same point. Highlight recovery with the E-1 is
very much a crap shoot. In comparison to the other digital cameras in my
household--the exact same exposure with the E-1 will make caucasion skin
look at least a half-stop lighter.
3. Because of 1 and 2, it is better to UNDEREXPOSE the image slightly and
bring up the exposure during RAW conversion. With my E-1, and I believe
this to be true with all E-1s, if you chimp the portrait on the LCD, if the
skintones look "just right" you are about 2/3 to a full stop under. If you
want the skintones to actually be properly exposed (for no pulling exposure
in conversion) you have to expose the image so the skin looks a bit bright
on screen. Generally speaking, I make sure I never have flashing (clipped)
highlights and try to stay about a stop away from clipping. With the E-1's
four-color array, you can be clipping in-camera and never know it. Anytime
you are within a stop of clipping you are guaranteed to be clipping.
4. Just a side note, this child has extremely smooth skin.
5. When you get too close to your subject and you are bouncing the light,
the in-flash auto-sensor of the T45 will overexpose because the exposure
sensor isn't looking at the same point the camera lens is. Move farther
away and this isn't a problem.
6. Not illustrated in this photograph because the ISO was set to 100, but
when using a high-power on-axis flash and higher ISOs, the dreaded
magenta-blacks will show up. A flash at full or near full power produces a
ton of IR and the E-1's sensor in "boost" mode seems to be particularily
susceptable to this problem.
7. Not related to the sensor or exposure is the lens. The 50/1.4 is bloody
sharp. Notice that the proper focus point wasn't too difficult to achieve
either. Even though this lens lacks that "wrap-around" characteristic of
the 35-80, it still does a remarkable job for portraiture. The comparative
35-80 shots aren't as sharp because of the chromatic aberrations (see notes
about extended near-IR sensitivity) and the fact I was at 1/60th of a
second so I was inverted on the maximum handheld speed equation. The 50/1.4
is easier to handhold than the 35-80.
8. Flash facing 90 degrees sideways is a fantastic technique. I bounced the
light off the side wall. The images where she is looking "towards the
light" are really really nice. Using the Rogue FlashBender to throw a
little forward light works really well. Granted, in this case, I had a
touch too much light thrown forward, but the theory is sound. The best
shots were the ones where the FlashBender was bent back so much that it
wasn't really in the flash's light path.
9. A bit of pride in the fact that my purchase decision a zillion years ago
worked out so well this far down the line. At that time, I don't think many
of us expected the E-1 to be viable past three years. Yet, for portraiture,
this remains my go-to camera.
10. Just a random note about the exposure. I do believe the skin looks
overexposed partially because of the proportion of the entire image area.
Another shot of her and her mother had exactly the same brightness levels,
but because they were "farther away" from the camera showed that they were
exactly where we would want them to be. Oh, and they haven't been in the
sun for a couple of months so their skin really is quite light.
11. Other than the blown highlights bit, (yes, the red sensels got blown
out on this shot), this image also represents the 'old-school pre-Portra
technique of underrating your film for flash exposure. To get the skin to
lift enough and give good separation from the backgrounds it was not
uncommon to overexpose the on-camera flash by a full stop. Granted, film
was more graceful with blown highlights, but the images definitely had more
snap. Snap that we make up for today by cranking up saturation, using LCE
and aggressive curves adjustments.
AG
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