I am a begining photographer. I am planning to shoot a beautiful model next week (outdoors), she wants photos for a zed card. I have heard that Ilford XP 2 is a good choice, but to watch out for contrast. Any advice before I shoot, filters/lenses/ etc.

Thank you,

Brandon

-- Brandon Acker (blueplanet@mailcity.com), April 01, 1998

Answers

Well, my advice, I'm afraid, is "don't". Doing something for other people, before you have any experience, is fraught with difficulty.

If you still want to go ahead, the advice is "practice, practice", so you have some experience first, of the film, cameras, lenses and so on.

XP2 is a good choice if you are used to it, as is anything else such as Delta 100, Tri-X, etc. Use a long-ish focal length, such as 85 or 105 on 35mm format. If you are not used to flash or studio lighting, use the great outdoors, but not in full sun.

Use a tripod.

-- Alan Gibson (gibson.al@mail.dec.com), April 02, 1998.

novice

I agree with Alan about the need to practice and choosing the right lenses and locations. My advice would be to study fashion magazines and the work of pros and to keep the poses and backgrounds as simple as possible. Start slowly and learn from your mistakes.

-- Andy Laycock (agl@intergate.bc.ca), April 02, 1998.

Try Phil Greenspun's quick guide to portraiture and have a look around the Photo.net site in general. There is a lot of useful information here....

Good luck. If she's really beautiful, remember to say HI for me ;-)

-- Daryl Hiebert (dhiebe@po-box.mcgill.ca), April 04, 1998.

The contrast of XP-2 is a problem only when printed on color paper from a mini lab, which only has vaule for proofing purposes. When printed on traditional black and white papers contrast isn't an issue, and is an excellent portarit film.

-- Peter Thoshinsky (camerabug1@msn.com), April 13, 1998.