Grandmother
The wrinkles in her face shows that she has been through a lot...
The wrinkles in her face shows that she has been through a lot...
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Apr, 2018Views
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Peer Award
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Virtuoso
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo in Vlora, Albania. She was the grandmother of my wife, a strong woman who had been through very difficult and challenging times in her life. The tradition hasn't changed much since hundreds of years before, the every woman dresses all in black after their husband's death in a sign of mourning for their lost. They never get married after to show their loyalty to their first husband - something that you can rarely find in the modern world. I always liked her "iron" character that she looked, her strong personality and the portrait of her.Time
This is my first portrait and one of the best that I have ever taken. This one is one of a series of shots that I took in her home courtyard. It was around mid-day with just a natural light hitting her face.Lighting
Nothing special, this shot is taken in mid-day, no other sources of light, except the sun above.Equipment
This shot was taken with Nikon D70s with Nikkor 18-70mm f3.5-4.5 G IF-ED lens, handheld and no other sources of light (no flash, umbrellas, or modifiers).Inspiration
As I wrote before, the inspiration came since the first time I've met her. She was very kind and loving, a well respected woman who lost her husband very early in her life. Her portrait was so inspiring and impressive, her wrinkles showed that she had a very difficult life and after heard her story, it was obvious that her life challenges were written in her face.Editing
The photo was edited in Photoshop, after some corrections of exposure, shadows, crop, it was converted into blank and white to bring up the contrasts.In my camera bag
I usually have a middle range of lenses, and my bag always has a standard zoom like 24-70mm, 17-85mm, prime of 50mm and telephoto like 70-200mm. These are accompanied by 2 cameras, speedlights, lens filters, CF memory cards, etc.Feedback
The only advice I can give to everyone who's in portrait photography is to catch the moment. Use any opportunities that you have to go and capture portraits of the "third generation" because you can learn a lot from them. It doesn't matter if it's a woman or a man, every person has a unique image, personality and character.
