Well, the Site IS Called 6×6 Portraits…

I’ve been on a tear, and there have been a flurry of Rolleiflex portraits made this week, and for all we talk about photography, it’s the photographs that really matter. What gear we have is important but what are we doing with it?

Here is the story of three recent outing’s work (one roll each). All with a Rolleiflex 3.5F and Ilford HP5.

I rarely use color film in my Rolleiflex film camera, but never say never. Last week, I made street portraits at Buc-ees, a giant rest stop in Johnstown, Colorado with a roll of Kodak Portra 400 and had to run the film down to the lab in Denver to get it processed. So, since I was down there, I stopped at Union Station for a few portraits. Here’s who I found–locals and travelers.

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That color roll turned out to be the worst thing to happen this week*. That Kodak Portra 400 roll I used turned out to be a bust–it must’ve been expired and the negatives are not usable. That’ll show me not to use color film.

Wait, it did serve a purpose–I went down to Denver twice in two days, one day to drop the film off (with a stop at Union Station for street portraits) and the next day to pick it up (with another stop in RiNo.)

*That color roll was the best thing to happen this week!

Here are the portraits from that second roll.

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And then again Friday night, I went down to Boulder at sunset looking for some people out on the town dressed with a bit of style.

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A good example of how you just have to go out and get to work. The more you go, the more work you make. Simple as that.

How I Approach People

I start with the request to make a photograph. ”Hi, may I make your portrait?” I point to the Rolleiflex which is held just below my chin in front of my chest, and say, “I make them with this, and they look like this” and then I hold up my phone with my Rolleiflexers gallery so they can see some samples instantly.

I ask them their name, and then spell it out loud to them to make sure I heard it right which also helps me remember it, then direct them regarding pose and expression.

I tell them they don’t have to smile for me, they can smile if they want to, but don’t do it for me, do it because that’s what you’re feeling, which usually gets a more natural expression. I wait for them to blink, and then I make the photograph.

People like direction, they like to know that somebody is fine-tuning every part of the portrait to make them look their best. That they are in good hands. Yesterday somebody said exactly that. I will often have them tip their hat up to get light on their eyes, tilt their head or dip their chin, etc.

The first interaction is 20 seconds, the shoot is a couple of minutes and then I pull up my phone and show them a QR code which will take them to my Rolleiflexer’s web page which they already saw where I tell them they can find their photo and download it there. Plus if they contact me, they can get a print–I will gladly send it to them.

They are all very much appreciative and glad to have stopped.

How I Scan the Photographs

I use a Kaiser light table with a 24mp DSLR on it, and photograph them, literally holding them flat with two fingers.

I then import them into Lightroom, export them as negatives into Photoshop where I invert them to positives, then re-import the high-res files back into Lightroom.

I have a Automate>Batch process set up for inverting on Photoshop, so it does it automatically with an “Invert” action I created.

Listen to my interview on the Street Photography Magazine Podcast, and read an article about my Rolleiflex portrait work in Street Photography Magazine.

My Rolleiflexers gallery with all the portraits.

6×6 portraits, that is!