Petzval Amigo: Davie Tidd

We lent David Tidd a Petzval Art Lens to test its full potential. He gave us some tips on how to get the most out of this beautiful portrait lens. Read on for the full interview.

Tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into photography.

I’ve been around pictures all my life! My sister gave me a little camera when I was 10, and used to ache waiting for the pictures to come back from TruPrint. Then I shot wedding videos as a teenager, and took a job on the techie side of TV, still with cameras. I seem to find it impossible to describe an experience without producing a photo, too. I think I’d be awesome at Pictionary. Now I’m building a folio of portraits and am working towards some more useful documentary style work.

How was it shooting with the Petzval Art Lens?

Passionate! I mean beautiful, fun, weird, frustrating. It has such presence; people want to perform for it. The pictures from the Petzval are beautiful in the way vinyl is a beautiful audio source – “accurate” or “faithful,” they are not. “Captivating”? Certainly. I don’t have the drop-in Waterhouse stops so I have been forced to shoot fully open all the time with it. So while that means maximum effect in every shot, it also makes it a fickle partner. See these shots on a bridge – one is in focus [while] the one I like isn’t because she moved and I failed to track her on time. The way around that is, of course, to shoot a burst and rock backward to move the focus point over the subject, which [was] how I caught this bee:

Indoors, it’s fast enough, and with studio flash [taking] photos were more easy, though I’d have liked to be able to ND the lens. Here are some unprocessed pictures to show how pleasing the effect is:

The swirly effect of the lens is constantly fascinating.

In your opinion, what makes the perfect portrait?

An invisible camera! Failing that, the time taken to understand your subject, to build trust and watch what’s beautiful about them in the flashes of honest expression they begin to show makes a portrait possible. And really knowing your gear to the point it doesn’t interfere with the process makes it invisible – that’s critical. Truly excellent models or actors create all that honesty for you if you want to construct a portrait, of course!

Have you had any difficult or challenging situations while shooting portraits?

Some of my most interesting shoots have started with nervous or irritable models. One had had an awful day and wasn’t in the mood for it at all. We stopped and had lunch, and I learned about her partner, her life and aspirations. We agreed to try once more and shot some beautiful images in a nearby park. I definitely got what I wanted and hope she did, too.

What piece of advice would you give to someone who wants to become a portrait photographer?

Assuming you’ve learned how to take pictures, a portrait really happens before you raise your camera. Figure out what motivates your subject, what’s beautiful or fascinating about them, and what needs to happen for them to show it comfortably. Then all the experience you’ve gained studying and practicing will allow you to construct a story around them that you want to show. That’s what makes a picture engaging.

written by hannah_brown on 2015-04-01 #people #london #uk #lomoamigo #petzval-art-lens #petzval-amigo #david-tidd