You will notice that my COVID portraits have a certain style. They are interpretive self portraits, intended to show the prevailing mood. They show what I was doing on the day I made the portrait – one a day. They also have this in common:

• Almost all use Rembrandt-style Chiaroscuro lighting. Achieved with careful exposure of the background, and then one gridded speedlight added. 45º above my face, of course, and at a 45º angle.
• I desaturated the colours and increased definition. Other than that, and some cropping, they are straight out of camera.
• They are landscape-oriented.
• I used a wide angle lens: 16-35 on a full-frame camera.
• I used a self-timer, so I used back-button focus and a small aperture (high f-number). That way they are immediately sharp, without me having to take the photo a dozen times.

So – have you done self-portraits recently? If not, I suggest that you do. Later, you’ll look back at these days.

The days wear on… and on… and without Netflix, people would have a much harder time.

Once again, one off-camera flash with a Honlphoto 1/4″ grid, fired with Pocketwizards. Exposed, as always, for the outside. Slightly desaturated; otherwise pretty much straight out of camera.

As the days progress, hobbies become one way to deal with sitting inside most of the time – Ham Radio communications get you talking to the outside. Two speedlights, the main one with a Honlphoto 1/4″ grid; the other with a rust-coloured Honlphoto gel. Both fired with Pocketwizards.

My Flash course is available live, online, interactive, temporarily as a one-on-one for a greatly reduced price. Contact me (michael@willems.ca) to hear more.

…because life goes on.