(A slightly different version of this post originally appeared on the
Sigma lens site. You can see it
here.)
As a photographer who specializes in environmental portraiture, lens
selection is critical to the look of my work. Much of the time I choose
to shoot with prime lenses. Let me explain why I made that decision for
one of my projects.
In 2014, I was given an artist residency at
The Hambidge Center for Arts and Sciences
in Rabun, Georgia. For two weeks that year and again in 2015 and 2016,
I was given a cabin tucked away in the mountains, dinner prepared for
me four nights a week, and encouragement to do whatever I wanted. I had
driven through the area around Hambidge a number of times when my wife
and I had gone to the Great Smokie Mountains of North Carolina from our
home in Atlanta on camping trips. We often stopped at flea markets along
the way and the faces I saw at these rural stops struck me. There was
an extraordinary range of types and ages and looks. I knew there was a
project here waiting for me to photograph. That idea became
American Flea.
 |
| Mary-Lynn Starkey runs a small flea market near Franklin, NC with her
husband Roger. They told me they decided to open their store because
they needed some way to get rid of the stuff they had accumulated by
going to auction. | | |
For me, shooting portraits takes time, primarily because I need to talk
to my subjects to get them to relax and trust me. The flea market
portraits were no different- in fact, talking to people became an
integral part of the process. Many of the vendors and customers will
tell you that making money or finding bargains isn’t the thing they
enjoy most about the experience. What they really love is the chance to
meet and talk to the people they encounter. I found that everyone had a
story and they wanted to share it with me.
 |
| Charles Brank, AKA Chuck B, sells his woodcarvings at the Franklin Flea and Craft Market in Franklin, NC. |
When I work in this way, I think of portraiture as an active process.
I’m not a passive observer as when I’m doing a story that requires a
more candid approach. I’m actively engaged with my subjects when we’re
talking before I start photographing and as the shooting begins, that
engagement continues. I set up strobes and I rarely work from a tripod.
 |
| Peggy Hines, Randy Hines, and Randy’s mother, Christine Duncan sell odds and ends at the Woodpecker Wood Works Flea Market in Franklin, NC. |
Primes, that is non-zoom lenses, were perfect for this style. I don’t want to hang back, zooming
in and out to alter my compositions. I want to be actively moving around
the space, closer, farther away, higher, lower. I sometimes think of
myself dancing when I shoot like this. It’s a metaphoric dance as I try
to elicit the best expression or pose from someone, but it almost
becomes a literal dance as I change the scene in my viewfinder. The
focal lengths of 24mm, 35mm, and 50mm are perfect for showing the
environments that are so important to this work. I may even try a 20mm for some of them when I’m in particularly tight spaces and want to see even more if the environment in the frame.
 |
| Dodie Allen was helping a friend out by working in his vegetable stand at Uncle Bill’s Flea Market in Whittier, NC. |
All the photographs in this post were taken with a Nikon D600. The lenses were
The Sigma Art Series primes specifically
24mm f1.4 DG | Art,
35mm f1.4 DG | Art, and
50mm f1.4 DG | Art Series. All were lit using an
Elinchrom ELB with a
17 inch silver beauty dish. Most were shot utilizing
Hi-Sync technology which let me synchronize my Nikon at speeds up to 1/4000 of a second. Stay tuned to my blog (or better yet subscribe to it) for an upcoming post that explains Hi-Sync in detail.
You can see more from
American Flea on my
web site.
