Text and photos by Ugo Baldassarre
Considered by too many to be a system not suitable for portrait photography, the Micro4/3 system is also exceptional in this field. I am talking about it in person, telling you why my Olympus kit is now irreplaceable for my work.
Over the years I have used various photographic systems and formats. In my official website there are still some examples (demonstrating that a photo that satisfies us has no age) so what I am about to tell you is the result of a long and conscious journey, not a simple arbitrary stance.
Elisa, studio portrait. 2020 Ugo Baldassarre
There are endless ways to take a portrait and experience this type of photography and therefore I think it is normal that there are conflicting opinions on what is the best medium or format for this type of photography. What I want to tell you is why, for me, the Micro4/3 system – and that of Olympus – are irreplaceable for making my shots.
Portrait photography has two important components: the technical and the emotional. Both, in my view, are influenced by the type of tools we decide to use.
Contrary to what one is led to believe, the technical part of a portrait does not only have to do with the “quality” of the file: any choice of scenery and lighting helps to create the aesthetic part of our portrait.
And then there is the emotional part, that area in which you need to communicate, be accepted by the subject, and relate to him for the time it will take.
In all my creative process, a limit of equipment has never, ever come out. The final aesthetic of each of my portraits is built on the pose, the light and the relationship with the subject and the type of photographic equipment used.
Those who reduce the whole Portrait to an extreme blur and a spasmodic search for selective sharpness simply follow a mainstream that wants that type of aesthetics as the only dominant feature.
I like to place, in front of the observer, a subject who communicates in his own “language”. When I am in front of a person, unknown or not, I scrutinize his features, I observe his gaze, his posture, and slowly I try to grasp new details. I need certain fixed points in my observation to begin to get an idea of who I am in front of. Nose, eyes, ears, hair all appear well defined. My brain does not hide information from me and, as I observe people, I try to recreate it in my portraits. It is my choice, arbitrary, not universal.
Thinking in this way allows me to differentiate myself. The web is full of millions of images representing people all made in the exact same way: shot with the diaphragm completely open, subjects positioned in open shadow and taken with the depth of field reduced to a few mm. Exactly the opposite of what I like to achieve.
Silvia Carta, from portfolio Murgia in Style, September 2020. Ugo Baldassarre
What does my Olympus kit have to do with all this? Since I have been using the Micro4 / 3 system, the whole shooting phase is incredibly simpler and more fruitful. Initially it was the size and compactness of the bodies and lenses that allowed me to be faster and more efficient or to have, for the same luggage size, more options at my disposal (an extra flash in my bag, for example: a real manna from heaven for me). As my needs increased, I found bodies and lenses that seemed to be calibrated exactly for my needs.
A trio of incredible lenses for the demanding portraitist
The OM-D E-M1X is an incredible camera body for quality, reliability and handling.
The Live View, implemented exceptionally well from the beginning by Olympus, allows me to dialogue with my subjects both framing from the viewfinder and directly from the display: I can capture the spontaneity of a smile by moving the camera away from the eye without ever losing sight of my result. With some subjects this is really the key to getting a winning result.
Although not born for this photographic genre, for example, the Olympus OM-D E-M1X is now irreplaceable for my way of photographing: the handle, the presence of the “joystick”, the image quality and the precision of the autofocus allow me not to think about what I am holding and to have the centre of my attention only on who I have in front of me at that moment.
There is another very interesting factor that you never pay due attention to: the crop-DOF factor allows you to make the most of the ambient light while maintaining perfect readability of the subject and ensuring a pleasant, not forced or fictitious focus. As already mentioned, I am not a big fan of the “blur-jam”, so I find that even outdoors or on location, thanks to the possibility of using very high aperture apertures, the system remains exceptional: it’s up to me photographer, to choose which one is the most favourable situation to maximize the result.
quite eloquent backstage video on the convenience that the system offers me
Despite the number of features contained in every camera body and lens, what I love about my system is that I never feel like I’ve been overtaken by technology. I never get the feeling that the camera is acting for me. Many recent cameras seem to want to put the photographer in the background with respect to their technical characteristics: it is a feeling that I have never had in any situation and I am very satisfied with this. The more of mine, in every shot, the more I feel that I have given value to my work.
Ultimately, I have never found qualitative differences in the printing of my portraits compared to other systems / formats or at least not in the conditions in which I normally operate and therefore I see no reason to think of having to do otherwise. I have the quality I need and a whole host of operational benefits. Why think about leaving all this? Although some of the considerations made are absolutely valid also for other systems, there is no other system for which they all coexist at the same time. And therefore, I still think my Olympus kit is absolutely perfect for me and my way of portraying.
Contacts and other resources:
Official site: www.ugobaldassarre.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ugobphoto/
my blog: https://ugofoto.blogspot.com/
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