The portraits that most intrigue me are those that have a very short focal length where the subject’s eyes are in focus and the rest of their face falls off into progressively softer focus.

For example, see these photos by Fred R. Conrad. They take my breath away.

I love this technique, but I’ve never tried it before. I usually shoot faces (human and animal) at about f/8, saving shorter focal lengths for dramatic depth of field shots with inanimate objects or close-in shots of plants, flowers, or insects. Until today.

Today I tried it on me after getting some inspiration here. Phil Kneen is an amazing photographer…I’ve looked through his entire blog and love it. Go see!  The photos in the linked post were shot at  f/2. While my lens will not go to f/2 (grrr!), I gave it the old college try. And I’m going to keep working at it (and one of these days, when I’m feeling flush, invest in a better lens).

Shot by my office window. 400 ISO, 37mm, f/4.5.   Same photo in B&W and Color. Here I am…wrinkles and all.

Color

I wish the right side of my face wasn’t as cut off as it is…taking a picture of oneself does have its drawbacks.