John Rickards and/or Sean Cregan are... the Nameless Horror

The grand shooting portraits of everyone I know project got underway today, sans a new tripod. Results up tomorrow. In the meantime, for my benefit more than anything else, some thoughts:

• Remember background. If it’s interesting without intruding, fine. If it’s pretty dull or has a single obtrusive feature, you’re better off with a blank screen backdrop if possible. (Today: side wall of a chimney breast, more brightly lit than back wall. Not quite an issue, but close enough to remind me.)
• Can’t tell if talking quite so much while shooting is such a good idea. Upside, good range of natural expressions. Downside, blur and lot of mid-word expressions so a lot of wasted shots. OTOH, it’s not like that’s not already par for the course.
• My grasp of simple lighting seems to be pretty solid. Win!
• Sub-1/100sec, use a tripod if possible. Lose spontaneity, but had a few of what would’ve been good shots spoilt by camera shake at 1/50sec, plus noise shooting at (IIRC) ISO 640.
• On the same note, probably best not to drink coffee immediately before beginning.
• Still yearning for an f/2-ish 85mm or 100mm lens. And/or a go at medium format…
• Why in bastarding hell haven’t I been using Bridge all this time?