Penning Photography Daily

You never know for sure what image is captured when the shutter is pressed.

My son Chris works in the same building as I do, and we take lunch often in my office. The conversations vary widely and sometimes we’re just quiet together. He’ll answer texts from friends and his Jennie, my daughter-in-law, or look up some bit of information pertinent to whatever we’re discussing. I’ll answer the phone if it rings, make a call if I need to, or check my personal email on my phone. Mostly we talk about things happening in our lives, debate some point, or just talk.

This day, Chris was needing a brush-up on the Pentax K-5 and my lenses, as he was going to use it and them for a special event as a gift for a friend. He wanted to see what the low-light capabilities were of this combination. I turned off the overhead lights and he mostly closed the louvered blinds on my wall of windows. A quick look at the camera, I composed and pressed the shutter.

When I looked at the image on the back of the camera, I had a gut reaction. This was one of the best portraits that I have of my son.

Chris was impressed when I handed him the camera and said – “Pretty good for ISO 6400.” He was interested in taking natural light photos for his session, and was very pleased with the image quality at that high sensitivity to light level. The noise grain is ultra-fine and the tonal quality is superb, a great dynamic range from lights to darks.

What touches me isn’t the technical part of the image.

This is my son.

The qualities of his life shine out to me in this portrait.

Perhaps because I love him. That’s enough for me.