Submitter's name:	Alasdair Mackintosh
Title:	Self Portrait with Hat
Gear used:	OM-4 + 21/3.5 + tripod.
Diaphragm:	f8 (I think.)
Shutter speed:	1/30 (I think. Give or take.)
Film used:	Kodak ELITE Chrome 200
Technical information:	The tripod was placed on top of a chair to give enough height. The shot was taken on auto, using the self timer.
Subject information:	I'm facing a fairly small window, which was the only source of light on the room. It was a fairly overcast day, so the lighting is soft. The original slide was slightly underexposed. Ideally, I should have used a shop-window mannequin, in the same position, so that I could take a spot reading from the shaded face. Then again, the shop-window mannequin would probably make for a more attractive subject...
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Comment left by: Olaf Greve (olaf_greve@hotmail.com)

I like this pose and style, it makes you look like Al Capone (no offence)! :) Very nice lighting control and background too, it almost makes one think this was actually taken using a complicated studio flash set-up. Nice!!!

Comment left by: Paul Connet (p2con@aol.com)

I like the shot very much. I would have thought a 21mm lens would give a lot more distortion on a shot like that. The pose makes me think you are patiently waiting for your wife or girlfriend to finish her makeup before going out for the evening. Nice pic.

Comment left by: Siddiq (siddim01@student.ucr.edu)

Lots of good things to say: the way the light fans out, and the resulting color transitions from white to rich color in the background, the partially shaded eye, the Tom Wolfe style all-white dress, drop shadow behind you, and then the enigmatic expression... and with a very wide lens! This would definitely rock as a sepia toned or pure B&W image.

Comment left by: Barry Bean (bbbean@beancotton.com)

I like it - looks like something you'd see in GQ, or maybe a promo for a fil noir festival. Very moody, well lit, and a surprising use of the 21/3.5.

Comment left by: Boris Grigorov (grigorov@slu.edu)

I did not know that Alain Delon subscribes to this list.

Comment left by: Chuck Norcutt (norcutt@attglobal.net)

One of my favorites here. I'd have never, never guessed it was done with a 21mm.

Comment left by: Giles Stewart (cnocbui@indigo.ie)

I like this very much, the light and composition just work. Very slick

Comment left by: John A. Lind (jlind@netusa1.net)

A surprisingly excellent use of a super-wide for a portrait shot! Not the lens I would have grabbed out of the bag for something like this. I might have cropped some of the wall off the top, but that is a personal preference for where to place the head (and rest of subject) in the finished print. Excellent execution with ambient lighting only! I too would have thought there was studio lighting used. A very difficult exposure given all the white you are wearing. It would have been easy to lose detail, especially with reversal. Yet another showing ingenuity and imagination in dress, pose, lens selection and lighting.

Comment left by: Wiliam Wagenaar (Wiliam2@wish.net)

Hard to add to all the positive comments above, but I like the picture. Makes me wonder if you are not actually from South America, while your name suggests that you are from Scotland? Works very, very nice overall

Comment left by: Wiliam Wagenaar (Wiliam2@wish.net)

Hard to add to all the positive comments above, but I like the picture. Makes me wonder if you are not actually from South America, while your name suggests that you are from Scotland? Works very, very nice overall

Comment left by: Ron Spolarich (caesar2@mediaone.net)

I think this is one terrific shot Alasdair! I love the tonal range of light in this image. Using the 21mm also provides an expanse to this image that made me initially think you were standing in a stairwell. Great use of ambient light.

Comment left by: Anon Y. Mouse (no_snitch@witnessprotection.fbi.gov)

I didn't sing! Honest! Not word one!

Comment left by: Alasdair Mackintosh (Alasdair.Mackintosh@eu.citrix.com)

Thank you for all of your comments. The room I'm standing in has a rather odd colour scheme: Pale cream for the wall behind me, a brighter yellow for the walls to either side, and a darker red for the opposite wall, where the window is. (Don't ask...) I think this helps to make the subject slightly warmer, while keeping the background plain and undistracting. The picture is cropped slightly (see here for the original) which I think reduces the impact of the 21mm lens. Nevertheless, using a wide angle helps me look a bit taller and slimmer, which never hurts. Several people have been kind enough to comment favourably on the lighting in this shot. To be honest, the end result was something that I didn't really expect. (All I did was to set up the camera, stand by the wall, and fire the self-timer.) The camera seems to have captured a greater variation in lighting than I could see in the room.

Comment left by: Mark Lloyd (no e-mail specified)

Nice shot. Its amusing to compare the original with the cropped shot. In the one you submitted you look like a GQ model, tall and suave. The original, on the other hand, with the 21mm distortion it makes you look kinda like a GQ midget :)

Comment left by: Carlos Santisteban (cjss@supercable.es)

I like this picture. I think the composition is great -- you had a great idea cropping the wide field of the 21mm. Lighting is very nice, too.

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