An elementary school student early in the pandemic.
The student and her classroom teacher agreed to a quick photo for the front page of the District website. The portrait location was just outside the classroom, so we only needed a couple of minutes before she returned to class.
Older school hallways are often ‘non-photogenic’ and this was no exception. But I noticed the converging lines of the harsh fluorescent ceiling lights and the floor/wall intersection. I quickly placed myself so she was at the centre of the convergence.
To reduce the clutter, I set the 75mm lens aperture wide open at f 2. This kept the eyes and mask sharp and the background out of focus. It also reduced the image noise as I was able to lower the ISO (“film speed”). Changing the image file from colour to black and white during editing further minimized the background distraction.
I took a few photos but—as is often the case— this first one was chosen.