While I spent the entire Saturday afternoon setting up the site, it was well worth the effort. Going through past photos and curating collections brought me unimaginable joy. It also allowed me to reflect on some of the challenges I've faced in the production of these photos (which I now cherish as if they were my children).
Many of the portraits I shot on my 85mm lens were done under very unforgiving circumstances. Take the Barrio Manouche collection, for example. I remember clearly that the bar was completely packed with people standing shoulder to shoulder, not to mention it was dimly lit. I rarely carry a tripod with me, but even if I did I wouldn't have found space for it anyway. With the lens wide open at f/1.2, ISO at 800, to focus manually in the dark, and to try not to fall over while hand holding these shots were... impossible, or so I thought.
But all these photos ended up turning into some of my favorites. Besides lots of practice with staying still, a couple things that I thought helped me a lot:
Higher ISO can save lives. Grainy for sure, but better than having your photos come out blurry;
The stance is no joke. Holding your arms as close into your chest as possible is a must in these situations. It gets trickier if you are squatting, you really have to find your balance;
Lean on something, if at all possible. It helps stabilize the stance.
Who doesn't love a challenge?