Last week I wrote about a portrait I took of my Captain Hook Pez Dispenser. Well, it’s still trapped on a negative waiting to be transferred to digital. But I wanted to see if I could duplicate the shot using some simple tools and my point-and-shoot digital camera.

As I mentioned in my blog, Macro Shots – What is that Flower Icon?, switching to macro mode can make all the difference when shooting objects or people very close-up.

To make this Captain Hook shot, I set up by a large window and draped some black fabric over a chair to act as a background. I wanted the light to be soft and not a harsh, so I pulled back the curtain and let the light pass through the white sheers. Next, I adjusted the curtain in such a way that the light would not directly hit the black background. I wanted the focus to be on Hook alone and not on his environment.

I found the best way to get the shot I wanted was to zoom the camera all the way out so the lens was at its widest, press the macro button and then place the camera only an inch or so away from Hook’s face. The wider camera lens also helped to distort his features a little bit so they looked more menacing (aarrrrgh).

I took a bunch of shots on Auto, and played with different lens lengths. Then I switched to Manual mode and played with the white balance and the ISO (more on these later).

I’ve been thinking a lot about is the softness of this image. I much prefer my film version of this shot because it has a softness and a more portrait-like quality. Digital can sometimes look unflattering because it is so sharp. Hmmm, sounds like a project in filtration for digital cameras.