Portrait Problems

Regular visitors here will have noted that I've been posting a lot of photos of performers lately. One of the reasons is that my photography interests lately have been in two directions - portraiture and landscapes. In part these two interests stem from two lenses I have - an 85mm lens (the focal length generally agreed to be most useful for portraits) and a 20mm wide angle lens that should be good for landscapes. I've been having more success with portraits but I feel that I tend to end up with the same old head and shoulders composition. Today's two photos illustrate two different choices for composition. Above is what I usually end up with - the subject (in this case, the lovely Esther-Ruth Teel and her Celtic harp) is pretty much centered in a 3:2 frame. Below is a different crop of the same photo - a close-up of just head and shoulders but sharing a square frame with the harp. I think I prefer the version below but I will be interested in any opinions visitors care to share.

Fish in a Birdcage

Fish in a Birdcage has been featured here in other years with other members but the one consistent member is Dusty Townsend, usually playing cello as on the right in the photo above. When I saw him earlier this week he was playing in the company of Esther-Ruth Teel, on the Celtic Harp. It's an odd combination of instruments but it works amazingly well, the deep, rumblings of the cello perfectly counterpointing the softer pluckings of the harp.