Portraits:
For the portrait brief the aim is to take three separate portraits; one self portrait, a portrait of a family member or friend and one of a stranger. We have been given the task to incorporate what we have learned in the lectures, seminars and workshops throughout the semester and also experiment with lighting, composition, form and pose.
First shoot:
For my first portrait shoot I practised in the photography studio, this gave me the opportunity to experiment with lighting, background, colour and allowed me to direct the pose of the person I am photographing in order to show a variety of moods. To do this I first looked into the lighting I believed would give me the best and most professional result in my pictures and after researching found the most suitable to be LED panel lighting used against a white background as LED panels are most recommended for studio work because it can be easily adjusted to suit different subjects and can change the atmosphere/mood of an image by simply adjusting whether you want the lighting to be warmer or cooler. The pose and facial expressions pulled in the first two image below are natural, this paired with the cool, slightly dark lighting helps create an atmosphere and mood that portrays seriousness or importance of the person. The lighting, pose and gels used in the second set of images portray a more carefree and more joyful atmosphere/mood which against the first pictures the audience would perceive to contrast seriousness and lightheartedness. In order to create the difference to the serious portraits I used bright and vibrant coloured gels over the lighting panels which made the lighting more cheerful and fun. Another technique I used was that in this set of images I had a conversation with the person I was shooting which resulted in them laughing as I captured the image, which was the opposite to what I did in the first set of images as I only directed them to where they should look and pose which created a focused/serious expression, the person who influenced me to try this technique was a student from Chicago named Shea Glover, whose work became known after conducting an experiment to capture the reactions of the people she was photographing and videoing after she called them “beautiful” and this inspired me to try and create natural reactions for my images.
(Shea Glover: People react to being called “beautiful”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW8BDgLpZkI)
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Contact sheet experimenting with coloured gels, composition, framing, pose, portrait and landscape images.
In post production I experimented with the portraits I captured in colour to then edit into black and white, I did this to test whether I can still show the same amount of emotion as I could in the coloured portraits to the ones I am stripping of colour. My influence for doing this was Adam Elmakias who is a travel and music photographer known for capturing portraits in black and white. I used his portraits for inspiration because I believe Elmakias effectively directs pose in order to show the emotion of the person he is photographing and I wanted to compare his portraits to mine and find the most similar poses between them, to then edit my coloured portrait in black and white and see if my results could be just as appealing and effective in showing emotion as his.
Adam Elmakias:
My practice:
I am pleased with the result from this as by capturing the image at the right time and pose and by thinking about the framing and composition of my image in detail(for example making sure my model is in the centre) I have shown the emotion of my model effectively even when all colour is drained from the image.
Familiar and self portraits:
For the familiar and self portraits I shot them outside, I wanted to experiment with natural lighting and compare them to the studio LED ones and see which ones I believe made the images more appealing, I found that I preferred the more natural lighting to the artificial lighting as it creates a warmer i and in my opinion creates a more inviting image. I used a similar composition and framing in these images as the ones in the studio as I believe having my model in the centre of my images leads the audiences focus to the model and exhibits a stronger image. The background I chose was inspired by the photo series “Halloween in Brooklyn” by photographer Joey Lawrence, as in his images he displays street photography captured in an urban neighbourhood, I find these images captivating as even though the backgrounds to his images are quite simple they are more eye catching and appealing to ones taken in the studio with studio lighting, I believe capturing the image outside in the street shows a more personal and real side to photography rather than the models being staged and the whole photograph being faked in an artificial environment.
For the self portraits I experimented more with the angles I could use in my photography. Instead of keeping these images of me solely in the centre I wanted to practice with a tripod and capture more angles, by setting up the tripod at different levels in height I was able to get a variety of angles which made the images more intriguing and seem more thought out than if the portrait was taken at medium or close up profile shot. I chose Lincoln’s Nature Park to shoot my portraits as I wanted to capture more in the frame and while exploring the area I found an old fence that I believed made the portraits more interesting as there was more than just one subject in the frame, which would give the audience viewing the image more than one aspect of the image to look at. I believe my images shows influences of Joey Lawrence’s work again as it takes into consideration not only the model in frame but the background as well, I was using the ends of the fence as a border for my images and lined the viewfinder at the top of my head in every image in order to make sure there was not too much spacing above my head.
Joey Lawrence:
Familiar:
Self Portrait:
Ryan Mcginley was also an influence to my work, he is an American photographer known for his photo series “Animals” and “The kids were alright”, these photographs inspired me to think of themes that can be applied to images and bringing more than one aspect to the composition and frame in order to make the images more intriguing and more likely to spark the audiences curiosity in the images. Mcginley’s main themes in his work is nudity and nature, which was the themes I attempted to apply to my practice images. For my images the ISO had to be set slightly higher as shooting in a small rural area meant there was areas of shade. One of the main reason I was pleased with my images from this practice is because I believe my framing and composition draws the attention straight to my model as the trees work there way around my model and on the first image the natural lighting from behind creates a natural halo around my model which is visually appealing. I also practised my post production editing of photoshop for these images which allowed me to apply filters and edit the contrast and exposure on my images.
Ryan Mcginley:
Practice:
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Before edit:
After edit:
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Stranger practice:
For my stranger shoot I went into the town centre to capture my images, for this side of the brief I wanted my images to be interesting and compelling, so I was looking for the most eccentric or eye catching people in the streets, I was pleased with the models I chose for these images however I did not use them for the final image as they were sightly out of focus and I believe the signs in the background to the images would be distracting to the audience and I wanted my focus to be solely on the model. My main influence for my stranger shoot was photographer Bruce Davidson as many of his photographs are taken in the streets of strangers he comes across, his work always stays intriguing because of the models he chooses to photograph, they are often pulling an odd pose or face that makes you wonder what they were doing/thinking or what they were talking about(when with another person).
Bruce Davidson:
My images:
Final images:
Familiar:
The reason I chose this image for my familiar shoot is because I was pleased with the pose of the model and the composition of the image, the pose of her head slightly turned to the side pairs well with the wind blowing her hair to the side, the hair doesn’t completely cover her face but makes the image slightly more interesting as it looks more natural and not just taken in a studio with a background. The composition of the image really helps the focus stay on the model and not the graffiti in the background as I aligned the image to the centre using the viewfinder on the camera. I also was pleased with how the models clothing suited the background, the ripped denim I think that related well with the graffiti in the background as it portrays and emphasises a rough urban vibe.
Self Portrait:
The main reason I chose this image from my self portrait shoot was because of the angle and features in the frame, I was pleased with the pose and the fence I used to sit on as I believe it made the image more intriguing instead of a standing pose against a background. I decided to use a full body shot for my final image as it also allowed me to capture more of the background. The background had vibrant colours which I found to be effective in creating an eye catching image and the image still kept focus on me as the model as I was aligned in the centre of the image using the viewfinder on the camera and the tripod.
Stranger:
This was my final image for my stranger shoot, I was pleased with this image as I managed to capture the moment the dog in the image becomes distracted and starts to jump up, the person in my image is wearing a vibrant red jacket and I think this works well against the dull grey background. Unlike the other stranger pictures I took, the signs in the background are not distracting therefore the focus of the image was still left solely on the person and his dog, I took this image in portrait in order to get a full body shot without getting too much of the background this was again to keep the focus on the person.
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