Assignment One – A portrait
The object of this assignment is to demonstrate my understanding of what I have learnt throughout Part One of this course.
Note – all pictures have been compressed hence there might be a quality reduction when enlarging.
Picture 1 – head & Shoulders
My thoughts and approach when taking this picture
With this picture I wanted to create an almost halo effect around my subjects head. With regards to colour, the red dress she was wearing contrasts nicely with the green leaves from the tree and to unite these two colours, her white jacket completes the look. I did try the shot without the jacket but the look became hard, the light effect around her head was no longer as focused.
Camera Details
Camera Nikon D4 (camera positioned on a monopod)
Speed 1/90th sec
Aperture f2.8
ISO 200
White Balance Setting Custom 5500°K
Lens 24/70 mm
Focal Length 70 mm
Comments – This picture was taken in a shaded canopy of trees with the subject directly in front of the light bleeding in from the sky. Initially the picture came out too dark and using spot metering on her face only totally blew the surrounding areas out. Using a fill flash has worked well on this image, it has maintained subject and the surrounding colour.
Future Considerations – At the time of this shoot I didn’t have a reflector with me and if I were to have the opportunity to shoot this session again I would like to try using reflected light.
Picture 2 – head & Shoulders
My thoughts and approach when taking this picture
This picture of my wife was inspired by a recent visit to a pick your own fruit farm , we came back with an abundance of cherries and seeing my wife playing at how many way can you eat a cherry sparked something of an idea. I wanted to capture her upper body and arm holding the cherry but introduce a back light situation to make the cherries sparkle and with regards to colour, again I opted for a contrast of green against the red of the cherries. I initially used a white background to separate the subjects hair but her skin colour and picture mood seemed to be lost, so to were the cherries. Introducing the black backdrop meant that my subjects face and the fruit stood out more but her hair was lost, hence the introduction of a rear facing speedlight.
Camera Details
Camera Nikon D4 (handheld)
Speed 1/320th sec
Aperture f2.8
ISO 400
White Balance Setting Temperature 5800°K
Lens 24/70 mm
Focal Length 42 mm
Comments – I like the captured mood of this picture and I also like the way her skin colour hasn’t been lost. To give the cherries the sparkle I wanted has partially blown the contour of her arm colouring but I believe it works and it creates a separation and contrast between the subject and backdrop. Without the rear facing speedlight the whole effect looked almost low-key which is not what I wanted.
Future Considerations – Studying this picture and given the opportunity to shoot this session again, I would suggest that the subject tries wearing a red dress with similar colour tones to the cherries.
Picture 3 – head
My thoughts and approach when taking this picture
With this portrait I wanted the picture to suggest a time of year but I also wanted a glowing freshness and sparkle from the subject in that the complete image offered more than just an autumnal look or feel. Another thought process prior to this shot was the time of day and getting to a location early enough in the morning to just about capture golden light. I knew it was going to be a little chilly at that time of morning and choice of coat colour was critical, I didn’t want it to fight the autumn look or introduce an alternate colour ultimately changing the desired mood of the picture, I wanted neutral colour on my wife. I eventually asked her to wear black with a contrasting scarf to give her a little more separation and introduce a contrast interest to her in the picture.
Camera Details
Camera Nikon D4 (handheld)
Speed 1/320th sec
Aperture f4.0
ISO 200
White Balance Setting Temperature 5750°K
Lens 24/70 mm
Focal Length 52 mm
Comments – This picture was taken at Westonbirt Arboretum with my wife sitting down in front of a miniature Japanese tree. I love the colour contrasts in this portrait and the freshness that comes with it, I also like the fact that it is unmistakably Autumn.
Future Considerations – I was unable to capture the full tree as a background and I would like to have been given this opportunity but a wall separated me from achieving this. As I mention above I like this colour combination and I want to take another opportunity to shoot a similar look but with more autumn variety as a background. In achieving this I must look for a wooded are that will allow me this opportunity.
Picture 4 – head
My thoughts and approach when taking this picture
This image was captured using a black velvet backdrop and three Nikon speedlights (please see my Reflections below for a detailed picture of the setup). I wanted to capture an image of my wife’s smiling face and radiance. As mentioned above in picture two, her hair separation is good against a white or light coloured backdrop but for me light colours don’t carry the class or clout that I like or get from darker colours. So to separate my wife from the black backdrop I used a speedlight behind her head and to introduce more separation, another speedlight directly above her head with a snoot fitted. This would create a local and lighter colour difference around her hair line. For her face I used a single speedlight fitted with a softbox and carefully adjusted the intensity so as not to over power or bleach out the other two units.
Camera Details
Camera Nikon D4 (handheld)
Speed 1/200th sec
Aperture f2.8
ISO 200
White Balance Setting Temperature 7600°K
Lens 24/70 mm
Focal Length 70 mm
Comments – I worked hard to obtain this light effect which didn’t come after ten minutes, I’m more surprised that my wife was able to keep smiling. The session took about an hour and this was my very last shot, as soon as I saw it on the back of the camera I knew it was the one and with it came a smile from myself and a feeling of satisfaction.
Future Considerations – Taking pictures like this inside your own home can be achieved, even after moving all the furniture … twice. This has not put me off in any way but I would like to have opportunity to shoot similar types of portrait in the luxury of more surrounding work space.
Picture 5 – full body
My thoughts and approach when taking this picture
My thoughts at the time of capturing this picture were to separate my subject as much as possible from the natural surrounding area behind her. In the picture, I wanted a full length portrait with a posture that was relaxed, not stiff or uncomfortable in appearance but this was proving more difficult than it sounds as I didn’t like what her arms were doing. Eventually to achieve the look I wanted by directing my wife to stand partially side on, pointing one shoulder more towards me and tucking the other arm behind her.
Camera Details
Camera Nikon D4 (camera positioned on a monopod)
Speed 1/750th second
Aperture f2.0
ISO 100
White Balance Setting Temperature 5800°K
Lens 200 mm (Prime)
Focal Length 200 mm
Comments – I tried hard with this image and I struggled more so with a full length portrait than with a head / head and shoulders shot. I am happy with the result and I like the way the body posture comes across as being informal and relaxed. Tilting the subjects head slightly has also added an appearance of interest too.
Future Considerations – As mentioned above, I struggled more so with this type of portrait than any of the others and in response to this, I will practice more of this kind of image.
My Reflections
I have thoroughly enjoyed this introduction to the course, I have completed all the exercises to the best of my ability and learnt a great deal in doing so.
As mentioned above, I find full length portraits to be more challenging than closer head / head and shoulder portraits and I will work on this, I look at my images for this assignment and (currently) consider them to be of a good quality but to be afraid of or reluctant to take full length shots is unacceptable.
I really enjoyed the last exercise (Varying the pose) where I learnt a great deal about looking at peoples body shapes and postures … from the way that we stand to the way that people sit. We are all slightly different in body shape, some people have postures that naturally look good or better than others and the photographer needs to recognise what is a good posture opposed to a less attractive posture … and with this in mind using the lens to emphasise a persons attractiveness creates a more desirable and harmonious picture. On the other hand the last statement could be turned on its head and used to point a out bad posture … for example the swing of a golf player, to some people they naturally have what is termed as a natural swing whilst others work on their swing for the rest of their lives and never master it.
In relevance to the exercises and this assignment, I have tried to show my photography ability both in the pictures and with my constructive comments below each caption.
Learning Log and Reference
I have added this picture for the purpose of visually seeing the setup I used for creating ‘picture 4’ of this assignment.
Picture 6 – set up for picture 4
Here we can see the three speedlights used and positioned accordingly.
- The rear unit positioned behind the subjects head, creating the separation.
- The overhead unit with a snoot fixed around the flash, concentrating the light to a narrowly focused area behind the subjects head (onto the backdrop).
- The main subject speedlight fitted with a softbox.
Current Books I am Reading
- The Photograph / Graham Clarke / Oxford History of Art.
- Understanding Flash Photography / Bryan Peterson / Amphoto Books.
- The best of Photographic Lighting / Bill Hurter / Amherst Media.
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