P&P-Assignment One; Learning Log; A portrait

 

Learning log – P&P assignment 1; A portrait

“The photograph is an undeniably powerful medium. Free from the constraints of language, and harnessing the unique qualities of a single moment frozen in time.”

 

 

(Steve McCurry – Taken from the website, www.121clicks.com)

 

 

I love this quote, it is so true, a photograph does not need words, so long as it powerful enough and on researching Steve McCurry he certainly takes powerful photographs. This photo for example;-
 

(“Afghan girl” Taken by Steve McCurry in December 1984)

 

 

This is by far one of the most powerful, poignant and famous photographs of our time, the shear focus on her eyes draws you in and makes you wonder what she is thinking, the hardship she has suffered and trauma she has endured, even if this image was not titled you can tell from her cloths, her eyes and the expression on her face, that all is not right in her world.

On looking through his images, they move me, as I’m sure they do with countless others, he is a true genius in portraiture and travel photography and is not scared to wonder outside of the “norm” to be able to get that amazing shot. 

 

 

My Thoughts

On receiving this entire module, my first thought was not a nice word!, I felt extremely uncomfortable and slightly scared. I know it probably sounds silly to most but it is not until you actually think, I mean really think about what you have to do/achieve until you sit there and think about it, I think what worries/worried me was, that it was so far out of my comfort zone, I couldn’t even see the zone anymore!. Then scary part is trying to take photographs of people who you don’t know, without their knowledge, I somehow feel like a thief in a way, as I’m not sure how I would feel  being in a photograph on the internet, but not know it, it’s almost similar to an invasion of privacy. However, this particular assignment is about your subject being aware, which I actually enjoyed, my first panic was who could I get to do it, who I knew was photogenic, luckily, I had some lovely ladies to help me out and all of them were naturals and did not need much guidance, ultimately, I really enjoyed the exercises and assignments.

 

 

Strengths on my assignment

I think I would have to say my locations, which doesn’t surprise me due to my love for Landscape photography. My composition, as always I think is good, but there is always room for improvement.

 

 

Weaknesses on my assignment

I found it extremely difficult and frustrating to get a really sharp image, every time, first time. I think the thing I lack is patience, I know that I always pull away to soon and this hinders my images, the thing is, I know I do it, so I’m aware, however, I find extremely difficult to stop, it’s something I have to work on, maybe take a breath after I have pressed the shutter, so I know I have to take that breath, it may slow me down a bit. I would like some advice on how to get a pin sharp image if anyone if offering?.

 

 

Some of my research sources-Books, websites and documents;-

• Photos for the future 2: Sutton publishing and The History Channel (A look at photography throughout 100 of history, up to the year 2000, it includes a plethora of interesting portraits of how the world was, the people and the incidents that surrounded those changes)
• The Times picture collection- Explorers, a history in photographs: by Richard Sale and Madeleine Lewis (Another look throughout history of the people how explored the globe to great lengths and the people they encountered along the way)
• http://stevemccurry.com/ -(An extremely famous photographer who works for National Geographic)
• http://121clicks.com/inspirations/steve-mccurry-inspiration-from-masters-of-photography -(A look in to Steve McCurry’s work and profile)
• http://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/ -(To retrieve the photo I needed for this assignment)

P&P-Assignment One; A portrait



Assignment One; A portrait

 

 

Object of assignment one

This assignment is to introduce myself to my tutor and give them the opportunity to get to know my work as this assignment is not formally assessed.

I have to take one person as a subject and create between five to seven different portraits, drawing together my experiences in completing the projects/exercises so far and differ in type and style. 

 

I chose to photograph my friend Andreea for this assignment, she has a very striking look, with dark hear and blue eyes she fitted perfectly for what I needed.

I chose a range of different locations and had planned out the day, so it would directionally flow, to save time. I used 3 different lenses for this assignment;-

• EF 35mm f/2
• EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
• EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

I used an aperture of f/7.1 on all of the shots, so to keep a sharp focus on her face and adjusted the shutter speed, it was a cloudy day, so it made for an interesting photo shoot as the weather was diverse.

 

 

A portrait

On looking at portraiture photography on the internet, it is interesting how striking portrait photography is, all of the different focal lengths have their own nuances.  

 

With a full face image, the eyes really draw you in, whether they are looking at the camera or away, the image is still striking, the power of the image however, was the facial expression of the person, the eyes have a lot to do with it, but the slight change in their expressions is what made one image stand out, over another, also the smiling face shots actually made me smile and I liked that, it gives a feeling of warmth.  I noticed how a lot of the images are photo shopped to give that extra glint in the eyes, I may be wrong and it could be the studio lighting instead, however, I’m sure they have all been adjusted in some way.

  

With the head and shoulder, and torso images the background has a bit more significance in the image, without losing the connection of the persons face and hands, the directions of the torsos were interesting, if you do not get it right, it can look strange and make the image obscure in a bad way, I feel the hands can be what makes or breaks an image.

  

The full body portraits portray more of a story as to what event is happening, the background has to be involved somehow in the actual photograph as to what is going on with the image, also it fully depends as to what they are wearing in relation with the background.

 

 

Exhibition

I stumbled across a gallery, just off of Oxford street called “The Photographers’ Gallery” and it was quite interesting, there was an interesting exhibiting on called “Home truths: Photography, motherhood and identity” with a myriad of different photographers, concentrating on the feelings and thoughts surrounding motherhood and that sometimes it can be discomforting to acknowledge, or may cause embarrassment. As I am not a mother myself, I found this exhibition interesting and thought provoking, it showed key moments in mother hood and how it affects mother and child alike.

 

My favourite out of the exhibition is the photograph by Elinor Carucci called Feeding Emanuelle from a plastic bottle after I stopped feeding her, 2005 © Elinor Carrucci/INSTITUTE  (Photograph below)

 

 

I really like the shadow and the forward facing light, the natural way she is posed and the connection between mother and child, it is a very touching image and a poignant moment in their life’s, which I feel is reflected very well through the photograph.

 

 

Books used for this assignment;

• Photos for the future 2: Sutton publishing and The History Channel (A look at photography throughout 100 of history, up to the year 2000, it includes a plethora of interesting portraits of how the world was, the people and the incidents that surrounded those changes)
• The Times picture collection- Explorers, a history in photographs: by Richard Sale and Madeleine Lewis (Another look throughout history of the people how explored the globe to great lengths and the people they encountered along the way)

Websites used for this assignment;

http://stevemccurry.com/ -(An extremely famous photographer who works for National Geographic)

http://121clicks.com/inspirations/steve-mccurry-inspiration-from-masters-of-photography -(A look in to Steve McCurry’s work and profile)

http://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/ -(To retrieve the photo I needed for this assignment)

 

I have done a collection of seven images for this assignment, I wanted to put in more as I liked a lot of them, it was difficult to choose which ones I wanted to use but I am happy with the final collection.

 

Red door; 1/30 seconds at f/7.1 – Lens EF 35mm f/2

I found this door by the gallery that I went to see the exhibition in, I thought it was perfect, clean and striking, with Andreea being in black, I love this image, it is my favourite in this assignment. The reflections are great and really give you a sense of what is going on behind me. The main difficulty I had taking this image was to not get the reflection of myself in this picture and still capture the full length of Andreea. In a way, I had to hide behind her whilst lining up the photograph, I feel it has worked really well and I am happy with the end result.

 

 

 



“No Tarking”; 1/60 seconds at f/7.1 – Lens EF 35mm f/2

I wanted to get a simplistic background that was relatively urban, my initial thought process with this was to take a full length photograph, however, when processing the image, the torso photograph worked a lot better overall, it is plain, simplistic and I think Andreea looks extremely striking in this image, she really stands out.

 

 

 

Raining?; 1/400 seconds at f/7.1 – Lens EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

The sun came out just in time for this photograph, this was fun to do and Andreea was great, I wanted to take an image where she was ‘larger than life’ as it were, hence the reason why I used my wide angle lens and this location. I had originally had her with an umbrella without the cover, shrugging like asking where is the rain?, with the whole image, it fitted well, however, you could not see the actual spikes of the umbrella, in hindsight, I should have used a normal umbrella, so instead I used this image of her leaning and looking in to the distance.

 

 

 

 

Reflections; 1/125 seconds at f/7.1 – Lens EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

I wanted a high dynamic image, so I thought were better than the river Thames?, the reflection off of the Shard building and with Andreea looking in to the distance, she looks like she is having a reflecting thought. With the blue of her eyes, the railing of the bridge and the Shard building reflection there is a very blue theme going on in this image, which I think ties in very well.

 

 

 

 

Naughty dog!; 1/40 seconds at f/7.1 – Lens EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

I had always wanted to see an original Banksy, so this particular image took a lot of planning, firstly due to being able to find one that was still intact and not destroyed or painted over, my next challenge was then to find one that I could use Andreea in, one that was not high up or one that she could not interact with, luckily, I found this Banksy spray art in Bermondsey and it was perfect.

 

 

 

 

Patriotic; 1/160 seconds at f/7.1 – Lens EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

For this image we went to Brick Lane, as I knew (as I am sure most of London does) there is great graffiti and I knew I could use it for this particular assignment. I like the way you are drawn in to her eyes and that she is not the only person in the portrait, more or less. I think it is a light and interesting image.

 

 

 

 

Happy; 1/200 seconds at f/7.1 – Lens EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

 
Every time I look at this photograph it makes me smile, as it is a natural and genuine look, it is the main reason I chose this photograph for the collection, I also chose it due to the simplistic background and the contrast of the shadows, even though you can’t really see her eyes, you can feel her expression, which I really like.

P&P-Part 1; Exercise 8; Varying the pose

 

Exercise; Varying the pose

For this exercise I had to take images that would be similar to poses in a magazine and shoot three different poses in basic positions.

 

1^st – Leaning

1/3200 seconds at f/2.0

I decided to shoot this sequence in a traditional phone booth, so that Becca was more at ease with posing and to generate a more urban feel to the shoot, this is a very simplistic yet effective pose.

 

 

2^nd – Standing straight

1/3200 seconds at f/2.0

This is quite a powerful direct image and could be used for a photo shoot, I also like the background of what is going on in this image.



3^rd – On the phone

  1/2000 seconds at f/2.0

I couldn’t do this exercise in the phone booth without her on the phone!, this is my favourite of the three, the way she is looking away and almost leaning, I like the way it is composed with more emphasis of the background being on the right hand side.

 

 

 

 



P&P-Part 1; Exercise 7; Focal length

Exercise; Focal length

I had to take photographs of the same person with at least three different focal lengths, so I was in a stationary position, using my zoom lens and having to shoot at either end of the zoom scale and one photograph in the middle of the focal length.

 
1^st Camera length – 32mm

1/1000 seconds at f/4.0

I kept this image as close to the wider end of the zoom, I like this image, but it doesn’t really pack a punch as it were on her face, although it is a flattering photograph and the background is good, I feel that the others are better.

 

2^nd Camera length – 90mm

1/1000 seconds at f/5.6

This is a more detailed look at her face, without losing the colourful background, I think this could possibly be my favourite image, as the focus and light are good and I really like the background. With regards to the length, I feel it gives enough detail without being overbearing.

 

3^rd Camera length – 150mm

1/1000 seconds at f/5.6

 This is a good shot too and on second thoughts, this is the best image of the three, it’s a clear, concise shot and has great focus without being intrusive, still keeps the great colour of the background and draws you in.

P&P-Part 1; Exercise 6; Review a portrait sequence

Exercise; Review a portrait sequence

In this exercise, I have to take at least 20 photos of one person, only concentrating on their expression, to write an account there and then as much as I can remember the frame by frame progress of my subjects expression, noting which I thought were best, then from that I need to rate the images on my computer as follows;-

A) Not good

B) Acceptable
C) Good
D) The single best shot

 

A) Not good

These images weren’t up to scratch as my focusing wasn’t the best, but the main reason is because on a lot of them, you can’t really see her face and the contrast doesn’t work well, at the time I actually liked image 3584, due to her expression, however on the screen it didn’t work well.




B) Acceptable

These images are more acceptable, due to the focusing, light and expressions, on taking these images, I thought image 3608 was a good image as it was fun, but on the computer, it didn’t really pop and lacked lustre.

 

C) Good

These images were the best of the bunch, with regards to focus and expression. At the time, I liked images 3618, 3619, 3599 and 3600, as all of shots had lovely expressions and great focus, the ones in where she is looking away are great as I know that she is thinking about which expression to pull next!, and the one’s where she is looking directly at me are very engaging.

 
 

D) The single best shot

I struggled with this choice a lot, I initially thought I would choose image 3618 (see previous) but on reflection I think this photograph gave more of a natural un-posed look, one of thought and a bit of mystery.

I enjoyed this exercise and I think that Becca did too!. I decided to stop shooting when she had already given me a massive amount of different expressions, I defiantly hit the jackpot with her facial expressions!. The choice I made at the end did differ from the time of shooting, I thought I would choose a more posed or cheeky look, I am however happy with my final choice.

P&P-Part 1; Exercise 5; Eye contact and expression

Exercise; Eye contact and expression

For this exercise, I have to set up a portrait session and in which the face is prominent and ‘stage’ the direction in where you want them to look. I took a set of four images two of which are looking at me and the other two are away.

 
First the face shots;-

1/200 seconds at f/2.0

For this image I asked Becca to look at me, I chose a shaded area where the light was coming in from the front of her, so to enhance the contrast on her face.

1/320 seconds at f/2.0

For the nest image, I asked her to look away, I found it quit difficult to get the same power of the previous shot in this one, as there were a few different directions in where she looked, however, this was the most powerful out of all of them as you could still see her eyes and it didn’t disengage you from the image.


 

Second the torso shots;-

 1/500 seconds at f/2.0

Even though Becca is looking away from the camera, this image is still engaging, due to the expression of the slight smile that she has on her face. I feel this image works quite well.

1/500 seconds at f/2.0

 This is my favourite out of all of this set, I love her expression and the composition of this image, I feel it really draws you in.

 

Overall, I think eye contact is always best when you have a pre planned shoot. When you are photographing strangers on the other hand, them not looking directly at the camera can prove pleasing to the eye and very effective.  

 

 

 

 

P&P-Part 1; Exercise 4; An active portrait

Exercise; An active portrait

This exercise is primarily a portrait rather than an exercise in reportage and to mainly concentrate on the subject’s facial expression of what they are doing, rather than the task itself.

1/5 seconds at f/2.0

 

 

I chose to do this particular activity as it’s something that people always do, also I could concentrate on the facial expression of the person, which would be one of concentration. I also wanted to have a backlit and face lit image to achieve a photograph with high contrast.

 

 

 

 

P&P-Part 1; Exercise 3; Experimenting with light

Exercise; Experimenting with light

I have to take between four-six standard head and shoulders portraits with different lighting effects, I chose to do the following;-

• Shade
• Sunlight
• Reflective
• Dappled

 
1^st Shade

1; 1/60 seconds at f/7.1

This was taken under the shade of a tree; I think I managed to get a good amount of light by using a slower shutter speed, but keeping the clarity of the face by keeping the f-stop low.

 

 2^nd Sunlight

  2; 1/320 seconds at f/7.1

I wanted to use strong sunlight to see how the image would look and what challenges I would have taking this image. It was difficult to make her not look completely washed out on one side and dark on the other. She still looks a bit washed out, but you can still see the contours of her face.

 

3^rd Reflective

 

3; 1/40 seconds at f/7.1

I love this image, it is exactly the image I had in my head, I wanted to achieve clarity of her reflection in the door, the day was cloudy and I thought I would need bright sunlight, however, the cloud cover proved quite useful, as there wasn’t an overpowering light, I believe the cloud is what achieved the clarity.

 

4^th Dappled

4; 1/80 seconds at f/7.1

 I wanted to achieve the dappled light effect from a gap in a tree, which I managed to do, however, her hair also proved quite useful for this look as well, again I used a slow shutter speed to allow the light to bleed thorough.

P&P-Part 1; Exercise 2; Thinking about location

Exercise; Thinking about location

 
For this exercise I have to play the role of location hunter, to take six different images of locations, which can be used for a whole body or torso portrait, then choose one of them to do a portrait in.

1; 1/500 seconds at f/2.0

I chose this location as I thought it looked like fun and very different for the normal images you find in London.

2; 1/1250 seconds at f/2.0

This looked like it could lend itself well to a full body shot, if not with the flower, then the red tree on the right hand side.

3; 1/100 seconds at f/2.0

This looked like another fun location, although be it challenging, due to having to shoot at a low shutter speed, as I would have to shot at night to get the full effect of the lights.

 4; 1/40 seconds at f/4.0

Again a great and fun location but also with the difficulty of the slow shutter speed needed to obtain the light for a portrait shot.

5; 1/40 seconds at f/2.0

 

I love this location, the light again is not great and it would have to take a better lens to get a better f-stop, but it is an unusual location.

  6; 1/125 seconds at f/7.1

 
This is a great location; any full body shot with this little house would work.

7; 1/640 seconds at f/2.0

I chose this location as it was the most diverse, Becca did a few posed shots which looked really good, however I really liked the one of her when she was trying to climb up it.