Review a portrait sequence

This needed to be set up in a formal structured way, and was all about the expressions and gestures of the subject.

Although this was supposed to be with one person I felt I was behind where I wanted to be and as Christmas was approaching it was getting difficult to get anyone who had the time to 'sit' for me.  I had a slight stroke of luck when I was asked to photograph two sets of sisters as a Christmas present for their nan and I decided to use the session to do this exercise at the same time. 

I had a small amount of room in a conservatory to use and having set up a portable backdrop, consisting of a couple of sheets over my support I then added two lights one with a shoot through umbrella and the other with a soft box. I was unable to use my tripod but I used the arm of a chair to the same effect.

I set my self quite a challenge with this as I needed to get all four girls looking at the camera, with no eyes shut and with them all smiling!. 

When I first started to take the photographs, it was difficult to get the girls relaxed and this I think is evident in the first photographs particularly with one of the  girls who seemed to find it quite difficult to smile to order almost, I asked them to just chat amongst themselves as I took the photographs and this started to produce a better image, at times you can see them laughing at something that has been said.

For example image 7928 all the girls looked relaxed against 7927 in which at least one of the girls has a slightly strained expression. 
7925 again all the girls look relaxed against 7922 where one of the girls had her eyes almost closed. I came to the conclusion that she didn't really want to have her photograph taken I don't think it was me I just think she found it very difficult and would have liked to have been anywhere but there.

I finally settled on the last photograph I took in this series as the one I would pick. I decided to call a halt to the session as I could see that at least one of the girls was getting tired and in fact the last photo was almost a fluke I clicked the shutter a second after I was going to.

The final image above was taken at 32mm focal length f8 with a flash white balance and an iso of 100 the shutter speed was 125's the lights were metered at F8 for the main and f16 for the fill light.

I went on to make the following adjustments in elements 11.

duplicate layer
Quick selection brush round the girls feathered at 50 pixels.
Inverse
white brush at 80 % to even out back ground.
Eraser used to correct errors.

brightness adjusted
image flattened and then the unsharp mask used.

Over all this was an enjoyable if challenging experience, it was one of the first times I had done a group of people in a formal setting, and the lack of space further added to the challenge.

The four girls and their parents and grand parents were all pleased with the overall photos.

Exercise: Eye Contact and Expression

Having been forced to leave my studies to one side for a while due to other commitments I was keen to get started again. I have just purchased some new studio lights and as I knew I would be seeing my mum the opportunity was too good to miss for trying them out.

Having bribed her with hot chocolate and cake she was more than willing to sit for me whilst I tried them out.

I used a soft box set at 45 degrees to her I metered this at F8, I then added a second light behind me at F16 and a third and final light to the background again at F16. I wanted this light to give separation form the backdrop.

I then started a conversation with her on subjects I knew she would enjoy as I didn't want a forced smile or expression but rather a natural one captured when she was talking about the things she is interested in.  From time to time I would ask her to look down or to the side, once I asked her to turn to give me a profile but I decided on looking at it, that it was not at all flattering. I had also asked her to turn her shoulders slightly as I didn't want a square image.

 

The photograph above was taken at F9 1/125 second shutter speed iso 100 and a flash white balance.

 

So far as post processing goes I try to do as little as possible on portrait work unless I am asked to do more, as I like my images to look as real as possible. I am aware that there are a great many schools of thoughts on this subject, and a debate I have taken part with on several occasions.

For both this photograph and the one below I made slight adjustments to the mid tones in layers then adjusted the brightness slightly.  finally I flattened the image and used the un sharp mask.

 

The photograph above was also taken at F9 1/125 second shutter speed iso 100 and a flash white balance.  I had turned the soft box down very slightly for this photo.

 

I like the second image the best as I think it portrays my mum as she is.

Exercise: An active portrait

The brief for this exercise is to take an active portrait, the idea being to show the expressions on the subjects face rather than go into too much detail about what they are actually doing.


I was quite lucky with this I was asked by my hairdressers if I would help them out and take some photographs for one of the hairdressers assessments, where she needed photographs taken of the hair make up and styling she had done on her own model.  I happily agreed to help them out if they would help me in return, something the hairdresser was happy to do.

I decided I wanted to photograph her as she worked and hoped that she would be so busy concentrating on what she was doing she would forget about me, I think she managed to do that quite well. 

After many attempts I finally decided on this one, as you can see the concentration on her face and that she has forgotten all about the camera and is just busy doing her job.

It is quite dark in the hairdressers which worked in my favour slightly as I didn't want too much of the surroundings to be seen, the settings I used were F7.1 1/125's shutter speed iso 200 and a flash white balance. The focal length was 22mm.

I try to keep post production of my work to a minimum if possible and all I did for this photograph was to crop it down to remove some of the excess background, then made very slight adjustments to the brightness and levels in the layers palette. I then flatten the layers and applied the unsharp mark.

Exercise: exerimenting with light.

This is a project all about light ending up with an exercise experimenting with light.

Light can make or break a portrait, harsh light can be good on a character portrait especially if you want to highlight lines and wrinkles in the face but this type of light would not be suitable for babies or wedding photography, where softer light would be more flattering.

For this exercise I need to try and use the same model and take four head and shoulder portraits in different lighting conditions. The brief says to take between four and six photographs in various lighting conditions, some will be taken indoors including one which I will take in my studio and others that will be taken at various other places.

For this first one my model is sitting facing the window the camera settings are: F5 1/100's shutter speed ISO 200 white balance was daylight and the focal length was 52mm.  I also used a reflector to keep any shadows at a minimum. I notice that there is not a lot of definition to the face, there is quite a lot of softness around the jaw line and this would work better on a female face than a male.  I would be looking for a sharper jawline for a male subject.

This one was taken sitting in the same position but this time I lowered the slatted blind, the camera settings used for this one were:F3 1/100's shutter speed 68mm focal length ISO 200 and white balance daylight.  Again I cropped the photograph and adjusted the brightness and levels slightly before flattening the image and using the unsharp mask. This time there is more definition to the face, the left hand side of the subjects face is slightly sharper as are the facial features. I didn't use the reflector for this shot.

Photograph three was taken in the soft morning light where the sun was just rising above the roof tops,. I positioned my husband so he was lit from the front. F7.1 1/125 shutter speed the iso was 200 with a daylight white balance setting and a focal length of 200mm. In photo shop I adjusted the levels very slightly flatten the image and used the unsharp mask to finish. This is quite a flattering look using this light it softens lines and wrinkles slightly.

Photographs four and five were both taken in my home studio, I used a black backdrop for the first one with a soft box at F8 to the side of him and a beauty dish on F16 to the front, the camera settings used  were F8 shutter speed 1/125's flash white balance iso 400 with a focal length of 50mm. The iso is rather high and to be honest I hadn't realised that I had left it on that setting, I normally start from the iso and work my way round the setting when I am photographing using lights. There is shadow to the jaw line but I think the light is slightly too bright to the front.

The second one was taken on a separate occasion, this time I used a white back drop, the setting used were F8 1/125's shutter speed iso 100 flash white balance with a focal length of 48mm.  I used a reflector this time moving it around until the shadows were 'filled' with the light.  I used the same two lights as before but this time I brought the beauty dish forwards which gave a more even light. I adjusted the exposure very slightly in photoshop before again using the un sharp mask.  I also had a dust spot which I removed using the spot healing tool.

It is interesting to see how by using different light sources you can get a variety of effects, this is something I will continue to experiment with.

Exercise: Thinking about location

For this exercise I need to find six different locations and having photographed them I need to choose one and then go back with a model.  I am doing this slightly differently in that I am taking my model out and about with me.
I still plan to take the original photograph before adding the model to the scene. I will then make my choice of location with model hen I have seen all six photographs together. I have chosen to do it this way as I have a rare few days off with my husband and we may not go back to the same spot again for quite a while.

Location one

It was a long walk and loads of steps to get down to the sea front but I had the idea of having my husband looking out to sea as if searching the horizon for something. The top photograph was actually taken on the way back to the car.  I took this second shot as when I reached the sea front originally I wasn't quite so happy with the first view it seemed a bit bland, however by turning my husband to face the other way I could frame him within the coastline.


Location two

Although this was in the same place as location one I decided to make use of a row of brand new beach huts that was in the process of being completed.  I took this view rather than the standard one as I though it almost looks like a tunnel, I though that by adding my model to the picture it would give me a slightly edgy feel almost like a 60's  print, but not as bright.

Location three

This time its marshland as the backdrop, I liked the water through the top part of the image and the wind turbines just visible in the back ground. I  increased the vibrancy very slightly on this shot just to even the colour out very slightly.

Location four

This one is in my own garden, I love this area and I would really like to replace the wooden bench with a traditional deckchair and take the photograph, but unfortunately I don't have one, however I do think the bench works well in its own right.

Location five

A working desk, this is actually my desk but I thought it might work as a location however even though I used the natural light from the large window and the tones are even its too flat somehow and not inspiring enough to sit a model at, I won't be using this one.

Location six

I briefly considered using my home studio to take a portrait, I added the stool as I didn't want to show just a black back drop , I could have photographed the area also showing the lights I use but as I don't think this location will work for this exercise either I will leave that for a different exercise.


Having reviewed each of my locations it was time to make a choice, and I finally settled for location Three. 

I chose this one as I felt it had a nice blend of tones and colours, I also varied the view point slightly as when I went to position my model, there was a ditch where he would have needed to stand, I therefore made use of a gate slightly further along. The pose of the model is in keeping with the natural feel of the photograph.  The camera settings for this photograph were F10 shutter speed 1 /320s.  I used elements for the processing adjusting the shadows and vibrancy settings slightly before using the unsharp mask.  I also liked the light on this photograph and the way the shadows from the gate fall across the gate post.

Exercise: Portrait - Scale and Setting.

For this first exercise I need to take a portrait, the idea being that I will end up with four different scales, from cropped in close to the persons head to a full length either sitting or standing.  I am starting off my research by reading a book I have had for some time called 'Jeff Smith's guide to head and shoulders portrait photography' the details of which are listed under my reading page.  Although this book is predominately about head and shoulder photography there are several examples showing the torso and also some full length shots. My attention was drawn to  a series of photographs depicting a young girl in jeans with her foot and arm against the wall. This gave me some idea of positioning and also cropping for the torso photograph in the correct place. I have also looked at 'The Art of Children's Portrait Photography' again a book I already owned but I found it interesting to look at the portraits of children taken outdoors and the poses used to make the portrait natural.


In the course notes it is suggested that to begin with I photograph someone I know. With this in mind I start the process of deciding who I can ask to 'sit' for me, and also where can I photograph them, do I want it outside or indoors, although I have a small home studio I don't really want to use it for this exercise.  The two ideas I have at the moment are my husband who is a driving instructor I could photograph him in his car or maybe standing beside it. I can see a few problems with this though in the positioning of the crop for the torso shot, it might not work with the car.  The second one is to use one of my grandchildren, but again I can see a problem of getting them to stay still and not pull faces, I will try both ideas and if I am not happy I will try something else.

I finally decided to photograph my mum n a recent visit to my house. 
She had been playing with the dog and was taking a few minutes break relaxing and looking through one of my books and drinking a coffee. I liked that in most of the shots she looks so relaxed , although she is a little nervous looking in a couple but I think most people find it hard to smile to order unless they are models.

 

This close cropped in one took my a few attempts to get correct I wasn't happy with a full on face shot as I felt it was too unflattering, I finally asked her to look downwards at the book and used a focal length of 200mm, so I wasn't right on top of her when I took the shot. 

 

 

For the head and shoulder shot I asked her to look at me again I had several attempts to get what I wanted,  I used a  focal length of 48 mm and moved around until I was fairly happy.

 

For the Torso shot I wanted it to look natural and so I got her to look down at the book then called her and took the shot when she looked up. This has a focal length of 42mm.

The final shot is a full length one, as my mum is quite tiny I preferred the look of her having her legs up on the sofa, otherwise it looked a bit unbalanced. This has a focal length of 18mm.

Having reviewed all four photographs I think that although the face is the most prominent part of the first three photographs I feel that the head and shoulders looks too 'formal' or too 'posed'. I also decided to crop the first photograph even more to remove some of the red sofa.

This is a much stronger photograph.

The cropped torso and full body shots are both quite relaxed shots and I think viewers would see these as such. I chose to have the hands covered and I think this works better than having them on show.

I think the background has worked quite well with the blue blinds and the blue top, the red of the sofa compliments well.

 

Musings at the start of the course

The new course material has arrived and as always I have greeted this with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. I think most people have a subject that they prefer to photograph and for me people are at the top of the list. I enjoy photographing children as they grow from babies to toddlers and onwards its always interesting to overcome the different challenges that each stage imposes on me as a photographer, from the best way to photograph a tiny baby to toddlers that either don't want to stay still, I normally sit on the floor and capture them as they play or the ones that just want to cry. I must admit I have a lovely photograph of one of my grandsons sitting on a chair crying and holding his favourite soft toy its a photograph that makes people go ah.

I have also gone the other side of the lens and written about my experiences and thoughts partly due to an article by Russell Squires my former tutor at OCA.

I hope you enjoy reading about my journey through this module.