This part of the brief was rather scary to think about and do as asking someone for their photo can be quite intrusive to them and make them feel uncomfortable and I didn’t want to make someone feel like this. But when it actually came to taking the photo, after the initial awkward question, it was fine and I tried to make them feel happy and as comfortable as possible.

First I asked this woman, who was with her husband, I was pleased with the photo and think this is my favourite one I took as I like the way she fills the frame, the way the background is blurred out and how the light very slightly catches in her eye. Although the background wasn’t what I think would have been the most appropriate for her, its so unfocused that it isn’t obvious what it is. I edited the photo on lightroom to make the photo duller and drain some of the colour out of it. I like this effect on portraits and think, especially with the colours within this frame, it works well. I also like her facial expression as before this was her initial smile and although she didn’t seem that keen to have her photo taken, she still wanted to smile for it. After this her face slightly dropped to quite a serious expression. I prefer it when people are smiling so decided to use this. However with this image as the women is wearing the tinted glasses, I think it would be better to be lightened and have the shadows lightened more so for my final piece I will do this. The next photo I took was of a man, who’s wife was with him. I though approaching couples was less daunting and they can laugh about it together instead of one person feeling targeted. I found it rather amusing that he was jokingly telling his wife off next to him and so took a photo of this. The background is a bit unnecessary in that it isn’t related to the man and is at a bit of an angle. The main reason I like this photo is for the facial expression- which I think is the main focus of a portrait and therefore I’m happy with it.

In the second image I had asked him move somewhere else, slightly under the bridge we were standing near. I liked the strong black lines going across the top of the image and the way the blue sign sits just next to his head, but doesn’t steal away from him. I did the same editing on this as I did on the first lady’s photo, so I drained the colour and made it darker.

At first I really didn’t like this photo as it was over exposed as the sun was setting behind her and the colours didn’t seem to come out well. However in post production I reduced the whiteness, brought the exposure down and added more contrast. This looked a lot better and the details in her face came out stronger. Because the sun was behind her it’s created this halo of light around her hat which adds dimension to the photo.