Studio portraits series

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After several photography exercises using different cameras, settings and locations I had collected several photographs of my friends Dan and Ollie where they had naturally posed as a double act. I thought their were interesting images because of how they worked together and how they had a kind of detective style to them. I also wanted to see how portraiture can be explored using two people rather than just one. However I don’t think I would use these images for my final piece as they weren’t as successful as some of my other friends portraits.

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Strangers portraits

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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. STRANGER2The 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.

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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.

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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.

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Studio experimentation

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ELLIE5    ELLIE1

ELLIE2     ELLIE3

We experimented more with the reflectors in these images and tried to get the lighting flattering and correctly on Ellie’s face. We used different lights throughout the ‘photoshoot’ such as snoop light, spotlight, Lightbox, soft box lights to create different moods and effects on the subject.

ELLIE&OLLIE2  ELLIE&OLLIE1

For these photo it originally started that we were playing around with props and dark lighting but the photos actually came out quite well. The light hit their faces in the right place and the shadow behind Ellie’s face of Ollie creates a story to the photo.

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I took these photos fairly close up and changed Ellie’s portrait into black and white, and although she wasn’t ready for the photo I think it still works well as it looks like she’s talking out to the viewer. Dans photo also shows a lot of detail and the way the light was positioned works well with his eyes and makes him look alive and real.

Portraits: Cool people

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When taking photos of my friends I mostly did this in front of a brick wall as I think this can be an interesting but not a distracting background for portraits. This reminded me of some sort of album cover or a “gangster”, so i asked each of my friends to “pose like a gangster” in front of the wall and they all had similar reactions which I found amusing. I also tried this too as part of my self portraits. I think Hannah’s and Ellie’s came out best, especially Hannah’s as there was a lense flare which I really liked and the wall had a really nice effect on it. In terms of picture quality I think Ellie’s worked best as I like the lighting and composition.

Hannah

HANNAH GANGSTER

Harry

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Ellie

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Matt

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Me

LILLI GANGSTER

Self portraits

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LILLI7

For my self portraits I was unsure how to complete this and felt uncomfortable trying to do serious photographs. So instead I set up the camera settings, with the shutter speed, aperture and ISO how I wanted them and then my friend pressed the shutter button. I liked the photos more where I was laughing, smiling and being silly and think ones where you can tell im genuinely happy came out a lot better.

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I experimented with photo shape and sizing and had to crop out the reflector in some photos but think more square photos work well and keep a central focus point. I also experimented with changing the photo to black and white and I like the effect but I think for the above photo I would keep it in colour. Using Lightroom I also changed the white balance, and different settings to create a slightly dull and grainy look to my photos. I like this effect however and think it works well with the colours in the photo. I also did this for my friends and strangers photos so they had consistency between them and also had a style between them so its clear they’re by the same photographer.

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Although in this above photo I  like my positioning and facial expression the background is a bit busy and a bit unnecessary. Especially with the metal pole on the left as thats in focus. So I cropped the photo to become a portrait photograph instead.