Sunday 27 February 2011

Thinking about Location

When setting a portrait as discussed before, its important to find a balance between the subject and how much of the background is seen. Does it add or subtract from the idea of the portrait? Is it vital in describing what is happening or aiding the description of the person? Or does it just distract from them?

I went and took a few location photographs of places I thought would make good settings for portraits, taking care over details such as lighting and props etc. I then chose one backdrop and photographed my friend in the one i thought most suiting to her from her personality.

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This is the roof top where I work, and I've always love the industrial style bars and glass sky lights mixed in with the old style roof tops. I thought it would look great for a fashion portrait as the steps and bars can be used as props to sit on or lean against, and the white background is quite neutral. Also, the lighting on this area is great year round, especially when the sun is out, and in the evenings as the becomes lower the lighting really creates a striking mood, there are lovely long shadows and a warm orange glow that contrasts with the white walls. I'll definitely be coming back to this area later on for a proper shoot!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This area of Guildford Castle gardens is a great place too shoot, the benches mean the person sitting th portrait can feel more relaxed and the setting is beautiful, with many open areas for clear lighting and trees if you want some shadows to make the image more dynamic.

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Just off from the castle grounds is a tunnel/underpass. through the seasons different plants are usually in the beds and the walls but being winter nothing has sprung up yet. I think it makes a very moody location for quite a sombre portrait and would probably work best in black and white. Going further into the tunnel would work best for darker images as light reaches just inside. If you shot facing out from the tunnel you could achieve some interesting back lit shots if the conditions were right.

 

 

 

 

 

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This is the door way to Basingstoke Registry Office, some friends of mine have asked me to shoot there wedding photos so I went over to take some test shoots and look for good vantage points. The symmetry of the building and the graceful curves of the steps will frame either a single person, couple or make for a very dynamic group shot havig to place people on different levels and depths. A more intimate portrait could be taken closer up to the door or even peering out, depending on how the person would like to be perceived in their portrait.

 

 

 

 

 

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This band stand is also part of the location I will be shooting at my friends wedding. It has some really interesting metal work in the supports and benefits from natural light all around, with some shade underneath if the weather is very bright on the day. My friend who was with me at the time kindly posed for me, and this is just her kind of place - a nice leisurely stroll through the park.

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This is her looking quite relaxed and using her surroundings to adjust her pose and make use of the features to enhance the composition. What we learnt from these test shots was what view points worked best and where lighting as best to bring out features. If you notice, the tree directly behind her looks like it is framing her head like a halo - probably not what the bride will want on the day! So we have found some poses that work well and also how important it is to recognise features in the fore ground and background that may detract from the image, in this case the lovely 'tree halo'. It's important to keep your eyes open through shooting to pick up on these details to make the images there best, and so that the location works well with the person being photographed, rather than working against them. Some times a contrast between location and person is useful in creating tension if you are trying to get a specific message across, but portraiture is more about the person, so the less friction there is between the two, the more likey the portrait will be successful.

Sunday 6 February 2011

Portrait Scale and Setting

First exercise was a short and sweet one; take a portrait with 4 different crops - face, head and shoulders, torso and full body including background. Then discuss how each one affects the over all feel of the portrait and where attention is drawn to. I took a shot of my friend from Australia on Bondi Beach and then using the different crops saw how the image changed:

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The first crop of just the face is very intimate, it forces you to concentrate only on the expression.

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When the shoulders are exposed in this crop it gives away a few hints as to body position to help show if the subject is relaxed or posed for movement etc. It's still closed in enough to direct attention to only the face.

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when you pull back again some more, the back ground is revealed and in this case emphasises  the reason behind the subjects pose and expression. The inclusion of the background is supporting the subject who is still cropped in close enough to be the centre of the image. Being able to see ore of the body gives clues as to what is happening in the shot.

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The last photo where the subject is surrounded full frame by her location pulls all the elements in together including expression, body language and scenery, which gives a greater impression over the reason behind the image. This works really well if you are trying to imply how the subject is interacting with there surroundings.

 

so as you can see there are different reasons why a certain distance or crop for  portrait can effect the feel of the image from a very intense close up to a far away shot that has many meanings. In the above photos the two I feel work best are the 2nd and 3rd images. The 2nd one works well showing the expression in my friends face and giving a tiny hint at the blue sea behind but the emphasis is all in her eyes, yet the drop is not so small that it becomes too imposing for this expression. The 3rd photo I feel is just the right balance between subject and background in this instance; there is enough of the beach showing so that the viewer knows where she is and why she is smiling and  she fills the frame well. I prefer this from the last one as I feel that there is too much space around her that doesn't really add to her pose.