Evaluation

Evaluation

From the beginning to the end I struggled to relate to the portraiture task.  Portraiture was always something I had steered away from when I was doing my A-level, and now the choice was taken away, I knew I lacked studio skills and lighting techniques. I think I was a bit intimidated as well by the work of photographers like Martin Schoeller because I wouldn’t have known where to start in trying to recreate his work.

I was quite surprised when it came to my first shoot because I didn’t feel nervous at all which I put down to the calm atmosphere we had in the studio at the time.  I was slightly anxious prior to this as we were introduced to a new camera the day before which was difficult to use and I didn’t want that to limit the outcome of the shoot, therefore damaging my grade. From a technical point of view I think this was one of the most difficult things in the section of the course, alongside using Light Room which I find challenging. Its editing tools were great but I didn’t really know why it was so complicated to access my edited light room files in Photoshop when they are both made by adobe or just to file and save my pictures as TIFFs or JPEGs so I could view them on my computer at home.

After receiving the results of my last module I became a lot more confident with my research, and again that’s helped me a lot to decide what aspect of portraiture I want to explore, in this case it was lighting and in particular Rembrandt lighting.

My most successful shoot was my second because I had a plan of what I wanted to do and I think I enjoyed it more than the first because I could have a laugh with my brother at the same time and I think this  showed in the photographs.

If I was to do this project again I would spend a lot more time in the studio because with photography, practice makes perfect. I would also like to try and shoot in a similar style to Malick Sidibe because he really has a unique look to his photos and it seems to be a light hearted affaire when he’s in the studio, and with his models which makes it easy for everyone. I would also spend more time watching videos on how to operate Light Room properly because that was one of the things that annoyed me the most. To summarise I think it went ok and a good learning experience but portraiture isn’t something I am confident with at this stage.    

Choosing pictures for printing

Choosing pictures for printing:

Choosing the pictures that I wanted to print wasn’t a very hard decision because I don’t believe I have that many good prints to choose from, but the ones that I liked, I thought were quite good. To make the images I chose work better together, I converted them all to black and white. I had to do this because the colours in the pictures were too different and they would look out of place together.

I decided to size my images A4 on a A3 piece of paper because I like the thick border, and I positioned the images towards the top of the paper because I grew fond of it over the street photography period.

I decided to print on photo speed high white cotton rag 315gram (fine art pager) because I have always liked a soft finish no matter what I was printing. I did try printing on 192 gram Epson matte paper but it didn’t feel substantial enough and still had a slight shine to it which I wasn’t happy with.

I don’t think that I was really inspired by one particular photographer during this assignment; I took my influences mainly from the videos that I watched.  As I only ever tried to recreate the effects the photographers produced, it could be said that my influence was a particular lighting style and it would have to be Rembrandt lighting.  

   

Thomas Ruff

Thomas Ruff

Notes from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Ruff

·         Was born in Zell am Harmerstarch, Germany 1958 and got his first camera in 1974 after going to camera classes

·       -  He photographed half-length portraits, similar to passport images.

·       -  He used even lighting and used people ages between 25-35.

·       -  He used 9x12 cm film camera, starting with black and white but later switched to colour

·        - He allowed the models to choose the background colour, probably so it put across a bit of the sitters      personality but insisted that the model made an  expressionless face.

·        - He later experimented with large format printing in 1986 producing up to 7x5 ft. prints

·         -After doing that he found that the coloured background dominated the print so he reverted to a neutral  background so the subject matter is the focus. Even though I am not doing to be printing that big, I need to be aware of this.

I quite like his work because it seems to be quick and simple and has a creepy look to it when the pictures are grouped together like when there displayed on Google images.

I like how he allowed people to choose their own backgrounds which adds personality to a picture and I imagine that it would give the model a bit more confidence knowing that they can make their own choices to put their spin on the outcome.  I think if I was to shoot in the style of Thomas I would probably allow my subject to smile or have a laugh while I was taking pictures of them so it’s not so boring and dreary  for me and the model and more of the personality of the model will come through. 

Pictures below from: http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/aipe/thomas_ruff.htm

I think I prefer the black and white work done by Thomas because the low levels of contrast created by the head on lighting looks much softer than the colour stuff which I think is better. But the colour allows you to see the colour of the clothing which can tell you a lot about the person you are photographing. One thing you notice when you compare the black and white work with the colour work is that he’s pretty much always chops the top of the head off and is zoomed in much closer when it’s the black and white stuff. I think this is better because in my opinion he’s removing  the meaningless space and retaining the important bit, the face which then more pronounced and the centre of attention, which in this case is an essential part of the picture.

Evaluation of second photo-shoot

Evaluation of second photo-shoot

My second shoot went better I think. Beforehand, I planned a series of light setups and worked through a few of them which I thought had the most potential. I got the best results by just using a beauty dish set at a slight angle. Here are my best results, and the setup I used.

I had a flash to light the background, a beauty dish facing the model, positioned above their head. I also had a reflector for a few of the pictures positioned under the chin to the left.

I am happy with/ the way that my pictures turned out, especially with the one on the left because of the soft look that has been achieved by using the beauty dish. I considered using a defused reflector to light the left side of his face but then I thought that I would lose the shadow under his neck which I liked because it helped to separate his head from the rest of his body. The one picture that I wished I had used a reflector with it the one on the right because this would have reduced the impact of the shadow under his eye which is caused by his finger. Despite this I quite like it.

Wex Photographic

Wex Photographic

I was browsing the internet looking for different types of lights and I found this site: http://www.wexphotographic.com/blog/two-light-studio-photography  it showed different light setups and the results that they give, which is helpful.

Flat lighting

High key lighting

Low key lighting

The height and angle of the light can changed for a different effect.

All the pictures and diagrams are from http://www.wexphotographic.com/blog/two-light-studio-photography

Yousuf Karsh

Book research : Yousuf Karsh, Toronto, printed in Switzerland

I really love this guy’s work, even just looking at the first few pages, I knew that this was some of the best work I had seen, in my opinion. His simple approach that really shows the character of the mode is amazing, for example the picture of Muhammad Ali shows the confidence and arrogance he was famous for, as well as being the best heavy weight boxer of all time.  I think that the lighting helps this as well, in most cases photographers choose a light setup that will emphasize an aspect of the model that the photographer notices, but he pretty much always uses a natural looking light that shows that person in the most honest way.

I think my favourite picture is the one of Michael E. Debakey because the amount detail that he’s captured within his face is amazing. I also like how he’s framed the picture, it’s clear that he’s taken his time leading up to taking the picture because he’s managed to get the writing on his shirt in, his arm is coming into the frame exactly in the middle of the corner, he’s just managed to get the tops of the eye lids framed in his glasses, while still getting the desired angle for the photo. Again its really plain light setup but it looks slightly more intense, the source could even be a surgical light to make it more relevant to the subject.

After doing this research I know now that I should spend more time making my pictures relevant to the person I am shooting and maybe not worry so much on the lighting effects that I could possibly create. 

Angus Mc Bean

 Angus Mc Bean 
 Book research: Angus Mc Bean Portraits…. National portrait gallery publications   

After looking through the book I am definitely a fan of his work but only after the thirties. I think this is because he focuses more on the person in the picture rather than building up the scene around them beyond this point. I think my favourite picture in the book is the picture of Margot Fonteyn, 1951 page 79. I think it’s great because as soon as I looked at it I was drawn to the face in the middle of the picture which is amazing considering that there’s a massive pair of the legs in the foreground of the picture. After looking at it while you realise how this happens. To start with the legs act like a frame, and in this case with the model in the centre. Secondly, her dark dress makes her stand out against the white background which makes her the most noticeable feature in the frame.

I also like the picture of Christopher Fry, 1950 page 90. I like it because it’s a completely natural looking pose and the lighting provides a soft range of tones throughout his face. This soft look is enhanced by the contrasting clothes and their harsh texture. It’s also helped by the large dark space behind the subject

After completing this research I think I should spend more time planning the ways I make the models pose because it’s clear that Angus McBean has done this, which could  be the key to his success.