Definition & Theory
- Portrait - A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality and even he mood of the person.
Yousuf Karsh - Sir Winston Churchill
The personality depicted in this photo comes across a grumpy with possibly a slightly harsher view on the world.
The likeness of this photo of Churchill, gives the appearance of higher class and importance.
The mood in the photo is depicted as rather gloomy, dark but yet powerful, which fits with the time frame as Britain had just joined WW2 when this was taken of the then prime minister.
The portrait meets are expectations of the political war hero because it portrays the idea of strength and power in the dark times of war.
The mood in the photo is depicted as rather gloomy, dark but yet powerful, which fits with the time frame as Britain had just joined WW2 when this was taken of the then prime minister.
The portrait meets are expectations of the political war hero because it portrays the idea of strength and power in the dark times of war.
David Lachapelle - Amanda Lepore
The personality depicted in the photo is rather outgoing and bold allowing self expression.
The likeness gives an appearance more like a doll, as everything is quite symmetrical and bright.
The mood is quite peaceful as it looks like they are sleeping however is rather tense due to the harsh lighting and bright/bold colours.
This meet our expectations of a celebrity as it is bold but very unnatural and idealistic. Everything that society is looking for creating the idea of perfectionism.
Image Bank
The first image portrays a happy teen, through the bright and vibrant colours. Your eyes are drawn towards the red and black checked shirt as i creates a contrast between the more muted coloured background making the teen stand out. However the same effect of making the teen stand out is also shown is the second image. The second image uses a black and white filter to show all the different tones from the zone system. The use of this and eyeshadow under the eyes gives the impression that they are struggling with something, contrasting between the eyes and eyeshadow makes this more believable.
This last image is also in black and white however this image implies power and wisdom, due to the lighting coming from the top right hand conner. The use of the tonal range for the highlights from the hair and forehead, contrasting with the shadowing on the tie and blazer.
Research
Annie Leibovitz
Their an american photographer who is a well know photographer or numerous album and film covers and actors.
The first image taken by Annie is one of the most well known movie posters for Les Miserables. The amount of negative space allows the persons background to remain a mystery as if there are dark secrets hidden away in there past. The girls light blue eyes almost implies that sorrow lies behind.
The next image on is of Alan Rickman who is well known for playing snape in the Harry Potter films. The image implies deep thought and wisdom from the use of the linked fingers and suit. The background is made through negative space and really brings out the person she is photographing.
Richard Avedon
He is also an american photographer who believes that once an emotion is shown it transforms the photograph into an opinion.
The first image is of Audrey Hepburn in 1957 the light in this image is coming from the righthand side. This courses a mysterious shadow to form across the persons face. This style is normally used for males as it shows strength so it is rather unusual.
The second image is actually a picture of him. I choose this because of the huge tonal range from the zone system. The light highlights his face forming a shadow on the jumper, the highlights are about zone 10 where the shadow is about zone 4.
To 2 people portrait - record everything, half body and again with head
Have 4 location photos
Contact sheet(s)
Shoot 1
Shoot 2
Shoot 3
Best Photos
The first photo was taken from my first shoot which had my image bank in mind as the inspiration. I really wanted the photo to imply happiness. Which i think it does through the composition your eyes are drawn to the face aseptically the smile and cheeks.
This photo was also inspired by my image back, for this photo i used the sun that was out to light the picture. I really like the tonal range shown on the face and i think that if i put it into photo shop and see what it looks like in black and which the tones will bring a different interpretation to the photo.
This photo was taken with Annie Leibovitz in mind as she uses a dark background to create mood and really highlight the area she wants people to focus on. As a result i wanted to draw attention to the face so i highlighted it using a cone funnel over a light so to focus the light onto it. This produced an photo where the person in it looks really serious.
Annie Leibovitz was also the inspiration for this photo. I like the idea thats presented in the photo that the person is in deep thought. I used light on the face in order to create a light almost halo effect almost as if to show an idea being created. This reminds me of Annie's second picture where the idea that the person is thinking is shown.
This photo has the inspired background of Annie Leibovitz. The light coming in from the top left was aimed directly to the face so to draw the focus. The idea was that someone even though is in the dark can still look up and into the light. I really like the shadowing effect on the side of the face and the fact that you cant see where the hair ends as its so dark.
This is one of my favourite pictures as the red background a the expression along with the use of light portray that this person is extremely mad. I really like how the light is only aimed at the left hand side of the face resulting in the right hand side being in shadow adding to that idea that they are angry and it adds mystery to the imagine. As it makes the viewer ask what is making her so angry.
I like that in this photo she has looked at the camera as a result its almost as if she is seeing if the viewer can understand her or not. Almost as if checking to see if her true feelings are hidden. I angled the light so it would shine onto her hair and create shadow across the face. I inspiration for the shadowing effect came from Richard Avedon.
In this photo I really like how the shadow of the one curl of hair is shown on the face, which draws you into the picture and the face. The light came from the front right as to try and highlight the face as the main attention for the viewer. I like the tonal range on the face and background due to the lighting angle.
In this photo the first thing I get from it is the feeling that someone is really fed up. I used the light differently in this image as I focused it on her shoulder. As a result it draws the attention away from her face which is different to all the artists I looked at. However they both inspired me to try and capture a photo were you aren't drawn to the face and eyes first.
This is one of my favourite photos and the inspiration for it came from Annie Leibovitz. I really wanted to be able to capture a photo where the background almost overwhelms the person. The tonal range is aimed to be on the two extreme ends and have really little of the middle to create that hard contrast. I did this by using a very harsh light and in a completely black room.
For this photo I zoomed in to get and different composition and also to suggest that the feelings, in this case anger and frustration, are to much to bare. I used the lighting to really highlight the face to show expression and to shadow out and dull down the hair and background. This really makes the person stand out just like in Annie Leibovitz's work.
In this photo I was really focusing on the tonal range and I aimed to try and almost split the photo in half using the light. As a result I used the light on the left hand side leaving the right hand side in the shadow. This makes the photo really odd to look at as you have zone 10 on the left and zone 0 on the right from the zone system.
Richard Avedon was the inspiration behind this photo as I really wanted a lighter yet tonal photo. As a result I aimed the light front left of the face to highlight it however I made it less obvious to the viewer. Though I still was looking for a tonal range across the face. I took a lot of inspiration through Richard Avedon's photo of himself and how he used light and still showed personality to the viewer.
This is another of my favourites as the photo itself looks plain however you can tell that something is off. Then when you look into the photo you can see that the person is almost holding in something. From this and the use of composition the photo really shows the tension as the person is trying not to laugh. Richard Avedon was my inspiration as he was able to get the personality and emotion through and show the reader what was possibly happening at that time.
In the last photo I really wanted the hair to standout and have the face almost being hidden by it. I really like that I used a orange background because it created a great contrast between the foreground and the background. This shows off the silhouette of the person. As inspiration I used Richard Avedon as really liked making sure that the focus was on the person in the photo and not the background.
Images that need improvement
These photos where chosen due to different undesirable variables which by annotating i can find the most common problem and work on that in my next assignment. In the first photo the light source i was using was to focused on one area as a result making the rest of the picture dark. Due to this there is no tonal range and the features of the face for example are not defined. This intense direction of light onto the hair draws your focus towards that and not what is happening in the rest of the picture, e.g. the facial expression.
The second photo has no easily placed light source resulting in quite a flat looking photo. This means that i needed to ether change the light in the surrounding area or i could change the setting on my camera. The settings i would change are the aperture settings as then i can make less light hit the film without there being blur. I wouldn't change the shutter speed as i am working with people who naturally move, blink and talk. This could result in that unwanted blur.
The third photo is exposed correctly however the light being used was to intense and strong as a result creating the an over exposed line down the persons face. To correct this over exposed line the intensity of the light being used had to be dialled down. The light creates a really highlighted area of about zone 10 on the zonal system.
The next photo has two things that where undesirable the first being the incorrect shutter speed resulting in the blur shown. The second is how over exposed the background is as a result of both of these show that i had the wrong camera settings.
The last photo is really underexposed as a result the whole picture is on the lower end of the zonal system, making the tonal range very limited. This made it really difficult to see the outline and the features of the person. What i was looking to accomplish in this image was to create a shadow behind the person and have the different tones shown moving across the face.
( AO:3 ) - Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress
When i was forming the ideas for portraiture i took a lot of inspiration from my research on Annie Leibovitz and Richard Avedon. Annie Leibovitz inspired me by using the background to make the human subject stand out and the centre of attention. However with Richard Avedon i was inspired by the use of tonal range especially when its using the shadowing across the face. As a result i wanted to try and take photos that have the people as the centre of attention and use the light source to create the shadowing effect so to create that tonal range.
I am very pleased with the work i have produced however the main factor i need to put more attention into the amount of light hitting the film as my main issue seems to be with over or under exposing the film to light. As well as this i need to check the light intensity. Then i can adjust my camera settings accordingly. However I found the best settings to use was F 5.6 , ISO 200 , shutter speed 1/125 .
With reference to my Best Photos...
The first photo was taken from my first shoot which had my image bank in mind as the inspiration. I really wanted the photo to imply happiness. Which i think it does through the composition your eyes are drawn to the face aseptically the smile and cheeks.
This photo was also inspired by my image back, for this photo i used the sun that was out to light the picture. I really like the tonal range shown on the face and i think that if i put it into photo shop and see what it looks like in black and which the tones will bring a different interpretation to the photo.
This photo was taken with Annie Leibovitz in mind as she uses a dark background to create mood and really highlight the area she wants people to focus on. As a result i wanted to draw attention to the face so i highlighted it using a cone funnel over a light so to focus the light onto it. This produced an photo where the person in it looks really serious.
Annie Leibovitz was also the inspiration for this photo. I like the idea thats presented in the photo that the person is in deep thought. I used light on the face in order to create a light almost halo effect almost as if to show an idea being created. This reminds me of Annie's second picture where the idea that the person is thinking is shown.
This photo has the inspired background of Annie Leibovitz. The light coming in from the top left was aimed directly to the face so to draw the focus. The idea was that someone even though is in the dark can still look up and into the light. I really like the shadowing effect on the side of the face and the fact that you cant see where the hair ends as its so dark.
This is one of my favourite pictures as the red background a the expression along with the use of light portray that this person is extremely mad. I really like how the light is only aimed at the left hand side of the face resulting in the right hand side being in shadow adding to that idea that they are angry and it adds mystery to the imagine. As it makes the viewer ask what is making her so angry.
I like that in this photo she has looked at the camera as a result its almost as if she is seeing if the viewer can understand her or not. Almost as if checking to see if her true feelings are hidden. I angled the light so it would shine onto her hair and create shadow across the face. I inspiration for the shadowing effect came from Richard Avedon.
In this photo I really like how the shadow of the one curl of hair is shown on the face, which draws you into the picture and the face. The light came from the front right as to try and highlight the face as the main attention for the viewer. I like the tonal range on the face and background due to the lighting angle.
In this photo the first thing I get from it is the feeling that someone is really fed up. I used the light differently in this image as I focused it on her shoulder. As a result it draws the attention away from her face which is different to all the artists I looked at. However they both inspired me to try and capture a photo were you aren't drawn to the face and eyes first.
This is one of my favourite photos and the inspiration for it came from Annie Leibovitz. I really wanted to be able to capture a photo where the background almost overwhelms the person. The tonal range is aimed to be on the two extreme ends and have really little of the middle to create that hard contrast. I did this by using a very harsh light and in a completely black room.
For this photo I zoomed in to get and different composition and also to suggest that the feelings, in this case anger and frustration, are to much to bare. I used the lighting to really highlight the face to show expression and to shadow out and dull down the hair and background. This really makes the person stand out just like in Annie Leibovitz's work.
In this photo I was really focusing on the tonal range and I aimed to try and almost split the photo in half using the light. As a result I used the light on the left hand side leaving the right hand side in the shadow. This makes the photo really odd to look at as you have zone 10 on the left and zone 0 on the right from the zone system.
Richard Avedon was the inspiration behind this photo as I really wanted a lighter yet tonal photo. As a result I aimed the light front left of the face to highlight it however I made it less obvious to the viewer. Though I still was looking for a tonal range across the face. I took a lot of inspiration through Richard Avedon's photo of himself and how he used light and still showed personality to the viewer.
This is another of my favourites as the photo itself looks plain however you can tell that something is off. Then when you look into the photo you can see that the person is almost holding in something. From this and the use of composition the photo really shows the tension as the person is trying not to laugh. Richard Avedon was my inspiration as he was able to get the personality and emotion through and show the reader what was possibly happening at that time.
In the last photo I really wanted the hair to standout and have the face almost being hidden by it. I really like that I used a orange background because it created a great contrast between the foreground and the background. This shows off the silhouette of the person. As inspiration I used Richard Avedon as really liked making sure that the focus was on the person in the photo and not the background.
( AO:2 ) - Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops
I used my Nikon D3100 camera on manual to take my photos. The camera settings where ISO 200, aperture F stop 5.6 and shutter speed of 1/125. As well as this my first shoot was taken outside the studio, were as the other to were. The ones taken in the studio allowed me to better control the conditions in the photo so i could get a better understanding of how the photo may turn out. If i was to retake some of the photos i would work on focusing the camera more as it would sharpen the photo.
To improve my photos i am importing my best photos into photoshop and used the different tools to refine the photo. Also i am going to create more of a contrast on some of the photos so the person will standout more or the highlighted areas will contrast a lot more more against the shadows. For some of the images depending on the inspiration i will change into black and white.
The information on how I have changed them is shown below.
These images are taken using screen grab ( Ctrl, Shift, 4 ). The screen grabs show how i used photoshop to add a black and white filter, allowing the tonal range of the photos to be shown. As well as this I used the brightness and contrasting tool to make some of the images darker or lighter if it was difficult to see features, secondly the contrast was used on some to increase the different between the shadows and highlights. Levels and curves was also used to enhance the highlights in some photos, or used to make the subject ( the person in the photo ) stand out more.
( AO:1 ) - Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigation informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding
( AO:2 ) - Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops
I used my Nikon D3100 camera on manual to take my photos. The camera settings where ISO 200, aperture F stop 5.6 and shutter speed of 1/125. As well as this my first shoot was taken outside the studio, were as the other to were. The ones taken in the studio allowed me to better control the conditions in the photo so i could get a better understanding of how the photo may turn out. If i was to retake some of the photos i would work on focusing the camera more as it would sharpen the photo.
To improve my photos i am importing my best photos into photoshop and used the different tools to refine the photo. Also i am going to create more of a contrast on some of the photos so the person will standout more or the highlighted areas will contrast a lot more more against the shadows. For some of the images depending on the inspiration i will change into black and white.
The information on how I have changed them is shown below.
These images are taken using screen grab ( Ctrl, Shift, 4 ). The screen grabs show how i used photoshop to add a black and white filter, allowing the tonal range of the photos to be shown. As well as this I used the brightness and contrasting tool to make some of the images darker or lighter if it was difficult to see features, secondly the contrast was used on some to increase the different between the shadows and highlights. Levels and curves was also used to enhance the highlights in some photos, or used to make the subject ( the person in the photo ) stand out more.
( AO:1 ) - Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigation informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding
My research was extremely useful as it got me to consider the idea of emotion to show through the photo to the viewer. Also by looking at the different artist's work helped me to focus on the emotions i wanted to try and show, using their techniques. Annie Leibovitz showed me that by using light at different angles and range it allows you to really high light your point of interest and can help draw the viewers eye. Richard Avedon aloud me to appreciate the different tones that can be produced through black and white film.
( AO:4 ) - Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.
I believe that this series of images is quite strong as well as being inspired by my artist research. Annie Leibovitz inspired the way i took the photos with using plain background and facial expression. Richard Avedon inspired me to change my photos into back and white to get the tonal ranges to stand out more. As a result i developed my photos by importing them in photoshop and change them all into black and white.
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