Photographer influences

For anyone who hasn't followed my previous blogs, I am a big fan of music and music photography. With my passion for photography and my big passion for music, its only natural that I would combine the two. I started taking a camera to gigs and festivals wherever possible and get what shots I can from the crowd. I would love to be able to make a career from it and embraced an opportunity I was given earlier in the year to work as an intern photographer for an online alternative music website. However, they only got me into one gig to photograph in five months and required all interns to commit more time to other aspects of the site on a weekly basis. With the time constraints I have and my priorities laying elsewhere for the moment I made the difficult decision to give it up. But my love for it is still there and hopefully one day I can commit more to it elsewhere.
As far as inspirational photographers go, Scott Chalmers is up there for me. He has amazing skill as a portrait photographer, like Avedon, capturing the personality and passion of his subjects in his images. He photographs a lot of bands, finding suitable locations to emphasize the nature of the music. His studio work is just as well presented, with his subjects using costume and props to highlight their passions.
Right up there next to Chalmers is Fiaz Farrelly. He has exceptional talent as a music photographer, capturing the mood and atmosphere of the gig in his images to portray straight to the viewer.
Last but by all means not least, we have Mark Latham. Another fantastic live music photographer who can capture a moment on stage to image for the viewer to be able to put themselves right in that moment.
If I could eventually achieve a fraction of what I sense through their images, I would happily count myself successful as a photographer.

Richard Avedon

Looking at Richard Avedon's work, I feel a lot more at ease after studying some of Woodman's images. This is a lot more conventional portraiture and what I would immediately think of when thinking about portrait photography.
His work is a lot more formal and he has a great skill of capturing a persons character and personality through his portraits. The subjects appear natural and comfortable yet in a studio environment.
His American West collection shows that he can still create this while shooting in a more natural environment.
The bright white backdrop is a vibrant yet uncomplicated mount for the subject itself. He embraces the subjects in their everyday life, the subjects appearing as natural as they do day to day and these images give me an insight into the person and the life that they lead.

Francesca Woodman

Following my previous tutor feedback, I am taking my first look at the work of Francesca Woodman. My first impression is how similar her work is to that of Duane Michals, probably due to the nude photography and different and interesting nature of the shots. But the main factor of similarity for me it the paranormal influence I get when looking at both their work.
I think the main reason I get a ghostly portrayal through Woodmans work is through a film I once saw. It was a horror film where the apparitions were of patients of the asylum that the film was set in and they were, more than once, seen as a human but bound and their heads would move at a faster speed so that in effect, it just looked like blurring. Seeing this work takes my mind straight back to this film.
Woodman makes great use of her surroundings. Derelict buildings/rooms create an interesting yet mysterious backdrop without appearing too busy and taking the viewers eyes away from the subject.
I cant say that I am influenced by Woodman in any way. Personally, although I find her work away from the norm with regards to portraiture and therefore incredibly intriguing, I feel that the paranormal sense I get from  the images just makes it difficult for me study as I find them a little disturbing.

Assignment 1: Tutor Feedback

I am very happy with the feedback I have received for this first assignment. Here is what he said:

"Amanda, this is a very thorough assignment where you have explored the pictorial side of things in a concise and exploratory manner. I think portrait photography is quite an underrated area of photography where so much is taken for granted. I’m not sure which photographers you looked at, but some interesting photographers that come to mind working in this genre and worth checking out are Diane Arbus, Joel Sternfeld, Joseph Karsh, August Sander, Thomas Ruff and Rineke Dijkstra. With the exception of Karsh, all of these photographers take photographic portraits of people within a certain environment, so it is good to see a variation of locations in your submission, as I think the sitter also has to adapt to a particular setting. 

You may want to get credit for your hard work and achievements with the OCA by formally submitting your work for assessment at the end of the module. More and more people are taking the idea of lifelong learning seriously by submitting their work for assessment but it is entirely up to you. We are just as keen to support you whether you study for pleasure or to gain qualifications. Please consider whether you want to put your work forward for assessment and let me know your decision when you submit Assignment 2. I can then give you feedback on how well your work meets the assessment requirements. 

Image #1 

Derelict buildings are always good locations for photographs and you may also want to have a look at the work of Francesca Woodman who used the interiors of derelict buildings for her series of self-portraits. The viewer is drawn straightaway to Lloyd through the direct eye contact before examining the location in more detail. The doorway to the left caught my eye and wondered if you could have placed Lloyd in there whilst keeping a similar composition, the shadow area would have helped to create an interesting atmosphere within the frame. 

Image #2 

The high camera angle works well for this second image and the focal length is correct, a wider angle would have distorted the subject too much. Converting to monochrome also works well, although I would tend to keep to either colour or black & white for the rest of the assignments, mixing both in one assignment can be problematic because both mediums have different values that rarely combine well together. 

Image #3 

This image has quite a cluttered composition and I think could have worked better if you had concentrated on the left hand side of Lloyd (possibly a profile shot?), used a shallow depth of field so that the background was out of focus and converted to black & white. There is a little bit of lighting flare in the top left corner of he frame and I would suggest getting a lens hood that would really help with eliminating this. There is a good symmetry to the shot and you seem quite natural at being able to compose these kinds of images. 

Image #4 

This shot works really well and again the composition is very strong, sometimes these kinds of images can be too overpowering with the amount of colour and graphical elements going on, but here the mix is just right. The posture and pose of the model is good and he looks relaxed and at ease. Working with models can be quite difficult, it is the photographer’s job to make them feel relaxed and at ease otherwise the shots can be too tense and lack any intimacy.  

Image #5 

The close up shot of Lloyd highlights the intimacy that can be achieved in photography, most of the time the location is not so important with this style of imagery as the subject fills the majority of the frame. From the background we can see it is a sunny day and you have used the more subdued light to good effect. 

Image #6 

I think shooting at dusk provides a good atmosphere where colour can be at its most natural, yes it can make shutter speeds quite slow and it is always worth having a tripod at hand, but here the combination of Lloyds pose, the location and the light make for a very good shot. You could have cropped in closer to a ‘head & shoulders’ type of image just to simplify the composition, but as it is the image also works well. 

Image #7 

This shot is a little problematic as Lloyd’s head is out of proportion with his body, I’m not sure what focal length you used but for full-length shots such as this, at least 50mm is needed. The white backdrop of the lighthouse works well and you may want to have a look at Richard Avedon’s series American West, where he used a white backdrop and a large format 10 x 8 camera. Using this kind of camera requires the photographer to work differently, but the shots themselves are highly detailed and in some ways are like paintings. 

Image #8 

The final shot does indeed portray the ‘mean and moody’ aspect well, it is a bit of a clichéd image but nonetheless the viewer gets a good sense of the photographer’s intentions. These kinds of shots are always in demand from photo libraries and agencies as they work with people’s perceptions. 

Your learning log/blog is coming along well, try and include examples of other photographers’ work in there (why you like the shots/ideas etc) and reviews/comments of any exhibitions or books. Its always worthwhile bringing other influences into it as well such as music, other art mediums, writing etc as these do inform your work on many different levels." 

I am going to try to explore the main suggestions made by my tutor to see if I prefer the outcomes or if I am to keep by submission as it is.

# Image 1

My tutor felt that I could expand on the doorway present in the original shot and I had originally on shoot wanted to incorporate the doorway more.  This was the very first image I took on location and agree the doorway does create an interesting atmosphere. I prefer the model pose in the originally submitted image, hence why I decided to include that for the assignment. 

No Entry...

 # Image 2

I have not created an adjusted image here, I just wanted to add an explanation following the comment regarding the monochrome choice of this image. I included this as I really liked the pose and composition of the image and felt it was a strong portrait shot of Lloyd. However, this image was taken on my old camera phone and at the time I had alternated between colour and black and white shooting. As much as I like the black and white image, had I had a colour image I could've included that here as an adjustment, if i hadn't in the original submission. I do feel that the black and white adds to the feel of the image, with it being in a derelict porchway, but I do agree and have noted on the comment of mixing colour with black and white images in a single collection.

# Image 3

I really like this image and as stated by my tutor, it does look slightly 'busy'. As with the previous image, this too was taken on my old camera phone and as well as my personal favoritism with these two images, I also included them to show a portrait of Lloyd over a longer time scale. Without trying to sound like I am making excuses, if I had used more suitable equipment this image may have had a better composition but I have included as an adjustment a slightly different image taken during the same shoot which could possibly have scored slightly better feedback.

Rest in new rocks...

# Image 6

My tutor felt that I could've simplified the original submission by cropping to a head and shoulders shot but after adjusting this image to include here, I really do prefer the original image. I feel that Lloyd seems a lot more relaxed with the inclusion of the clasped hands resting on his knees. Here is the adjustment for you to compare;

Taking a break...

# Image 7

My tutor quite rightly said that this image is problematic as Lloyds head is out of proportion to his body. The focal length was at 60mm which is the first problem and the second is that I was standing a step down than Lloyd was so my camera angle was completely wrong as well. I have included here an alternative image that I would change to include in my assignment instead of the original. I think I originally overlooked this image as the pose looks slightly awkward but the composition is much better.

Looking fierce...

So that concludes my first assignment. And looking at it now, I'm very proud of it. And of the feedback I have received for it. I will take on board the comments from my tutor and try to incorporate them into the rest of this course.  

ASSIGNMENT 1: A PORTRAIT

Outline: Take one person as a subject and create between five and seven different portraits. Try to differ the style and type, ideally from different photographic sessions.

For this assignment I shall be using my boyfriend as a subject. I have used him throughout this chapter and thought I would keep with him to complete the chapter. I have selected my personal favourite photographs from a number of photo shoots and will analyze each photograph with each image.

A PORTRAIT OF LLOYD 

Check in with the doorman...

I found this derelict building on the side of the road and thought it would be good to use for a shoot. I like the body position here, a torso shot which appears more as a head and shoulders. The model is connecting with the viewer by looking at the camera which makes me focus straight to his face. It might be interesting to shoot at a venue like this later at night, which would obviously create more difficulty due to lighting, or on a vivid sunset to create more shadow to make the scene slightly more eerie.

No entry...

This is another derelict building which was used to create more of an 'alternative' backdrop. The subject has a good strong pose, full of confidence and looking comfortable. I like the fact that this is a full body shot but the focus is still drawn to the subjects face. I also like the composition, with the camera angled slightly creating plenty of diagonal lines in the image. I don't think I would actually want to change anything about this image.

Spiderman..

I really like this image. It was taken at a cemetery in Cardiff, where Lloyd wanted to go to shoot some 'alternative/gothic' type shots. He doesn't like this image but I love how unusual it is. It's not a 'common' pose  and the focus is completely on the subject. I was slightly off to the side taking this image and could've made it more central by possibly straddling the wall the same as the subject was.

Urban snapshot...

This photo was taken at a graffiti 'gallery' at our local recreation centre. My thought was to take some really urban youth style portrait shots.  This was not my favourite of the sequence however it was one of the strongest as a portrait. I was successful incorporating the graffiti while still keeping attention to the subject. Also the diagonal line through the image helps to draw the focus down the photo to the subject. His graffiti style t shirt design fits in really well with the background as well as showing a hint of his arm tattoos. The lighting was awful at the time of the shoot though and this took a bit of work during editing.

Up close and personal...

 This wasn't actually on a location shoot. It was just a shot taken at a local park. I really like the close up framing on his face and the fact he looks so natural and happy, which again fits in with the nature backdrop. The face takes up most of the frame which makes it keep the attention and  the slight tilt of the face creates a good amount of depth the the face with a generally flat perspective. The eyes really stand out in this image.

Natural beauty...

This is another shot which Lloyd looks at ease and comfortable. A slight smile makes him look more natural as opposed to forcing a smile or looking fierce. Again, with this being taken at dusk, the lighting could've been better.

Colour coordinated...

The building Lloyd is leaning on is actually a lighthouse, and I really wanted to include it more in the shoot where this image was taken. However, it was dwarfing Lloyd and taking the focus of the shot so I had to make a split decision to leave it out. Again, this was not my favourite of the sequence but was the strongest. The pose is very casual and relaxed, with the lean against the wall with his thumbs in his pockets. It was very cold and windy at the time too which shows slightly in his facial expression. He is squinting due to the wind and doesn't look as comfortable as he should but the slight smile and eye contact mixed with good body language helps us to connect with the subject.

Mean and moody...

This is one of my favourites of this selection. I like the pose, nice and strong, casual and confident. And the facial expression really adds to the 'Urban Youth' style I was after as the general perception of young people is that they are miserable and moody. A very successful shot.

Conclusion:
My final selection of photographs is very successful as a whole. You can get an insight into the type of photography I produce and the types of pose and locations that I prefer. The images are a good perception of myself as a photographer and also as Lloyd as a person. I am very happy with the technical aspects of my images as well. The perspective is good and the compositions are strong. I hope that this new experience can progress my portrait photography and bring me out of my comfort zone more, of photographing people more naturally and less formally. Hopefully I will now be able to build my confidence as a photographer, to be able to engage more with my subjects and direct them a little more to be able to take more formal type shots.

Exercise: Varying the pose

Outline: Set up a portrait session and plan your subject to adopt in turn at least three different positions. Within these, suggest different limb positions. Assess the results.

I am using the same shoot photos as I used for the 'review a portrait sequence' exercise here.

When shooting I will always try and get the subject to undertake a number of poses and positions to offer a more varied final selection. Take this shoot at Ogmore castle for example. I had the subject in different locations around the site, had various positions at those locations and on occasions, different gestures within those positions.

These first two images are with a slight adjustment to the head position, from looking forward, away from the camera to moving head and eyes towards the camera. I think both of these are successful but I prefer the second image, where the subject is connecting with the camera.

These two images are at the next location on the site, on the bridge. The first image shows the subject standing and  looking towards the camera and the second, the subject has moved slightly to alter the pose to leaning on the bridge itself. Once again , I think both images are acceptable portrait shots however, I prefer the second pose. The body language is much more relaxed and gives a bit of mystery to the viewer in wondering what he is looking at.

This next selection was from the third location at the site and I wanted to take some sitting shots. Here we have a variety of arm placements while sat down, all of which are perfectly acceptable. My subject then even took the initiative to lay down as well. I prefer the first one out of the sitting poses as I feel the body language is very confident and comfortable in relation to the others. The final image is also acceptable but I probably wouldn't use it as a portrait shot as it doesn't look natural within the surroundings.

These images are at the fourth location on site and none of which would make my 'good' list by any means, but I have used these in this exercise to show the four different arm and leg placements my subject used while trying to negotiate a comfortable position on a narrow stone wall. The first image is the most successful I think, purely because all the others look uncomfortable and forced.

These were at the final location on the site and I wasn't happy with any of these positions. The first looks very confident but completely unnatural and the following two again appear very uncomfortable.

This final selection of images are from a shoot we did a while back. There are four poses, each with a slight change to the first and I can honestly say, I like all of them. The body language in each is very confident, comfortable yet still maintaining a natural and not forced look.

Conclusion:
This exercise has shown a lot about how a model poses and gestures can influence the overall photo. Location is obviously important but it shows that the subject needs to be relaxed and comfortable in their surroundings, otherwise the shot will look forced and unnatural.

Exercise: Focal length

Outline: Plan to make exactly the same framing to the face with a variety of focal lengths. 

This was a quick and easy exercise but with dramatic results. I used two different lenses for this exercise; an 18-55mm and a 28-90mm.  Here are the results, firstly using the 18-55mm lens.

55mm focal length

This is a great shot. All the facial features are in perspective and equally grab the viewers attention. The face looks pretty much normal to the eye.

35 mm focal length

This shot would still be acceptable however the nose is starting to take focus over the other facial features.

18mm focal length

This is the widest angle of this lens and looks dreadful in comparison to the other two shots. I know that the face is slightly off centre in this shot however the perspective has changed with drastic results from the first image. Instead of appearing flat, the face now looks curved and the the nose and mouth look bigger than normal. Also, the face looks long and narrow now and not true to real life. This makes the subject far less attractive.

Second lens shots

24mm focal length

This time I have shown the results from wide angle first. At first glance this image looks acceptable. As above the face looks long and narrow and the face appears very oval and curved, showing the perspective is present.

52 mm focal length

This image is very similar to the first image of the exercise, seems as there is not much difference in focal length. A perfectly good shot, facial features appear more realistic as the perspective flattens.

90mm focal length

This is the best shot of the whole exercise. Even compared to the previous shot and the first of the exercise, the nose appears a lot smaller and the face looks as it does to look at. 

Conclusion:

This exercise has really opened my eyes. I thought the 55mm shot was great, completely in proportion and then I saw the 90mm shot where everything was even more compacted and the perspective was even flatter. I agree that the wide angle lens used closer makes the face look distorted and not like it does actually looking at the person. This exaggerates the importance of actually moving with your camera as opposed to just using the lenses.

Exercise: Review a portrait sequence.

Outline: Set up a formal and structured portrait session with consistent setting and framing. Take a considerable number of images and concentrate on the subjects expression. Then review the sequence and categorize your images into:

• not good
• acceptable
• good 
• best shot

I set up a shoot for, once again, my boyfriend to have photos taken at a local site, Ogmore Castle ruins. I thought this would be another interesting location for a shoot and a slightly different backdrop. I always liked wedding photos where the bride and groom have formal shots taken in historical ruins and buildings so I thought I'd try my own twist on that.

The shoot started off well. Straight into the site and straight into the poses, although my boyfriend can be a joker and the minute I start directing him or get serious, he lightens the mood by pulling faces, which made my 'not good' selection pretty interesting! First off we shot near a window so he kept the pose simple and I altered my position to give more angles.

Moving onto the bridge across the empty moat,  my model kept his pose serious with lots of eye contact to the camera alternating his pose to standing up straight with his hands in his pockets to keep the pose a little less formal. We then tried him looking off to the side and then leaning on the bridge, looking away and then at the camera. I liked the images on the bridge, he looked even more relaxed and not as stiff as he had while stood up and didn't think there was much more we could do there so we moved into the castle itself. 

There was a set of steps where I thought a change of position would be beneficial so directed him to sit down and pose how he felt comfortable. I think he was starting to relax even more now and it showed in his pose, whether looking at the camera or away. He looked more confident now. He even started to smile in his poses and even laying along the top step to vary his poses, which I didn't even think of which was great. 

We moved over to the outer castle wall to take some more shots and to vary the background yet again, which in hindsight doesn't really show the castle but shows the lovely countryside around the castle and that wasn't really the purpose of the location. However, these images were very successful, my favourite image of the shoot was taken at this point. My model had loosened up a lot and even though he was uncomfortable sitting on the stone wall, it doesn't show in his body language or his face. He looks comfortable, relaxed and with no tension at all, again even smiling for some shots to appear less formal. Even when he answered his phone, some of the shots were usable as portraits due to the natural tone of them. 

Finally, I wanted to try and incorporate the main body of the castle ruins into the image. My subject tried a few poses, standing and sitting on one wall but I didn't feel that these worked very well and were not what I was trying to achieve. He looked awkward and tense, probably as he was uncomfortable and couldn't find a position that worked well for him. After he had moved, he started to smile again, which made me feel he was more relaxed in this position and able to continue on. 

I felt that this was a good time to finish the shoot as I didn't feel I could get anything from the location that I hadn't already got. I had experimented with poses and expressions and various locations across the site and felt any more would feel samey and I didn't feel that that was necessary.

I took a number of photographs on the shoot:

Shooting in RAW obviously doubled the images in my browser. Going through the images, I categorized them into the required fields.

Not Good images

These images were the ones that were completely unusable. This was due to my subject talking, blinking, pulling faces or messing about and blurring.

Acceptable images

There were a lot that were acceptable with a variety of poses, locations and gestures. These are in this field purely because there were better images in the sequence that could've been used.

Good images

These are the images that I narrowed down to be my favourite of the sequence. The first couple are from the start of the shoot where he looks a little stiff but his poses are good and the rest are what I feel are the ones where he looks most natural.

Single best shot

This had to be my favourite of the shoot. The subject is the main focus and the backdrop looks great. He looks happy, the expression and pose are perfect. The camera angle and lighting is good and the image has nice depth. And it looks very natural.

Conclusion:
I always find it very difficult to undertake the processing stage of shoots like this, exactly what this exercise is about. I always find that the images I really like while shooting aren't the best ones when it comes to reviewing them. Same with this shoot. As I said, I had this lovely castle backdrop but when it came down to it, my favourite image doesn't really incorporate the castle at all. Maybe it was because the castle was just to busy a backdrop on its own, which is why when it came to photographing my subject on the main ruins I couldn't find any image that I particularly liked , as explained in the notes above. This just proves how important reviewing your sequences are following shooting.

Exercise: Eye contact and expression

Outline: Set up a portrait session of just torso/head and shoulders and while shooting direct your subject to look at you and away at times.

I am using a shoot of my boyfriend for this exercise as I regularly get him to look in different directions while shooting. I like photographs where the subject looks away from the camera but this goes back to me being less comfortable with set up shots. I find that people can look really uncomfortable when trying to 'pose' for a photo so I shy away from more formal shots and focus more on capturing more natural poses.

Head and eyes turned away

 I don't really like this image. I don't feel any connection to the subject whatsoever in this image.  I feel this pose is very passive.

Head and eyes to camera

 This feels more natural and the viewer can connect more with the subject.

Head to camera, eyes turned away

 I like this one even more than the last. I feel connected to the subject as he is facing the camera but I still get a sense of natural and coyness with him not posing to the camera.

Head turned away, eyes to camera

 This image works too. We have the eye contact so we can connect with the subject and I feel this pose is slightly more aggressive than comfortable.

Body, head and eyes to camera

This is a more successful pose. Very comfortable and confident. The eye and head as well as the body are all connecting with the camera and the viewer alike.

Conclusion: 
This exercise has shown how important eye contact and body language are to a portrait photograph. Eye contact helps the viewer connect with the subject and the entire photograph and slight changes to the direction of the subjects eyes, head and even body can affect the overall final image.

Exercise: An active portrait

Outline: Take a portrait shot of your subject undertaking an activity.

This exercise is what I am comfortable with. Taking photos of people doing what they normally do and see what images I get afterwards. I chose to use my dad as my subject for this exercise. He really enjoys cooking and so it was easy to photograph him while he prepared a family meal. My main direction to him was to just be normal and to pretend that the camera wasn't there. He spent the entire time complaining that the kitchen was messy and that he didn't look decent enough, haha.

I tried to capture his expression and concentration mostly, although I was also obviously trying to get into the shot what he was actually doing as well as trying to include some extra detail of the surrounding area he was working in.

Subject looking down to much to get any facial expression

Losing activity detail due to positioning

There were a few that I liked that I didn't feel were quite what I was after. I changed positions as I followed him around the kitchen but kept losing facial expression as he was constantly looking down and that made the images more about the activity than the subject (see above).

I have chosen the final image as I feel there is equal focus on the subject and the activity for the viewer to be able to get a sense of what he is undertaking and also the focus of the subject on the activity.

Final Image

An active portrait

Conclusion:
This exercise saw me more in my comfort zone. I prefer taking photographs of people in a more natural setting as I feel some portraits can be over posed. I think the viewer gets a good oversight of the activity in hand as well as the concentration and dedication from the subject to what he is undertaking.