Documentary Title Page

Evaluation - Portraiture

My initial aim was to incorporate the style of Catherine Balet used in her body of work 'Stranger in he Light', along with the theme 'My World is Beautiful' and diversity in terms of race and ethnicity. I feel I was able to capture the style of 'Stranger in the Light' fairly well, though I found it hard to incorporate 'My World is Beautiful' and the diversity aspect. The diversity aspect would have worked if I photographed more than one person, but since I was photographing the same person, I couldn't show diversity in any way. My interpretation of 'My World is Beautiful' was that I would include nature and / or wildlife into my photographs, but due to the lighting was working with, I found it very hard to incorporate this, as it was too dark. This meant that I had to take photos by main roads in order to get enough lighting, but not too much that it would prevent me from capturing the style of 'Strangers in the Light'. I also tried photographing in the day so I could incorporate nature, but it was too bright for me to use any lighting techniques, which relate to Catherine Balet.

 

(A photograph of one of my 3 plans.)

In my planning sketches I spoke about how i wanted to use all 3 of my chosen themes, though my final otomes only contained the lighting aspect i spoke about in my plan, but even then, the location was changed.
 

A key technique that I carried over from my technical project was shutter speed. Since it was so dark, I lowered the shutter speed in order to let more light in, and also to create some interesting lighting with cars driving past. I feel that this was executed fairly well as the lighting that i was able to capture was very interesting and quite unique.

I feel that what was most successful was recreating the style of lighting that Catherine Balet used in 'Strangers in the Light', and was the only aspect that I feel went to plan, as the other two themes I wanted to incorporate were not present, or at least my interpretation of them. To help me be more successful I need to work on my planning, as it was my panning at fault when it come to not incorporating diversity in race and ethnicity and my interpretation of 'My World is Beautiful'. Had I planned more I’d have been able to get another person or a few more people involved in order to show diversity, and also taken one of my photographs at a time where there was more natural light, so I could incorporate nature into my final outcomes.

 

(One of the unusable photoraphs taken while i was shooting my final outcomes.)

This was an attempt at using tree branches in order to incorporate nature, but none of the photographs taken using this idea resulted in being usable. The branch was also too hard to see in the lighting that as available.

An obstacle I had when it came to these photographs was the lighting, since it was nearly pitch black, though this was easily solved with lowering the shutter speed, which also allowed me to be more creative with the lighting. The lighting was also a huge improvement over my final outcomes for the first part of the course, and makes for much more interesting photographs. This is due to me being forced to be more confident with different settings and messing around with the shutter speed, aperture & ISO as a result of the lighting situation.

 

(One of the unusable photoraphs taken while i was shooting my final outcomes.)

Due to the high shutter speed i decided to use, alot of my photographs were blurred in areas that i needed to be very sharp.

For my final outcomes I feel I had quite a variation as I had one close up and one environmental portrait. Since I am relatively new to portraiture photography I feel I was quite experimental and I they turned out a lot better than I expected.

My ideas when it came to lighting were very strongly linked to Catherine Balet and 'Strangers in the Light' and so my artist research really helped my final outcomes. Without the artist research my photographs would have turned out very differently, since I hadn't considered incorporating the ides used by Catherine Balet before my research. Though I did try and add something f my own to it - for example, instead of photographing inside I decided to photograph outside in an attempt to incorporate nature, and I also made the contrast between light and dark a lot more present, as where there is no light it is nearly pitch black, creating a sense of isolation.



Photograph by Catherine Balet.

 

(One of my final outcomes.)

In my photograoh it is generally pich black where there is no light (higher contrast), unlike the work of Catherine Balet where the lighting is softer and evetually gets darker as it gets further from th light source.

To improve on my final outcomes I could have tried painting in some of the trees behind who I am photographing to help it link more to 'My World is Beautiful' and also have another photograph in which I use more than one person. Having two more photographs which are instead photographed earlier in the day when it is still dark, but light enough to see trees could have also added a nice amount of variation and also helped it link to one of my key themes.

If i were to shoot these again I would also shoot on a wider variety of locations, such as where there are more trees, or somewhere that lighting is more interesting. Another improvement wuld be to incorporate more light sources, such s using flood lights to create  stringer light, but one that was still clearly artificial. I could also try using a wider variety of angles, such as high or low angles, to give the photograph a different tone.

Final Outcomes - Portraiture

Wanderers

By Oscar page

Everybody seems to see the world through the screens of their phones or the monitors of their computers, wandering from one building lit with the lights of advertising to the next.

From my body of work I tried to show that the only lights we see are the ones that we make, and we let those lights made by the countless companies hat dominate our world guide us through life. When we can’t see those lights we feel lost and out of place, as if we belong in a place full of the advertising we say is destroying our planet. Cars drive by and we think nothing of it when we see people rendering what they were meant to use useless, and when we do decide to walk we’re the ones that are out of place. Suddenly when we don’t support the people who think nothing of turning our planet into a neon lit city we’re the once who are out of place.

Even when we don’t think we’re supporting anybody but ourselves when we walk from destination to destination, we still use the LED’s on our phones to keep us from feeling cut off from everybody else. As long as our phone has charge or there’s still cars shooting past us too fast to even see who’s driving them we don’t need to worry. Its only when we’re in a natural habitat that we’re somewhere unnatural to us.

Planning For Final Outcomes

My plan for my final outcomes is to incorporate lighting techniques which are present in the photographs of Catherine Balet - mainly from her body of work called 'Strangers in the Light'. I also plan to include racial diversity diversity in my photographs by photographing people who are from different racial backgrounds in each of my photos, though this is limited to who i am able to photograph.

I'd also like to include the theme of My World is Beautiful, by trying to incorporate nature into my photographs as often as i can. A recurring theme will also be technology, which will be the focal point of who i am photographing, in order to keep within the same style as Catherine Balet.

I also did some sketches in order to help plan out my final outcomes. They show they way i would like the photographs lit, the props i would require and the composition.

How successful these are depend on the weather and the environments i have available to me, and also who i am able to photograph, as i would like to show diversity in terms of race and ethnicity in my final outcomes. 

Artist Research - Catherine Balet - Portraiture

Catherine Balet

Catherine Balet has a collection of work called 'Strangers in the Light' which resembles the idea that i have for my final outcomes. These photos use artificial light sources like phones and computers as the primary light source of the photo. The people in these portraits usually look very tired or bored, especially while doing very mundane things - though photographs featuring more interesting / special events often have people displaying emotion, they are still while looking at the world through their phones / computers.

In this photographs, the lighting is primarily low key other than the laptop / mac screens, which are the primary light sources. Both people look tired and bored, and are doing very mundane activities. In the scene on the right, there is light creeping around a slightly open door, hinting at an outside world that she is neglecting for her computer. on the left, the man seems to be trying to play chess by himself, giving the impression that he's lonely or has just suffered a loss, and technology is what he's turned to. The darkness surrounding them makes the photograph seem isolated, which is how people are usually perceived when they often use computers and phones.

The colours are also fairly muted which gives the photographs a more depressing and subtle feel. The LED gives off a very cold looking light, as it is very slightly blue, which fits with the theme of isolation, which is prominent in this photograph.

In this photograph we see a group of people photographing a very young baby. It seems to be a play on the fact that all of a babies first moments are usually recorded or photographed by somebody, and that they tend to attract a lot of attention from other people. The photo is very exaggerated though it is very similar to real events. The fact that the baby is the most lit person in the shot shows that this is is the other peoples focal point, and is the photographer saying that it should be our focal point as well.

The theme of isolation is also abundant in this photograph, despite there being a group of people, due to how dark it is around them. The photograph also shows how soon people are introduced to technology, as a baby is already being surrounded be technology, and it being used as a part of everyday life.

My World Is Beautiful Title Page

Black & White Portraiture Title Page

Examples Of Portraits

Full Length

Environmental Portrait

Close Up

Classic Portrait

A portrait is a photograph who's primary focus is a person, intended to portray their likeness, personality and emotion. It is generally of a person in a still position rather than a photograph of them moving, ad usually has the person looking directly at the camera, in order to create a stronger connection between the viewer and the photograph. Portraits are also often taken to commemorate events. Early portraits usually contained very soft and equal lighting, though as it developed photographs became more experimental and entered different locations rather than studios.

Photoshop Skills

Lighting / levels

The intention for this photo was to make the lighting a lot harsher and increase the contrast, in order to make the environment look darker.

Cropping

The intention of this was to crop the photo so that there is more focus on the face of the parson rather than the full body.

Lighting Techniques

Classic Portrait (overexposed)

The background for this photo was made using the black side of a reflector, as I didn't have access to any black sheet or cloth. I tried different ways of lighting this picture in order to capture the least amount of creases possible.

Environmental Portrait

This photograph is of my friend playing a game, and the main light source was the TV screen, which gave a blue tinge to the photo.

Natural Light - Using window

This was taken in front of a window in my house, I chose the room that was the most bare in order keep as much focus on the person as possible, and not have too much happening in the background. I also felt that a slightly lower angle shot would work with the position he is in and the way his eyes are positioned.

Natural Light - Split lighting

This photo was taken in my garden, I wanted to have a background that would contrast well with the person in the foreground, and have a split in the background as well as split lighting in his face.

Natural Light - Even tones

This photo I think could have been framed a lot better, as the house behind him provides a background that is too detailed and is slightly overpowering, which draws attention away from the person I photographed.

Lighting Portraits - Artificial Lighting

This photograph was lit using a television, which was fairly close to him. The lit curtains behind him create a contrast an makes the darker side of his face stand out more.

Close Up

This photograph is closer to a mid shot than a close up, as I have more of the rest of his body in the shot rather than his face. I also think the photo could have benefitted from using a reflector to project some more light on his face, but he shadows are also fairly interesting.

Mid Close

In this photographs the light source was behind me and was covered up slightly by the branches of the tree he is sat on.

Full length

Gold Reflector

Makes the image look warmer & more pleasant.

Silver Reflector

Creates higher key lighting and lower contrast.

White Reflector

Higher key lighting, lower contrast and softer light than silver and gold reflectors.

Creating Shadows & Shapes

A light source was placed on the other side of a door with a pattern on, which created the shadow and the lines I tried to make the lines line up with features of tis persons face, to make it resemble a tattoo or something thats on their face, rather than light.

Reflector Photographs

NO REFLECTOR

WHITE

SILVER