Straight images

Image Bank

These images are all examples of Mapplethorpe's portraits, in my opinion these are very effective because Mapplethorpe fills the composition and his models facial expressions also give the composition more depth and meaning. The bottom four images in this image bank are all self portraits and some people say that he may have taken these as a way of exploring himself and his sexuality. I think his images are all very effective and find that his photography has a lot of meaning such as him photographing things to represent sexuality and the gay community. I would like to replicate him photography and do not think it would be too difficult to replicate as he often controls the models expression to seem very serious. 

This is one of Mapplethorpe's portraits of an older gentlemen. I like this image very much because I feel that the composition has been thought about very much as with this the models face is not in the whole of the frame, I think this works because we can see what he is wearing and it gives us an insight into what type of person he is. I also like how the model is pulling a very natural facial expression and looking directly at the camera. 

This is another of Mapplethorpe's portrait photographs however this is slightly different to some of his others due to being a self-portrait. I think this photograph works very well because Mapplethorpe has used very harsh lighting which links in well with him wearing a leather jacket and smoking. The composition of this is good because he has included his face above the middle of the picture. 

Image bank

These are some examples of back of the head portraits. In these images the photographer has often turned the camera portrait to include all of the girls hair. In all of these images the photographer has placed the model in the middle of the image however it may be more interesting if there were to one side. I think these images are all very effective because almost all of the hair is included in the photograph and I think this makes the composition better because we can see the majority of what is trying to be included in the photographs. When photographing back of head I would like to make sure I  rotate the camera to do the same because I like the compositions of these photos and think they would be reasonably easy to replicate. 

This is an example of a back of head portrait, however this is slightly different to some of the other examples because the model has her hands on her hips and photography has captured some of this and I feel that this ruins the photo very much. 

This is a very good example of a back of head portrait because the photographer has rotated the camera so that the picture is portrait and has also zoomed out far enough so that we can see the ends of her hair and slightly above her head also. I also think this is a good example because the photo is very natural due to being taken against a very natural setting such as a room and I think the colours all work very well together also. 

Work Diary

Wednesday 20th October

We were also tasked to take back of the head portraits at a location. These images involved taking a portrait of the back of someones head with an interesting background however trying to blur the background at the same time. I found this very difficult as it was difficult to blur the background using my camera unless I was very close to the persons head. I also found that I was focusing too much on blurring the background and so many of my photos have objects in them which should not have been included in the photo for example pipes and wires.

This is one of my location back of the head portraits. This image is an example of one of the images where I focused on blurring the background and included a pipe which would look better if it as not included. If I wanted to include this photo in my straight images I would need to crop the pipe out. This is also an example of how i needed to zoom in very close to the back of the persons head to blur the background as we can only see the top half of the persons head not from their shoulders upwards.

This is another of my photos from this lesson, I feel that this is slightly better than the image above however in the image, the white line is not straight so I would have to straighten the image so this was vertical and i would also need to crop the left hand side as someones shadow is in the way. 

Progress

If I was to repeat this lesson I would make sure I was looking deeper at the backgrounds of my pictures and try not to include unwanted objects and I would also try and find some more interesting locations as some of the areas we used were very similar. I would also like to have a longer time whilst photographing this as I found it sometimes took a few attempts at the same photograph to get the image how I intend for it to be.

Work Diary

Monday 20th October

Today we were tasked to take portrait photos in the studio. I liked this task as I would like to start using to studio more and get more familiar with the equipment. We photographed the back of peoples heads rather than they're faces however as we wanted to focus more on the composition in general than the faces and facial expressions. I found this task reasonably easy and also enjoyed working in the studio however found we had very little time to take photos of all of the models with a variety of backgrounds.

This is one of my back of the head studio portraits, I like this image because it is slightly interesting how he is to the left instead of directly in the middle and I also like how he is facing straight forward so his head is at a straight angle. To improve this picture I need to change the levels and curves and also use the clone tool to cover up the dark spots on the backdrop.

This is another of my studio portraits. I like the image because similarly to my image above, the head is to the left of the picture and this one is also slightly closer and more zoomed in however I would need to retake this image as it is blurry. 

Progress

If I was to have more time in the studio I would try and take more images with a variety of background colours as the majority of my backgrounds are white. I would also experiment with my shot angles as it may make the composition more interesting and next time I would also maybe take two photos of each position as one may be blurry so I can use the other. 

Straight Images

Definition post

Dictionary definition 

 'the art of painting or taking portraits'

Words to describe portraiture:

-profile

-characterization

-depiction

-figure

-image

-model

-painting

-photograph

-silhouette

-sketch

-snapshot

These are some examples of portraits, I chose these photos because in my opinion they all show some form of emotion through the facial expressions, these are all also very close-up images, making them more effective at showing emotion, for example in the last image the girl seems slightly upset and if she's pleading for help as her eyes look very big and also very dark. I like these images and think they show a variety of different portrait types.

My Definition 

an image or photograph of someones face, often showing an emotion

Image bank

These are some examples of portraits photographs, portraits can either be in colour or black and white as both are effective. I chose these images because I felt they all showed emotion through facial expressions. I like how the composition of all of the above images is very different which makes all of the images unique. The focus point of most portraits is the eyes and I feel that in the above images eyes are all very important. 

This is a black and white portrait of Angelina Jolie, this is a very well composed portrait because the model is centred slightly to the left and she is also side on which makes the image different to some others, De to being black and white it is also easer to see the form of her face and neck which makes her look very slim. The use of the hat is also good because it takes up the majority of the frame to prevent wasted space whilst her eyes are still centred making the image look very professional. 

This is a coloured portrait of a young girl outside with trees and greenery in the background, this works very well because we associate children with being adventurous and this could explain why there is greenery in the back ground and her hair is also not perfectly groomed. The photographer has also made the model look directly into the camera which has worked very well as the photo looks very dramatic.