I finally went back through my work from this term and decided on portraits. That had been my favorite assignment, and I felt like I could go much further with it. I took 69 pictures of my cousin on Sunday, but when I went into the digital lab I realized that they all kind of looked the same. I was looking for something that would make my assignment unique.
I went back through her pictures and picked out my favorites. The closer I got to her face, the more I liked the picture. I decided to do close-ups for my assignment.
Once I had decided, the assignment was suddenly simpler. I still worked hard to get quality and good lighting, but I knew what I wanted.
These pictures tell me about each of these people. I found that when I cut away all the complications of background and posing and what they were doing, I got something perfect. I take no credit for the quality in these pictures that draw people to them. It was already there -- I just caught it on a camera.
I had to make a conscious decision about who I was going to shoot. I had to choose the age group. and how well I knew them, and what they were like. I picked students, kids who I have known for years and grown up with. Waterford is such a small community that everyone knows each other, and I wanted people that I knew well so that I was more comfortable with working with them through a camera.
So here we go.
The first picture is the original one of Sage, my cousin. I love her expression -- smiling because she is comfortable with me, but a little shy of the camera.
Here are the rest in order. The first is Olivia Mitchell. I didn't do too much to this picture, just some blacks for her eyes. I love her contrast-ey hair and dark eyelashes. I had to put in a little fill light to keep them from being too blocky, and a tiny bit of extra exposure to pop her collar. It was great light though, so I tried to it as close to the original as I could.
Next is Rod. He was hard, because he kept on posing or messing around. I finally got him to stay still, and used some Macro focus. This is in the same light as Olivia. I discovered quickly while working with these pictures that the trickiest part when pushing up the blacks is that the hair will go chunky quickly, but I think that I got a good balance with his over the left ea.
Emma was next. Hers is the only picture that doesn't have the subject making eye contact with the camera. I think she was nervous about having her picture taken, and kind of goofy. I love that I got this picture -- it's so quintessentially Emma.
On the technical side of things, I mostly left this one alone. Her hair is beautiful, and I didn't want to lose any in black. I nudged the exposure and a tiny bit of black to contrast it, but that was mostly it.
Zel was a nice person to shoot too. I knew her so well, and she was so familiar with photo, that it wasn't even like she was in front of a camera. She was just Zel. I picked a picture of her smiling because she is never afraid to laugh when she thinks something is funny, and she has a big, genuine smile.
I loved pulling out her blond hair with a bit of extra exposure. I had to be careful with the black around her neck, but I think it looks fine. Overall, I love this picture too. (Actually, I love all of them. That's just how cool they are.)
I shot Alli on the quad right before English. The light had been kind of harsh up until then, but a miracle in the form of clouds showed up. It was still light, but not harsh and bright.
She was very confident in front of my camera, and even posed a little. I liked the pictures.
They were a little underexposed, so I pulled that up in the lab but otherwise left it alone.
The next day, I shot Hanna and Gabi on the sidewalk between the math and science buildings after math and before adviser group. These two are my favorite pictures (I'm not criticizing the other people... really.) It was the same light as with Alli, and a little windy. I love their expressions in these shots. I have spent the past year sitting in between these girls in algebra II, and they are confident about who they are. I admire that, and I think I caught that at least a little in these shots.
It's a different confidence from what you would think of. They weren't posing in front of the camera, or smiling like movie stars. They just trusted me to take a picture of who they are, and they are comfortable with showing me that.
Hanna:
Gabi:
I also grabbed Lorna right after these two pictures, and shot her in the same spot because of the gorgeous lighting. She's absolutely gorgeous in this picture. It was a bit tricky to touch up because the hair was very black and I lost some of it. But i tried to brighten her face a little, and bring in some depth and contrast.
I shot Nat outside the music building, and there's a bit of a shadow, but I love this picture a lot because it's just simple and straight-on. He didn't grin or tilt his head or pose, he just looked right at the camera. It's powerful because of it's simplicity.
This is the one picture I would re-shoot if I could. It's me, but Emma took it and she wasn't used to the way i was framing and setting my pictures. It's also the only one indoors. I was lying down, which accounts for the weird angle, and the lighting is kind of bad, resulting in a low time and consequent blurriness.
However, I do like my eyes and that I'm looking directly at the camera.
Clark was my last person. I set up in good light, but right as I began shooting the clouds moved, so the light is a little harsh. On the other hand, it's great contrast and shadow.
I like his expression. Like Nat, he's just looking at the camera, and there's the same blunt power in that.
Overall, I can definitely say that this is my best work this term and possibly in my photo career so far. I had great light and focus overall, and produced some pictures that even i keep coming back to. I was surprised by how natural people were with me -- very few goofed around, and they all looked at the camera without trying to pose or make faces. There was none of the self-conscious shyness that results in them ducking or turning away. I think that this was because these people know me and trust me to take their picture.
I'm extremely proud of this project.
