This exercise is about considering both composition and the weight of attention to place on the face of the subject.
My first setting for this exercise is a street performance. To make the main subject stand out I used a telephoto lens. I opened up the aperture to further blur the background.
1. The first image is a close up shot with tight framing on the face of the street performer. I used a 300 mm telephoto lens to capture this moment. There is a sense of motion and life in this image. The performer seems enjoying herself and there is a sense of willingness to share this feeling with the viewer. She is looking at the camera in a non-threatening way, perhaps with a little surprise. This kind of portrait helps to create a connection and in the way a more intimate link with the viewer.
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2. This head and Shoulders image is shot in horizontal format to allow more space around my subject - I did not want to leave out any of her gorgeous hair! It also helps to include some of the busy street background making the image look natural, brining it to life. I framed the image to draw the viewer to the beautifully lively face of the performer. I used the rule of third to position my subject within the frame.
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My second take on this exercise is from an indoor studio photo shoot. For this session I used a white background. All four images are sepia toned which should encourage the viewer to focus on the key elements of each image without being distracted by the colour.
1. The first is a close up image with tight framing on the face features. The person is looking straight to the camera and it might give an impression that their eyes are fixed on you. This is likely to create a closer link between the subject and the viewer even if this link isn't at all positive (some people might find the direct eye contact intimidating or threatening). We don't know much about the subject in this image as all we see is some features of his face but there is still likely to be some kind of emotional response from the viewer.
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2. This head and shoulder image opens up a wider view and invites us to find out more about out subject. We see that he is holding a guitar and his face is lit up by a smile. His eyes now are smiling too although he is no longer looking at the viewer. He appears non threatening, even gentle and this impression is strengthened by the warm tones of the image. The rest of the frame is filled with white background so we still don't have much information about the person.
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3. This torso image includes more contextual information allowing the viewer to make assumptions and judgements about the person in front of us. This time he is looking directly at the camera and smiles - we are now familiar with his smile and his gaze directed at us but now these elements have come together in one image. What do we make of it? We can now make some more assumptions about this person but we now feel safe and could relax a bit more - the strong, almost urgent emotional response that we felt looking at the first image, is no longer required.
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My first setting for this exercise is a street performance. To make the main subject stand out I used a telephoto lens. I opened up the aperture to further blur the background.
1. The first image is a close up shot with tight framing on the face of the street performer. I used a 300 mm telephoto lens to capture this moment. There is a sense of motion and life in this image. The performer seems enjoying herself and there is a sense of willingness to share this feeling with the viewer. She is looking at the camera in a non-threatening way, perhaps with a little surprise. This kind of portrait helps to create a connection and in the way a more intimate link with the viewer.
2. This head and Shoulders image is shot in horizontal format to allow more space around my subject - I did not want to leave out any of her gorgeous hair! It also helps to include some of the busy street background making the image look natural, brining it to life. I framed the image to draw the viewer to the beautifully lively face of the performer. I used the rule of third to position my subject within the frame.
3. My next image is the torso shot. I cropped below the waste to include the top of the drum as I think it would help the viewer to understand the context of the image. Now the viewer has much more to look at and the attention is not only on the performer's face but also their hands, the drum and the bright writing on their T-shirt. I like the sense of movement that is captured in this image and this is hugely helped by including the hands and the drum in the shot.
4. Finally, this is my full body image of the performer. I loved the way her hair is slightly blurred by the movement but her hands and her face are still sharp. This image offers a lot of information to the viewers who are now busy looking up and down the picture and hopefully enjoying the atmosphere of the event. In comparison to the close up shot the balance between the different elements of the image has now completely changed. We now have many more things to consider, including the audience, the street, the performer's body, their facial expression, their full body movement and the musical instrument. This gives a much better sense of the occasion and more information about the main subject but it tunes down the degree of intimacy that the close up portrait might offer to the viewer.
1. The first is a close up image with tight framing on the face features. The person is looking straight to the camera and it might give an impression that their eyes are fixed on you. This is likely to create a closer link between the subject and the viewer even if this link isn't at all positive (some people might find the direct eye contact intimidating or threatening). We don't know much about the subject in this image as all we see is some features of his face but there is still likely to be some kind of emotional response from the viewer.
4. Finally, we have the full body portrait of the same person. He is now looking away from us and slightly down. He is still smiling so we don't feel threatened or uncomfortable. We have more detail here present so may choose to make further assumptions. The balance has now shifted from this face to the hands, the guitar, his posture, the amplifier, the colour tone, the lighting, the hair and may other elements of the picture. .jpg)
