Studio work: space, space, space...and the lack of it

I had a go at converting one of the rooms of my house into a quick shift studio for some portraiture sessions. What a challenging business it could be!

There is nothing more frustrating than being squeezed into a small space, having to jump over the cables whilst constantly bumping into the lights, tripod legs and other bits and pieces inevitably spread around the area! I have to say that I had some fun but also found it quite challenging and limiting at times.

I have learnt some very good lessons on how to organise this kind of work in the future.

First of all, it's so important to have enough space for you and your sitter so nobody feels constrained and squashed.

My key learning point is to try and keep the set up as simple as possible if there is a lack of space - there is no need for many heavy duty lights, flashy gadgets and extensive equipment if there isn't sufficient space to spread them around.

Keeping it simple does not mean that the quality of the outcome is going to be poor - all it means is that you need to be creative and imaginative of how to use the available space to achieve the best results.

I wondered how other photographers and photography students got around the lack of working space in a small studio. What studio kit do they use, what lights work the best and what kind of set up delivers good results? It would be good to know. I am planning to check some photo forums on-line to see if I could get any answers.

I will definitely have another attempt at making my home-made studio work for me and the people who I'll photograph. Whilst I intend to keep my studio equipment relatively light and simple, I have decided to ensure that I always have a proper backdrop/ background set up and ready to use. I have ordered a couple of simple vinyl backdrops and am looking forward to trying them out as soon as they arrive. Watch this space for an update on how I get on with these! 

Review a portrait sequence

Review a portrait sequence

Earlier this month my former colleague asked me to do a formal head and shoulders portrait of her that could be used for publicity and marketing.
We met at the event in London and stayed behind to do a photo shoot. I had my camera, a tripod and a flash with me. We discussed and agreed that we'd like to see a smiley and friendly image.
As we started the photo shoot me and my colleague continued chatting and because we have known each other for a number of years we both felt relaxed and comfortable. I liked the way my colleague kept talking to me throughout the session although it meant that I had to take a few extra shots (as it is difficult for people to smile and speak at the same time and we definitely agreed on trying to capture a smiley face). There was a moment when we both fell silent, I simply continued shooting and then the conversation continued to flow. There was another moment when she suddenly became quite serious and I simply pointed it out to her and encouraged her to smile. I have to say that she was brilliant - easy to work with and very encouraging.
We tried two different backgrounds - both of which were neutral. There were a few technical problems: for example we did not have sufficient space to position my colleague far enough from the background so there was an issue with strong shadows behind her.
We never agreed how long we were going to spend on this photo shoot but at a certain point I think we both felt that we have probably done enough. I checked the images on my LCD screen and was satisfied with the result.  
Below is a screen shot of my portrait sequence and one of the shots that we selected to use. I had to use Photoshop to remedy the shadows and adjust the colours/ brightness slightly.

Another thought on the subject of 'True depiction or constructed reality'

It is interesting to notice this your own perception and the use of photography changes as your photographic style develops and matures.

I remember being very keen in the past to capture a perfect landscape with crispy blue skies and in some perfect natural lighting conditions. Every detail of my image would have to be in focus and perfectly executed. I thought at the time that I was aiming to get a true depiction of the world around me, but thinking about it now it seems to me that it was the most ideal example to illustrate a constructed reality. We don't often get the perfect blue sky and perfect natural lighting in this country so I was after something illusive that was usually not even present!

It is amazing sometimes to hear people being so against any digital manipulation of photographic images for the reason that it alters the reality whilst their own work might manifest a constructed reality - if only in a slightly fluid way.

What do other people think about this?

A photographic image: true depiction or constructed reality?

I have been reading Maria Short's reflections concerning truth and reality of photographic images in her excellent "Context and Narrative." In the first chapter The Photograph Maria explores the functions of photography from capturing the true visual appearance to creating a constructed reality. It is clear that such different aims would create different outcomes and would in many ways determine the relationship between the photographer, their subject, the photograph and the audience (or audiences). They might require a different set of technical and creative skills and abilities from the photographer. The photographer's choices of the lighting, equipment, setting, background and composition would also be made with these functions in mind.

Whether it is determined by the given brief or the subjective perception of the photographer, the photographic reality can be and is often altered. Like most things in life, it isn't good or bad - it's just the way it is. As long as we are all aware of and accept the limitations of the media it should not be a problem.

The camera lies...

The camera captures the truth...

The question asked by the 4th century BC. philosopher Eubulides comes to mind "A man says that he is lying. Is what he says true or false?" And we are getting into the deep waters of the liar paradox. 

Portrait - scale and setting

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.  
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. 

 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.  

 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.

 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.    

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.    

  

Eye contact and expression

How important are the subject's face and their eyes in a portrait?  Having photographed a number of people in various settings over the past two weeks, I am more than ever aware of how important to get this element right. It is perhaps one of the most important things that makes the difference between a snapshot of someone and a photo portrait that people remember.

How important to have an eye contact with the subject?
This is a matter of preference and often depends on the context. In one of my sessions I photographed a lady singer performing on the streets of Cambridge. Her preference was not to look straight at the camera but maintain an eye contact with her audience. The photos below captured her changing face expression, her wonderfully warm and relaxed smile, and her eyes following the audience from the left to the right and back.
I think the best photos were those that captured her looking slightly to the side but not too far off the centre (the camera) - photos 3 and 5 - but also photo 1 that gives the viewer the sense of movement/ dynamic and anticipation that the singer is about to turn her eyes to the viewer.


Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

An active portrait

In the past few weeks I have had a number of opportunities to photograph people who were posing for a portrait in a relatively formal setting as well as those people who were involved in various activities when being photographed. What a massive difference it makes for both the photographer and the sitter!

In the first instance, my subjects were mostly focussed on me and my camera work and I found myself working harder - talking to them, making comments or suggestions and generally keeping some kind of conversation going to make them feel more relaxed and forget for a moment that they were being photographed.  

In the second instance, my subjects were focussed on what they were doing so I felt at times unnoticed and  free to move around, change my position and the camera angle, experiment with different settings and ideas or even stop to check the results on the camera screen. 

I have noticed in the past that it helps to talk to people who are being photographed about the things that they like doing, such as hobbies or leisure activities. It also worked for me in the past to show interest in their particular craft or skill and ask them to demonstrate their technique or some results of their favourite activity. I found this especially useful as it helps to switch their focus from my camera to their favourite craft, especially when my subject gets really tense or freeze in front of the camera - no smile, a frozen, forced expression on their face, an awkward sitting position etc - I am sure we are all familiar with this kind of situation. It's just amazing to see how quickly it helps people to relax, feel and look more natural. The outcomes are often good, showing spontaneous facial expressions and alive with passion.

With these thoughts in mind I was really looking forward to completing the OCA exercise 'An active portrait' which required me to show my subject in the process of some natural to them activity. My task would be to focus more on the portrait rather than demonstrating the activity that they are performing; on the person's face expression rather than the details of their action.

A perfect opportunity came up soon as I was asked to take part in a street festival in Cambridge. This event presented me with a wonderful chance to photograph some of our well-known local professional and street performers.

For this exercise I focussed on a local singer who was happy to be photographed and was very relaxed in front of my camera. The setting was outdoors, the day happened to be dry and quite mild so it wasn't too cold for the band to perform and for me to work with my camera. The light was natural and the sun wasn't too bright on the day so there were no strong shadows - a perfect setting for a series of portraits. I used my Canon 5D with a choice of zoom lenses to cover the focal length from wide angle to telephoto. As there were plenty of natural light I opted to work without any flash.

The instruments and speakers were positioned on the pavement and my lady singer was sitting on a small stool with her back to a front door of a local shop. The location was agreed in advance with the fair organisers so I did not have any influence on it. I thought it would be a nice extra challenge for me to work on.

When I got back home, I reviewed my photos in Adobe Lightroom.

Screenshot 1 below shows a selection of images from my session.

Whilst reviewing the images, I also reviewed the strategy I used to approach my subject: moving closer to the singer to eliminate the cluttered background, deciding how to position the straight lines within each frame etc.

The surroundings were not special or attractive so after taking a few general shots with my wide-angle lens I decided to crop the shots showing just my subject and her instrument as below.
Photo 1

Portraiture: Exploring settings, backgrounds, locations

What is a good setting for a portrait and how important is it to include the surroundings in your image?

There is always a choice between leaving the background out, playing it down by opening up the aperture and making it part of the image to help tell the story. My view is that it usually depends on the context and how much the background and the location are part of the narrative. Recently I had a discussion with the Communications team of East Anglian Air Ambulance about some suitable settings and backgrounds for the photos of their staff and volunteers. It was clear that the volunteers themselves preferred to be photographed in front of the helicopters and the Comms Team said this kind of background helps to make the images stand out more and convey the story. After looking at some images in their publicity materials, I could not agree more with this view.

Where a background does not represent an important part of a story, it might be helpful to select more of a neutral scene that does not district attention. A well chosen neutral background helps to focus on the main subject, manage the contrast and could event bring out the colours and tones of the portrait.
Needless to say, there are many settings and backgrounds that could be used effectively for a portrait. Being a photographer at heart, I see them everywhere as I go about my life - on daily basis and regardless  whether I have my camera with me or not.

One of the exercises suggested in the OCA course People and Places is about finding out a number of such backgrounds whilst also thinking about the most suitable focal length, lighting and camera position. I wanted to make this task a little more challenging for myself so I decided to see just what I can find in a small confined area.

Last week I found myself near a small park in Adare, Ireland with my camera and a half an hour to spear. I thought I would see if I could find some suitable backgrounds but also look out for those that would not be a good example.

Here are some of the backgrounds that I  found there.

The park in Adare was small but very well kept so it was a pleasure to have a walk around the area. The day was cloudy and the ground was quite wet but at least it wasn't raining.

Thinking of a suitable location for a portrait, my first focus was on the garden benches dotted around the area. The first reason for choosing them is that my subject would be more relaxed and comfortable sitting rather than standing (as long as the bench isn't wet of course!). This might also give me more time to, what people call 'fiddle with my camera' - or to put it in a nicer way, prepare to the shot.
I thought that this particular bench (below) would be a good setting as it back onto a bush serving as a natural and consistent in colour backdrop. Bearing in mind that this choice of backdrop colour might not be so suitable for someone with a darker skin, assuming I am about to photograph an Irish person here in Adare this should provide a good setting. The light on the day was good for portraiture as the sun was behind the clouds. The light wasn't completely flat as we can see some shadows under the bench but there were no harsh shadows from the direct sun.  
Photo 1