My Final 3 Images - Portraiture

Portrait Evaluation

In this assignment, Studio Portraits, I have used a Hasselblad camera Phase one digital back and studio flash and a Canon 5D Mark 2. I have taken photos of people using both a white background and black. I also took images of the subjects with a serious/blank expression and ones were they are laughing/smiling at the camera and also looking away. I chose to take these different types of portraits because I wanted to see both of these faces on my subjects then I would choose which set I liked best. I had originally planned on selecting, what I thought were, quirky and uncommon photos than what most of my class were choosing, for their finals, which were more the serious shots, therefore I did want my subjects smiling etc in my final 3. However due to the one image I really did like and took me a few tries to get, I chose the one of Martin because I wanted to show that I had learned of lighting techniques and put this into practice as this particular photo demonstrates. Therefore I selected the other two to complement this image and make it look more like a body of work as all the backgrounds match. To help create these images, as well as the lighting, which I used no more than two lights and the majority of the time I only used one as I liked the harsh lights using the barn doors or I sometimes had soft light on my subject by using the soft box. When I was creating the harsh lights I occasionally used a reflector below the subject to produce light beneath the chin.

I felt this project went a lot better than the last as I didn’t have as many problems or issues. One of the biggest though, at first and a little throughout, was my ideas for the project and then when I had some it was trying to make them into a reality and how to go about making them. Another was trying to get my head around the sizing as I got a little confused but I made it more complicated than necessary and once I received help realised it was actually quite simple. Also trying to understand Capture One as I had never used this software before was a little tricky but with more practice will hopefully get the hang of it.

I could improve the work by having more of an idea of what I want to get out of the shoot, thus enabling me to have more focus on what shots I need to get and this would be my goal. I have learned new skills such as various lighting and using Capture One to develop my photos. All the guidance received from both peers and tutors I have greatly appreciated as their advice has helped me a lot. I feel my outcome does meet with the requirements as I have done everything by the guidelines given. Factors that have influenced me are mainly other photographers I have researched such as David Bailey and Irving Penn.

The concept behind my work, after picking the final 3, I would say is shadows and I think all 3 images relate and I deliberately chose photos were the subject is looking at the camera to engage the viewer and overall they look like a body of work. The assignment challenged me because I had never worked in the studio before and so learned a great deal by watching people and being practical.

Upon reflection I don’t think there is much I would change though I would have more of my ideas before going to studio so I know what I want to do and have stronger knowledge. Overall I think I have improved from the last assignment as regards to speed and quality of my blog. 

Portraiture - Choosing Print Labs

The three print labs I researched were The Print Space (London), Digital Lab (Newcastle) and Spectrum (Brighton). These are the most well known and used out of Photographers in England and now more internationally as well. Out of these three I chose to use The Print Space because  you could get next day delivery if you ordered before 1 O'clock and because I had seen examples of their different types of images printed on the various papers they had to offer and I liked the quality of their work. I chose to use the metallic paper for my prints as a lot of others from my class were choosing matte and I wanted to try a different paper and after initially thinking I was going to choose gloss, I thought I may as well go for it and pick metallic and I am pleased with how all three images turned out.

Here are the link below to their sites;

http://www.theprintspace.co.uk/

http://www.digitalab.co.uk/

http://spectrumphoto.co.uk/

Portraiture - Lighting in the studio

Whilst working in the studio I tried out some different types of lighting, for example Rembrandt Lighting. Here is the print out I used.


 

Portraiture - Influences - Inspiration.

I thought I would post a couple of my influences for this project. Though I did do some research before hand, I have done the majority in between shooting in the studio and after I have actually done and selected my images I would like to work on, then narrowing it down, to eventually choosing my final three images to hand in.
The first few photographers I looked at were Richard Avedon, Irving Penn and David Bailey before I began in the studio. All three of these photographers had mainly all black and white portraits and this influenced me a lot as I really liked their shots and was thinking about making mine in to black and white images as well.
Here are a couple of examples of their work, they will be in order of the artists listed above and I will chose two of their images each. One of each of these images chosen revolutionised photography.

Richard Avedon-

      
The first image is one of Avedon's most iconic shots. He uses Dovima to create this pose with the elephants. Of Dovima Avedon said “the last of the great elegant, aristocratic beauties… the most remarkable and unconventional beauty of her time” The next image of the woman jumping is also one of his most famous, as it captures the moment and focuses on the woman in action and blurs out the background. 

Irving Penn -
  
The first photo is of the most famous artist Pablo Picasso and was shot in 1957. He uses Pablo's hat and coat to create lines that match that of Pablo's cubism paintings, which he is famous for and harsh light to create vivid shadows on his face.

David Bailey -

      

The first  image of Baileys is one of his most famous fashion shots as it defined itself as being different to what people were used to in a fashion shot. Unlike the stiffness that were in many shots of that time where the models were in the same kind of poses in this shot of Jean Shrimpton she is more lose with her body turned away and her gaze looking down, not necessarily at the camera and also with the motion of her hair, adding something a little different. In the Andy Warhol photo I like how he has used the pose he is in to create
a triangular shape with his body as I thought this was, again, different of that time.

Portraiture - Equipment - Hasselblad camera, Phase One digital back - Canon 5D mark 2

For my second assignment at uni I used the Hasselblad to take my portrait shots as well as the Canon 5D mark 2 as we were split in to two groups and shared between the two cameras. Our brief specified to use the Hasselblad but due to circumstances we were allowed to use the canon. Both cameras I enjoyed using and was happy with images taken from both. I struggled a little with trying to focus using the Hasselblad but luckily still managed to get good shots in focus as well as learn to get the hang of it. My images I have chosen for my final 3 are all ones taken from the Hasselblad which wasn't intentional but finally decided to pick three that I thought went fairly well together and just happened to be from the Hasselblad. My original three were from the canon.  

Image of a Hasselblad camera, Phase One digital back.

Image of a Canon 5D mark 2 

Portraiture - Steve Pyke

After looking at Steve Pyke's portrait photographs I decided to chose this one because I have taken a similar photo myself and have selected it as one of my final three for my Uni portraits project. I will be uploading them later, so stay tuned. I like how close up it is, he has chose to crop it, I think, to focus simply in the face, the person. He has cropped almost all of his portraits like this and has shot them all in black and white also. It looks like there is only one light used and is to the left of this man and creates Rembrandt lighting on the right side of his face which is below his eye and appears similar to a triangle.  Both his eyes are jet black and on his left eye (our right when looking) you can just see the white of his eye. The background he has chosen to use is black and the reason for this I would have thought would be to create the effect of the person blending in to the background with the shadow. 

Image taken by Steve Pyke and found on this link below.

http://www.homepages.ucl.ac.uk/~uctyjow/Pyke%20Page.htm

Portraiture - Rineke Dijkstra

Rineke Dijkstra is another photographer I have looked at and the image selected below is one of a series of shots she had done of Bull fighters - which is Portugal's 'los forcados'. These people have to face enraging bulls head on with only themselves and no protection but having to have fast reflexes in order to get out of the way of the bull. She took the shots straight after the men had left the ring and as you can see from this image no - one left without a mek left by the bull. The photos were taken with a plain white, cream background and the lighting looks all to be similar, being quite bright so I'm not sure if she will have used lighting herself or the lights available.

The image was taken by Rineke Dijkstra and found on the link below.
http://theamericanreader.com/rineke-dijkstras-retrospective-identity-and-the-expressive-fallacy/

Portraiture - Robert Mapplethorpe

Another photographer I am looking at is Robert Mapplethorpe. He his known for working in mainly black and white and only started using colour towards the end of his career/life. The image below is a self portrait of himself. I like the image as like the previous one of Michael Caine by David Bailey, it is also in black and white. The lighting in this image is lighter around the face yet I think it works and matches the image well and him. He reminds me, personally, of someone out of the film Grease or somebody from that era because of his hairstyle and leather jacket and cemented the idea by having the cigarette hanging out of his mouth. This also is similar to the David Bailey Michael Caine shot.

Photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe. Found on this site - http://nicholasspyer.com/2010/04/15/between-the-devil-and-robert-mapplethorpe/

Portraiture - David Bailey

A well known photographer of portraits is David Bailey.  I have selected this portrait of Michael Caine 

because I think it is one of his best as he captures michael's essence. You look at the image and it just shouts out Michael Caine not just because of the obviousness that it is him but for the fact he has captured him with his glasses, which he is known for, and also with tab hanging out of his mouth. I really like this image because of the lighting and the simplicity of it being in black and white. however even if it was shot in colour the image itself, I don't think, would be much different as the colours themselves are black and white, everything in the image is and therefore making it suite the image perfectly. I like how the shadow on the left side of his face appears and how the light shines on his eye, making it stand out and both of his eyes visible. I have managed to do this (capture the light on the eye) with one of my images which i am pleased with. I also like how the shadow of his glasses on the right side of his face don't overlap his eye but is right next to it, I think it looks slightly better being like this. Bailey is known for the cropping of his portraits and this image is no different. He has cropped the top of his head off and around his elbows for the bottom. The sides, in my opinion, are just right as well and evenly done. 

Photograph by David Bailey found on this site - http://blog.ricecracker.net/2013/01/31/david-baiely-michael-caine-1965/ 

My Photos

Just thought I'd post a link to my photography page on facebook, still getting images ready to put up with my name on but think I have a good little selection for you to glance at right now.

https://www.facebook.com/www.nicolacallaghanphotography/photos_stream

Portraiture - Irving Penn

Following the list of artists I am researching is Irving Penn. Penn's approach to portraits is quite close up to the subject, some more than others. He was one of the first photographers to use plain white or grey backdrops and used this simple effect brilliantly. In most of his portrait photographs his subject's heads are turned away to the side and he uses the light at the side as well to create shadows. I have choden this image of Nicole Kidman because I like the difference to it compared with other portraits, to me this fits in the category of not so much your typical portrait as like some others this image has a quirkiness to it. In the photo Nicole's hand looks slightly awkward where as Nicole herself appears fairly comfortable and lost in thought facing away from the camera. Penn usually takes his portraits like this with a harsher light than most, angled at the side and with the subject looking away lost in thought which he seems to do to create a bit more of a dramatic effect. Penn presents work which show/ represent that he prefers his subjects to have a pose and and not to be as natural.

A quote by Penn, which I really quite like, - "Sensitive people faced with the prospect of a camera portrait put on a face they think is one they would like to show the world. ...Very often what lies behind the facade is rare and more wonderful than the subject knows or dares to believe." —Irving Penn, 1975.

Photograph taken by Irving Penn and found at the link http://melissapelchatcps.wordpress.com/

Portraiture - Nadar

Another artist I have chosen  is Nadar. Here in this image below you can see that the photographer has decided to capture the subject gazing beyond the Camera. Her stare makes it look like she is lost in thought, similar to other images I've seen. The shadowing on her face reminds me of Rembrandt lighting and is caused by placing the single light not quite all to one side but more diagonally to the side and raised above the head of the subject. Thus creating  the half shadow, half light on each side of the face but with a little light shining on the top of the subjects cheekbone on the shadow side.  
Photographer Nadar and found on this http://photographyhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2008/01/nadar.html

My Photography

Hey if you'd like to see some of my work, I've started my own facebook page with a few images on there, have a look.
https://www.facebook.com/www.nicolacallaghanphotography

Portraiture - Studio - Teamwork

Portrait - Ideas/ Studio/ Photographs/ Finals

Taking a slight brake from the research I have decided to write a little about some ideas I had for this project and how I initially started. At first I had no idea of the types of portrait photos I wanted to take and then when I began researching, seeing some of the work created by top photographers such as David Bailey and Terry Richardson, I had a little inspiration and a few ideas of my own and how I could take my own photographs. Once I had learnt lighting techniques I started playing around and moving the light or lights depending what shot I wanted to take. I liked the fact we were in our groups of 6 as this helped me a lot when I was unsure of things I would ask my peers and I would also watch them intently set up the studio to learn the process then when I knew the basics began help set up where I could. As I had never done studio before there was a lot to learn and take in to remember however I think I did quite well but definitely could improve. I learned early on that although I do like soft lights I like the harsh lights slightly more and so incorporated both in to my shots. So the lighting side was part of my ideas but overall to go with that I had thought of taking both serious shots and ones where the subject is smiling/ laughing etc. I had decided to use more different/ smiling ones as opposed to the serious ones as I noticed most of my class were picking those types of photographs for their finals and so I wanted to pick shots that were different were the subject was smiling etc. On the other hand when I looked at some of the more serious ones the photos chosen all fitted together and looked more like a body of work because all these were taking on the same shoot so the backgrounds all matched. Where – as if I chose photos that are different each in their own way the backgrounds won’t match and depending on how the subject looks (facial expressions) I don’t think they will all look as good together. However I am still undecided as I haven’t picked my finals yet. Plenty of decisions to be made.

Portraiture - Jill Greenbrg

This artist Jill Greenberg has been in some controversy with certain images she has took for a project in 2006. She took the images, which featured children, for her 'End Times' book. I have selected this image of Gwen Stafani below as it shows a similar theme in this shot as the crying children in the book. Here Gwen's expression is sad and has a single tear running down the cheek. Greenberg may have chosen to take this image as Gwen is a mother and Greenbergs campaign was her frustration at the Christian Fundamentalists and also the Bush administration. Aswell as the sadness, like the children, the cropping is the same and her shoulders are bare like the childrens also, therefore leading me to believe this shot was inspired by her previous images as even the background colour matches.

Photo taken by Jill Greenberg and found here - http://www.canto-photographer.com/jill-greenberg-the-manipulator/

Portraiture - Edward Steichen

One other photographer I have decided to look at is Edward Steichen. In this image of Mary Pickford, I think, he has done an amazing job of capturing the expression on her face of the sadness in her eyes and portrays that beautifully across on camera. I really like this image and would maybe try to create an image inspired by this shot. It stood out to me not just because of the expression on the woman's face but because I like how he chose to crop the image. It's a close up and cut off from just below the shoulders however leaves a fair distane at the top of the image from her head and a similar distance on the sides which I think help balance it out. The photo looks like he has caught her in thought about something that brings sadness to her, like a sad memory or he may have caught her looking at someone or something. I also like how her hands match her head in the angle they are positioned. Over all, in my opinion the photo works very well.

Pohtograph by Edward Steichen and found on this site - http://www.eliteauction.com/catalogues/060813/catalogue.php?start=200

Portraiture - Platon

I have chosen to look at Platon as another photographer who has done portraiture work. For this image Platon has chosen to take the picture from a lower level. This style and technique gives the appearance of importance and in this photo is the case as the subject is Obama. (President of the United States) He (Platon) has also used this technique on other important/famous people such as Bill Clinton and Daniel Craig. In his portrait photos he uses a choice out of three backgrounds, white which isn't as common, black is used more and then sometimes Platon uses this blue and everytime I've seen it used he also uses this white around the subject before the blue, which looks to be like a halo almost. He may use this because of that effect directly and to further more enhance the fact Obama is the President along with the technique of the camera looking up towards him giving him status and show his power. On this photo Obama is looking away from the camera and i think it adds to the photo because of the appearance of his height I think it can look like he his loooking over us, his country's people sort of and I, personally, don't think the photo would have worked so well if, with this photo, he looked at the camera. Obama also has a slight grin and his arms folded which I think looks good as it could represent him being happy in his postion and his ready to do whatever is required in his job.

This image was taken by Platon and found on this site - http://bleachpr.com.au/2011/blog/semi-permanent-welcomes-platon.html

Portraiture - Richard Avedon

Another photographer I have chosen to look at is Richard Avedon. I join the many people who like his work and are inspired by it. His iconic images have become very well known in the fashion industry and beyond. There are so many of his images I could have picked to write about because they are quite different compared with other photographers as he chooses the pictures that are deliberatley different. For example the image of Marylin Monroe below. He took this image after a long days shoot, were she was feeling exhauseted, out of all the images that day were she was smiling, laughing and being herself, he chose to capture this moment, where she takes a second to herself. I really like this image because I think any other photographer would have chose an image of her were she is smiling, how she is normally portrayed and how the public saw her. This photograph
depicts and shows a different side to her. He has caught her in thought and her expression is just that.

I found this image,below, on the websire provided. Photograph by Richard Avedon.
http://fcpunitfour.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/richard-avedon.html