A Portrait Sequence

I chose to use a session at my local camera club to create a sequence of shots for this exercise. It was the first time I had participated in this type of session, although I had observed one the week before so knew what to expect. Each photographer had a two-minute turn taking shots of the model; this was repeated three times with costume and backdrop changes in between.

I found the session quite taxing, as I’m not generally a lover of posed photography and with no environment to interact with, my creativity was slightly lacking. I was pleased that the model was quite experienced with posing as this helped me to relax into the shoot.

I gave the model, Olivia direction on which way to turn and where to look, although I did not instruct her so much on facial expression. I felt that chatting to her and making her smile naturally in particular shots would achieve better results.

During my six minutes with Olivia, it was difficult to reflect on which shots might have turned out well, however I spent time between shoots reviewing my images. I could see straight away that there was a great variation in quality despite the set up remaining constant. What I noticed at the time was that in some images, Olivia’s hair caused too much shadow from the main light to the left.

Image 03, for example shows a great example of Rembrandt lighting with the triangle of light below the eye, however the large shadow on the other side of the face ruins the image for me, especially with the half smiling expression.

Back home, I uploaded the images and cropped any full body and torso shots to head and shoulders to give a consistent framing for this exercise. I then sorted the images into those I felt were not good at all, those which were acceptable and images I was pleased with.

The first set shown below are the images, which I feel were not so successful. Aside from the lighting issues mentioned earlier, my main issue with these images is the insincerity. I feel that some of the smiles appear to be false and in other images, it seems that Olivia is between poses, thinking about what to do next. When photographing people in more natural, outdoor environments or in their home, I find that the in between shots often turn out to be the best as this is when natural facial expressions can be caught. With Olivia’s experience in modelling, she appears to be constantly thinking about the next pose, so those in between shots appear less relaxed.

The set of images I have chosen as being acceptable include several vibrant, smiling images; the vibrancy coming from the fact that the smiles are natural, induced by chatting and having a laugh with the model, images 13 and 16 being prime examples. Although I do not see it as a necessity, all of these images have direct eye contact. There are still some issues with shadows from Olivia’s hair but in these images, I feel that it is less of a problem. The black backdrop images are beginning to become more experimental with shots taken from back and side, looking over the shoulder, arms are also coming more into play adding interest.

The images that made it into my good set have a combination of improved lighting and natural facial expressions. Asking Olivia to face to the left of the shot omitted the shadowing issue, giving more even lighting. I feel that in future, I would be more inclined to set lighting at the opposite side to a long fringe to avoid this issue. This is not a hard and fast rule however as some interesting shots can come about using uneven lighting. 

Image 48 was lit from high above as I had asked the model to sit down, much to the shock of other members of the club who told me off for not requesting that the lighting was moved downward. This left a large shadow down one side of her face with the Rembrandt triangle to the other. Unlike image 03, I feel that the lighting effect works in this case.

I have included in this set, groups of images which appear similar at first glance; image 44 & 45 are almost identical except for a slight movement of the head; in image 44, the chin is more dipped and the face turned slightly away from camera, leaving just the eyes peering over the shoulder. This gives a coyer feel to the shot compared to image 45 with a stronger, more direct gaze. The difference is subtle, yet completely changes the feel of the shot.

Image 38 & 39 have equally subtle differences; slightly open lips and a lower gaze give a dreamy ambience whereas the raised gaze in image 39 gives a cheekier edge, maybe due to the fact that a cheeky child would have to look upwards at an adult. The raised arm, touching the hair prevents Olivia from appearing completely childlike yet leaves a playful quality.

It is this playful quality combined with clear, even lighting that makes image 39 my favourite of the set. The raised gaze makes the most of Olivia’s blue eyes and her hair appears fuller and more golden than in many of the other images. Olivia’s watch and hair clip add some interest without detracting too much from her face. If I were Olivia, I would be very pleased with this shot.