Portraiture - Image Bank

This is a portrait photo by Annie Leibovitz. The person in the photo is actress Jodie Foster. Whoever took this photo used an extreme close up and also vignetting, so that attention is drawn to the face, and other details are dark.

This is another portrait by Annie Leibovitz. The subject of the photo is actress Angelina Jolie. Unlike the Previous image, this appears to have not been taken in the studio. This means there is no vignetting or studio lighting. Also, this is image is taken more from a mid shot perspective rather than as a close up.

The image above is taken by Alec Soth. This is a very different type of portrait than the other two above, as it is taken far further away from the subject; you can see the man's whole body. Also, this image was not taken of a celebrity. This was taken somewhere in public, and the background is a lot less neat than in the other picture; there is lots of uneven floor and there are bits of broken wood in the background.

This Portrait is much less detailed than the previous ones. It has been taken in a studio on a white background, with no vignetting or selective lighting. It has a wide depth of field, therefore everything is on focus. It looks almost like it could be a passport photo, partly due to the blank expression of the man feature in the image. This photograph was taken by Thomas Ruff

Portraiture comparison essay

I am going to be comparing the works of Portrait Photographers Alec Soth and Thomas Ruff.

Here are some examples of Alec Soth and Thomas Ruff's work respectively

These works as typical of these photographers. They are both portraits, however, they are both taken from very different perspectives. Alec Soth often takes his portraits outside in a public place, usually with a very busy and interesting background. His portraits are taken of the entire body which is unusual for portraits as they are usually very close up. This viewpoint allows us to see more of the person, including their whole outfit and where they are standing. You can also take in what is around them too, which often contrasts to what they are wearing. For example, in the image above, the man is wearing a suit, however, his background contrasts as it shows broken pieces of wood and what appears to be a caravan. The floor he is standing appears to be very dusty and dirty, which also contrasts to his clothing. 

Thomas Ruff's portraits greatly contrast to the portraits of Alec Soth. Thomas Ruff's are always taken in a studio with a very plain background, unlike Alec Soth's which are taken in a public, and there is usually something to look at in the background. Thomas Ruff's portraits are also a lot closer to the subject, taken from the shoulders up. The background of Alec Soth's portraits is a plain colour, usually a white or grey studio background. Although there is less to see of the subject i these photos and also less to look at in the background, the close up viewpoint lets us see the subjects face in more detail. Unlike the Alec Soth's portrait, the expression of the subject is a lot more blank, much like a passport photo.

Portraiture - Straight Images

Portraiture - Definition

Portraiture is the art of creating portraits. A portrait is defined as an image of a person, usually taken of the head and shoulders. It is taken with a portrait orientation, hence the name portrait.
Portraits in Photography are usually made to express a certain emotion that the person in the photo is feeling at the time of taking the photo. They can be taken in s studio, so that you can control the conditions and get a very blank background, or they can be taken outside the studio, if you want some more interesting backgrounds and more natural lighting.

Reflection - Contact Sheet(studio)

Joiners - Image Bank

This joiner image is a portrait of a man. The image used to make this joiner were taken of the same man in the same location, however, they have been taken at different times so capture different viewpoints as he moves his face.

This has been taken from the bottom of some stairs. Similar to the previous image, it has some different viewpoints other than head on. However, because the stairs are a static object, the camera has been moved around to capture the viewpoints instead of the subject moving.

This is a very different type of joiner than the other two, as it is of a landscape. This joiner is less disorganised than the others, and has lots of layers covering each other. It is also made up of less images than the other two.

This joiner image is similar to the one above, but this has a few different viewpoints that were added to the image on the sides. This also has been taken from a closer perspective.

The image below is made up of very few images; far less than the previous joiners. There are lots of overlapping layers, and there are lots of different exposure levels throughout the layers. Some are very bright, whereas some are very dark and grey.

Joiners - Definition

In photography, Joiners are images that are made up of lots of different photos, which create one big image. Although they create one big image, the images do not align neatly, therefore create an image of lots of overlapping parts. Here are some examples of Joiners.

David Hockney was one of the pioneers of the style. He was originally an artist, but during the early 1980s, he decided he wanted to try out photography. At first he didn't like how restricted photography was compared to painting, so he decided he should not create pictures in a single image, but in many, and have the pictures joined together unevenly to create a disorganised and broken up image.

Contact sheet depth

Reflection - Work Diary

For Reflection, we did both studio and candid shoots. For my Candid shoot, I focussed on finding reflections around an urban environment. I mostly went for glass windows and shiny marble floors as you can often get reflections of people in them, which I find an interesting subject matter. In my studio shoot, I used a mirror we had in our studio and captured symmetrical reflection of parts of peoples' bodies.
Here is the best photo from my candid photoshoot.

This image was good because the glass I used was stained white, meaning the image in the reflection almost looks like it is foggy. I also like that you can still tell it is a reflection as the people look like silhouettes; their features are not clear and they appear entirely black, like a shadow.
Here is my least favourite picture from my candid photoshoot.

I think this image could be a improved, but the place I took it, which was at a walkway in a shopping centre, meant that the colour of the floor was similar to the colours in the image reflection, therefore the reflection was not very clear. Also, I would use a monopod in future to avoid my feet being caught in the shot.

Here is my best image from my studio shoot.

I like this because it shows a sort of distorted reality. It has a reflection horizontally

Depth - Definition

Depth, or Depth Of Field, refers to the zone of the photo which is sharp and in focus and how big this area is. If the area that is in focus is large, we refer to it as a large depth of field. A large depth of field will usually mean most or all of the photo is in focus. On the other hand, if the area that is in focus is small and the rest of the image is defocussed, we refer to it as a narrow or shallow depth of field.
Here is an example of an image with a wide depth of field.

As you can see, most of the picture is sharp and in focus. Now here is an example of an image with a narrow depth of field.

As you can see, only a small area on the chain is in focus, and the rest is defocussed.

Camera - Definitions

Shutter Speed - How long the shutter is open for.

Aperture - How wide the opening in the lens is. The wider the opening, the more light that will be let in.

F stop - the value used to describe the Aperture e.g. F3.5

ISO - International Standards Organisation - How sensitive to light the camera is. A high ISO means it is not very sensitive to light.

Image Bank - Depth

Depth Of Field is the size of the area that is in focus. It is the space in front of and behind the focal point that still remains sharp

This is an example of shallow depth of field. As you can see, there is only a small amount of the image that is in focus and the rest of the image is very defocussed. To achieve a shallow depth of field, you need a low f stop value e.g f3.5. The closer you are to the subject, the shallower the depth of field will be. 

This is an example of wide depth of field. You need a high F stop e.g. f22, which is a very narrow aperture. As you can see, all of the picture is in focus, which is what we call a wide depth of field. Generally, the further away you are from what you are photographing, the wider the depth of field will be. 

This is use of a narrow depth of field. The focus point is near the front on the padlock, while the rest of the image behind it is out of focus. The f stop would have been around 3.5.

However, this image has a very wide depth of field. This means it would be taken on a narrow aperture e.g. f22. The wide depth of field means everything in the picture is in focus.

Movement - Image bank

  

   This photo was taken using a long exposure, therefore the vehicles in motion have been captured with lots of motion blur. In fact, they have vanished due to the length of the exposure and you can only see the lights.

 

This image is very similar to the one above; it has been taken using a long exposure, and is an image of vehicles in motion in which you can only see the lights from the vehicles. However, this image has been taken from a closer perspective , so we can only see one lane of traffic, with the motion blurred lights spanning across the whole picture.

 

The photo has been taken using a very fast exposure, therefore it creates a freeze frame effect instead of a motion blur effect. This image image has a narrow depth of field due to the wide aperture required to acheive a very fast shutter speed.

 

The image above is taken using a long exposure. The exposure makes the flowing water looks soft and almost like it is mist.

  This photo was taken using a fast exposure. The photographer that took this photograph used the exposure to capture water being poured over someone's head. The result is that you can see the water both coming down onto his head and over his face in one image.

Movement - Definition

Movement is what happens between being in one position/ place and another position/ place. You can move at any speed or in any way you want, and each speed or way or moving will effect how your movement is captured in an image. A fast shutter speed would capture lots of motion in a freeze frame style,  so it appears as if subject of the photo is frozen mid movement. However,  a slow shutter speed would capture lots of motion over a long period of time,  meaning the image will have lots of motion blur.

Form - Work Diary

For my Form Photoshoot, I took pictures of mostly main made objects that were attached the floor or a wall, as well as some objects that were not attached to things and some natural objects.
Here is what I think is my best image from the photoshoot.

This is an image of a chain on some gates near a car park. I like this as it has a narrow depth of field. It shows some interesting forms, as they are not very regular and are positioned in a disorganised layout, which makes the photo more interesting to look at than if the chains were neatly organised. It also uses other formal elements such as texture and colour to create a very dark and menacing mood.
I think the image below is probably the least successful image of the photoshoot.

I don't like this image because I think it doesn't really inspire much emotion or mood. It does show form, however the forms it shows are not very interesting or unusual like those in the picture above. Also, it doesn't show other formal elements in great detail, meaning there is not much to notice other than form.

If i were to shoot this again, I would try and find more varied and interesting forms such as first image pictured, as I felt that a lot of my images were very simple forms with sharp corners and often based on regular shapes. I would also like to try and implement other formal elements into my formal elements pictures to add more variation and interest to them.