Individual Written

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been involved with the Photography Intensive. I’ve begun to take up photography these past couple of years as a hobby, and what better way to improve my skills then partaking in a workshop?

During this intensive, I worked with cold lights, flash units, backdrops, and umbrellas/boxes. The following were shot in mainly black and white with flash units to accentuate the specific shadows being cast. I learned an immense amount of techniques and ways to light a subject. For example, this photo I shot is an example of Rembrandt lighting. It is characterized by the small triangle of light underneath the shadowed half of the face. This is used to evoke a “moody” fashion.

As I further progressed within the intensive, my group and I started to bump it up to the next level and incorporate more personality into the photos. This is a photo of myself with Rembrandt lighting. As you can see, it is not as “constrained” as the previous photograph.

This is an example of Hatchet lighting when used in conjunction with the cold lights. Hatchet lighting is commonly known as Clint Eastwood or Split lighting as the light is only cast on half of the subject’s face. This type of lighting is commonplace for lighting male subjects as it gives off a “manly” feel.

I started off working with only one main light, known as the key light, but eventually expanded to working with both a key light and a fill light. Fill lights are used to “fill” shadows so they are not as harsh. I put a soft box over our fill light for most of the time to diffuse and create a soft indirect light.

           

Taking from what I learned in the so-called “practice” studio, I took it and applied to an actual photo shoot that I shot with a partner. With photo shoots, it’s never about the actual photo per say, but the story behind the photo. The setting was a closet, with “Messy” being the overriding theme. These are a couple of already retouched photos from the shoot. 

I did another photo shoot, using the same principles as I did with the last one I did. With this one I will show you what I learned about photo retouching because it is a big factor playing into whether or not a photo looks presentable. Take this photo for example. The subject is backlit, which makes the viewer’s eye go straight to the background instead of the subject’s face. There are also slight imperfections in the subject’s skin and in the contrast of the entire photo; the list goes on. 

 

Using Adobe Photoshop CS5, however, one can easily fix these problems.

The retouches are made up of a multitude of layers. As you can see, I darkened the background and brought her face out so that the first thing you see when looking at this photo is her face. I brought the photo into Liquify to give her face a more appealing shape. I also added shadow to it to give it a slimming effect.

Working with unpredictable subjects can sometimes be quite troublesome. You can’t get a proper picture due to them either being nervous and uncooperative or just plain crazy. Creating a somewhat “normal” and comfortable atmosphere before shooting was one of the biggest problems that came along during this project. People were nervous and unsure what to do with their bodies; it was nerve-racking for both parties. At the same time however, that is what really tests your knowledge. How to talk to your subject so that the camera pointing at them becomes secondary. It becomes more about the experience and the bond between photographer and subject. How to make it seem natural, yet at the same time as a result, take nice photos.