My subject for this assignment was my husband, artist and writer Matt Rosemier. The brief required between five and seven portraits, which differ in style and type. I aimed to capture Matt’s character and tell a little bit about him in each of the images. I took approx 500 shots over the course of a month or so and found it very difficult to whittle it down, particularly as the ones I liked the most were all from one shoot. That shoot was the most recent so I hope I can take this as an indication that I have already improved my skills since beginning the People and Place course.
1. Hand
Exposed: July 25th 2010
Equipment used: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF70-200mm, f2.8L IS USM
Aperture: f2.8
Shutter speed: 1/40
ISO: 320
Focal length: 100mm
White balance: Auto
Location: Our garden, London E1
Lightning: evening shade
Processing in Lightroom:
Conversion to greyscale
Exposure +0.20
Blacks -> 9
Curves
Crop
I felt that Matt’s hand as the primary attraction to the eye adds interest to the portrait. The composition worked well with his face being out of focus but his expression still clear. I desaturated it to reduce the distractions of bursts of color in the garden and increased the contrast to bring some extra drama. The image is open to several possible interpretations of what is happening and I like the idea that the viewer may find that intriguing.
2. Guinness
Exposed: August 21st 2010
Equipment used: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF50mm, f1.4L IS USM
Aperture: f1.4
Shutter speed: 1/250
ISO: 400
Focal length: 50mm
White balance: Auto
Location: a pub in Bristol
Lightning: cloudy afternoon light through a window
Processing in Lightroom:
Exposure +0.35
Blacks -> 6
Curves
Crop
Matt loves his Guinness and I wanted to portray this side of him in a more unusual way. I liked the clean lines and shapes in this image and I think his pose and expression reveals some of his playfulness. The colours and background darkness put me in mind of the classic Irish pub. We tried several angles and arrangements of the glasses but being down and eye level and with the large depth of field seemed to work best.
3. Face
Exposed: August 28th 2010
Equipment used: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF50mm, f1.4L IS USM
Aperture: f1.4
Shutter speed: 1/200
ISO: 250
Focal length: 50mm
White balance: Auto
Location: Our bedroom, London
Lightning: afternoon sun through muslin curtains
Processing in Lightroom:
Exposure +0.45
Desaturated – red -31
Desaturated – orange -27
Crop
I wanted one of the images in this set to be soft and intimate. This is a gentle, contemplative moment and I deliberately kept it dark and unevenly exposed (resisting the temptation to dodge some of the areas of the picture). Unfortunately the composition is not exactly as I would have chosen and the highlights to the right of the original frame were blown out so I had to crop harder than I would have liked. However, I think the final result is an arresting image and provides a good balance to some of the other images in this portrait set.
4. Chair
Exposed: August 29th 2010
Equipment used: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF70-200mm, f2.8L IS USM
Aperture: f2.8
Shutter speed: 1/400
ISO: 400
Focal length: 70mm
White balance: Auto
Location: Our garden, London
Lightning: late afternoon in shade
Processing in Lightroom:
White balance -> shade
Desaturation – red -20
Crop
With this image I wanted to create a formal portrait shot to show Matt in his wheelchair but without the physical presence of the chair overwhelming the frame. I also wanted to capture a bit of the anger that keeps disabled people fighting for their rights. Matt is very feisty – he argues that paraplegics absolutely have to be - and I wanted that to show in this portrait.
5. Binoculars
Exposed: August 29th 2010
Equipment used: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF70-200mm, f2.8L IS USM
Aperture: f2.8
Shutter speed: 1/200
ISO: 200
Focal length: 130mm
White balance: Auto
Location: Our garden, London
Lightning: late afternoon in shade
Processing in Lightroom:
Exposure - +0.10
Blacks -> 6
Crop
This image, for me, captures some of Matt’s joie de vivre. He always has a pair of binoculars to hand and often watches the sky for birds of prey, UFOs or exceptionally beautiful moons. This image is in my opinion satisfactorily completed by his crooked teeth and slightly crazy expression, plus the reflection of our garden (a very important part of our life) in the glass.
6. Camera
Exposed: August 29th 2010
Equipment used: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF70-200mm, f2.8L IS USM
Aperture: f2.8
Shutter speed: 1/250
ISO: 200
Focal length: 70mm
White balance: Auto
Location: Our garden, London
Lightning: late afternoon in shade
Processing in Lightroom:
Exposure - +0.20
Blacks -> 6
Matt is an avid photographer and this image takes that theme to another level for me. The simplicity of the composition, colours and tones gives it an iconic, timeless look. In black and white or sepia this could be from an entirely different era and I think it really captures Matt’s intelligence and charisma.
7. Rubberbands
Exposed: August 29th 2010
Equipment used: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF70-200mm, f2.8L IS USM
Aperture: f2.8
Shutter speed: 1/160
ISO: 200
Focal length: 153mm
White balance: Auto
Location: Our garden, London
Lightning: late afternoon in shade
Processing in Lightroom:
Exposure - +0.25
Blacks -> 6
Split tone highlights – hue 53, saturation 20
Matt requested that we set this up for the portrait shoot. To me, it clearly indicates his very unique (slightly insane) mind. He told me he once tried this when he was on his own and thought it would look cool as a photograph. I like the expression in this shot as it portrays the spirit of someone who is carrying on, as normal, and with dignity and a sense of power, even though things are not really as they should be. This also seems to be evocative of primitive war paint or tribal scarrings/decoration. I desaturated it to emphasise the lines and shapes rather than the actual rubberbands which varied in colour (reds and purples). The split tone highlights warmed the image up a bit. I am expecting the viewer responses to this image to vary considerably!
Summary
The best successes in this assignment all came about when I had preconceived the images, planned them carefully and used effective direction for my subject. These were in a shooting location that I am already very familiar with so I don’t feel that I pushed myself as far out of my comfort zone as I should have done.
I was unsuccessful with some images by trying to shoot in poor (but atmospheric) light. More experimentation with different backgrounds would also have added more to the set and I must avoid situations where I am rushing or feeling self-conscious about being an amateur and wasting the sitter’s time! A few times, I missed a good shot by using a very wide aperture and not getting a sharp enough image in the right places.
Now as I prepare my final thoughts on this assignment I realise I have failed spectacularly to include any portraits where my subject really interacts with the environment. Stylistically, I prefer more simple images with dramatic black or single colour backgrounds, and I found shots taken around the flat or elsewhere to be too cluttered and mundane to want to include them in my final submission. This is an area I really need to work on and I am looking forward to the rest of the course where ‘place’ has more of a focus. It will be a challenge to try to shoot Matt in our very small kitchen or spare room or in the neighbourhood in a way that doesn’t look like a dull snapshot.
Areas for improvement
· Taking time over researching, planning and shooting
· More confident and unhurried direction of subject
· More experimental – backgrounds, poses, angles, lighting
· More confidence with using flash selectively
· Exploring more how people interact with the environment
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