Practical 3: Portraits and Self Portrait

PORTRAIT Kimberlee Brynestad Silverdale, WA 11-20-18 (ISO 200, 55 mm, f/5.6, 1/4 sec)

PORTRAIT w/natural or ambient light

11-20-80

Kimberlee Brynestad

Silverdale, WA

ISO 200     55 mm    f/5.6     1/4 sec


This image was shot indoors with both natural and ambient light. The natural light was coming from a window behind and to her right. The ambient light was from a kitchen light to her front right.

CANDID PORTRAIT Kimberlee Brynestad Silverdale, WA 11-20-19

CANDID PORTRAIT                     

11-20-18

Kimberlee Brynestad 

Silverdale, WA 

ISO 200     32 mm     f/5     1/4 sec   


My daughter was standing against a wall watching her dad. I took a couple of photos, but decided I wanted to add a shadow. To do that, I had her hold her position while I got a nearby shadeless lamp and put it in front of her. I liked the contrasting colors against the white wall. 

image1

SELFIE                                          

11-20-18

Julee Brynestad (me)

Silverdale, WA

ISO 200     32 mm     f/5.6     1/4 sec 


We were in the midst of moving and this was the end of a long day. I was laying on the couch with my dog when I took this selfie. I wanted to create an image that would represent what it would look like, with heavy eyes, before dozing off.

Reflections

In this assignment, we were to practice shooting both in black and white and shooting portraits. I started out this assignment thinking I heard we were supposed to shoot it in monochrome. Shoot it in monochrome? How does that happen? So I looked for a Canon YouTube video and, sure enough, there was one on how to set my camera to monochrome for taking pictures. Once that hurdle was overcome, then I struggled with the definition of "portrait." I thought it was merely a headshot like school pictures. I looked online for examples until I became somewhat satisfied I could do a portrait without a headshot in a studio. I still wasn't sure what to do about a selfie. For me, it's what my teenaged daughter did daily, not an actual photo. Once I shot my photos and started working with them in Lightroom Classic, I discovered I quite enjoyed the black and white genre. From this assignment forward, I wavered between color and b/w as to which direction to proceed.

Assessment

This was a tough assessment for me. I learned so much, probably the hard way. Every. single. step. was a technical or personal hurdle to navigate. I felt so inadequate and insecure. Apart from my own self-discoveries, the feedback from Gigi were little lightbulb moments as well. Even so, I enjoyed this genre more than it sounds. B/W photography is an area I would like to toy with beyond my studies.