Portrait photography or portraiture is photography of a person or group of people that displays the expression and mood of the subject. Like other types of portraiture, the focus of the photograph is usually the person's face, although the entire body and the background or context may be included.
Portrait photography produces pictures that capture the
personality of a subject by using effective lighting, backdrops, and poses. A
portrait picture might be artistic, or it might be clinical, as part of a
medical study. Frequently, portraits are commissioned for special occasions,
such as weddings or school events. Portraits can serve many purposes, from
usage on a personal Web site to display in the lobby of a business.
A portrait:
Captures the
personality or essence of a subject. Not just a picture with a person in it. A
"clinical" portrait might not attempt to reveal the soul of a person,
but it still needs to capture something of that person's uniqueness — or else
it's not a portrait.
Is staged. While
portraits can be candid, even those tend to have some intentionality. The
lighting, backdrops, and poses are important, even if they are ad hoc.
Is commissioned.
While this isn't necessary in a literal sense, in a larger sense portrait
photographs are made for the purpose. Someone — the subject, or the artist, or
some organization — wants a portrayal of a certain person (or group of people).
Even a street portrait of a stranger can fit, based on the photographer's
intention.
'The most difficult thing for me is a portrait. You have to
try and put your camera between the skin of a person and his shirt.'
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Today in our classes we produced series of images by using some of accessories such as softbox, softlight/beauty dish, snoot, honeycomb and deep reflector.
F/22, 1/160, ISO 200, flash light with umbrella/black/silver
By using black/silver umbrella I was able to achieve a softer lighting in my images. So, instead of letting light directly focus on my model, the umbrella reflected the light in different direction. The result is a clearer image with softer shadows, and sharper but wider beam of light. I didn't get rid of shadow because I didn't angle my light. I should have put the umbrella in a position that would have put the shadow behind my model. The umbrella helps me in preventing a washed out image.
I should have as well made my model look more glowing by eliminating the shadow.
F/22, 1/160, flash light with snoot
F/20, 1/160, flash light with snoot
( I came closer to my model and I changed aperture to give more lights and make the person more healthier and natural look )
( I came closer to my model and I changed aperture to give more lights and make the person more healthier and natural look )
A snoot is basically a metal tube on a flat piece of metal
that mounts to studio flash unit.
It takes a smaller amount of light (because of the reduced
size of the aperture in the metal plate) and lets that light exit the front of
the tube. It does not provide any significant control other than a slight
amount of pattern narrowing.
F/14, 1/200, ISO 200, softlight with honeycomb
Snoot and Honeycomb direct the lights going straightforward
to where we are trying to stress. With the honeycomb in place, the light beam
becomes narrower and less intensive, and definitely, they are perfect ideal for
portrait and product photography.
F/8, 1/25
F/9, 1/25
F/9, 1/25
F/8, 1/30
F/11, 1/160, deep reflector
F/13, 1/160
F/20, 1/30
F/18, 1/30
F/11, 1/160, tube light with reflector
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