Fine Art Portrait

I have a few things i would like to explore for the Fine Art Portrait but one thing i feel like i want to learn more about and experiment with is Low Key lighting. I think it can create a really dramatic effect and i want to try out different ways of achieving Low Key to allow me to decide on the most appropriate for my subject.

I booked the Curve studio and asked Emma to come with me so we could use each other as models for these practice shots. We set up the backdrop using a black cloth draped over lightstands that had been strategically taped into a goal shape! We then used the Halogen lights, firstly one at either side, because we had already done a workshop with Mr F on low key lighting using daylight and studio lights, we wanted to try a different approach.

Here are some of the edited images that i took:

This shows the setup that was used for most of the images although some were done with the white background.

F5.6, 1/50 Sec, ISO 800

The lights were moved further away from the model to allow me to use a higher ISO, i wanted these images to have a grainy effect caused by the noise when using a high ISO.

F5.6, 1/50 Sec, ISO 800

This is the same as the above image but instead of Black and White i de-saturated it slightly to take the vibrance out of the image and create a sadder feel.

F5.6, 1/50 Sec, ISO 1250

This was created using one light close to the model, the other light was moved away. This meant that i needed an even higher ISO if i was to shoot with the same lens- i could have changed to a portrait lens (the one i have being a 50ml that offers a minimum aperture of 1.8) but i wanted to keep the noise and the dramatic sadness in the images that required them to be underexposed with a level of noise or grain.

I like the way that the light being placed at the side of the subject brings out all of the flaws in the skin, luckily for these images this is what i wanted to create a very raw feel in the portraits.

F5.6, 1/60 Sec, ISO 1250

F5.6, 1/125 Sec, ISO 3200

I wanted to see how far i could push the ISO without it ruining the qiality of the image- the above shows the maximum ISO on my camera and as you can see, the high level of noise does suit the image but also renders it very low in quality and i feel spoils it.

F5.6, 1/125 Sec, ISO 1600

I like the images produced from this shoot, although they are more experimental than final images i think i have learned more about how simple is can be to produce an effective low key portrait.

I may use this technique for my final images.

More Studio Portraits

Whilst in the studio producing some corporate images fora building firm i asked if i could use him for a model for my fine art work, the reason for this was his tattoos and fairly weathered face, i wanted to try and photograph him with a blank expression staring into the camera.

He was more than happy to pose and even though the images weren't flattering he appreciated what i was trying to achieve, i think in this case my being honest with him made him feel more comfortable and his awareness of my vision meant that he was easy to work with to achieve the look i wanted.

I used a black background and the halogen builders lights as i wanted a more low key and distinctive effect.

Here are the edited images for which i used a variety of methods when post producing to experiment as much as possible:

F1.8, 1/125 Sec, ISO 100

This was produced using minimal editing in Lightroom for a more natural look. I used a very low aperture as i wanted the focus to be very selective, this has caused a strip of blur most noticably down the left arm which does look quite distracting.

This is the same image as above but i attempted to create a HDR effect in Photoshop CS4, this has just created an odd lighting effect that i am not at all pleased with. Photomatix is another programme that can be used for tone mapping when producing HDR so i wanted to try that and see if it was any better.

Again the same image as above but using Photomatix tone mapping, i did take it to the extreme in this image but even when making subtle changes it creates an odd lighting effect and makes the model look very hairy.

HDR isnt suitable for all images and as far as people are concerned it doesnt flatter, but with these images i am not looking to produce something that looks airbrushed, i want definition in the face in the pores and wrinkles.

After getting Photoshop CS5 i wanted to try the HDR toning as this was said to be new and improved, this was more of an experiment than a serious attempt at editing and here was the very strange result:

This is like something from a horror film and not the look i was aiming for but its an example of how far HDR can go...

I decided to use minimal editing in photoshop to create a more subtle and natural effect:

Ideas

After experimenting in the various areas for the people brief i needed to start thinking about which area i was going to develop further for the final 8 images.

I had a few ideas and mostly they seem to fall into the Fine Art sector although they could also fit under other types of genre i felt this was the most appropriate as most of my ideas were fairly conceptual.

Something that inspired me was the work of Irving Penn and his images of the various tradesmen:

Photograph By Irving Penn- Lorry Washers- 1950

Photograph By Irving Penn- Patissiers- 1950

Images like these made me think of the various professions, i thought about photographing lollypop ladies and men, dinner ladies etc and also considered going to the small local businesses such as the butcher, baker and corner shop around where i live and photograph the people using the same lighting (as much as possible).

This was my favoured idea until i thought about the local people i saw outside a pub in Blackburn, these people often spent their days in the local pubs in the town centre and when walking into town for lunch i would walk past these quirky and usually drunk people. I had wanted to photograph them a few times but was slightly worried about their reactions!

There was something intriguing about these people, they had so much character, i decided i wanted to photograph them, i would ask them to come to the studio one by one.

Upon serious thought, this idea was un-realistic given my remaining time frame so Andy suggested setting up a studio in the pub as this was their environment and it would be easier than expecting them to leave the pub. This seemed like a daunting idea as in these pubs there would certainly be a few people staring and i was worried about the safety of the equipment.

The local pub seemed like a safer less daunting option, although i was concerned that the peope in the pubs around Rawtenstall were almost a little too 'normal' compared to the day time drinkers of blackburn. I was asked by someone what 'normal' was and i decided the local may be an interesting option.

Something that inspired me was Nadav Kander's Obamas People, he photographed the typically boring staff in a way where we can see their personality's, these images appear far from boring even if the people are. This made me think... the photographs i could create with the locals in the pub could be anything i wanted them to be, it was down to me to make them interesting and effective.

After my previous research into the Human Condition i thought this idea linked quite well, i decided my main concept surrounded communication, not only of the subject but myself.

Would my photos support the theory mentioned in my earlier post that only 7% of communication is through words?

I didnt have much time left so went to a pub where i know a few faces and asked the permission of the Landlord to set up some lights and photograph the customers, i was surprised at how accomodating they were and arranged to go in the following weekend.

I needed to get this right so went into the studio to do a test shoot, this was to get an idea of the lighting i would use and also the set-up.

I wanted to photograph mainly older people and show them in a way that was quite defined and perhaps unkind as far as a portrait is concerned, i want the images to be purely about the people and show them as close to how i see them as possible, so no airbrushed clear skin, i want every flaw to show.

This would involve a fairly high key set up but using as much directional light as possible.

Firstly i started with two lights, one on either side, using the reflected umbrellas positioned at roughly 45 degrees. I was using the smallest aperture possible and with a maximum shutter speed of 1/250 because i was using flash, even with an ISO of 100 the images were over-exposed.

I turned the power down to minimum on the flash and moved them away from the model but couldnt move more than a few metres as the actual set up in the pub wouldn't allow for this.

I decided to turn one of the lights off and just have one light on the model.

F1.8, 1/250 Sec, ISO 100, Focal Length 50mm

This lighting wasnt what i wanted for the portraits as the diffuse lighting had an 'airbrushed' effect on the models skin. I didnt like the shadow behind the subject either.

I decided to try this with a black back ground as this may be more fitting for my final images.

F1.8, 1/250 Sec, ISO 100, Focal Length 50mm

Here there is a distracting highlight on the models forehead, although the lighting apart from this was close to what i was trying to achieve.

After various lighting setups i had an idea of what i wanted but knew that with the ambient lighting in the pub, things would be different on location.

I went to the pub to do a test shoot and tried to use ambient light after John suggested that this would be easier and perhaps produce better results.

I used a reflector and the natural light from the window and asked people to simply sit and 'be themselves' ,with the addition of alcohol to the situation i did end up with fairly humerous results.

An important thing to mention is the lack of communication on my part, i wanted to put the theory to the test so i explained to people what i was doing and that i had no particular requirements in whether they smiled or simply stared at me, all i wanted was for them to sit in front of me and pose for the camera. I smiled at each person as they sat down and throughout and remained as relaxed as possible without speaking. I found it very strange not saying anything but strangely they didnt seem deterred, maybe it was the need to impress those watching by showing me their best smile or maybe it was a combination of the alcohol and me smiling at them but the results werent uncomfortable.

I took a few photographs of each person so that i could chose the appropriate images later:

Here are the edited images- i selected 8 from the 14 men i photographed as the number i will need for my final 8 images.

As far as these images are concerned it is difficult to decide whether they are Environmental or Fine Art... i think with these showing an out of focus glimpse of a grungy pub they are more Environmental, but the idea and concept behind this work is perhaps more fine art.

When editing the images above i used mainly Lightroom and increased the fill light and blacks, i had mixed feelings about whether this was appropriate for the images but spoke to John and got some feedback and advice on editing them more subtly. Here are the final edited versions of the pub shoot:

F1.8, 1/125 Sec, ISO 200

F1.8, 1/250 Sec, ISO 200

F 1.8, 1/160 Sec, ISO 160

F1.8, 1/160 Sec, ISO 160

F1.8, 1/160 Sec, ISO 200

F1.8, 1/100 Sec, ISO 160

F1.8, 1/160 Sec, ISO 160

F1.8, 1/125 Sec, ISO 200

I have decided to use these as my final image, the ambient light has shown the faces of the men with all their flaws and made the expression the main focal point, the flaws add to the charachter of their faces.

I have also decided to produce the images as if i were doing an exhibition, the main reason for this is that i didnt want to simply hand in a pile of prints and i didnt feel that a photo book would do them justice.

I had my images printed A4 on 3mm foamex and have produced an exhibition plan to illustrate how i would set out the images in an exhibition.

I have also given them a title- The Significance of Communication. Before taking the images i decided i was going to experiment and try to communicate with the sitter as little as possible whilst photographing them and observe the effect. When i first approached the men to ask them if they would model for me, i advised them that i was doing a project for Uni and needed average men to model for me, i told them they did not need to pose and could simply sit there and look at me if they wished, i was trying to capture their personality. I also warned them that for this reason i may not speak much whilst photographing them and they should just try to be themselves.

They acted like professional models putting themselves into various poses perhaps to provoke reaction from me but it produced some very poignant images that i feel sum up part of each mans personality.

I also took some time to talk to each person and learn a little more about them which helped me in the selection process when chosing the most appropriate image for each person. I did ask the men if they found it strange when i didnt speak to them, all of the men said it didnt bother them as i warned them previously but on the whole found i made them feel comfortable and the addition of their friends watching, made the situation quite fun.

Here is a preview of the exhibition plan that i will submit with the 8 images:

This will be printed onto continuous poster paper.

I had planned to use the above as a test shoot but re-shoot them using a backdrop and studio lights in the pub, but when i saw the results from the test shoot using natural light i was very pleased with what i had achieved with such a minimum amount of kit and just a piece of card as a reflector and decided that i would use the images.


This taught me a lot about using ambient light, i had previously cast it aside favouring studio and controllable lighting instead. But each type of lighting bring their own problems, natural lighting is hard to predict with the weather and cloud cover controlling the type of light it offers, it can quickly change and in some ways is harder to control because the light is so disperse and all around us. But studio lights also bring problems and i decided to do the shoot with the lights so that i could compare the two outcomes and i have a better understanding of the appropriate lighting for these subjects. If i i liked the outcome i would use both sets of images and hand them in as 2 series'.

Another thing i wanted to observe with these images is the difference in the expressions of the men, despite the men from the previous shoot saying i made them confortable- even without speaking, i think that part of this was down to the fact they had people watching so were showing off for their sake and trying to get a reaction out of me. It would be interesting to see when they were in a private function room with just me, how comfortable and fun they would be then.

I borrowed from College, the backdrop stand, lights, beauty dish and reflector and got permission from the landlady in the other pub accross the road to use the upstairs function room to set up, this was practical than my initial plan to set up downstairs in the first pub as it allowed a lot more room and was a more private setting.

I tried out various lighting setups to get the look i wanted using my friend initially as a model, but found it quite difficult to get the definition in the face but also get the backdrop correctly exposed so it didnt show creases.

In the end i used a backdrop stand and hung a white sheet from it, then using a diffuse umbrella to expose the background and a honeycomb on the right to pick out detail in the models faces.

Again i didnt communicate with the models a great deal, only with my body language and facial expressions but very little direction unless i was asked a question.

This shoot produced quite different results and i think they appear more uncomfortable, despite the same level of communication from myself.

Here are a few examples of the shoot in a contact sheet followed by edited examples:

F1.8, 1/125 Sec, ISO 100

I am really pleased with the lighting and the way this has turned out, the thing i struggled with the most was whitening the background, to achieve this i had to use seperate layers in Photoshop and use one for the white background and one for the person then delete parts of it to reveal the final image.

F1.8, 1/125 Sec, ISO 100

This photograph is my favourite but perhaps for the wrong reasons, it makes me laugh.

This man was very uncomfortable in front of the camera although i did take many photos of him where he appears content but there are a few where he looks in pain!

I edited this using two images, one exposed for the model and one for the background, i then layered them and erased the top layer to show the white background- this was easy to do as he had very neat hair, otherwise it may have been tricky.

 

I think another factor for the difference in expressions is that i took them out of their environment and put them in a studio set up which was controlled by me instead of them, in the previous setup as i wasnt talking to them, they were totally in control and able to be cheeky and pose as they wished- this in turn made them more confident as they made a joke out of it, this studio set up was more serious and sometimes out of their comfort zone.

From producing the images for the People brief i feel that i have challenged myself a great deal, i am quite a shy person so i found it very difficult approaching people and directing them in front of the camera. This has taught me not only about the appropriate lighting for certain subjects but the personal side too- it really does make a difference to the image when you talk to the model and make them comfortable and i have realised that it would be possible to get a powerful photo using almost anyone as a model- the key is how the photographer relates to the person and then added to this the environment they chose and how they produce the image.

All in all i am proud of what i have achieved with this brief and hope to use the summer months further practising what i have learnt.