Portraiture photography - Richard Avedon

Richard Avedon did not conform to the standard technique of taking fashion photographs, where models stood emotionless and seemingly indifferent to the camera. Instead, Avedon showed models full of emotion, smiling, laughing, and, many times, in action. He would often prompt the subject to capture the personality and soul of the subject. He utilised a minimalist approach with sheer white background and subject looking squarely at the camera.

Sydney

Some pictures i took in Sydney

Exactitudes

It is definitely the season for beard photography, with winter on its way. Ideally i wanted to take portraits of people with different types of beards that are typical to their styles. For example, the truck driver beard would be handle bar like and full bodied. There are so many types of beards, that you can reflect on the bearers character.

I wanted to label the beards to correspond with its style. Lazy beard, Metal-head beard, Bogan beard, Trendy beard, Workers beard, Mutton Chops beard, Charles Darwin beard......

After presenting this idea to Jenna Corcoran, she pointed me in the direction of Exatitudes.

Ari Versluis is a Rotterdam-based photographer who has an interest in the striking dress codes of various social groups and have systematically documented numerous identities over the past 14years. Exactitudes is a contraction of exact and attitude. Their subjects are placed in an individual framework, with similar poses and a strictly observed dress code.

Their work, one could say is scientific and anthropological, where they capture people attempts to distinguish themselves from others by assuming group identity.

For the period that i have been taking photos of beards the reasoning that i hear for growing the beards is becoming more evident. On a majority, men have said that they have a beard as they are 'lazy' and shaving is a monotonous task that is practiced too often. Although there were the select few who were 'trying' to go the beard without success. I think the manly nature of the beard is not only attractive to women, but in this case, to young adults trying to address and prove their manhood. I was unable to capture the 'attempted' beard, as the subject did not classify it as a beard. That made me question, what draws the line between stubble and beard? Can stubble be classified as a beard?

More updates to come...

Pogonology exploration on Brunswick street

The days that i have taken photographys for the 'Beardisms' concept it has been overcast days. This allowed me to take photos at midday (usually at midday on sunny days the faces become flat with less definition), though the weather did wash out some of my subjects. I used Photoshop to add warm and contrast through a new adjustment layer.

All of my subjects i had stand 2 metres from the wall excpet for two subjects. One older subject was seated at a cafe with people behind him, this became quite distracting to the eye. To bring more attention to the subject i used Photoshop to desaturate the colour from the background.
Using the polygonal lasso tool to select the area and a new adjustment layer for Hue/saturation at about -60 saturation and add slight colour to the subject.

Some Randoms

These are some random photos i have taken.

Some i have experimented with the colours, depth of field and light

Final Folio - Working with depth of field

My second concept for my final folio utilises portraiture photography and focuses around pogonology. Today i took portraits of random people with beards on brunswick street.

I wanted the background to be out of focus, so i had to play around with the depth of field by changing the aperture, focal length and the shooting distance from both the subjects and the background. I had the subject stand 2 metres from the wall, i zoomed in to its maximum point and moved around to find the right position. My aperture was on f4 and focused until the eyes were sharp.

Controlling depth of field

Although print size and viewing distance are important factors which influence how large the circle of confusion (how much a point needs to be blurred in order to be perceived as unsharp) appears to our eyes, aperture and focal distance are the two main factors that determine how big the circle of confusion will be on your camera's sensor. Larger apertures (smaller F-stop number) and closer focal distances produce a shallower depth of field.

Depth of field is governed by three factors: aperture, lens focal length and shooting distance.

The following relationships are:

1. The smaller the aperture, the deeper the depth of field (the other two factors remaining the same). For example, if the lens focal length and the shooting distance stay the same, the depth of field is much deeper at f/16 than at f/1.4.
2. The shorter the lens focal length, the deeper the depth of field (the other two factors remaining the same). For example, comparing a 28mm lens with a 50mm lens at the same aperture and shooting distance, depth of field is deeper with the 28mm lens.
3. The greater the shooting distance, the deeper the depth of field. i.e. other two factors remaining the same). For example, if the subject is photographed from three and then from seven meters away, the zone of sharpness in the foreground and background is greater at seven meters.

Another characteristic of depth of field is that it is generally deeper in the background than in the foreground.

After working with portraiture photography, i have been trying to determine my constants. Whether it be the light, background, distance, angle or subjects, i needed a constant to connect my work. I wanted the backgrounds to be included in my work to support/compliment the character and the surroundings that they are in. For example the photograph below was taken in the band room at my work, the Arthouse. This was before a gig and i wanted to portray the subject in his natural environment, which compliments his music identity. I had to use a flash for this photo, which i dont usually like to do as it flattens the face. For the other portraiture i have had the subject stand 2 metres from the wall and zoomed right in. I had to move to the correct position to get the portrait. The photo below is not in the position i had wanted, as his head is being chopped off, but i loved his body language.

Wk 9 - Final Folio

Ok, so for weeks now i have had this idea, but still experimenting with other concepts. I have been waiting for the opportunities to take these photos, as some of the location are 100's of Km's away. I started a few weeks ago, but this weekend i was able to go to one of the spots... Watershed Falls.

I am running with two ideas at the moment for my Final Folio, this one is called 'Escapisms.' Places, people, activities and items that i escape to. Watershed falls was a location i would go to for years to escape everything. It is near Beechworth, a secluded location surrounded by cliffs and forestry and a huge waterfall and lagoon. I would come here with my guitar and enjoy the solitude. This reminds me of the Landscape Photographer Stuart showed us in class (cannot remember his name), where he would go to secluded, hard to reach locations to capture his landscape images.

Unfortunately after capturing these images, my car has broken down on Sunday and i am still stranded in the middle of nowhere, waiting for the mechanic to order parts for my car. Not an enjoyable experience. I will upload the pics when i get to Melbourne.