These are four portraits I took of my best friend/roommate over the past couple weeks. Every time she saw me taking a photo, the smile was not genuine. She would adjust and it would not be real emotion. It is interesting how candid photos can represent and show a lot more than a posed portrait. The way I solved this issue was to take photos before she knew I was photographing and after when she thought I was done. In that case, I saw a lot more real emotion and more of a candid shot.
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| This was after a few photos when she was laughing and telling me to put the camera away. More genuine emotion. |
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| Caught her looking classy with her drink while also photographing the food too. |
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| Candid photo. Fixing her hair in preparation for a posed photo. I preferred these much better. |
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| A portrait where you do not see the face. This was taken at the top of Mt. Philo. |
These photos are great. I like how you got around the "posing" issue. The third one is my favorite and I like that it's black and white.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the candid shots are so much better. You did a great job capturing these photos. She looks relaxed and natural instead of stiff and emotionless, like posed photos usually come out.
ReplyDeleteGreat colors! I love that they are all done in different settings and so many different colors are involved. I love the black and white! I find that candid photos sometimes are so much better than posed just because of the genuine facial expressions.
ReplyDeleteYou have done a great job with these. I think it's awesome you have taken the same subject into multiple settings. Experimenting is the best way to get better at photography. And it is great if you can have one thing be consistent and then make changes around that… What you have done here wonderfully.
ReplyDeleteThe first photograph is excellent. Great lighting, and the foreshortened arm draws you right into her face. All of the other lines help lead you back to her. The second photograph looks like a cell phone photo. While I really like the colors and the arrangement, it is very grainy and includes more things that don't support the focus on her. With portrait photography, the most important thing is the subject and all other parts of the photograph should support this.
The third photograph is excellent in composition and focus on your subject. The detractors are the lighting and that there is a lot of space above her head. If you had lowered yourself just a little, about 6 to 10 inches, you would have placed her in a much better spot compositionally. Try cropping it down a little bit in Photoshop and see. Again, with her arm the opening of the sweater and the railing behind her, all of these elements help bring the eye back to her. Very well done.
The last photograph is a great experiment, but your subject is in the center of the photograph and this huge column of clouds behind her head, sort of create this flat, symmetrical composition. When in doubt, always move your subject to and to the thirds lines, unless the surrounding elements are arranged to support the subject.
I really love the second and third photos! Your friend's expression in the second photo is priceless and you can certainly tell that it was genuine. The third photo is just lovely. The black and white really adds to the emotion of the photo. Nice!
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