Portraiture
Three portraits, black and white. So many possibilities : Formal, candid, people, animals, context.
ISO 2500 f 11 1/45. Taken with a 35 mm lens, photo is cropped.
Julie, Ginger and Julie’s cat pose at Julie’s home in Marshfield, WI on November 29, 2024.
I had a difficult time choosing which photo to use of these two subjects as they had so much character. I wish Julie’s glasses did not have reflection in them. The cat’s expression is priceless, and this is one of the reasons I chose this photo over others.
ISO 3200 f 16 1/45 35 mm, not cropped.
Kendra G Bowman posing for a self portrait in Marshfield, WI on Dec 1, 2024.
Self portrait.
ISO 200 f 8 1/180 35 mm, cropped.
Goldendoodle Sundance Kid in his yard in Marshfield, WI on December 1, 2024.
Candid portrait : I attempted over the week to get a candid photo of my dog while playing in the yard. He has a delightful puppy hop when playing fetch, and I wanted to capture this. However, he is overtly aversive to having his photo taken, and after trying to engage me in play, he expressed his disapproval by peeing on a new toy that I brought home for the photo session.
Reflections : This was another interesting and challenging assignment. An acquaintance of mine, Julie, posed for the portrait session and invited her friend Ginger. I know them from the local square dancing club, and they are wearing outfits for square dancing. After seeing the photos, there are so many things I would do differently for this shoot ! I would vary the poses and try different compositions with the surroundings. I also had many that were out of focus while using f4. I’d use a smaller aperture to increase depth of field in order to improve the chance that everything in the frame was in reasonable focus. There was plenty of light in her home for this. I would also have a list of shots to try, such as standing, sitting, candid, and different compositions.
The self portrait came together organically, I wanted to create an image that invited viewers in and that left open the story line. The challenge was that I learned after I shot the photos that I could use my phone to set a timer or it as a remote. I used a leash to remotely shoot, which worked pretty well, but the leash was so short that it limited the composition. I kept the composition simple with a black background and a couple of props. I like the ideas in the photo series, and I would explore this more with a longer leash, larger setting, and a variety of lighting. I used a box light with bright, cool lighting à la Martin Parr.
Sundance has an opinionated and unapologetic nature, and this photo perfectly captures his mood and sentiments about photography. I am still working to capture his delightful style of playing. I think a camera with auto focus would be very helpful, as I generally capture blurry images due to not being able to focus quickly enough with the range finder.