Assignment #96, Portriature (COMMENTS)

Use this thread for posting your comments, and/or current/prior work for Assignment #96: "Portraiture".

From Wiki: Portrait photography or portraiture is photography of a person or group of people that displays the expression, personality, and mood of the subject.
Simple, right? Capture a person or group of people with one photo that displays the expression, personality, or mood of the subject. I have found this is anything but simple. It is hard enough to just get the photo right, but now I have to capture all that other stuff and actually make this one photo tell a story. You can have that magical light, brand new lens, everything setup just right, and nothing happens. The shots are all just blah.

Try like heck to tell the subject's story with this one photo you are about to post. A photo can be technically perfect, but be devoid of story or soul. And a technically imperfect photo can be the most amazing image you have ever seen if the story of the subject comes through just right. Simple.... right?

I don't want to scare anyone off with this. Portraiture does NOT have to have flash. It does not have to be shot in a studio. It does not have to be shot with a DSLR. In fact I took a fairly decent shot of a coworker with his new smart phone today and he said it was one of the better pictures that he has seen of him in a long time. In fact it doesn't even have to be staged. Capture someone in their element and that can go a long way in telling their story.

So with that... all things are on the table. Digital, film, P&S, cameras on phones, GoPro stills, no flash, on camera flash, off camera flash, post processing, no post processing, it is all up to you. Do what you have to do in order to tell the subject's story. All forum posting rules apply regarding suitability of an image to post.

Your photograph has to have been taken between now and Monday, December 17th at midnight.

Most of the best portraits I've seen were not staged, but instead candid shots.
Something about staged makes people nervous and not themselves.

I'll have to ponder on this one.
Nice choice, Bill.

Here are some photos of mine from the past:

This is of a co-worker that was needing a corporate "mug shot" for his company profile page. Sure, the lighting is good, and everything is sharp, but what story is this telling? Not a darn thing if you ask me.


Much better... you actually might even begin to imagine what his personality might be like in real life. Good corporate profile shot, no. But it tells a much better story.


Does it tell a story? I would like to think so. Vince (another co-worker) had just come in from working out in the warehouse and I had the camera handy and took this picture. Don't be afraid to get up close and personal. If the lighting and subject matter are there, you don't need a background to tell a story.


Jessie, another co-worker (notice how I like to practice on co-workers....LOL) was a willing participant in me having an idea for a shot while laying around the house one night. He stayed late after work, and helped me get this shot of him.


Not staged, no flash, and no co-worker (step-sister this time).


What's that? You don't have a person to take a picture of? Find you local sleepy Pug Dog, setup all your camera gear all around him, and fire away. As long as you tell a story about the subject (doesn't have to be a person) then it is portraiture in my book.

I foresee Duke, ST_Scott, Tim, Kory and a few others coming out of the woodwork on this one...

This is all I've got from archives...

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M38A1 said:

I foresee Duke, ST_Scott, Tim, Kory and a few others coming out of the woodwork on this one...

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I hope so... they all do some darn good work and I would love to see it.

This is a photo that STScott took of me awhile back, and I still love it. And I typically very much dislike pictures of me in general.

I still say that could be Steve McQueen under that helmet...


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Haha.. I have only taken portraits of my immediate family and loved ones.

Not gonna happen. I went home for Thanksgiving and I am going home for Christmas. I can only tolerate them so much you know. No way am I going back up to Woden in the next two weekends.

Sounds like a time for some street people photoing.

Honest question. When is a candid portraiture and when is a portraiture a candid?
In Bill's first 6 shots, I would say all are portraiture except the graduation shot, which for some reason, seems more like a candid and less like a portraiture.

Past & present.
shot with a P&S 7 yrs ago.


couple of years ago


and last weekend

Tracker said:

Honest question. When is a candid portraiture and when is a portraiture a candid?
In Bill's first 6 shots, I would say all are portraiture except the graduation shot, which for some reason, seems more like a candid and less like a portraiture.

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Good question.. and I have no idea if I have the right answer. For me, portraiture it capturing a subject (person, animal, or whatever else) in a way that displays the personality or mood of the subject aka. tells a story. They can be candid, or completely staged, but it doesn't matter to me. I will say that most of my photos of people that I really tend to like, weren't staged. The black and white of Vince is one of my favorites and that was just a lucky shot with me holding the camera in one hand, and blasting him with straight flash held in the other hand.

Clear as mud?

Gary, I would say that from your three photos you posted I would pick number three as the better one for this contest. One and two certainly aren't bad photos, but there is just no story that comes along with them. Just like my corporate mug shot in my sample group. Good photo, okay... but completely devoid of any story or personality.

Let me try asking with a few more pictures.

Portraiture or no?
#1


#2


#3


#4

What a good exercise Gary!

For me personally... yes on all four of them. And actually yes for all of your previous ones as well. But these four all have a story attached to them, and convey it very well.

A simple expression change from a normal smile to a more candid laugh changes #1 from "just another portrait", to "come on Gary, aren't we done yet?!?!?" #2 is an awesome shot that has tons of emotion just in those two sets of eyes. #3 is something we've always come in contact with and it's "that guy" who doesn't want to put the phone down. And #4 I am just loving the concentration on the kiddo's face while getting painted up.

I think I got it. Now, the question, can I do it in the next 2 weeks?

Great topic, Bill. I haven't participated in the last few because I've been working hard on a few paying gigs I've had over the last month. People reach out to me for kid/family pictures, who am I to tell them no, especially when money is involved.

I'd like to get involved in this one, so hopefully I can. I'm just wondering who I can make my victim. I've been taking a picture of my daughter every day this year, so I almost feel like that's cheating.

What about self-portriature or would you prefer it to be of someone else?

klb1122 said:

What about self-portriature or would you prefer it to be of someone else?

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I am all for self-portraits, just not of me... LOL Seriously though, I really do like self portraits, as they are very challenging to get right. Frame everything, take tons of test shots, and then the smile you think that you have all the time isn't quite the same when you are taking it yourself. At least that is what happens when I try to do them.

I am excited to see what you bring to this one. I always look forward to seeing your photos when you post them up.

So I've been playing with the new camera. Here are some "candid" portraits where I did not have time to stage anything. I was doing good just to capture the shot. No flash for any. All taken with the 18-200mm lens on my D7000. Images are just the "fine" jpg as captured by the camera with no retouching other than cropping.

Sarah (8), Daniel (6) and Rachel (4).


That image is kind of warm. The WB was set on auto I think.

Rachel - I missed the REALLY good moment just seconds before this one. The expression on her face was a perfect encapsulation of her personality! It had just a touch of playful deviousness to it


Beth and Sarah - not the best exposure, but a good capture of the moment


Last night we visited a local mission and put on a big Christmas dinner for the people that eat/live there. Some are homeless and some live in the shelter. We belong to a small group within our church that meets weekly and our group put together and served the meal. Then the kids group from the church came to do a musical they have been working on for the church. Rachel was supposed to be a "silent" lamb, meaning no speaking parts. She started out good, but then someone did something she did not like and she turned into grumpy lamb. She eventually got pulled out and sat in the lap of one of the ladies directing the show. She got back in later, but stayed grumpy, hehe.

One of the sweetest and whackiest little old ladies you could ever hope to know, Helen. She leads our small group.


Rachel after getting pulled out of the play but before she realizes I am taking her picture


Now she knows...


Now looking for some sympathy


Back in the show...

Wow, couple things of note....

1) ISO2500 on that body rocks. You'll have fun with that for sure.
2) In your meta-data, under Copyright you have your name only. You should either set that up in-camera (if allowed) or in your LR preset to be ©Scott Friday, All Rights Reserved or something like that. I have several variations I use on import to include a Public Domain, ie: I'm shooting for friends and I really don't care where they wind up and give them away anyway, and one that's more defined.
3) That copyright sign is done with the "alt" key, followed by 0 1 6 9.

You're going to like that body/lens combination and you've got an endless supply of shooting subject material it appears.


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lots of good stuff, TM. I'm impressed.

kinda related (not to TM's stuff, but the thread)
I had good intentions to do something with this group this year, and just let the time get away from me. http://help-portrait.com/

M38A1 said:

Wow, couple things of note....

1) ISO2500 on that body rocks. You'll have fun with that for sure.
2) In your meta-data, under Copyright you have your name only. You should either set that up in-camera (if allowed) or in your LR preset to be ©Scott Friday, All Rights Reserved or something like that. I have several variations I use on import to include a Public Domain, ie: I'm shooting for friends and I really don't care where they wind up and give them away anyway, and one that's more defined.
3) That copyright sign is done with the "alt" key, followed by 0 1 6 9.

You're going to like that body/lens combination and you've got an endless supply of shooting subject material it appears.


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How do you check all that meta data stuff?

Tracker said:

lots of good stuff, TM. I'm impressed.

kinda related (not to TM's stuff, but the thread)
I had good intentions to do something with this group this year, and just let the time get away from me. http://help-portrait.com/

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That's kind of cool. I shot some images at the mission last night that I did not post above. On the way home I was talking to Beth about printing a few of them to give to the people, specifically a Dad and his young son. Once I got home and looked at my shots of them, none really came out well enough to use. I might go back with the idea of specifically taking portrait shots of some folks and then sending them prints.

Where is a good place for doing prints that does not cost a fortune but has decent quality?

Tourmeister said:

Where is a good place for doing prints that does not cost a fortune but has decent quality?

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Costco!

Butte said:

Costco!

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Yep, Costco is the only way to fly when it comes to local printing. I just picked up 30 5x7's from a work group photo that we took today. Grand total....$12.

I've had several 16x20's printed up since they are only $6 each.

Now all I need is a Costco... We have a super Wal-Mart in town, also a Walgreens. There is a Sams Club in Conroe. What about online places where I might upload and have them mailed to me (assuming I am not in a major rush for them)?

for 18x24's, shortrunposters.com. I've ganged 4 jpgs on one poster to get four 9x12's for 75 cents each plus shipping. I usually try to wait and buy 4-5 18x24's at a time since the shipping covers them all. I do usually spring for the lamination for an extra $2/poster, so my end cost with shipping for 5 posters is $35 or $7 ea. delivered to my door.