Exercise 7: Focal Length and Character.

For this exercise I again used our friend Bill as a subject. For the first picture on the left I used a 17 - 85mm lens set at 17mm and had to physically move in very close to fill the frame with his head. For the second image I moved back but zoomed in to 35 mm to keep the head the same size and similarly with the third image on the right, this time at 85mm. The first photo is very much distorted and not a pleasing effect. The next two are both much better but of the two I prefer the 85mm shot.

Exercise 6:The Best of a Sequence

For this exercise I asked our neighbour Julie to sit for me in her own garden in order to ring the changes from our own. I explained what I hoped to achieve and suggested the seat next to their water feature as a suitable location. I placed the camera on the tripod and then engaged Julie in conversation, watching for her facial expressions and also her hand movements as she is very expressive when involved in conversation. I took pictures without using the viewfinder and tried to pick moments when she had pleasing and interesting expressions. I found that this was not easy. I also attempted to evaluate each image as I was taking it and jotted down notes at the end of the session - again not easy. I used two settings and when I felt that I had taken enough by the bubbler, we moved to the bench at the bottom of the garden where I also took some landscape format shots as well as the portrait ones. The contact sheets are shown below with the images numbered from left to right and top to bottom.

As I was taking pictures I thought that the initial ones were not so good as we were both settling down to the session. I thought that number 7 would be a good shot but, on looking at the contacts, I realised that I had just missed the moment. I thought that 9 and 10 would also be good but notice that I have missed Julie's hands on 9, but I do like 10. I thought that 15 would be a good shot but again not as good as I had thought. Another shot that I expected to be pleasing was 20, but again others that I had not expected are better.

For the last part of this session I zoomed out and felt that some of the shots here were going to be pleasing. I particularly liked the look of the ones where Julie glanced down towards the bubbler, despite not having eye contact. On examining the contacts I feel that 28 is the most satisfying.

In the second part of the session I thought that the ones on the bench would be good but decided to zoom in to try some closer ones as well. Again Julie used her hands a great deal.

After examining the contacts I judged them by the criteria a) not good, b) acceptable, c) good and d) the best single shot.

Those I found to be not good were: 3, 5, 8, 12, 13, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 29, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47, 51 and 52.

Those I found acceptable were: 1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 15, 24, 28, 30, 31, 32, 34, 46, 48 and 49.

The ones I really liked are: 6,10, 14, 17, 25, 27 and 50. I have included these as larger images below.

The shot that I preferred above all of the others is number 6 which is shown below.

I found this exercise interesting and challenging. I found it difficult to judge when a shot would be pleasing. As the session progressed I could tell when there was an interesting expression or hand position but capturing it was a different matter. I often missed 'the moment' and other images were the ones I preferred. I decided to draw the session to a close partly by judging when Julie had had enough and also when I felt that I had captured enough acceptable images. I have realised during this part of People and Place that individuals often find being photographed puts them slightly out of their comfort zone and this presents a challenge to the photographer. This exercise has also made me realise that, as with my nature photography especiall birds, that taking one image is not enough. We need a large selection to choose from. If only one portrait is taken, the chances are that the subject will be caught in an unpleasing pose or expression.

Exercise 5: Eye-contact and Expression

For this exercise I persuaded a friend who does our building work to sit for me in the relaxed informal surroundings of our conservatory. I began to take photographs of him straight away and more as he relaxed whilst we were chatting. Later I asked him to look away from the camera as I continued to take pictures.





In the image on the left Bill has just arrived and has yet to adjust to the camera and, although he is happy to look into the camera he is not yet relaxed. In the next two pictures we have begun chatting about some building work he was going to doing for us and he is beginning to relax more. His expression on the right, though, is much more flattering.

In these three pictures we are happily chatting to each other whilst I take photographs and he has become used to the camera. I particularly like the first two as there is good facial expression as he becomes more animated and there is good eye contact. In the right hand image he is still animated but he has glanced away and the picture loses some intimacy.


For the final three photos I asked Bill to continue the conversation but look away from the camera and here we have a completely different disinterested atmosphere.

Exercise 4 - An Active Portrait

For this exercise I approached our neighbour and very good friend John. He is a very keen gardener and I thought that it would work well to photograph him whilst working in the garden. He was more than happy - one of the challenges of this course is either finding people who are easily relaxed in front of the camera (eg John and my son) or helping those who are not keen to be photographed, to relax (eg my wife and daughter). I have given myself a huge challenge by asking my wife to be the subject for the first assignment in this course. The other problem is that, as the subject needs to be photographed sometimes in different lighting and settings, opportunity and access are also a challenge.

I wanted the pictures to show clearly that John was gardening but at the same time I have tried to focus on the look of concentration on his face as he worked. John was an excellent subject because he was able to concentrate on what he was doing although he was aware that he was being photographed.

For all of the pictures I used a 17 -85mm zoom and zoomed in and out as appropriate.

In the first image (above left) John is planting some beans and was putting in the hazel stakes to support them. Here I zoomed out to show the full figure and the context. For the picture (above right) the same activity is going on but I have zoomed in to attempt to show the facial expression.

In the image on the left he is heeling them in and then on the right he begins to plant the beans at the base of the stakes. For each I have chosen pictures that show the concentration on his face.

In the right hand image he is again planting the beans and although some of the face is obscured by the stakes it does show his facial expression well.


In this image on the right he is beginning to plant some other seeds and this continues in the three pictures below.

All during this session John and I were chatting to each other and he appeared relaxed.

In the final image on the right I have zoomed right out to again show the context.

Exercise 3 - Experimenting with Light

I decided to use my long suffering wife for this exercise. I set up some shots around the house and garden and also took some 'on location'. I have also included some archive shots of Heather that have used different different lighting effects.

The image on the left was taken one morning whilst we were having breakfast outside. It is early in the day so the light is low and from the right and just catches her head but is not unpleasantly contrasty. For the middle image I asked her to sit on a stool in our workshop/studio with diffuse natural light coming from the left and above through a roof light. This has given some modelling without being harsh and contrasty. Unfortuneately I did not achieve eye contact. The right hand image was taken with the same setting but with flash bounced off the white ceiling. There is still some lighting coming from the window but the shadow on the right side of her face (our left) has been softened. Of the two I prefer the one without flash.

The image on the left, although less of a head and shoulder shot, was take when we were out for a walk and I deliberately chose strong sunlight passing through the tree canopy but not full shade. The effect is quite pleasing, although there are some distracting bright highlights from the harsh midday sun. The centre image was taken at the same time in full sun and has created some harsh shadows on her face. The image on the right was taken last thing in the evening in the last light of a sunny day. Although not head and shoulders I like this photo. It shows Heather in a relaxed attitude doing something she enjoys.

The reamaining images are older ones that I thought would be interesting to include.

This shot was taken early one morning at Spring Bank holiday this year. It is taken with a 500mm lens + 1.4 converter as I had been out photographing birds. Although, again, not head and shoulders it is a shot I like.

The image on the left was take last summer on a ferry on Lake Garda. Heather is under the canopy of the ferry and so in the shade but the sun just catches her hair. The right hand shot was taken last October in Spain in bright but diffuse sunlight - reasonable modelling but no harsh shadows.

The picture on the left was taken in the Dolomites last summer on a very bright and contrasty day. This is evident from the harsh shadows on Heather's face. The middle image is again taken on a very bright day in the Dolomites but in the shade so no harsh shadows as is the one on the right.

I took this photo for The Art of Photography course last year and the only source of illumination is the candles. This is all about mood and atmosphere and I really like the fact that only her face is lit whilst most of Heather and the rest of the room is in deep shadow. I left the white balance set to auto to preserve the warm glow from the candles.

Again pictures from The Art of Photography course to show different lighting effects.