Week 5 Photographic Assignment

This weeks task was to get a portrait of someone I did not know well. Key was to capture their personality and authentic look of them. This is a funny task as when I think I have it, as a photographer I start to doubt if I have. You start to not trust yourself. Then you have to say - well actually I did get it!

Portrait 1: Casey

Canon EOS 5D Mark III

f/3.5, 1/400sec, 35mm, ISO-800

I was first privileged to photograph Casey at work in a kitchen. Wow, he flys around the kitchen fast and I really had to be quick to keep up, sometimes getting an image and often missing the right place and angle. Casey is a very happy, relaxed person and smiles often. It was my first shoot in the kitchen so was getting to know the environment. I used a range of three lenses. However, this was my f/2.8, 16-35mm. I would have prefered the 35mm prime but its what I had. I like this image for the lighting, angle telling the story of what he does and it has Casey looking very natural. Out of about 90 shots, I chose this as the winner.

The following shot shows what a crop can do and how this image is improved. It gives more emphasis and focus on Casey.

Portrait 2: Rob Heath

Canon EOS 5D Mark III

f/3.5, 1/200sec, 85mm, ISO-800

My 2nd shot was with Rob Heath who is the head chef. Man what a cruisy guy and very competent food specialist. Rob has a wonderful salty beard and that seasoned look about him. He was very willing as a model and the challenge was to capture him at his best and natural. His focus on managing fire and cooking was a skill many would run from. Using my 85mm I struggled to get the right angle and distance. In hindsight I would have used a wider angle, however, I am happy with this result.

Portrait 3 Rob Heath

Canon EOS 5D Mark III

f/3.5, 1/200sec, 85mm, ISO-800

This shot to me is Rob! He is solidly strong, yet calm and quiet and thoughtful. A slight smile allows that kindness that Rob possesses, yet still has that old salt hardness of years of experience. The foreground allows the story to be told.

Portrait 4 Molly Ellis

Canon EOS 5D Mark III

f/2.8, 1/200sec, 85mm, ISO-500

I have been lucky to meet Molly at the villager I work at. She is a wonderful, bubbly and very photogenic person with a fantastic personality. What a treat to photograph someone like Molly. Here I tried to change the angle and work with different looks. This shot I used a fill-in flash bouncing the light off the opposite wall to even the light on her face.

 Portrait 5 Molly Ellis

Canon EOS 5D Mark III

f/1.8, 1/160sec, 85mm, ISO-500

This is my favourite of Molly. It has a slight level of cheekiness! The background compliments her light complexion and bright and happy smile. I could argue the eyes are a bit dark and a fill-in flash could have brought that out. This would have taken away some shadows on her face. Either way, I love the image. 

Well, I have to submit one of these for my assignment. Not really sure which one as I love them all for different reasons. Mostly I have loved doing the images and meeting these amazing people.

Andy